From Russia, Without Love
Alexei Kaigorodov fires shots at the NHL from mother Russia. Was he right to refuse an AHL assignment?

Jim MANDELARO
MLNSportsZone.com

The Alexei Kaigorodov hockey saga has the makings of a bad movie: From Russia, Without Love.

The NHL Ottawa Senators suspended Kaigorodov in November 2006, after refusing to report to the Binghamton Senators (B-Sens) of the American Hockey League.

The rookie center apparently wasn’t in a New York state of mind, and did not take his demotion to the American Hockey League (AHL), well. Instead of reporting to the B-Sens, he returned to his native Russia. 

Once home, he took off the gloves, firing more shots at the Senators than he ever did for them.

In an article that appeared in a Moscow newspaper in November, Kaigorodov ripped Senators general manager John Muckler, head coach Bryan Murray and assistant coaches Greg Carvel and John Paddock for his demotion.

Alexei argued that he was never given a chance, that the Senators’ coaches trusted players with higher salaries and that he was deceived about the prospects of a demotion to Binghamton.

"I have a two-year contract with the Senators, but I know for sure that I will not come back to Ottawa's present coach," he told Russia’s Sport Express. "Despite continuing to work hard in practices, for some reason I started receiving increasingly less ice time. The last time we played Boston, I spent two shifts on the ice in the first period, and then didn't go out on the ice at all. The oddest thing is that not even one time the head coach came up to me to explain why this was the case.”  

Perhaps hockey coaches in Russia are either obligated or inclined to...

Continued...

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