The initiative of Senator Fetisov

The legendary in the past hockey player, coach, functionary and senator Vyacheslav Fetisov made a legislative initiative

The Russian hockey season did not have time to end, the Bayopic film “Glory” was just walking on the first channel, as his main character immediately tried to return Russian attention to hockey. The legendary in the past hockey player, coach, functionary and senator Vyacheslav Fetisov made a very eloquent legislative initiative.

The senator offers not to release Russian players in the NHL until they turn 28 years old. As Fetisov himself said, "with this law we would close the league until the hockey player receives the status of an unlimited free agent." The idea of Fetisov in appearance is quite simple: this is an elementary ban.

I must admit that the senator chose the moment for his legislative initiative. Still strong in the minds of Russian hockey people is bitterness from the defeat of the Russian national team in the final of the World Cup from the Canadian national team. Thousands of copies were just broken in discussions of the dubious behavior of Russian hockey players at the world award ceremony . The hysterically-pans of the next season begins to manifest itself gradually, when the World Cup will be held in Russia, and then the World Cup will take place behind the ocean. The understanding that at this Cup of the world of hockey Russia threatens a distinct defeat, apparently, forced Fetisov to publish his current project.

In essence, the senator did not come up with anything new. Having hoped for a certain "sports specificity", he offers a clear anti -constitutional act - a restriction of free movement of Russian citizens. According to his project, the labor activity of a professional hockey player will be limited not only by a certain contract, say, with the Club of the Continental Hockey League, and not even agreements between the NHL and the KHL. No, Fetisov offers the widest possible restriction: while the Russian player is not 28 years old, he will not have the right to sign a contract and go for the ocean to play the NHL club. By definition.

It is curious that Vyacheslav Fetisov himself went to play the NHL when he was 30 years old. At that time, he was already a famous hockey player, the champion of the USSR, peace, the Olympic champion and the owner of the Canada Cup. In the NHL, Fetisov became the owner of the Stanley Cup in the famous "Russian Five" in Detroit. And in 1989, his departure to New Jersey became one of the most high-profile scandals of Soviet hockey-between Fetisov himself and coach Viktor Tikhonov. Fetisov later recalled: "It was not just a player’s conflict with a coach, but a confrontation between a person and a system. I fought for the legal path of leaving for the NHL."

It must be understood that Fetisov left not just from domestic hockey - he left the USSR, with all the ensuing consequences. Most likely, in the current circumstances, a player of this level would go to the NHL much earlier than he would be 30 years old. The current hockey practice speaks of this - and probably fetis, understanding the importance of talent leakage, tries to "plug a hole in the dam with his finger." He talks about the mass outflow of young players in the NHL, although right now the mass in this matter is not visible. He calls the figure of 40 people, but this figure is refuted by such a serious opponent as another legendary Soviet hockey player and coach Boris Mayorov, according to whom only 24 Russians are now playing in the NHL. Yes, after the current world championship, it reminds Fetisov, got the opportunity to leave the owner of the Gagarin Cup as part of St. Petersburg SKA Artemy Panarin, who is 23 years old. But is this a reason to believe that in the NHL he will be considered lost to Russian hockey?

Closing inside its own hockey problems, Russia will remain away from the hockey "mainstream"

It is interesting that even the icons of Soviet hockey, which, of course, is Vladislav Tretyak, do not agree with the idea of Fetisov. “You can’t hold anyone by force,” said the President of the Russian Hockey Federation, “however, everyone should negotiate with the club. If the team does not against the hockey player departure, there should not be any problems. Fetisov himself was released at one time? Why shouldn't players not let go?”

The project of Fetisov shows, alas, the desire of a bad doctor who treats symptoms instead of fighting the disease. When the continental hockey league was created, a lot was said about the Russian alternative to the NHL, about the field of development of Russian hockey, which will strive to play Russian hockey youth. It was said that in the KHL players will get the opportunity to realize their talents, receive decent money and not to rush in the NHL it is not clear for what. But less than ten years of the KHL existing, and we hear from the same Panarin the words abandoned in passing: "Make a normal league - and no one will go to the NHL!" And the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Vitaliy Mutko on the air of the Russia-2 television channel frankly admits that there is a significant gap in the game level between the collections of Canada and Russia in hockey. “If we compare 17 players from the KHL and NHL representatives, then it turns out that the level of skill in their league is higher,” so Mutko summed up the results of the 2015 hockey championship.

Therefore, the point is not in the financial capabilities of the KHL? The point is still in the level of hockey, which the KHL, no matter how tries, cannot provide? In addition, a KHL is planned a certain movement towards the USSR championship: they talk about the long -term training camps of the national team, about the harmfulness of trips to the Far East, about the club three attacks. Do not talk only about two main things. First: about schools of young hockey players, about a worthy level of life of trainers in these schools. Second: about the general standard of living in Russia, in many ways from which young players will run faster for the ocean. The first is connected with the second. In memory, the memories of the scandals with which Alexander Mogilny and Evgeny Malkin left for the NHL are still fresh - they, simply put, became hockey "dissidents", striving for both new hockey and a new life reality. If Fetisov’s initiative becomes a law, this will automatically entail such cases, because few people will hold it by force. And to build an ideal hockey industry without taking into account the realities of modern Russia is utopia in a purely Soviet form.

In addition, it must be understood that, closing inside its own hockey problems, Russia will remain away from the hockey "mainstream". Note that only Russian players, not coaches are invited in the NHL. And coaches are methods, in the end, development, prospects, the future of hockey. But if the players at least feel these other realities, they will eventually become useful for hockey Russia. After all, it was overseas players who played the main role in the success of the Russian national team at the last world championship . If anyone forgot, silver medals cannot be considered failure. Or is the reverse point of view also a relapse of the Soviet era?