ovechkin NOT playing???

PA announcer just said he was out of the lineup

 

Yep, I heard that too. I'm a bit disappointed but I imagine it was the right choice for the Russians.

 

I was disappointed about this too.

He won't be playing in the NHL this year (if there is NHL) because the Caps wont pay the transfer fee to get him to come over from Europe. After this tournament we won't see him until the World juniors.

I think putting Ovechkin in the lineup would maybe have added a young spark to the team because they really didn't put forward all that much of an effort tonight.

Oh well, Hignsight is 20/20...

 

I disagree. I won't deny that they didn't make mistakes, especially those odd-man rushes. But shots were 28-28, they had tons of good opportunites, and I thought they were in the game for most of it.

 

I disagree; they will have no problem ponying up for the transfer fee. It wouldn't count against any potential cap or luxury tax I'd think and the Caps have plenty of extra money to spend this year.

They'll likely not do it until a CBA is in place and the season is ready to start, though.

 

There's no denying that they showed up and got the chances but I don't feel it was a 60 minute effort. They took some lazy penalties and sometimes just had shifts where they didn't show up.

I guess I was just expecting more after thier game against the US. Or is Canada just that good??

Either way the ultimate no show of the tournament is the Czech Rep. IMO...

 

Perhaps your right but this is just what Bob Mackenzie reported today.

http://tsn.ca/columnists/bob_mckenzie.asp

Here's part of the article from TSN.ca

I know it's against policy to post the actual story but this particular link is always being updated. If a Mod feels it's inappropriate please feel free to edit my post.

 

When I'm wrong I'm wrong, but I suspect that if they choose not to sign him, it has more to do with a doubt there will be a season this year. They certainly have the money if they really wanted to sign him, but I suppose that doesn't mean they'll want to waste it.

 

Yeah. Aren't the Caps going into a financial prudence mode? They've dumped most of thier higher priced players. As the Article read, the Habs had to pay $200 000. Maybe the Caps aren't going to spend that kind of money anymore.

Thanks for not taking my article link as a personal attack.

 

I think it will become extremely hard for the NHL to pry players out of Russia in the future.

First off, Russian hockey is in great economic shape, fact is, many players can make more money there than in the NHL.

Second, european clubs are a bit fed up with getting the short end of the stick. NHL can take any players they want (regardless if they're under contract or not) and hand out peanuts in compensation under the agreement that just expired.

 

IMO McPhee/Leonsis are certain that there will be a lockout.

Why else fire a good portion of your front office? On a hunch? These are people's lives.

Ovechkin stated before the draft that he wouldn't play if there was indeed an owner's lockout. If you're the Caps' brass, why even bother negotiating if you're sure?

A shortened season means another top 3 pick for Washington, and legit shot at Crosby.

 

Wow, that's something that hadn't crossed my mind. Imagine Crosby and Ovechkin on the same team?

 

There is a very good chance that this is something that has crossed Goerge McPhee's mind for almost a year.

 

Doing a "Quebec" isn't a bad idea. I mean, it worked very well for them, even though none of the three players they tanked their seasons for actually were on their cup winning teams.

 

Anyone know if he is going to finally play tonight against Slovakia?

 

I wouldn't bet on it.

Russia is playing well, no need for them to tinker to much with their line up. And don't they need to win this game to secure 2nd place in the group?

The russian coaching team isn't gonna put an 18 year old in the game just to show off to TV audiences or hockey nerds on the Internet ( ).