Fedor Fedorov breaks the glasses with a slapshot (video) (Photo © Getty Images)

Former Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers player, forward Fedor Fedorov, broke the glass during the warm-up before SKA St. Petersburg’s KHL regular season game on October 16th against Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg.

SKA eventualy won the home game with a 5-1 score, and Fedorov had one assist.

RussianHockeyFans offers you a video of this curious incident:

Alexei Kovalev: “I had two offers from NHL teams, but I decided to get back to Russia” (Photo © Getty Images)

Alexei Kovalev recently signed a 2-year deal with Atlant Mytischi of the KHL, and he confirmed that he still had offers from the NHL.

“I had two offers from NHL teams”, 38-years-old Kovalev told Russian newspaper Sovetsky Sport. “But I chose Russia.”

Kovalev, who played more than 1300 games in the NHL, scoring more than 1000 points, explained one of the main reasons for his move to the Moscow region team.

“The lenght of the contract was a problem. I don’t want to pack my suitcases every year. I understood that in North America I wouldn’t get more than an one-year deal, while Atlant offered me two years.”

Kovalev also explained other aspects of his transfer.

“I didn’t play much in Russia. I got to the Rangers when I was 19 and I played in the NHL all my career. It’s hard to get used to something new, but I have a profession and I will keep on playing. I am healthy, I still have hands and conditioning. Yes, I’m going to another place, but hockey is hockey. I love it and I enjoy playing.”

Mikhail Stefanovich assigned to Dynamo Minsk (Photo © Life.com)

Belarusian forward Mikhail Stefanovich has been assigned to Dynamo Minsk of the KHL by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Dynamo Minsk secured Stefanovich’s right as he was a second overall pick of the 2009 KHL junior draft.

Stefanovich, who played for the Dynamo Minsk organization up to the 2004/2005 season, played only six professional games this year, with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL and the Reading Royals of the ECHL.

After a couple of seasons in Belarus Stefanovich crossed the ocean to play in the QMJHL for the Quebec Remparts and in the 2007-08 season he won the Mike Bossy Trophy as QMJHL’s top prospect of the year. Stefanovich spent in the Q also the two following seasons. He also started playing for the Belarusian national team.

Most likely Stefanovich’s first game with Dynamo Minsk will be played on November 30 against Sibir Novosibirsk.

Artyukhin’s contract with SKA confirmed (Photo © Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Evgeny Artyukhin’s contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL has been confirmed and the player is now free to play, Russian press reports. The 27 years old forward’s signing was delayed due to some heart problems risen during the first medical checks.

Artyukhin, who will play with the #44, is set to debut with SKA today against Metallurg Novokuznetsk.

Artyukhin has been drafted in the NHL by the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2001 Entry Draft. In 199 NHL games scored 19 goals and 30 assists for a total of 49 points. He won a gold medal at both U18 and U20 WJCs.

Ramo on NHL, goalie fighting, move to Habs, ties with Tortorella (Photo © Getty Images)

24 years old Karri Ramo is one of the top KHL goalies. His NHL rights were recently traded to the Montreal Canadiens and he’s expected to join the Habs during the next summer as his deal with Avangard Omsk of the KHL will run out on the next April 30th. In this interview with Ilya Elchaninov of sports.ru Ramo talked about his future plans, about his past experiences with Tampa Bay and about life in Russia.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation.

You played under John Tortorella. Is it true that he considers you late at the practice if you arrive only two minutes before its start?

Ramo: “He always wants you perfectly on time. John always says playes to come earlier. If we agreed to meet, let’s say at 2 PM, then you should be there at 1.50 and if you’d arrive at 2 then you’d be late. We always knew that the bus wasn’t going to wait us. We really needed to get there earlier.”

And someone still arrived late?

Ramo: “I don’t remember I did. Once we were in Toronto, it was the first of January. We were in a very large hotel and we had to take the elevator as we were on the 30th floor. The hotel was full and everyone wanted to get out. We had to wait the elevator for a bit and we arrived five minutes before the planned time. It was literally the last minute! However I heard stories of people arriving with the plane already gone, and no one waiting for them.”

With whom from Norfolk and Tampa Bay you still talk?

