Checking out their options

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/09/2012 (4873 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was a subject Nik Antropov didn’t really wish to touch a week ago. Ditto for Olli Jokinen and for every player who earns an NHL paycheque.

What if — as so many are predicting — the 2012-13 season doesn’t start on time and the players are locked out?

Do they cross their fingers and pray there is a quick resolution or get on the next plane to Switzerland, Sweden or Russia to continue to ply their trade?

Antropov told the Free Press he’d consider the KHL again, the same destination in which he found a temporary home during the washed out 2004-05 season. Jokinen is a part owner of IFK Helsinki and told reporters last week — with his two daughters in tow and his wife at their new Winnipeg address unpacking boxes — that, if the lockout dragged on, he’d consider returning home to Finland.

Three defencemen who were in the Jets system a year ago have already found new locales — Arturs Kulda and Mark Flood are in the KHL while Brett Festerling has signed with the Nurnberg Ice Tigers in Germany.

Another option for many of the NHL’s younger stars would be the American Hockey League, just as it was in ’04-05 when the likes of Eric Staal, Zach Parise, Mike Cammalleri, Jay Bouwmeester and Jason Spezza all spent time developing their games with NHL affiliates. Just for the record, the only full-time Jet who would be eligible to head to the AHL is centre Alex Burmistrov, as he is in the final year of his entry-level contract (same goes for Patrice Cormier, but he spent most of last year in the AHL). Any other player on a two-way contract would have to first clear waivers before heading to St. John’s.

But as much as the Jets would like to see Burmistrov in St. John’s with the IceCaps, it’s likely the talented Russian — who doesn’t turn 21 until next month but already has 150 NHL games under his belt — would prefer to stay in his hometown of Kazan and play with the KHL’s Ak-Bars Kazan Snow Leopards. That debate, now just speculation, could become an issue if a lockout dragged on into October.

In any case, it’s clear as the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement on Sept. 15 approaches, more and more players are examining their options. On Wednesday, USA Today obtained a copy of a lockout preparation memo being sent by the NHL Players’ Association to all its members that included answers to some of the questions players may have on the edge of their tongues.

An example: injured players — like the Jets’ Zach Bogosian — would still receive their paycheques during the lockout. From the memo: “If you are unfit to play because of a hockey-related injury when a lockout begins, you are entitled to receive your salary until you are fit to play. If you are currently injured, you should make sure that your condition is fully documented and that your club is aware of it. If you do not receive your salary payment when it becomes due, you should contact your agent and/or the NHLPA legal department immediately.”

Players are allowed to sign in other leagues when they are locked out, but the memo warns that an injury suffered while playing outside of the NHL could be problematic and lead to potential disciplinary action. The solution, according to the NHLPA memo, would be for players to purchase disability insurance on their own.

Again, though, it’s fingers-crossed territory for most NHLers who remain hopeful the contents of that memo are soon moot.

As Jokinen said last week: “There’s no need to have a Plan B yet. But for a lot of players the only thing we do know is to play hockey. You have to be playing, it’s different to just train. Last time (in 2004-05) most of the guys went (away) to play right away. Now players would rather wait until it’s time to make those decisions.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait

Plan B: Revisited

A look at where some current Jets who had been drafted or were already playing pro hockey spent the 2004-05 lockout season:

 

• Dustin Byfuglien — Drafted by Chicago in ’03, spent ’04-05 in his last year with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars.
• Toby Enstrom — Drafted by Atlanta in ’03, played with MoDo of the Swedish Elite League during lockout.
• Ron Hainsey — Montreal draft pick in ’00, split time with the Habs and Hamilton in ’02-03 and ’03-04 and then all of the lockout year in the AHL.
• Andrew Ladd — Carolina draft pick in ’04; played with Calgary Hitmen during the lockout and was a member of Canada’s world junior ‘dream team’ that won gold at the WJHC in Grand Forks.
• Alex Ponikarovsky — Drafted by Toronto in 1998, played 19 games for Voskresensk Khimik of the KHL.
• Chris Thorburn — Buffalo draft pick in ’01, spent the lockout year with the Rochester Americans.
• Kyle Wellwood — Maple Leafs’ draft pick in ’01, played the ’04-05 season in St. John’s.

— Tait