Nail Yakupov just wants to play. Photo by Resolute via Wikimedia Commons.
Three days into the NHL lockout, there’s already controversy regarding the flood of players heading overseas.
All hockey leagues in Europe have an affiliation with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). When a player wants to join a European league, they must have a transfer card from the IIHF. This transfer card acts as a permit to play in those leagues. Sounds simple, right?
That’s what Nail Yakupov thought when he flew back to Russia to play with the KHL’s Neftekhimik team. He’s ready to play – his agent, Igor Larionov, says he has the Edmonton Oilers’ blessing – but the lack of a transfer card has benched him. It’s frustrating for a young player who’s eager to see some action.
But this doesn’t just affect Yakupov. Since the lockout was announced, many players have flocked to the KHL as well as the Czech leagues. None of them have their transfer cards yet.
Here’s the real head-scratcher: some of the players that are headed for the Swiss leagues, like Logan Couture and Rick Nash, have had no problem getting their transfer card. It’s players like Ilya Kovalchuk, who was named captain of SKA St. Petersburg, and Jaromir Jagr, who’s set to play for the Kladno team he owns, who can’t play yet. The majority of players who have headed overseas have signed with the KHL and Czech leagues.
You’re probably wondering if the NHL is affiliated with the IIHF. It’s not, but it does have a great deal of clout with the federation. Perhaps the league hasn’t yet given its permission for the transfer cards to be issued. Perhaps it engaged in some bullying to make the federation, whose president has been reluctant to defy the NHL in the past, delay or deny cards to players who have signed. That would be another way to keep players from returning to the ice.
The IIHF has stated that it takes a week for transfer cards to be issued. If this is true, then the players who have already signed will be playing by this time next week. But if those players don’t have cards in hand by then, that will certainly raise some questions.
And if the NHL has had any hand in delaying or denying the cards, the CBA negotiations could turn very, very dirty.
