How were the KHL’s ratings on ESPN2? Better than Dan Le Batard, not as good as poker

19 Oct
2012

When analyzing the ratings for professional hockey on ESPN, fans inevitably have one standard for success or failure:

"Did hockey beat poker?"

This Pavlovian response was born out of the trauma we suffered in the NHL's waning years on the World Wide Leader, when televised Texas Hold'em tournaments seemed to take precedence over pucks. Poker became the symbol of ESPN's apathy towards hockey; a rivalry between the two sports (OK, one sport and one game of chance) still rages, as we early await Daniel Negreanu to be our Gandhi ...

With the NHL having locked out its players, Russia's Kontinental Hockey League signed a slew of star players and cut a deal with ESPN: Games would be streamed live on ESPN3 online, and a select few would be featured on ESPN2, marking the first time in several year that professional hockey had a home on the Deuce. (RIP, NHL2Night.)

The first broadcast was Tuesday, Oct. 9 between Alex Ovechkin's Dynamo Moscow and HC Lev Praha, Zdeno Chara's team. On Oct. 14, it was Ovechkin vs. Amur, a game that Dynamo won, 4-1. So, in other words, they weren't under Amur. (Drops mic.)

So how did the KHL on ESPN2 do in the ratings?

Son Of The Bronx had the ESPN and ESPN2 ratings from Oct. 8-14, including the details on the three KHL broadcasts. (For the record: "P2+ (000): Viewers, in thousands, aged 2 years or older.")

So the KHL's Tuesday night broadcast ranked No. 78 for the week on ESPN2, ahead of a mid-afternoon episode of "Dan Le Batard is Highly Questionable." It was the highest rated of the three broadcasts, which isn't too shabby considering the same game was shown hours earlier; wonder if the hype about the Steve and Barry Show helped goose the ratings.

But to answer the question we're all asking:

"Did hockey beat poker?"

Well, no. Poker ranked No. 32 on the weekly ESPN2 ratings. Even Alex Ovechkin can't overcome fat white guys with funny sunglasses bluffing each other.

Overall, that initial KHL rating showed promise. If the lockout continues, it might be enough to have the KHL on ESPN2 a few more times. Provided it includes more Barry Melrose commentary. And by that we mean more references to the Soviet Union-as-current-Russia.

s/t to Son Of The Bronx, our favorite place for cable ratings fun.

Tags: , beat, Bronx, Dan Le Batard, , , ESPN2, , Kontinental Hockey League, , poker
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World’s oldest hockey stick; Backstrom to Dynamo; NHLPA proposal anticipation (Puck Headlines)

18 Oct
2012

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• Tired of these new one-piece sticks that shatter the second you release a one-timer? Fear not because the world's oldest is up for auction! This yellow birch stick from circa 1650 is available via Classic Auctions. Bidding is currently over $3,000. [Classic Auctions]

Probably not a good sign that Nicklas Backstrom is on his way to Dynamo as the NHLPA prepares to submit their counterproposal. [Washington Post]

• The NHLPA is expected to offer their take on the NHL's proposal from Tuesday. Mirtle believes escrow will be the biggest factor in the players not accepting the offer. [Globe and Mail]

• Chris Stevenson on why the players need to negotiate instead of countering with their own proposal yet again: "The league got criticized for putting its offer out there in the public domain, but at least the NHL has crafted something the players and others can tear down. And didn't NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr once say he'd like to see negotiations televised?" [QMI via Ottawa Sun]

• Elliotte Friedman agrees: "No one's saying the players have to take the league's proposal as is. But, it is in their own best interests to sit at the table and make a serious effort at seeing where the next week or two will take them. This must be business, not personal." [CBC]

• Goal No. 1 for the Dallas Stars once the CBA gets resolved: sign Jamie Benn. [Heika]

• Things got pretty wild in the crowd at a Cape Breton high school game: "She pulled down her pants in front of the crowd and everyone. So I guess she got kicked out or something, I'm not sure." [CTV]

Don Cherry: "The lockout is just a sad thing." Like Charlie Brown or something. [Montreal Gazette]

• Reebok will have some competition for NHL jersey rights in 2016 as Bauer has stated they're prepared to get involved in the negotiations. [The Star]

• The draft pick the Washington Capitals received for Scott Stevens from the St. Louis Blues is still paying off for them. [Japers' Rink]

• Real nice story on junior hockey player Adam Restoule who's battled back from a serious kidney ailment. [Buzzing the Net]

