Sports
Transfer war between NHL and KHL avoided
Published 11 July, 2009, 14:23
A potentially bitter transfer war between ice hockey’s two biggest leagues has been successfully avoided.
The NHL club Atlanta Thrashers has cancelled the singing of Canadian player Joel Kwiatkowski after learning he had already signed for the Russian side SKA Saint Petersburg.
According to KHL President Aleksandr Medvedev, this means the conflict between the two leagues has been resolved.
Medvedev said the case demonstrated that the KHL and NHL are eager to work together, not just exclaim “nice slogans about respect of each other’s contracts and regulations.”
The KHL boss said that the right decision that “excluded the escalation of the conflict” will help improve the league’s relations with both the NHL and the International Ice Hockey Federation, he said.
He also stressed that the transfer agreement between the two leagues should be signed as soon possible and promised to raise the question at the upcoming IIHF conference.
