A couple of weeks ago, TSN hockey analyst Gord Miller came to the conclusion that in order for the Pittsburgh Penguins to remain competitive in the NHL, they would have to deal the league's leading scorer, Evgeni Malkin, for a first-line winger, a No. 2 center, and "hopefully" a pick or a prospect. It was a laughable proposal.
On Sunday night, Rob Rossi, Penguins beat writer for the Tribune-Review, appeared on a weekly Pittsburgh talk show and suggested the team would be wise to put Sidney Crosby on the trade block this offseason. I guess this is what happens when you go from being two wins away from hoisting the Stanley Cup to being the No. 10 team in the Eastern Conference in a matter of one season.
As the NHL All-Star Break continues, keep up with FanHouse's coverage of hockey's unofficial midway point.
Some say there's no point to even salvaging this disaster, and Bruce Ciskie and Earl Sleek will debate that point later. For now, my colleague Eric McErlain and I will assume that the game isn't going away, and discuss what's wrong and how to fix it.
A couple of weeks back we saw news surface that former New York Islander Alexei Yashin wanted back with the team that only a year before had bought him out of his massive contract. Now it looks like he wants off the Island for good.
According to the Newsday blog, Real LI, Yashin has put the home he shares with former fashion model Carol Alt in Old Westbury on the market for $11 million:
Public records show that Yashin purchased the six-bedroom, 9,200-square-foot mansion on 3.26 acres in 2002 for $3.877 million. The home has an elevator, newly built home theater, billiards room, pool and tennis courts.
As difficult as it might be to believe, Alexei Yashin wants to return to Long Island. That's Yashin and his wife, Long Island native Carol Alt, pictured at right at a premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in Manhattan back in April.
But that's not what's most unbelievable about this story. What's most unbelievable is that the Islanders are actually considering it. It was only a week ago that the team announced that it was letting go of a passel of veterans, all in the interest of giving their younger players a shot at significant minutes next season.
Not that Yashin doesn't deserve some consideration at this point, even if it's not on the Island. Playing last year at Yaroslavl in the RSL, Yashin had 16 goals and 27 assists in the regular season and added eight goals and six assists in 16 playoff games as his team made it to the Finals.
So what's the hangup? According to Gandler, the Islanders seem to be balking at his asking price, while the agent also seems to think that Yashin's fractured relationship with Islanders head coach Ted Nolan might be a bit problematic as well.
Color me shocked. So should Islanders fans be worried? Maybe. After all, Yashin had a very close relationship with Islanders owner Charles Wang, one that resulted in the team holding on to the veteran a full season or two longer than they should have. Is that relationship enough to move Wang to direct his hockey professionals to bring Yashin back? Stay tuned.
Just when you thought Alexei Yashin was gone forever, the New York Times had to go out of its way to find him.
The reason: Reporter Michael Schwirtz followed Yashin and his ex-supermodel wife, Carol Alt, for a couple of days on the circuit around the Russian Super League. The ex-Islander is on a one-year contract with Lokomotiv, this after the Islanders bought him out of his massive contract at the end of last season.
So what's Schwirtz's angle? Essentially, that after years of yearning to play in the NHL, more and more quality Russian players are opting stay home and play in the RSL.
But is it really happening? Not exactly. Sure, Yashin is a big name, but he was one sent packing with his tail between his legs after an embarrassing end to his tenure to New York. And the other big names he mentions, Darius Kasparaitis, Oleg Tverdovsy and Oleg Petrov, aren't exactly the sort of players you'd see on an All-Star roster with any regularity anymore.
The real story, however, is one that Schwirtz buries deep in the article and has been covered elsewhere in North America beginning a couple of weeks ago: Namely, that the folks behind the Russian Super League, in concert with the Russian Hockey Federation and some folks who control the purse strings at energy giant Gazprom, want to create a Pan European Super League.
For as long as one-time supermodel Carol Alt has been in the public spotlight, she's had a thing for hockey players. First there was her marriage to former New York Ranger Ron Greschner, followed by her ill-defined relationship with former New York Islanders center Alexei Yashin (Married, yes, no, maybe?).