• Kevin Bieksa's charity game last night raised $200,000 for Canuck Place, the Canucks Autism Network, and the Canucks Family Education Centre. Singer Michael Buble "wimped" out, but matched the $100,000 the game raised through ticket sales. [Pass It To Bulis]

• Speaking of charity, next Friday, members of the 2010 Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks will reunite for a game to help benefit Ronald McDonald House. [ESPN Chicago]

• While the lockout sorts itself out, Barry Trotz and David Poile of the Nashville Predators are keeping their normal schedules, except for one major thing. [Tennessean]

• Just how did Gary Bettman get so good at the lockout negotiating business? [Slew Footers]

• Peyton Manning isn't just a quarterback in Denver, he's also an 8th grade bantam hockey player. [Denver Post]

• It's Week 1 of news from a world where the NHL is actually playing. [Sports Pickle]

• Finally, here's the hit Tommy Wingels, now playing for KooKoo in Finland, laid out that earned him a 3-game suspension (per Matias Strozyk):

Tags: , , , , , NHLPA, Nicklas Backstrom, stick,
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Puck Daddy’s KHL on ESPN2 recap: Ovechkin scores, Barry Melrose’s funny Euro names

09 Oct
2012

As the Kontinental Hockey League debuted on ESPN2 for the first time Tuesday afternoon — with an evening replay at 8 p.m. ET — some considered it an embarrassment for the National Hockey League. Here were Alex Ovechkin and Zdeno Chara, established NHL stars, shining a light on Dynamo Moscow and HC Lev Praha respectively, on a network with whom Gary Bettman's had some bitter history.

Was the NHL embarrassed? Yeah, not so much. The KHL was, however, as their debut game on the WWL was a tepid sub-NHL affair with little that would compel a casual fan to tune in again.

Also, because the ESPN2 team of Steve Levy and Barry Melrose spent as much time on the NHL lockout, ads on the ice, guys named Mikuš and time zones than on the KHL itself. Was it fun? Yes. Did it remind me of calling high-school football games with the rest of my buddies in the AV club? Yes.

Here's our live blog on the KHL on ESPN2. Follow along when you're watching it again to get your hockey fix anyway you can.

• • •

1:00 p.m.: ESPN2 transitions from a shot of Drew Brees celebrating a touchdown pass to the villain from a 1960s Bond film singing the national anthem. We see his lips moving as ESPN's theme music blares, and then fades out awkwardly. Which is weird, because ESPN has never pushed hockey aside awkwardly for another sport. Steve Levy: "Well, if you were tuning in for 'O Canada', you were out of luck. While the NHL is away, the KHL will play."

1:01 p.m.: First Alex Ovechkin name check and sighting, in the lineup for Dynamo.

1:02 p.m.: Melrose: "If you're a casual fan, you'll recognize some names like Skoula, Chara and Ovechkin." Someone tell him that causal fans think Skoula is a brand of chewing tobacco.

1:04 p.m.: Melrose notes that Ovechkin is wearing No. 32 in the KHL while he wears No. 8 in the NHL, and that is "something we'll have to track down." Point No. 1: Nice show prep, Barry. Point No. 2: This took us roughly 1.8 seconds to track down, from Sept. 19.

1:06 p.m.: Good job up front by ESPN breaking down the differences between KHL and NHL hockey — less hitting, less board work, more of a chess match, and a little more "fancy" with the offense.

1:08 p.m.: The KHL rink crew (a.k.a. a dude in a Lev jersey with a power drill) hits to the ice to the delight of the ESPN crew. "Everyone's sorta hoping that he falls on his butt out there," said Barry Melrose.

1:10 p.m.: Chara with a hit. "No one told Chara he isn't supposed to hit in Europe!" says Melrose. I'm starting to really like the "Steve and Barry Take The Piss Out of Euro Hockey" routine.

1:10:30 p.m.: Case in point —

"Josef Jandač is the head coach for Lev Praha. What do you know about him, Barry?"

"Not a thing, Steve. I'm not going to sit here and lie to the audience."

[Much laughter]

1:11 p.m.: We find out that Barry Melrose thought that Yuri Gagarin was a hockey player, to the surprise of no one. "And for you space fans out there, Russian astronauts are called Cosmonauts." An actual quote from the actual Barry Melrose.

1:14 p.m.: More KHL knowledge, as we learn there isn't a hell of a lot of shot blocking, even on the power play. Which means Ovechkin would play HC Lev 10,000 times before he ever plays the Rangers again. Maybe he is staying.