Ramo: “I was glad when I met Brandon Bochensky before facing Barys Astana, I didn’t know he signed there. I still talk with young Finns from there, I write them through Facebook or the e-mail. I played for some months with Martin Karsums, who plays in Riga now. We don’t talk often, but after any game we always have a little chat.”

Did you learn from Olaf Kolzig when you were playing together?

Ramo: “Yes, I did. You can learn a lot from a player like Olaf. When you’re next to him you understand that he didn’t simply play 20 years in the NHL. When you see him it’s easy to understand how he could have such a great career. I learnt a lot from him.”

Do you want to get back in the NHL or are you planning to stay in Omsk another year or two?

Ramo: “The next season is far. I’m yet to think about it.”

Your rights now belong to the Montreal Canadiens. What did you think when you got to know about the trade?

Ramo: “Montreal is a big hockey city. The fans are very loyal to the team and they love hockey a lot. When I played in Montreal with Tampa there was a very good atmosphere on the stands. But I can’t say anything concret about the trade. My rights belong to the Habs and this is part of the game.”

What team has the craziest fans?

Ramo: “I like a lot hockey culture in Russia, after the game people wait for you, it’s really pleasant. Maybe in Moscow they don’t have big crowds, but in Omsk, Astana, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk arenas are always full. Sometimes fans sing for the whole game. In the NHL there are loud and crazy fans as well. I’ve heard that in Montreal, after they won a playoffs round, there were some riots, and they almost burned the whole city!”

How do you like to spend your free time?

Ramo: “I live a hockey life, I spend 4-5 hours at the arena. When I get out, of course, I won’t go to a museum. I’d like to go to the cinema, but I understand nothing there. I tried going to some clubs a couple of times, but I didn’t like it, it was too crowdy and smoky, you couldn’t breath. I love visiting good restaurants.”

You spent more than one year in Russia. Probably you came here with a good bag of prejudices. Which ones you could confirm and which ones you couldn’t?

Ramo: “Yes there is such prejudice that Russian language is very hard, and that’s definitely true! (smiles) Also that Russia is very big, and that was confirmed as well. I’ve been told that in Russia you can trust no one, but this isn’t true. They also said me that walking on the street is dangerous, mafia is everywhere.”

Is people more friendly in the USA or in Russia?

Ramo: “This is a hard question, I don’t understand Russian. In the USA I could understand people more. It was easy for me there as I could care about everything myself. I can’t compare due to the language barrier.”

What do you like here in Russia? And vice versa, what you don’t like?

Ramo: “I like the food here. I also like watching at the old Russian houses, great architecture. I don’t like when on the stores everyone is rushing, pushing and tries to take your place.”

Would you call yourself a cosmopolite, a world citizen?

Ramo: “I can adapt to any country of the world and live there. Of course I’m not such a world citizen like Wesley Snipes. (Laughs) But I guess you could say that as I don’t live in Finland since I was 16 and I never spent more than 2 years on the same place.”

Sergei Fedorov said that once he’ll quit with hockey for a couple of years he won’t do anything but travel. What will you do once you’ll be done with your career?

Ramo: “Now I think that after my career I’ll do something completely unrelated to hockey. I don’t even watch games. I don’t want to do something hockey-related as a matter of principle. But sometimes when someone retires he just needs to rest a couple of weeks then he would miss the action and find very hard to stay without hockey. But now I can say that once my career is done I’ll turn my phone off and will go to a secret place. I want to try normal life and do things that all people do.”

Did you befriend someone in Russia?

Ramo: “Yes, I can say I’ve picked up a couple of new friends here. When I got here last year I knew only Lasse Kukkonen, and now I’m familiar with many guys.”

Will it be hard without him?

Ramo: “I’ll survive, I think.”

Are your team mates used to Finnish heavy metal?

Ramo: “Maybe some of the younger guys. I knew that some one already listened to such music, but I didn’t want to risk to play it on the locker room. But now it’s played more often.”

If the opponent goalkeeper runs at you, there will be a fight?

Ramo: “Of course!”

But earlier in the season you didn’t fight Alexander Vyukhin from Metallurg Novokuznetsk. What happened?

Ramo: “Well, that was another situation, he didn’t come to me, but I skated to him. In that case the fight would have been two against one and I didn’t like it. I think he understood me, I just wanted to step up for my team mates.”

Mika Noronen fought Travis Scott during the RSL 2007 finals. Did you see that?

