This offseason we have watched as several NHL players have chosen to continue their career with the KHL, shunning the NHL in the process. At the top of the heap, former San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov signed a four-year, $24 million deal with SKA St. Petersburg, followed by former Atlanta Thrashers forward Maxim Afinogenov, who signed a five-year contract with SKA just yesterday. For many Russian players, heading back home to play is as much about convenience as it is about the money. That said, given the choice to make the same money, I suspect every one of them would rather be in the NHL—fact is, most of them are not worth it! While the skill level in the KHL is getting better, the league is nowhere near what the NHL is. SKA St. Petersburg, widely believed to be

It is widely believed that the Ilya Kovalchuk deal and subsequent hearings have all but kept many NHL teams and unrestricted free agent players from making more of a splash this summer. Numerous trades—most notably a deal involving Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle—have been sitting on the back burner for quite some time, leaving many NHL teams and fans feeling like they have been kept hostage all summer long by the Kovalchuk saga. Yesterday, arbitrator Richard Block began hearing the arguments for and against the Kovalchuk contract from both the NHL and the Players Association. A decision on Kovalchuk’s 17-year, $102 million contract is expected by this Friday, if not by Monday at the latest. In the end, there are only really two scenarios that can come of Block’s findings. First, Block upholds the Kovalchuk deal, which will force

Last year I had the opportunity to cover the Winter Classic between the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers. As an accredited writer I was able to take part in numerous interviews and take some pretty great pictures along the way. With the 2011 Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals already starting to steal the headlines I felt it might be cool to look back at my experience in Boston. Here is a look at some of my pictures: This is the first picture I took after the cab dropped me off on Yawkey Way right outside the legendary Fenway Park. The City of Boston and the NHL did a great job of promoting the event both in the media and on the streets of Boston. If you got within a square mile of Fenway you knew

When the arbitration ruling came back in Annti Niemi’s favor it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that the Chicago Blackhawks were going to be forced to part ways with the Finnish netminder. The Blackhawks are thought to have presented a case for Niemi making about $1.75 million, with Niemi’s agent countering with a demand near $4 million. In the end, the arbitrator awarded Niemi a one-year deal worth $2.75 million, which effectively priced Niemi out of Chicago’s plans for the 2010-11 season. Through 39 regular season games with Chicago Niemi assembled a 26-7-4 record while posting a 2.25 goals against average and a .912 save percentage. Niemi followed up a decent regular season by backstopping the Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. During the playoffs Niemi compiled a 16-6 record with a 2.63 GAA and

It appears as if the Los Angeles Kings and Ilya Kovalchuk are inching closer to a long term deal that would see the highly-touted Russian land in Tinsel town. Helene Elliot of the Los Angeles Times is reporting that, while a deal is not yet finalized, it may just be a matter of finalizing term and no-trade/no-movement clauses. Kovalchuk, who has also been pursued heavily by the New Jersey Devils, would be a terrific fit in Los Angeles, supplying them with one of the NHL’s premier goal scorers and star power. If the deal is consummated the Kings could boast a first line that may include the likes of Kovalchuk at left wing, Anze Kopitar at centre and Dustin Brown on the right side, which may very well emerge as one of the NHL’s most feared lines. While not expected

The Blackhawks appear set to lose yet another peice of their Stanley Cup winning roster in top four defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson. After having already lost Dustin Byfuglien and Kris Versteeg how much more can they lose? As reported by Bob McKenzie of TSN, the offer sheet from San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson is a four year $14 million deal. This would be an average cap hit of $3.5 million according to CapGeek.com. Chicago general manager Stan Bowman now has seven days to match this offer or receive a first and third round draft pick from the San Jose Sharks as compensation since Hjalmarsson is a restricted free agent. The question is, do the Blackhawks has the cap room necessary to avoid losing Hjalmarsson? Currently the Hawks are sitting with $3,613,410 in cap space for next season and they