1:18 p.m.: We have KHL cheerleaders on ESPN2!

1:20 p.m.: Melrose and Levy thank the hockey gods for having one Erik Christensen in the game since 80 percent of the other players are named Seirgevey Khalanonvovzyigovzy.

1:22: p.m.: The crowd chants something that sounds like "C-M-PUNK". Melrose is asked what it means. "We want a goal," adding that it's the universal hockey chant.

1:25 p.m.: There are two players named Juraj Mikuš on the HC Lev team, a.k.a. Zdeno Chara's team (as told to us by ESPN). The first Juraj Mikuš is a 25-year-old center. The other Juraj Mikuš is a 23-year-old defenseman. The boys find this endlessly amusing. And with that, we creep forever closer to a "Who's on Juraj Mikuš?" routine that would rival that of Abbott and Costello.

1:32 p.m.: Ovechkin is without a scoring chance and hasn't had the puck all that much. How did ESPN2 not inform us this was a playoff game?

1:34 p.m.: NHL lockout talk to end the period, with Melrose and Levy lamenting the work stoppage and Melrose predicting the players will return in December. Levy's outro for the scoreless first period is cut off by a WNBA commercial, which is weird, because ESPN has never pushed hockey aside awkwardly for another sport.

END OF FIRST PERIOD: One of most interesting moments of the first? Barry Melrose on Ovechkin and Washington Capitals fans, saying, "If I'm a fan back in DC watching my captain play for a different city and team, I'm angry"

1:50 p.m.: Nice job but Levy publicizing the Lokomotiv comeback story, as the resurrected team sits in first place in the KHL. Keep it up, and Lokomotiv is setting itself up to me honored by ESPN at year's end. Oh, who are we kidding?

1:54 p.m.: Melrose wonders if the 'T' is always silent in Russian names. Levy mentions several Russian names in which this is not the case. The preceding was sponsored by Rosetta Stone.

1:56 p.m.: Apropos of nothing, the KHL penalty benches look like something the players should carve their initials into while sitting there. "CHRIS SIMON WUZ HERE." That kind of thing.

1:58 p.m.: Ovechkin gets his best chance of the game with a driving shot to the net while falling that Malkin would have obviously buried. Levy and Melrose think he has better jump in the second period, which probably means someone from IMG called him between periods to subtly remind him the game was on ESPN2.

2:00 p.m.: "You said something that sounded like 'Yakupov', and Nail Yakupov was the rookie of the week in the KHL." Best. Segue. Ever, Steve Levy.

2:03 p.m.: For the record, Melrose likes the "Prague" jerseys more than the Dynamo jerseys. Also for the record: Melrose has given up trying to call HC Lev Praha anything but "Prague."

2:06 p.m.: "I wish Mrs. Mikuš would tweeter or twitter something about her son to us. Or both mothers." Barry Melrose, a man and his Mikuš.

2:08 p.m.: "That sounds like a law firm! Mikuš, Mikuš and Klepis!" Once again confirming Barry Melrose outsources most of his legal work to Zagreb.

2:11 p.m.: Remember before when I said it was cute that Melrose and Levy were taking the piss out of European Hockey? I take it back. I take it all back. It's degenerated into Barry Melrose's Funny-Sounding Names Pun-tacular. Our breaking point was turning Yuri Babenko of Dynamo into a Vegas-inspired "You can Babenko on it" stretch of Mr. Fantastic proportions.

2:13 p.m.: Ovechkin's inept play on the man advantage made me look to the blue line to see if Dennis Wideman had turned the puck over. Pavlovian response. Won't happen again next season. Sorry Calgary.

2:18 p.m.: As lockout talk continues, Levy mentions that every NHL home game brings in about $1 million to the local economy. Which we assume means it brings in roughly $3 million per game across the League and the Islanders bring down the average.

END OF SECOND PERIOD: And we're still scoreless, as the KHL captures the hearts and minds of American fans with tedious play, little physicality and nothing on the scoreboard. In other words: hockey in October.

2:38 p.m.: We begin the third period with a scintillating discussion of Barry Melrose's Twitter habits and a call for John Buccigross to follow the broadcast with KHL tonight (huzzah!)

2:39 p.m.: So here's a KHL goal — Ovechkin scores after the referee refuses to allow the Lev goalie to freeze the puck. He mishandles it, as a KHL goalie is wont to do. Ovechkin then shovels it in while inside the crease. So, in ESPN summary: "OVECHKIN'S BRILLIANT GOAL GIVES DYNAMO THE LEAD; CROSBY SOMETHING SOMETHING."

