This is something you don’t see every day. While J.D. Drew may have had fans throw batteries at him, he never had a guy smash him on the head with a stick. And that’s exactly what happened in the KHL on Sunday. During a playoff game between Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg and Salavat Yulaev Ufa, Salavat Yulaev backup goalie Vitaly Kolesnik was attacked by a crazy fan.
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One of the best centers in the past 20 years is available. Peter Forsberg has been skating with his hometown team of Modo. He’s currently playing in the Karjala Cup — potentially auditioning for a move to Russia or the NHL.
It’s unclear how good Forsberg could be playing at the highest level. However, he probably still has gas left in the tank at 36. Players of his caliber can play well into their 40s. The Swede has averaged over 1.25 points per game during his career in the NHL. That puts him in the top ten ALL-TIME for points per game.
Rangers GM Glen Sather said of Forsberg, “Yes, we have interest in Forsberg. From the reports we’ve been getting, the foot is much better than it was a year ago.” So you can bet that the Rangers will make a run at him if the price is right. He could become the permanent first line center with Prospal and Gaborik. Currently, Forsberg is rumored to potentially sign with Ak Bar Kazan, but there has been little movement on that front.
Tags: ak bar kazan, free agents, hockey, khl, modo, new york rangers, NHL, peter forsberg
Martin Kariya is probably best known as Paul Kariya’s younger brother. Martin didn’t have nearly as much success in professional hockey and has bounced around foreign leagues. His journey has taken him to Japan, Finland, Switzerland, and this year he was signed to play in Russia.
The Kontinental Hockey League (AKA the Russian league) has always tried to position itself as a league to rival the NHL. The KHL’s efforts suffered a huge blow last year when Alexei Cherepanov collapsed on the bench and medical staff was painfully slow to respond. It took 12 minutes for doctors to arrive on the scene and 20 minutes to get him to a hospital. The cause of Cherepanov’s death is disputed but it highlighted the shortcomings of the KHL’s medical policies.
This week, the KHL had another ugly incident involving a slow and inadequate response to an injury. Martin Kariya was nearly motionless after being checked and hitting his head on the ice. Clearly ill-equipped to handle the situation, staff members try to wake Kariya using smelling salts. I think the scariest part is the “this is f*cked up” look on the face of the first responders. Kariya was eventually hauled off of the ice using a tarp as the stretcher. At no point do they immobilize his head or neck. So if you’re an NHL player thinking about playing in the KHL… don’t. You can watch the video of the incident below:
Tags: dinamo riga, hockey, khl, kontinental hockey league, martin kariya, NHLDon’t know who Robert Esche is? That’s because most people probably haven’t heard of the guy. Esche spent about 5 years in the NHL as an average goalie split between Phoenix and Philly. He couldn’t find a gig in North America and headed to Russia for work. He’s had a good run in the KHL and the Whitesboro, NY native has found himself in the league’s marketing plans. As tweeted by Kevin Allen of USAToday, Esche stars in one of the Russian league’s television commercials. You can see more of the ridiculous images on the KHL’s website.
Via KHL:
