On Monday, we detailed how Dynamo Moscow, Alex Ovechkin‘s former Russian Super League team, was not terribly interested in bringing back one of their most famous sons if a NHL lockout forced a cancellation of all or part of its 2012-13 season. Dynamo’s president Arkady Rotenberg told R-Sport, “If we really need [Ovi], maybe we will offer the money. But I don’t think we need him.”
Well, Vityaz Chekhov, a team better known for its fists, habitual losing, and owners with questionable connections, wants Alex Ovechkin to know that Hey, we’re interested.
“We don’t have any of our alumni in the NHL, so in the case of Ovechkin not coming to an agreement with Dynamo, I’m ready to talk to him,” Vityaz president Mikhail Golovkov told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
Signing the Capitals captain would obviously be a coup for Vityaz Chekhov, a team who has never made the playoffs and finished last in its division in each of its four seasons in the KHL. They’re also in serious need of star power, scorers, and someone who will put butts in the seats.
And despite Vityaz’s less-than-honorable past, this could actually be a good fit for Ovechkin. Yes, really. Last year, Vityaz found themselves in trouble financially, but Golovkov, the former president of Dynamo, bought the team. Golovkov has strong ties to Ovechkin: he was the person who gave Ovi the position of adviser with Dynamo Moscow, which he still holds to this day.
Since buying the team over the summer, Golovkov has also tried to bring respectability to Vityaz and distance itself from its former sideshow past.
Like this.
This.
And this.
Nick Tarnasky was not re-signed and is now with Rochester of the AHL. Kip Brennan was also sent walking. The only enforcers on the team now are Trevor Gillies, whom Golovkov recently signed from the NHL’s New York Islanders, and SIGH Jeremy Yablonski (who is prominently featured in the bottom two videos above). The best part, Ovi would actually know one of the players on the team: former Capital and Hershey Bear Brian Fahey signed with Vityaz over the summer.
So while Dynamo only has tepid interest in The Great Eight, it looks as if two of Ovi’s former friends would totally employ him in the KHL if a lockout wipes out all or some of the NHL season: Golovkov and CSKA’s Sergei Fedorov.
See, Ovi. You’re still loved.
Additional reporting by Fedor Fedin.
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