2:44 p.m.: Despite having the KHL create an exception so he could be paid more than any other NHL import in Russia, "it's not about the money" for Alex Ovechkin, according to Melrose.

2:45 p.m.: Melrose blasts the union members that jetting to Europe for millions while "80 percent" of the players are back in North America. Strong stuff. "If we're in a lockout, we should all be in a lockout." Wonder what Donald Fehr thinks of that?

2:48 p.m.: When the action picks up and Levy and Melrose are calling it as it happens, this feels like a real pro hockey game. When Melrose interrupts that flow to declare he's identified a Chevrolet logo near center ice, it feels the Sklar Brothers are watching a lumberjack competition, minus the jokes.

2:51 p.m.: "You wouldn't think a guy like Chris Simon would be needed in the KHL." Yes, why ever would they need someone of Simon's unique skills set?

2:53 p.m.: Legit LOL when Melrose said he'd call the booth to get a replay and ask for "Ivan." (Levy and Melrose are calling the game off the TV, in case you didn't know.)

2:55 p.m.: Melrose predicts that the NHL will have ads on jerseys.

2:58 p.m.: Levy notes that it's the fifth anniversary of the KHL (hence, the No. 5 in the logo we've seen after every replay) and asks Melrose if he ever played against some of the former Super League Russian stars. Melrose says yes. Levy, deadpans: "Summit Series?" A hearty laugh was shared.

3:01 p.m.: Ovechkin doesn't come out immediately for the power play, leading Melrose to opine: "Uh oh, Dale Hunter's gonna have to explain why he hates Ovechkin."

3:04 p.m.: If this game was any more tedious, it would qualify for the NHL preseason.

3:09 p.m.: Ovechkin on the ice for the final seconds of the game. Do Russian fans care about padding goal totals with empties?

3:10 p.m.: Levy asks Melrose to evaluate the 1-0 win for Dynamo, leading Melrose to realize he had just watched a hockey game.

3:10:30 p.m.: Melrose and Levy end the broadcast with lockout talk, with Melrose again reiterating that the Winter Classic will be the great obstacle to a cancelled season.

3:11 p.m.: "Now stayed tuned for NASCAR NOW" in lieu of a postgame show. Which is weird, because ESPN has never pushed hockey aside awkwardly for another sport ...

Tags: , Barry Melrose, , , Juraj, Lev, , ,
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Alex Ovechkin will play KHL hockey on ESPN2, with Barry Melrose on the mic

05 Oct
2012

ESPN2 is, in some ways, the channel that hockey built (OK, and Jim Rome). So there's a bit of nostalgia — and more than a little irony — in Friday's news that pro hockey is returning the Deuce for the first time in several years.

KHL hockey, to be exact.

The Kontinental Hockey League's deal with ESPN3 was formalized with an announcement today, with some unexpected news about a broadcast component:

ESPN today officially announced that it will deliver a minimum of seven games from 2012-13 season of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) exclusively on ESPN3 in the US and on ESPN UK.  Coverage begins Tuesday, October 9 at 1 p.m. ET with ESPN SportsCenter anchor Steve Levy and NHL studio analyst Barry Melrose calling the Lev vs. Dynamo Moscow game live on ESPN2 and ESPN3.  The game will re-air in primetime on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. ET and will air on delay on ESPN in the UK (Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. BST).

Confirmed games through the end of the month feature an all-star lineup of hockey players, including Alex Ovechkin (Dynamo Moscow), Ilya Kovalchuk (SKA), Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar (Metallurg Mg).

In addition to Levy and Melrose, commentary will be delivered in English language by play-by-play announcer Paul Romanuk and analyst Aaron Murphy.  Previously, ESPN3 in the US carried more than 50 games from the KHL live in Russian throughout the 2009-10 and 2010-11 regular seasons and playoffs.  In January 2010, ESPN3 distributed the KHL All-Star Game with Levy and Melrose commentating live from Bristol.

Steve and Barry, talkin' KHL hockey, pronouncing KHL names. Awesome.

At the moment, the Oct. 9 game between Lev vs. Dynamo Moscow and Alex Ovechkin is the only game scheduled for ESPN2. One wonders if this is a trial balloon for further simulating of KHL games if there's an audience for it — like getting your Evgeni Malkin fix on Oct. 22.

So if you want your fix of NHL stars, you better watch ESPN. And no, we never thought we'd ever type the previous sentence.