Turns out I might not be the only one wondering if this report from the New York Post is correct -- and I can't quite believe that I just wrote that:
If you want to make time with Carol Alt, bring a hockey stick. The former model, once married to ex-Ranger Ron Greschner, was spotted backstage in the W downtown lounge with current Blueshirt Henrik Lundqvist - not boyfriend Islander Alexi Yashin.
Did you really expect the girl to follow Yashin to Siberia? You've got to hand it to Alt. After all, it's usually rich men from Manhattan who get into the habit of trading in for a newer model every couple of years.
There was some wonder and speculation as to whether ex-supermodel Carol Alt would follow her long-time companion*, Alexei Yashin, over to Russia for a year while he plays hockey with Lokomotiv.
The answer appears to be NO, although Alt will pay him visits and send cute little text messages like "No screwing teh Russian suprmdls, lolz =) "
Carol, the good little bunny that she is, also tries to play a little PR rep for Yashin by claiming that her companion* just needs to play where he is 'treated like a god' and that Alexei isn't greedy, just misunderstood. (Now I know what it tastes like to throw up in my own mouth. Yuck.)
"He loved Ottawa and he wanted to stay there, and he asked for an (contract) extension and sat out a season," she said, referring to the 1999-2000 season, when Yashin was suspended for the season by the Senators after refusing to report to the team. "This is a guy who gave up $3.6 million to get what he wanted, which was an extension contract in Ottawa.
"Then they write about in the papers how greedy he is. Can you imagine how misunderstood this whole thing was?"
Oh, yeah, d00d is just misunderstood, right? He's signing over in Russia simply because of being homesick, right? He signed a 10-year $87.5mil contract with the Islanders simply because he loved Nassau Country so much and didn't want to leave, right? He shuts it down during the playoffs, when he doesn't get paid, and he's not greedy? Riiiiiiiiiiight.
Am I supposed to feel sympathy for this dickhead? Oh, Ka$hin Ya$hin doesn't want more money, he just needs his massive ego stroked like a Shih Tzu *eyeroll*.
Don't forget, Yashin made a very public donation to an Ottawa museum (to make himself look like a hero), just to funnel money to his parents (who received very large 'salaries') without paying taxes. Yashin and greed go together like hot dogs and mustard.
If the people of Russia want to treat this greedy shill like a god, they are very much welcome to. We just don't need some over-the-hill ex-model telling us how 'wrong' we supposedly are.
What's next, Carol? Telling us that Global Warming doesn't exist?
A couple of weeks back, the New York Islanders attracted a lot of attention for announcing their intention to create a "Blog Box" for the 2007-08 NHL season. Essentially, the idea was to give bloggers a space where they could be segregated from the working media and cheer their hearts out all game long before getting a chance to interview players after the game -- that is, once the beat writers on deadline got to ask all of their questions first.
The Islanders also asked that when folks apply, they should try to create interesting new angles on covering the team. One of the best I've seen so far comes from the American Hockey Fan, who proposes creating a new blog called Yashin's Tears:
"Yashin's Tears" will be a fictional comedy blog written from the perspective of Alexei Yashin, forced to watch the Isles season from the sidelines after his his contract was bought out by the Islanders, who as it turned out, he passionately loved, despite, you know- never really playing that way. The entire Isles season will be covered from the fictional perspective of Yashin, as he wanders the country with two goals: Earning the forgiveness of Islander fans and spending his $17.63 million on "the most magnificent turtleneck collection the world has ever known."
As the season progresses, actual facts and events from the Isles season and practices will be incorporated into the blog, giving a fictional gag a fun skeleton of truth to hang on. Another bonus would be that I would not have the need to ever actually bother a player, member of the media or the organization at large with questions, as I would merely be an observer who points out what goes on behind the scenes.
Alexei Yashin, who cashed in on the Islanders buying out his bloated albatross of a contract, is looking for a new sucker to pay him big bucks to rack up some empty offensive points.
Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette reports on rumors that Yashin is training with Saku Koivu, and would love to join Alexei Kovalev and his other homeys with the Habs next season.
Given the problems that the Canadiens had with their Russian vodka headaches last season (especially Sergei Samsonov), would the Habs really want to sign a guy like Yashin?
