About the only thing known for certain about Nikolai Zherdev is that he will wear No. 13 for the Columbus Blue Jackets when they play Anaheim today.
In 72 hours, the 19-year-old Ukrainian hockey star has become the focus of a brewing international incident.
PHOTO: AFP
Zherdev, the Blue Jackets' No. 1 pick and the fourth selection overall in last summer's draft, arrived in Columbus by private jet under cover of darkness on Monday.
The timing was a coincidence, but Zherdev's former team in Russia alleged that the 19-year-old star had been spirited out of his native land in defiance of his army obligations.
CSKA Moscow protested that Zherdev was not permitted to leave the club. CSKA and Russia's hockey federation said Zherdev must fulfill his military obligations -- which are compulsory in Russia -- and is not available to go to the NHL.
Columbus officials said they have met every legal, political and financial condition to bring Zherdev to the US.
"We followed the procedures we needed to follow," Blue Jackets spokesman Todd Sharrock said Tuesday. "That includes paying the International Ice Hockey Federation and paying transfer fees. There have been some problems with documentation even saying he's in the army.
"We've done everything we can do to have him here and he wants to be here."
Zherdev skated with his new team for the first time on Tuesday.
The Blue Jackets said Zherdev will play right wing on the third line with veteran Manny Malhotra and rookie Kent McDonnell against the Mighty Ducks.
"This is a kid," coach and general manager Doug MacLean said to an overflow crowd of reporters after the morning skate. "So let's not get carried away with goofy expectations."
Zherdev was accompanied by his Ottawa-based agent, Alexander "Sasha" Tyjnych at Tuesday's morning skate. Tyjnych also is acting as translator for Zherdev, who does not speak English.
Zherdev will stay in a downtown hotel until he gets acclimated to the area, Sharrock said. That may not take that long since in the Columbus media guide Zherdev lists Nickelback as his favorite group, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz as his favorite actors and Paul McCartney's appearance in Moscow as the best concert he ever attended.
Negotiations had been ongoing with CSKA and Russian hockey officials since MacLean announced Zherdev's name at last summer's draft.
Several times over the past few months the team thought Zherdev was close to joining the Blue Jackets, but each time another impediment came up.
Zherdev signed a three-year contract with the Blue Jackets in August. Columbus also paid a US$100,000 transfer fee to free him from his Russian contract, but he remained in limbo as his agent and Blue Jackets representatives spoke daily with officials in Russia to pry him loose.
Zherdev has been playing in the Russian Elite League. He was recently named captain of the Russian team that will compete in the World Junior Championships, which begin later this month in Finland.
Zherdev played his last game with CSKA on Nov. 24, a 6-1 home loss to CKA St. Petersburg.
He flew from Moscow to Toronto on Sunday. Along with the Blue Jackets' chief of amateur scouting, Don Boyd, he flew on to Ottawa where he was interviewed by the US Consulate there in the final step toward immigration.
CSKA's legendary coach Viktor Tikhonov told the Russian sports daily Sport-Express, ``To begin with, he fled his team and, secondly, he fled from his army obligations.''
A team vice president, Valeri Gushin, vowed that the team would fight the case.
"We will not let this case go away and we will seek sanctions," Gushin said.
The case could end up in international arbitration if Russian military authorities insist that Zherdev must fulfill his army obligation.
Bill Daly, the NHL's executive vice president and chief legal officer, said Zherdev can play with the Blue Jackets until further notice.
"At this point we've not been provided with sufficient evidence to establish either A, that he has a compulsory military service obligation or B, that he's conscripted in the Russian military," Daly said. "So in the absence of that evidence or in the absence of an arbitrator's decision, he's cleared to play from my perspective."
Capitals 4, Islanders 1
Dainius Zubrus had a goal and an assist Tuesday as the Washington Capitals dominated the Islanders with a 4-1 victory that sent New York to its sixth straight loss.
Kip Miller, Jaromir Jagr and Joel Kwiatkowski also scored for the Capitals, who became the last team to win consecutive games this season. Olaf Kolzig turned aside 25 shots.
Arron Asham had the only goal for the Islanders in their last 29 meetings with the Capitals. Garth Snow made 21 saves.
Washington entered with the fewest points in the NHL but moved one ahead of Pittsburgh, which has 17.
Blue Jackets 2, Mighty Ducks 1
In Columbus, Ohio, Rick Nash scored his 16th goal and added an assist to lead Columbus past Anaheim in the debut of acclaimed Russian forward Nikolai Zherdev.
David Vyborny also had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, who had lost two straight games.
The Mighty Ducks had their 11-game point streak snapped. The last time they failed to earn a point was Nov.2 at Chicago.
Vaclav Prospal scored with 31.9 seconds remaining -- and goaltender Martin Gerber off for an extra skater -- for the only goal against Columbus' Marc Denis.
Canadiens 3, Lightning 2
In Montreal, Jan Bulis scored a power-play goal with 1:17 remaining in the third period to lift Montreal over Tampa Bay.
Bulis got his fifth goal of the season at 18:43, moments after Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier tied it at 2-2. Lecavalier, held without a point in his five previous games, scored at 16:10.
Tim Taylor also scored for the Lightning, which scored just four times while going winless in five games.
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