After the announcement of Nabokov's signing with SKA St. Petersburg, Russian popular portal Sport day by day had an interview with agent Sergei Isakov, in which he talked about the negotiating with SKA, about Nabokov's family and about the length of the contract they signed with Alexander Medvedev's team.
RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation.
Legendary goalkeeper Dominik Hasek signed a one year deal in the KHL with Spartak Moscow.
"I'm happy to be in Moscow. I think that the both sides will benefit from this agreement," said Hasek to Rossiya-2.
His salary is reported to be around $600,000.
"I know what Hasek is capable of. We did not sign a jersey with his name, we signed Hasek himself," said Spartak's head coach Milos Riha to Rossiya-2.
Hasek, 45, has recently won the Czech Extraliga champions title with Pardubice.
The Dominator, who has two Stanley Cups and six Vezina Trophies under his belt, will soon join Spartak in order to prepare for the 2010-11 season.
On June 4th the second ever KHL Entry Draft has been held. With the first overall pick, Sibir Novosibirsk picked forward Dmitry Yashkin, who plays for Slavia Prague in the Czech Republic.
KHL teams choosen a total of 188 players from 13 countries during the seven rounds of the draft. Three selections have been voided as they were players with an NHL contract. They are John Tavares (Lokomotiv Yarloslavl), Philip Larsen (Sibir Novosibirsk) and Mikael Backlund (CSKA Moscow).
Finn defenseman Sami Vatanen went second overall, whith the third selection being Dmitry Ismagilov, picked up by Amur Khabarovsk. Goalie Michael Vishnevetsky was the first North American player picked, by Spartak Moscow.
Teams could use a draft pick and protect their own junior players, and many teams choosed to act this way. Protected players are listed with an asterisk.
On the 31st of May the official Lokomotiv site announced signing for a two-year contract Jori Lehtera, the 22-year old forward from Finland, who lead this past season the SM-League in points.
Today, on the first of June the official site of the St. Lois Blues announced signing Lehtera to an Entry Level Contract.
“Jori had an excellent year this past season as he led the entire Finish League in points,” said Blues' President John Davidson to NHL.com. “Our scouts are very high on him and expect him to be a solid NHL player in the future.”
This signing came just two weeks after the KHL and the NHL signed a Memorandum of Understanding.
According to a sports writer from Finland (@tomppaaax), the Blues signed him to maintain the rights and Lehtera will spend the next two years playing for Lokomotiv.
Habs' prospect Alexei Emelin, 23, declared to Sovietskiy Sport v Tatarstane (via sports.ru) that he'll think about the NHL only next year.
Alexei Emelin: "I'm under contract with Ak Bars Kazan for the next season. I'll think about the NHL next year."
Recently Emelin has been awarded with Best Defenseman of the KHL Finals honor and skated in the 2010 World Championship in Germany.
Russian newspaper Sport-Express is reporting that Dominik Hasek, 45, is close to signing with Spartak Moscow of the KHL.
According to Sport-Express, Hasek has already started training for the next season and will arrive shortly in Moscow to sign a contract. Hasek will be tearing up the KHL next season, that's for sure. Go ahead and place a bet on this in any sportsbook.
"Don't look at his age - Hasek is still one of the best goalies in the World," said Spartak head coach Milos Riha to the newspaper.
During his career in the NHL, Hasek recorded 81 shutouts having a 92.2% saving percentage.
As reported on the official Avangard Omsk's web site, Roman Cervenka signed a two years deal with the KHL team and thus won't sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL.
Cervenka is a natural center who oddly enough has never been drafted in the NHL. His strong play in the latest couple of seasons put him under the lights and the Toronto Maple Leafs were thought favorites to sign him by most North American media outlets like ESPN or TSN.
But most likely Roman Cervenka, 24, preferred to play side-to-side with Jaromir Jagr.
During an interview with popular Russian website Sovietskiy Sport Nikita Filatov, currently playing for CSKA and who recently got a call from Russian national team, talked about his future, about NHL players' participation to the Olympics and about the upcoming season.
Nikita Filatov: "I am determined to return to the NHL next year. Surely the salaries are better in the KHL, but overseas the level of play is higher. I'll try to make the first team in the NHL. And I'll try getting on the roster for the World Championships too.
I don't really think that NHL players won't come to Sochi for the 2014 Olympic Games. The best players in the world want to play there. And no one can force them out."
Swedish players Johan Harju and Linus Omark decided to leave KHL and Dynamo Moscow. Both players had an out clause in their contract after the first season and they decided to use it.
"I was happy about the KHL, but one season is enough", Johan Harju told Aftonbladet. "Not everything went according to my plans. There was the possibility to walk away from the contract with Dynamo after the first season and I decided to do so. I can't say anything about my future right now, we'll see."
Harju finished the season with four goals and 18 points in 55 regular season games, while he scored one goal in two playoff clashes. Omark scored more in the regular season, 20 goals and 36 points, but was pointless in the post season.
During an interview with Sovietskiy Sport Jaromir Jagr declared that he would like to spend another season with Avangard Omsk.
Jaromir Jagr: "I really love Omsk and its inhabitants, their character. Maybe it's strange to hear this from a Czech, and they won't believe me. But I like everything here. I would like to stay in Russia, but I want to get something serious next year. My career will be over soon and thus I can't waste my chances. I wanted to win something with Avangard, but we couldn't.
This is my fault too. I never blame others. I've always hoped that if I would be playing well, then also other players would perform better. I'm not looking for other teams now. I would like to stay in Avangard, but it's not up to me only. I still don't know about my future. I believe that God will help me in getting another chance.
I don't think about the money, that's for my agent. But I will understand if Avangard will reduce its budget. We didn't play like we should. Who can pay big salaries to players which don't give results on ice?"
All quotes translated by RussianHockeyFans.com
During the first period of the KHL playoff game between Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg and Salavat Yulaev Ufa, a drunk fan broke in the guests' bench and swung a stick on Vitaly Kolesnik's head. The goalie left the arena bleeding and has been sent to Ekaterinburg's hospital, where a concussion has been diagnosed.
Igor Zakharkin declared to Sport-Express that "this was the most terrible match in my life. At first we didn't understand, then we seen that a fan climbed over the glasses and with a stick hit Vitaly Kolesnik's head. Only a miracle saved him. I don't want to think if that person would hit him in the temple. This was a shock for everyone in the arena."
All quotes translated by RussianHockeyFans.com
Viktor Tikhonov declared that he's not going to return back in Severstal next year. After scoring two goals to in the
RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation of the most interesting parts of the interview:
Where do you plan to spend the next season?
Viktor Tikhonov: "I have to come back to Phoenix, I have a three years deal with them. Most likely I'm going to play there."Is there a big difference between the NHL and the KHL?
Viktor Tikhonov: "A little bit in the game's speed. And the different rinks size too."
Kuznetsov: "If we had won, it would have been unfair"