Realgeorge
Mentor
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2004
- Messages
- 675
From Russia with Love
I am inspired as an American of Slavic descentto discuss aTolstoyish success story, the Russian-born hockey player making good in the US of A. Recent intrigues between American and Russian hockey leagues have been most interesting. Since the days of Alexander Mogilny, who defected to America from the USSR in 1989, played brilliantly for the Buffalo Sabers hockey team, and continues his excellent career to this day, many excellent Slavic stars have made good in the North American National Hockey League (NHL). Many names come to mind, but to name but a few: Jaromir Jagr, Peter Bondra, Mogilny, Vladimir Konstantinov (from Detroit RedWings glory years, one of the most fearsome defensemen of all time, met an awful fate in an automobile accident), Sergei Federov (also from the great RedWing teams, had a brief fling with the cute blonde Russian tennis player), Sergei Samsonov of the Boston Bruins, Sergei Gonchar of the Penguins ... with a simple Google search one could find hundreds of NHL Slavic stars of the past twenty years. So here's the latest story with a point:
The Washington hockey club made so well with their Czechoslovak star Peter Bondra that they decided to select the fanciest Russian of them all, Alexander Ovechkin, with their hard-earned First Round 2004 Lottery Draft Pick. They also lured another Czech star to the 2005 training camp, one Petr Sykora, and a young fellow named Alexander Semin, who played for the Capitals during the 2003-04 season, showing a brilliant talent for offense. Well, the Caps have discovered the risky side of doing business with the Oriental-intrigue-filled world of Russian and ex-Soviet sports. First, there's Alex Semin. The young fellow played well his first season, but was often surly and refused to buckle down and learn to speak fluent English. He missed the last game of the 2004 season, not giving a reasonable excuse for doing so. He returned to Russia, and after the strike ended, refused to return to the States or to the Caps, preferring instead to play for several major Russian hockey teams. Such Russian hockey teams, it will be noted, frequently have as sponsors one of the major industries that were pirate-ized (as opposed to "privatized") soon after the fall of the Soviet government (1992) and the ushering in of the NWO-dominated Nouveau-riche Russian entrepreneurs. Semin was obviously intimidated by the big bosses of Russian hockey / Russian industry, and has had to remain in Russia. The Captials filed a lawsuit in an American court in an effort to shame Semin into returning to Washington. Semin has switched teams in Russia, from one team with looming bankruptcy to another with better finances ... each "violating" the American lawsuit clauses vainly set forth in the Washington Capitals' depositions. But so interesting! The Russian NWO corporation and the American NWO corporation, fighting tooth and nail for the raw material of success, the White European athlete!
Next was the Capitals' second attempt at landing a excellent Czech player, as they made good with Peter Bondra. They tried to gain the rights to Petr Sykora, a fancy winger, and after several years of overtures convinced him to make the Atlantic crossing. This he did, reporting to training camp in August, and appearing in about six games in October for the Caps. Soon after, Sykora was seen boarding a plane to return to the Czech Republic. The story was that Petr was very homesick and intmidated by a lack of English-speaking ability. What isn't related in the media so much, but talked about in hockey internet discussions sites, was that it seemed that Sykora hated the vulgarity and coldness of American society, and missed his family, spending hours a day on the phone with them. Pretty good reasons to go back home! Finally, we have Alexander Ovechkin, the wonder star. He and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins are the two heralded rookie players this year, and the sports media has made reasonable coverage of their smashing entry onto the hockey scene. Sidney and Alex, each is playing well and are a joy to watch. But Alex comes with Russian strings attached. The team he jilted, the famous Moscow Dynamo, has filed its own lawsuit in Russian courts to try and hoist the young lad back to Kremlintown. Alex shrugs it off and says he's a permanent American hockey player, and the Captials' management gives the proverbial stiff-arm to the Russian request. It will be an interesting affair as it drags on into the Spring. My advice to American hockey interests: Kick the tires with every emigre!Edited by: Realgeorge
