Alex Ovechkin ready to play full season in Russia
Alexander Ovechkin doesn’t have any problem playing a whole season in his native Russia (Alexander Nemenov, Getty Images)
As the NHL lockout continues and the sports biggest stars sign with foreign teams, one of the league’s marquee names has made it known he may not be back anytime soon, according to tweets from Russian hockey reporter Pavel Lysenkov.
"I am ready to play the whole season in Russia", – said Alex Ovechkin in exlusive interview to Sovsport.—
Pavel Lysenkov (@plysenkov) September 17, 2012
Ovechkin means that he is ready for the lockout to take up a full season. And he will spend it in Russia.—
Pavel Lysenkov (@plysenkov) September 17, 2012
The lockout of NHL players began yesterday and little progress has been made since then, according to multiple reports. The lack of a functioning league has led many players to sign professional contracts with European clubs, just as many NBA players in that league’s lockout that carried into the first quarter of the season.
However, none of those players have the star status or the influence of Ovechnkin, a five-time All-Star and two-time MVP of the NHL.
Funny how when NBA and NFL players get locked out they are labeled as greedy and selfish. But when referees strike and NHL players get locked out its total silence from the sports punditry and it's fan.
@305photographer The NFL pulls down something like 150 million per team in ad revenue. The MLB and NBA are somewhere around $30 to $50 million per team. The NHL was somewhere around $5 to $10 million last time I checked. While all athletes are overpaid in my personal opinion, hockey at least makes a fraction of the money of these other sports. Maybe people don't feel quite the level of animosity as the sport is still fringe compared to the other cash cows. And also, the outcry will be less because there are simply far less fans of the game in this country than the other major sports.
@305photographer referees need to work full time to get the proper training thus I agree with them holding out as for NHL players holding out, there are just not enough fans out there compared to the other sports league.
@lili_pants Glad I'm not the only nerd who took it ;)