Ramo: “Sometimes such things happen. It doesn’t mean that you want it. You don’t plan it. If the same would happen to me, I am not scared, I will fight.”

You didn’t want to imitate Ron Hextall?

Ramo: “When I was playing in the AHL I fought in my second game. My team mates called me Ron for two months.”

Sometimes fans joke and say that 90% of Finnish population is made up of good goalies. Do you think that Finland has the biggest number of talented netminders?

Ramo: “Funny. But nowadays we’d lose this title to Sweden. But Finland is a good country for hockey, many good goalie prospects come from there because they know how to train and develop them. In the NHL there is plenty of goalie stars from Finland, young players watch at them. It’s good to have such examples just in front of you and I hope that in the future Finland will keep on having so many young talents in this position.”

Finally the Finnish fashion reached the KHL?

Ramo: “Nowadays it’s easy for Finns to get here. Many guys play here and they have a good opinion about Russia, they are a good advertising for other players. And more and more Finns keep on coming here. People love us!”

Who’s the most technically gifted player you ever faced?

Ramo: “It’s hard to say one name only. In the KHL of course it’s Radulov. In the NHL there are many talented players. Steven Stamkos, he’s always shooting and he manages to score. He’s a true North American player. Many players have a talent for creating such moments in which you can simply do nothing. Kovalev is a very talented and skilled player. Ovechkin too. You can’t stop him, he’s always going to find his way to the crease and score.”

Slava Kozlov signs with CSKA Moscow (Photo © Getty Images)

Vyacheslav Kozlov was officially signed today to a 1 year contract by CSKA Moscow.

The former component of the famous Russian Five joined the Red Army a couple of days ago and will depart with the team for their upcoming away trip. Kozlov will wear the #72 jersey.

Vyacheslav Kozlov was Stanley Cup Champion in 1997 and 1998 with the Detroit Red Wings. Kozlov played a total of 1182 NHL games, with 853 points.

Kozlov: “I’m glad to be back in the team which is almost my home club, and it’s the greatest team in Russia. I’ll do all I can to help the team fighting for the Gagarin Cup. I think I am in good shape and I’ll be able to help my team mates very soon. Recently I underwent the physical examinations and the doctors were satisfied about my shape. I hope I’ll be able to play my first game with my new team on Friday against Yugra.”

It was reported that also Spartak Moscow offered Kozlov a contract, but Slava preferred the Red Army, with whom he played in 1991-92 and 1994-95.

Marek Svatos signs with Avangard Omsk (Photo © Getty Images)

28 years old Marek Svatos signed with Avangard Omsk of the KHL. He was an unrestricted free agent.

The forward was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2001 NHL Draft, and played with the Avs a total of six seasons.

Svatos scored a 164 points in 316 NHL career games. He won the Memorial Cup with the Kootenay Ice of the WHL in the 2002.

Svatos struggled in producing constantly, mostly due to his size and injury proneness. Avangard Omsk now has a good contingent of Czech and Slovakian players, having in their team also Jaromir Jagr, Roman Cervenka and Martin Skoula.

Svatos signed a one year deal with the Siberian team.

Chris Bourque: “Got sick of waiting for my chance in Washington and then being used to plug holes in roster” (Photo © SportsDaily)

The former Washington Capitals forward Chris Bourque, who moved this summer to Atlant Mytischi of the KHL, gave an interview to SportsDaily.ru.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation.

The story of your signing with Atlant was pretty long. Were you hesitating?
Bourque: “I just wanted to see how it’d turn out with the Capitals. When the situation wasn’t clear I had to told Atlant that they’d have to wait.”

But then finally the Capitals offered you a contract. Why did you decide to move to Russia?
Bourque: “Things were going the way that I’d not get a spot with the Capitals. I have won everything in the AHL – like the Calder Cup and the playoffs MVP. Besides I was soon to reach the age limit, which would mean I’d have to part ways with the AHL. And since I wasn’t completely sure that I’d make the first team, I decided to move to Russia. I got sick of constantly waiting for my chance and then being used to plug holes in the roster.”

Quite surprising that the son of Ray Bourque had to ride the pine in the NHL
Bourque: “Nobody in the NHL cares who your parents are. If the coach doesn’t like you, you won’t get ice time even if you are the President of the USA. And I think they called me to Atlant not because of my father.”