I am inspired as an American of Slavic descentto discuss aTolstoyish success story, the Russian-born hockey player making good in the US of A. Recent intrigues between American and Russian hockey leagues have been most interesting. Since the days of Alexander Mogilny, who defected to America from the USSR in 1989, played brilliantly for the Buffalo Sabers hockey team, and continues his excellent career to this day, many excellent Slavic stars have made good in the North American National Hockey League (NHL). Many names come to mind, but to name but a few: Jaromir Jagr, Peter Bondra, Mogilny, Vladimir Konstantinov (from Detroit RedWings glory years, one of the most fearsome defensemen of all time, met an awful fate in an automobile accident), Sergei Federov (also from the great RedWing teams, had a brief fling with the cute blonde Russian tennis player), Sergei Samsonov of the Boston Bruins, Sergei Gonchar of the Penguins ... with a simple Google search one could find hundreds of NHL Slavic stars of the past twenty years. So here's the latest story with a point:
The Washington hockey club made so well with their Czechoslovak star Peter Bondra that they decided to select the fanciest Russian of them all, Alexander Ovechkin, with their hard-earned First Round 2004 Lottery Draft Pick. They also lured another Czech star to the 2005 training camp, one Petr Sykora, and a young fellow named Alexander Semin, who played for the Capitals during the 2003-04 season, showing a brilliant talent for offense. Well, the Caps have discovered the risky side of doing business with the Oriental-intrigue-filled world of Russian and ex-Soviet sports. First, there's Alex Semin. The young fellow played well his first season, but was often surly and refused to buckle down and learn to speak fluent English. He missed the last game of the 2004 season, not giving a reasonable excuse for doing so. He returned to Russia, and after the strike ended, refused to return to the States or to the Caps, preferring instead to play for several major Russian hockey teams. Such Russian hockey teams, it will be noted, frequently have as sponsors one of the major industries that were pirate-ized (as opposed to "privatized") soon after the fall of the Soviet government (1992) and the ushering in of the NWO-dominated Nouveau-riche Russian entrepreneurs. Semin was obviously intimidated by the big bosses of Russian hockey / Russian industry, and has had to remain in Russia. The Captials filed a lawsuit in an American court in an effort to shame Semin into returning to Washington. Semin has switched teams in Russia, from one team with looming bankruptcy to another with better finances ... each "violating" the American lawsuit clauses vainly set forth in the Washington Capitals' depositions. But so interesting! The Russian NWO corporation and the American NWO corporation, fighting tooth and nail for the raw material of success, the White European athlete!
Next was the Capitals' second attempt at landing a excellent Czech player, as they made good with Peter Bondra. They tried to gain the rights to Petr Sykora, a fancy winger, and after several years of overtures convinced him to make the Atlantic crossing. This he did, reporting to training camp in August, and appearing in about six games in October for the Caps. Soon after, Sykora was seen boarding a plane to return to the Czech Republic. The story was that Petr was very homesick and intmidated by a lack of English-speaking ability. What isn't related in the media so much, but talked about in hockey internet discussions sites, was that it seemed that Sykora hated the vulgarity and coldness of American society, and missed his family, spending hours a day on the phone with them. Pretty good reasons to go back home! Finally, we have Alexander Ovechkin, the wonder star. He and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins are the two heralded rookie players this year, and the sports media has made reasonable coverage of their smashing entry onto the hockey scene. Sidney and Alex, each is playing well and are a joy to watch. But Alex comes with Russian strings attached. The team he jilted, the famous Moscow Dynamo, has filed its own lawsuit in Russian courts to try and hoist the young lad back to Kremlintown. Alex shrugs it off and says he's a permanent American hockey player, and the Captials' management gives the proverbial stiff-arm to the Russian request. It will be an interesting affair as it drags on into the Spring. My advice to American hockey interests: Kick the tires with every emigre!Edited by: Realgeorge