Tags: , , Barry Melrose, , ESPN2, ESPN3, , , Kontinental, Kontinental Hockey League, , Lev,
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Alex Ovechkin will play KHL hockey on ESPN2, with Barry Melrose on the mic

05 Oct
2012

ESPN2 is, in some ways, the channel that hockey built (OK, and Jim Rome). So there's a bit of nostalgia — and more than a little irony — in Friday's news that pro hockey is returning the Deuce for the first time in several years.

KHL hockey, to be exact.

The Kontinental Hockey League's deal with ESPN3 was formalized with an announcement today, with some unexpected news about a broadcast component:

ESPN today officially announced that it will deliver a minimum of seven games from 2012-13 season of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) exclusively on ESPN3 in the US and on ESPN UK.  Coverage begins Tuesday, October 9 at 1 p.m. ET with ESPN SportsCenter anchor Steve Levy and NHL studio analyst Barry Melrose calling the Lev vs. Dynamo Moscow game live on ESPN2 and ESPN3.  The game will re-air in primetime on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. ET and will air on delay on ESPN in the UK (Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. BST).

Confirmed games through the end of the month feature an all-star lineup of hockey players, including Alex Ovechkin (Dynamo Moscow), Ilya Kovalchuk (SKA), Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar (Metallurg Mg).

In addition to Levy and Melrose, commentary will be delivered in English language by play-by-play announcer Paul Romanuk and analyst Aaron Murphy.  Previously, ESPN3 in the US carried more than 50 games from the KHL live in Russian throughout the 2009-10 and 2010-11 regular seasons and playoffs.  In January 2010, ESPN3 distributed the KHL All-Star Game with Levy and Melrose commentating live from Bristol.

Steve and Barry, talkin' KHL hockey, pronouncing KHL names. Awesome.

At the moment, the Oct. 9 game between Lev vs. Dynamo Moscow and Alex Ovechkin is the only game scheduled for ESPN2. One wonders if this is a trial balloon for further simulating of KHL games if there's an audience for it — like getting your Evgeni Malkin fix on Oct. 22.

So if you want your fix of NHL stars, you better watch ESPN. And no, we never thought we'd ever type the previous sentence.

Photo via Julie Rubes.

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Tags: , , , Kontinental, , Lev,
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ESPN will broadcast KHL games while the NHL locks out Ovechkin, Malkin

02 Oct
2012

ESPN and Gary Bettman had a bitter divorce during the last NHL lockout, with ESPN lowballing the League with an offer and Bettman splitting for the great unknown of the OLN network (which became VERSUS, which is now NBC Sports Network).

To this day, there are still people around hockey who lament the fact that ESPN doesn't promote and cover the NHL, which allegedly has hindered its growth in the U.S.

With the NHL locked out again, ESPN has decided to take another chance on pro hockey — and NHL players.

[Nicholas J. Cotsonika: Last chance for NHL, NHLPA to strike best deal for both sides]

ESPN signed the Kontinental Hockey League to a broadcast deal for the 2012-13 season, according to the League's website.

From the KHL:

The Kontinental Hockey League has reached an agreement with the US sports TV channel ESPN to broadcast games in the 2012/2013 KHL Championship. The games will be shown on the ESPN3 channel in the United States, Territories of the United States, and also in Great Britain.

ESPN3 reaches 73 million American households and devotes most of its output to live broadcasts of events, including college football, college basketball, the NBA, MLB, ICC (International Cricket Council) competitions and qualifying matches of FIFA tournaments.

During the first decade of October, the channel will broadcast five KHL games. The planned schedule includes:

Dynamo Moscow vs Ak Bars on Oct. 3rd;
Lev vs SKA on Oct. 6th;
Slovan vs Dynamo Moscow on Oct. 7th;
CSKA vs SKA on Oct. 8th;
Lev vs Dynamo Moscow on Oct. 9th.

Alex Ovechkin in the opening game, and then twice more? Couldn't have guessed that …

If you're not familiar with ESPN3, it's an online streaming service that's currently not available in the U.S. as a standalone digital cable channel. So it's not as if you can flip over to the Tres and watch Bucci and Chicken Parm rock "The KHL3Night ".

(That said, we look forward to Barry Melrose breaking down the Ak Bars power play between periods.)

We all know what happens when ESPN adds a property to the empire: a miraculous increase in coverage on all of its properties.

