A two-year agreement on transfers between European clubs and the National Hockey League was reached Tuesday -- including the Czech Republic but not Russia, assuring participation of NHL players at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, the International Ice Hockey Federation said.
The Russian federation rejected the deal, which regulates financial compensation, a limit on the number of players that can leave Europe annually, and imposes a transfer deadline.
"Any players signed by the NHL from Russia will not be regulated by the Player Transfer Agreement," the IIHF said in a statement late Tuesday evening.
The five other countries who agreed to sign on with the Czech Republic were Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland. The deadline this season for player transfers from the six countries to the NHL will be Aug. 24.
The two-year agreement ends June 15, 2006.
The IIHF said it will announce further details of the agreement when it is signed by the parties involved, likely in September.
"I am very pleased that we were finally able to reach this agreement with the six countries," IIHF President Rene Fasel said. "I regret deeply that a hockey nation like Russia is not part of it. We did everything we could to convince them to join but the owners of clubs of the Russian league were not willing to authorize the Russian ice hockey federation to sign the agreement.
"This was also a bump on the road toward what we two weeks ago assumed was NHL-players' participation in Turin 2006, but this obstacle has now also been cleared and we can look forward to another Olympic hockey feast in February."
The Russian clubs would like to deal directly with NHL clubs in determining player compensation.
Refusing to sign the agreement could leave the Russian federation at risk of losing its players for nothing; the NHL could lure away any player it wants at any time without any compensation.
The Czechs had initially balked at the terms of the agreement, saying the minimum amount of compensation the NHL pays to European federations to sign players is too low. However, they reversed their decision Tuesday.
"Eight clubs were in favor while six were against," Lubos Kozeluh, a deputy head of the Czech federation, said in a statement.
Czech officials said the minimum compensation for any draft pick is set at US$200,000. The Czechs wanted to raise it from the originally proposed US$150,000 to US$300,000.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
RSS