NHL’s Olympic Break Up The Air After Russia, Czech Move

The Czech and Russian hockey federations refused to sign the proposed IIHF and NHL player transfer agreement by yesterday’s deadline, “leaving unsettled the NHL’s participation” in the ’06 Turin Games, according to the AP’s Erica Bulman. The expired agreement covered player transfers and NHL player participation in the Olympics, world championship and World Cup. Czech clubs felt the minimum compensation the NHL pays to European federations to sign players “is too low,” while the Russian clubs “would like to deal directly with NHL teams in determining player compensation.” The Russian federation “simply refused to sign the agreement,” but the Czechs offered a counterproposal that raised the minimum compensation for any draft pick from $150,000 to $300,000. The NHL previously said that it would “not consider counterproposals.” The IIHF and NHL are “still in talks to decide on their next course of action” (AP, 8/15).