As for you father, what was his reaction?
Bourque: “It was good. He wished me good luck and professional growth. He didn’t wish me to return soon – I have a two-year contract, and I’m going to spend these two years here. Then, who knows, maybe the KHL experience will help me to attract attention of the NHL. In Russia there is a great school, traditions, strong teams. And it seems to me that I can take a lot from the Russian style.”

Why you didn’t become a defenceman like your father?
Bourque: “That’s due to my frame. In today’s NHL defencemen are really strong, and I wasn’t big enough. Maybe that’s the reason why I didn’t get a spot in the NHL. In Russia I’ll try to find out what can be improved in my game while not having a big frame.”

What can you say about your new partners?
Bourque: “They are really skilled players with great skating and puck control. We are passing a lot here. The team welcomed me really well. I hope to get used to the game style in Atlant as soon as possible and start producing more. By the way, even though I didn’t play in the NHL’s Atlanta, these consonance gives me comfort. And also they say that the Russian language is something unique.”

Do you speak Russian?
Bourque: “Just a few words. Have to master the hockey language first to understand partners better.”

Do you have any problems with everyday stuff?
Bourque: “No, not at all. And after these continuous bus trips in the AHL I have just nothing to complain about.”

Can you compare KHL and AHL?
Bourque: “Can’t go in details yet as I don’t have much KHL experience. But in my opinion you can’t compare them at all. The KHL is a separate league, the best in Europe. And in the AHL there are farm teams with the purpose of giving experience to youngsters and practice to those not making it in the NHL. The KHL is, of course, a step forward for me.”

How ready do you feel for the season?
Bourque: “As for now, I haven’t shown even the half of what I’m capable of.”

You were already trusted with a shootout in the game against SKA…
Bourque: “Well, shootouts are what I practiced a lot. They are all the same in the NHL, KHL, AHL – come to the ice and shoot. You have just the goalie in front of you, though his level depends on what league you are playing in.”

Atlant didn’t start the season pretty well. And now you lost to SKA, even though in the shootouts. Are you upset?
Bourque: “I’m actually more upset that Nabokov didn’t play against us. I wanted to face him. And going one-on-one in the shootout against such an ace is a special occasion. As for the defeat, I’m sure we will get our points later, I see that we doing better every day. Our coach said that we were doing everything right and that we are progressing from game to game.”

Chris Bourque in 6 games this season: 1G, 0A, -2, ATOI 7:31.

KHL legalizes and regulates fighting (Photo © khl.ru)

The KHL just released the set of rules for the 2010-11 season, and it contains an interesting part, how the KHL will regulate fights. Until the 2009-10 season it just followed the IIHF rules, which had a five minutes major plus game misconduct for any fight. But from the next season it’s going to change.

All that follows is coming from the official KHL rulebook, which can be found here (Russian only).

Firstly the KHL gives a definition of a fight, which says that “it’s a situation in which more than a player or a goalkeeper fight another with or without gloves, or two players start fighting and the refs can’t break the fight.”

So the refs have a wide selection of penalties to punish the players who participated in the fight:

a) the player or goalie who participates in the fight can get a minor, double minor or major penalty according to the player’s activity during the fight itself
b) if the player or the goalie will get a second major penalty, it will automatically be a game misconduct
c) if any player joins a fight as third man, it will automatically be a game misconduct penalty
d) if any staff member fight on or off the ice any other staff member or player, it will automatically be a game misconduct penalty
e) if any player starts a fight or participates in a fight during the intermissions, it will automatically be a game misconduct penalty
f) for any fight in the latest five minutes of a game or during the OT, the refs will give to the players involved a minor penalty, a major penalty and a game misconduct penalty
g) if any player fights another player who isn’t fighting and injures him, it will automatically be a game misconduct penalty
h) if a goalie removes his blocker to hit a player on the head or helmet, it will automatically be a game misconduct penalty

Then the KHL rulesbook goes on with the instigators, who are “any player or goalie who hits first, who drops the glove or behaves threateningly.” And also in this case the refs will have to keep in mind that they can give different penalties:

a) the player or goalie who provokes a fight dropping the gloves will be assessed a 10 minutes, misconduct penalty
b) the refs can raise such penalties to 2+10 or 2+5+10 in serious cases
c) for the second fight the refs will assess a 2+5+game misconduct penalty
d) if a player wears a full mask and doesn’t remove it before a fight, he will be assessed a further 2 minutes penalty

The third role the KHL rulesbook takes into consideration is the aggressor. He’s “a player who keeps on beating another player who can’t defend himself or fight a player who doesn’t want to fight.” In this case the refs will assess to the aggressor a major+game misconduct penalty or a 2+5+10+game misconduct in the more serious cases.