The Habs are in desperate need of a centre with size, and the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Yashin appears to be the kind of player that's worth a gamble. That's the case for Yashin, but the argument against bringing him here seems stronger.
While the Canadiens talk about revving up the offense, the team's system is built on defense first. That's one of the reasons why it was a surprise that Samsonov, last summer's free-agent prize, didn't work because he has been a plus player over his career.
With Radek Bonk UFA's status, the Habs are quite small down the middle with guys like Koivu, Tomas Plekanec, and Chris Higgins. Adding a tall centerman would certainly make some sense.
Now, the Habs had the league's best Power Play last season. Yes, they may lose UFA blaster master Sheldon Souray to another team, but the Habs don't appear to need help with the man-advantage other than getting Souray back, or signing another point-man replacement.
The Habs' total offense was just middle-of-the-road, suggesting that the Habs are weak at even strength. Given how Yashin is strongest on the Power Play, he wouldn't really help in this area, either.
Then, we come back to the style of play the Habs play. Samsonov and Alexei Kovalev whined all year about being restricted offensively. How can a guy like Yashin expect to flourish in such a system?
If I were the Canadiens GM, I'd see if I could sign Yashin for quite cheap. If not, then I'd focus on getting a big 2-way or defensive center ... or bring Radek Bonk back. What the Habs need more of it grit, not another Russian headache.
Q: Who makes $7.6* million a season, dates a former supermodel, and disappears the moment the playoffs start?
A: Alexei Valeryevich Yashin
It looks like Isles coach Ted Nolan has already had enough of Yashin's floaty ways and has quickly demoted his captain:
Nolan busted Yashin, 33, down to centre on the fourth line halfway through the first period of the Eastern Conference quarter-final game. Yashin played between Richard Park and Andy Hilbert, while Richard Zednik was promoted to Yashin's spot with centre Viktor Kozlov and right winger Miroslav Satan. Yashin barely got off the bench in the third period.
Yashin played 7 minutes, 7 seconds in Saturday's game, the least amount of ice time of anyone on the team except for backup goaltender Wade Dubielewicz. But it is richly deserved.
Kapitan Ka$hin has always had a reputation as a player who has disappeared the moment the regular season paycheques stop coming, and he's doing nothing this postseason to improve on that. With just 10:21 in ice time per game in this series (0 points in those 3 games), Yashin finds himself behind such superstars as Aaron Asham, Trent Hunter, and Randy Robitaille. I guess being the highest paid player on the team and having the captain's 'C' isn't enough to motivate the guy. What is?
All I know is that playoff games involve turning up the intensity a few notches and skating faster and harder. Yashin, on the other hand, is a player that has always relied on his brains and great stickhandling ability, rather than speed and hustle. In the regular season, it's easy enough for him to get time and space with the puck and float around looking for open spaces. In the playoffs, both of these elements are hard to find, and Yashin does not work harder to compensate.
If I were Nolan, I would have stripped Yashin of the C much earlier and given it to somebody like Mike Sillinger, who actually gives an honest effort most every night.
A couple of weeks ago, TSN hockey analyst Gord Miller came to the conclusion that in order for the Pittsburgh Penguins to remain competitive in the NHL, they would have to deal the league's leading scorer, Evgeni Malkin, for a first-line winger, a No. 2 center, and "hopefully" a pick or a prospect. It was a laughable proposal. 
A couple of weeks back we saw news surface that former New York Islander 
As difficult as it might be to believe, 
Just when you thought Alexei Yashin was gone forever, the New York Times had to go out of its way to find him.
For as long as one-time supermodel 
There was some wonder and speculation as to whether ex-supermodel Carol Alt would follow her long-time companion*, Alexei Yashin, over to Russia for a year 
A couple of weeks back, the New York Islanders attracted a lot of attention for announcing their intention to create a "
Alexei Yashin, who cashed in on the Islanders buying out his bloated albatross of a contract, is looking for a new sucker to pay him big bucks to rack up some empty offensive points.
Q: Who makes $7.6* million a season, dates a former supermodel, and disappears the moment the playoffs start?
