By Evan Weiner

August 26, 2008

(New York, NY) -- The e-mail from Szymon Szemberg from the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) that came last Thursday was very simple and very to the point. The planned IIHF get together in New York on September 4 dissolved or in Szemberg's words. "That meeting is cancelled or possibly postponed."

The September 4 gathering of officials from the National Hockey League (NHL), the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and various European national hockey federations was supposed to deal with two major topics, negotiations between the NHL and European federations over transfer fees and a discussion of holding a 2012 World Cup of hockey. Both are now back burner issues for the time being. The relationship between the NHL and the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia is at a low point. The NHL is unhappy that the Nashville Predators have apparently lost the services of Alexander Radulov to the KHL's Salavat Yulaev Ufa. Radulov left the Predators with one year remaining on his contact and the Predators management along with the NHL feel that Radulov owes Nashville that year. Russian officials contend that they planned to honor all NHL contracts but Radulov happened to sign his new deal with Salavat Yulaev Ufa on July 5, 2008, five days before the NHL and all international hockey leagues agreed to respect players' existing contracts. The Radulov singing announcement was made on July 11.

The 22-year-old Radulov had 26 goals and 32 assists in 81 games for Nashville in 2007-08. Nashville would like to have him in training camp but the likelihood of that happening seems seems to be somewhere between slim and none with none the more operative word.

Back in July, the Predators GM David Polie issued a statement saying, "Alex is under contract with the Nashville Predators through the 2008-09 season. We are looking forward to him being here for training camp and being a part of this franchise's success for years to come." Polie now has given Radulov until Monday (September 1) to decide whether to play with Nashville for the final year of his NHL contract or Nashville will suspend him.

Radulov is going to get a big pay raise this year and it is doubtful that he would come back to the NHL if the reports of his salary are true. Radulov was scheduled to $984,200 as a member of the Nashville franchise during the 2008-09 season. His Salavat Yulaev Ufa deal is worth a reported $13 million, tax-free for the upcoming season, with the NHL salary cap in place, there is no way that Poile and the Predators can match the Russian club's contract.

Additionally, if the NHL did try and sue Radulov and the KHL, the matter would be in the hands of a Russian judge and the chances of the NHL winning that lawsuit are also slim and none.

For the NHL, those types of salaries for decent, but not star, players may become a problem. The new KHL, which is a rebranding of the Russian Super Hockey League, might make a run at NHL players in 2009-10, whether they are under contract or not. The 24-team KHL starts its season on Tuesday. The league has teams in Russia, Belarus, Latvia and Kazakstan in the 2008-09 season but there could be teams from other European countries in the league in 2009-10 as two Swedish teams, Frölunda HC and Färjestads BK, have been invited to join the league. Teams from Belarus, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Finland and Germany may also join and the KHL could become a big threat to the NHL for not only players but access to money spigots in Europe.

The KHL was founded by Alexander Medvedev, the deputy CEO of Gazprom, the world's third-largest supplier of natural gas. The league apparently has money and has given big contracts to Jaromir Jagr and Radulov.

The NHL-KHL cold war is part of Russia's growing stature because of oil money. The Russians are looking to use sports as a way to show their strength as a country with the KHL and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics as the two prime examples of that. There is also another item that factors into the hockey differences. Can international ice hockey federations look the other way and deal with the KHL and the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia if the Russia doesn't pull out of Georgia's breakaway territories, Abkhazia and South Ossetia? Russian troops and tanks went into South Ossetia on August 7, on the eve of this year's Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremonies, after Georgia tried to take control of the breakaway territory. Russia has formally recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states which has drawn the ire of the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

The Sochi Olympics have already become a political football in the United States. Representatives Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) plan to introduce legislation on the floor of the House asking the International Olympic Committee to find a new location for the 2014 event.

The Shuster-Schwartz resolution, which they released on August 11 as a statement, said that "the Russian Federation’s invasion of the Republic of Georgia, a sovereign and democratic nation, on the eve of the 2008 Summer Olympics makes it an unacceptable host for the 2014 winter games. It further states that the location of Sochi, a mere 20 miles from the current conflict zone makes it a practically unacceptable location for the Olympics and that had the (IOC) been aware of these circumstances at the time of awarding the games to Sochi that they would not have selected it as an Olympic venue.

“The Russian Federation’s invasion of the Republic of Georgia and its actions against its democratically elected president violates international standards,” said Schwartz. “Russia must realize that its actions in Georgia will not be ignored by the international community. We stand by Georgia, our friend and ally, and call on the IOC to designate a new venue for the Russian Olympics.

“Russia’s belligerence against the people of Georgia and their democratically elected government cannot go unpunished by the international community,” Shuster said. “The Olympics are a time honored event that allows the nations of the world to put their differences aside for the purity of sport. Russia’s blatant violation of the long respected ‘Olympic truce’ should be enough for the IOC to join with us in choosing a more worthy venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics."

The KHL, the Russia-Georgia conflict, Europe are part of the hockey business. Geopolitical events do influence the sports business.

The NHL may not be part of the 2014 Sochi Olympics and it may not stem from political pressure from Congress. There is no deal in place to send NHL players to that Olympics. That is yet another problem for the IIHF to solved and that will not happen on September 4 in New York because " that meeting is cancelled or possibly postponed."

evanjweiner@yahoo.com