Alexander Radulov: “I never regretted my choice” (Photo © Le Soleil)

After his move from Nashville to Russia, Alexander Radulov has been very discreet with the media. But he decided to give an exclusive interview to Mikaël Lalancette of Le Soleil, in which he talked about his controversial move, about his future and about Quebec City.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation.

Early Years

Alexander Radulov moved from Russia to North America in 2004, when he was picked up by the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. “At this point we can say that it was the first betrayal of my career. The Remparts drafted me and so I decided to come and play in Quebec. Back at home my relatives and my friends didn’t understand me. They told me that I could keep on playing in Russia and still dreaming about the NHL.”

So Radulov packed his things and moved to Quebec, a francophone city in which he was very comfortable. “People were great. The two years I spent in Quebec were among the best in my life.”

Back in Russia

After stealing the show in the QMJHL, Radulov graduated in the NHL. “My dream came true. Scoring my first NHL goal in my second game was just great. But in my head I always had a call from home…”

But despite the growing interest the NHL had toward Radulov, he decided to slam the door and announce that he was going to play in Russia. And this was another betrayal. The fans which idolized him for moving from Russia to America now labeled him as traitor.

“I can understand their disappointment, but getting back home was good for me. I had good reasons. I wanted to be closer to my family and keep on doing my favorite thing.” Now Radulov lives near St. Petersburg with his family. Maybe he’s annoyed with North America? “Yes and no. It’s so different. Yes, I miss a few people with whom I’m close to, but I’m okay with myself. And I’m at home.”

The future

Recently Radulov ensured that David Pole, Predators’ GM, knows his chances to get back to the USA for the next season and that he accepted the fact that he wants to honor his 3-yr deal with Salavat Yulaev Ufa. But Radulov believes that no links were broken and that he’s ready to welcome Radulov back in the NHL.

“People were nice to me there, they have good fans and I liked the organization. My agent actually talked to them during these years. But I don’t want to play the speculation game. For now I’m a KHL player.”

Even if he refuses to officially state a return, Radulov also said that he was always honest about his desire to play in the NHL. After his departure many pointed the finger at him for having left the Predators just for money.

“People said and written many things about me after my departure from Nashville, but I never lied about my intention to play in the world’s best league. The KHL is a good league, but the NHL is still the best.”

In the 2009-2010, Radulov was his team’s top scorer with 24 goals, 39 assists and 63 points in 54 games. Even if he is satisfied with his personal season, his team’s failure in the playoffs left him disappointed. “My goal has always been to win and we didn’t win the cup this year. For Alexander Radulov this is not satisfactory!”

In spite of such a loud move two years ago, Radulov never crossed out a potential return in the NHL. “I’m going to take the best decision for the moment. I don’t want to say ‘no’ to anyone, but as expected I’ll honor the final year of my contract.”

After his return in Russia many rumors stated that he regretted his decision to leave Nashville, but as he said, many untrue things were said about the process. “I never regretted my choice, but I have to say that at first it wasn’t easy. After my first depart, four years before, many things changed. And I had to deal with some details. The NHL has 100 years of history, the KHL is still at the start and so there were some problems. I was a bit discouraged, but I’ve never regretted being away from Nashville. My goal was to play hockey at home. And I took my decision.”

Radulov also explained once again that the NHL is still on the top. “The KHL has improved a lot, now many cities have modern arenas. But even if the league’s level grow a lot, also due to the North Americans playing there, it’s still not comparable to the NHL.”

The former Rempart also indicated that the NHL should consider returning back to Quebec City, mostly for its supporters. “I’ve spent two fantastic years with them. I’ve never seen a better place to play than the Coliseum. The supporters were truly great when we won the Memorial Cup. Quebec is the best place of the world for hockey. The supporters are unique. Promise me to write this!”

Original articles by Mikaël Lalancette of Le Soleil