This is a great move for the KHL, a nice add for the ESPN3 service (of which many hockey fans are hearing about for the first time today) and a little dirt in the eye of the NHL, given their history and the scores of players starring in the KHL right now.

Until, of course, ESPN3 decides to start preempting games for Texas Hold'em. All of this has happened before …
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Tags: , , , , Kontinental, Kontinental Hockey League, , Lev,
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Alex Ovechkin debuts in KHL, blows up Libor Pivko with hit (VIDEO)

20 Sep
2012

As you're well aware if you read or watch any hockey media, Alex Ovechkin doesn't back-check.

Ah, but that's NHL Alex Ovechkin. This is KHL Alex Ovechkin. And KHL Alex Ovechkin, in his debut with Dynamo Moscow on Thursday, made a beeline to the neutral zone after a turnover by his team to send Libor Pivko of Dynamo Minsk on his rump-roast with a solid check.

Hey, it's no 'Devastation of Jagr' in the 2010 Olympics, but it brought the house down.

Today was also Evgeni Malkin' debut with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, which lost to Ufa, 4-3, in overtime. Here is Andrei Zubarev welcoming the Pittsburgh Penguins star to the KHL with a low bridge.

Malkin tweeted that he was greeted with a "full stadium." Ovechkin's Dynamo debut, meanwhile, drew 5,000 fans, far less than capacity.

Tags: , beeline, , , , Evgeni Malkin, , Jagr, , Libor Pivko, Libor Pivko of Dynamo Minsk, , Pivko
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MOSCOW (AP) -- Alexander Ovechkin is returning to his former Russian team Dynamo Moscow during the NHL lockout.
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MOSCOW (AP) -- Alexander Ovechkin is returning to his former Russian team Dynamo Moscow during the NHL lockout.
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With some of the big names signing in the KHL, Alex Ovechkin is still on the market. Some of us thought that today, Alex Ovechkin's 27th birthday, he would get a nice present in the form of a contract in the KHL.

But nothing has happened yet.

Just recently, his alma mater Dynamo Moscow was making strange noises about not bringing him on board for the lockout. And that's after the club employed Ovechkin as its "official advisor" a couple of years ago even though it is tough to say if the relationship is still ongoing.

Gleb Chistyakov, his Russian agent, said:"CSKA and Dynamo Moscow have interest in us. The negotiations are still ongoing.  And there's nothing concrete that can be disclosed to the newswire."

But one thing is clear: Ovechkin thinks the NHL lockout may take an entire year and if it does, he will spend that year in the KHL.

Said Ovechkin, exclusively to Pavel Lysenkov and Sovietsky Sport: "If the League [NHL] continues to insist on their [demands], then it will take a full year. That's because we are not going to cave in.  Then I will spend the entire season in the KHL. It's an absolute reality."

Where in the KHL would Ovechkin play? Said Matveev:

"First of all, there's a difficult question with insurance.  For players of Ovechkin's level it is about $100k per month.  The insurance company must be established, approved by the NHLPA.  Secondly, of course, there's the contract's substance."

How important it is to play with established players:

"Of course Ovechkin wants to play with good teammates.  But it is not the deciding factor.  I think that the clubs still don't know who they will sign.  Who will tell you now that Datsyuk, Semin and Ovechkin will be on the same team?"

Chistyakov added that he hopes the negotiations won't take long

It's worth remembering that Sergei Fedorov, who played with Ovechkin in Washington, is currently CSKA's general manager.

But the KHL's president says Dynamo has a "moral right" to Ovechkin.

Ovechkin has avoided questions about his future. "I am not yet ready to answer this question," Ovechkin told Dmitry Ponomarenko of Sovetsky Sport. "But I think that you will know everything in a few days. It will all be officially announced."

At the same time, the Washington Capitals captain said that he is yet to decide where he will play.

It is very possible, even more likely than not, that Ovechkin will indeed join CSKA. It is also possible he will be reunited with his old friend from Washington, Alexander Semin there, who also has not yet made up his mind about his lockout future.

And there are more whispers — completely unconfirmed — that Pavel Datsyuk may center that line.

Ovechkin also declined to tell who he is skating and practicing with, citing possible rumors. "I don't want to answer that question, otherwise rumors will start floating around. I will only say that I am not going to drag out the negotiations," he told SovSport. "For me personally the sooner I start the season the better. I fully understand that it will be difficult to adjust at first."

(Ed. Note: A previous version of this post listed Valery Matveev as Ovechkin's Russian agent, as per Izvestiya newspaper. His Russian agent is Gleb Chistyakov.)

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