Emery Signs with Russian Club Altant Mytishchi

BOULDER, Colorado -- Former Ottawa Senators goaltender Ray Emery has signed a one-year deal reportedly worth US$2 million with Russian club Atlant Mytishchi, the CBC reported Wednesday.

Coming off an appearance in the Stanley Cup finals in 2007, Emery had signed a three-year, $9 million contract with the Senators last summer. But after an abysmal 2007-08 campaign in which he played in only 31 games due to various injuries and disciplinary problems, Ottawa decided to buy out the remainder of the 25-year-old's contract this summer.

Apparently there was very little interest in Emery's services from NHL clubs, so Russia appeared to be the best option. Undoubtedly, New York Times reporter Michael Schwirtz will chalk this up as a coup for Russian hockey, as another "star" has fled North America for the bright lights of the KHL.

Signing Emery is a significant investment for his new club, formerly known as Khimik, as the Russian league places heavy restrictions on signing foreign-born goaltenders. Teams are limited to only five foreigners on their roster, but goalies count double towards the quota. Additionally, during the regular season, foreign goalies are not allowed to play more than 50% of their team's minutes. There are no such restrictions on playing time during the playoffs.

Emery will be joining a team with several former NHLers, including defenseman Dmitry Bykov (formerly of the Detroit Red Wings), and forwards Alexander Korolyuk (San Jose Sharks) and Igor Korolev (four NHL clubs).

Michael Schwirtz Still Sucks at his Job

BOULDER, Colorado -- Some things really get my dander up, and one of them is lazy, stupid reporting. This latest bit of tripe from the New York Times describes a recent report by Human Rights Watch on the growth of violence in the Russian republic of Ingushetia, a region bordering Chechnya. The article was written by one of the Times' resident non-reporters in Moscow, Michael Schwirtz.

The first thing I have to take issue with is that this piece has no corroborating sources. All he did was go to the press conference and quote the one of the report's researchers and an official from the Ingushetian government.

This is most galling to me because several of my colleagues are engaged in research about the diffusion of violence across the North Caucasus region. No sensible person would ever claim that Ingushetia has "long been considered a relatively peaceful enclave in the North Caucasus"; violence has been growing there since the second Chechen War broke out in 1999, and has reached a fever pitch over the past three years. The center of insurgent violence has in fact been moving westward out of Chechnya and into Ingushetia over the past several years. So any claims that the findings of this report are new are either uninformed or disingenuous.

If you would like to find some real information about the distribution of violence in the North Caucasus, look at the research of Jason Lyall from Princeton or my advisor at the University of Colorado, John O'Loughlin. Don't read this garbage.

More Bad Journalism, This Time from the Washington Post

BOULDER, Colorado -- This post has nothing to do with bandy, but I recently posted about my row with the New York Times, so I thought I would also post this correspondence I had with their sister paper, the Washington Post.

An article appeared in the Washington Post yesterday about a New Jersey restaurateur named Bobby Egan who has had a number of weird diplomatic dealings with the North Koreans. This article shockingly resembles stories that ran last fall in both the New Yorker and Vanity Fair. So I wrote the Post's ombudsman to find out what was going on.

Dear Sirs,

I am writing in regards to the article that appeared on washingtonpost.com on April 9, 2008 titled "Kitchen Diplomacy" by Peter Carlson. I am somewhat concerned as this article is strikingly similar to an article that appeared in the October 8, 2007 issue of the New Yorker, titled "Our Man in Pyongyang" by Rebecca Mead. The articles use many of the same sources, retell several similar anecdotes, and most troublingly, even some of the quotes in the stories are identical. The subject of the story, Mr. Egan, may just be a very predictable person, and he tells all reporters the same stories; if that is true, then ethically, there is probably nothing wrong with the reporting in this story. However, the fact that your paper wrote a story with essentially the same facts and the same angle as the one that appeared previously should be cause for concern. It shows a lack of ingenuity, creativity, and frankly, credibility on the part of your newspaper, and this article should probably never have been written. If your reporter went to interview Mr. Egan, and he gave him the same old rope he did to others, this story should have been left alone. Remember that you are a newspaper, and you should not be publishing old stories.

Sincerely,

Andrew Gustafson

This was their ombudsman's response (note how badly my name is butchered, and I think I'm going to start referring to North Koreans as "NKs" in my daily speech).

Mr. Guftafson:

Peter Carlson wrote me the following explanation. "Yes, the New Yorker did do a story on Bobby Egan last October (So did vanityfair.com) As it happened, I had been talking to Bobby long before either came out. Then he abruptly stopped talking to me, probably because he was talking to VF and the NYer. So I quit calling him. Then he called me out of the blue a few weeks ago to ask why I wasn't calling him and to invite me to come up when the NKs were dining at Cubby's."

Back to me: I don't see nothing wrong with The Post covering something the New Yorker or Vanity Fair did. Their audiences may overlap, but not that much. The anecdotes are similar, Peter said, because all reporters use the best ones. Peter also thinks his story was better than the New Yorker story. I haven't read the NYer story, so I can't say.

I hope this answers your questions.

Washington Post Ombudsman

What a surprise - the guy that wrote it thinks that his piece is better than the original. And the ombudsman did not even bother reading the original story when there are accusations of plagiarism.

But she's probably right - as the ombudsman, she doesn't need to be too concerned about similar stories if the reporter actually did do all the reporting for their story. However, my point about newsworthiness and integrity still stands; no editor should have allowed this story to go out. And what a lame response - "I had been talking to Egan way before either [New Yorker or Vanity Fair] story came out." So what? It doesn't matter who talked to the source first - it's about who got the story first. And this piece added no new dimensions or angles, or even facts, to this story.

I seem to write this letter all the time to newspapers, telling them to stop being lazy and to stop writing fluff crap. And I always get a snarky response. I guess journalists are just like the rest of us - they don't like to work hard either.

The Hockey News Scoops The New York Times

BOULDER, Colorado -- In their infinite wisdom, The New York Times chose to not print my letter in the previous post. Last week in The Hockey News, however, Ken Campbell wrote a column titled "War for Russians Will Stay Cold" (March 25, 2008 issue) in which he basically makes all the same arguments that I did - small rinks, small revenues, and a lack of organization make the Russian league unable to compete for talent in the NHL.

I guess great minds think alike. I guess I should have sent that letter to a reputable sports publication.

The New York Times Could Learn a Few Things About Russian Hockey, and Reporting

BOULDER, Colorado -- I was somewhat upset, but mostly just disappointed when this article appeared in the New York Times last week. Titled "A New Miracle on Ice: Russia Is Luring Back N.H.L. Stars" and written by Michael Schwirtz, the article discusses generally the growing wealth of Russian Superleague clubs, and more specifically about the return of Islanders castoff Alexi Yashin to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.

Rather than summarize what is wrong with this article again, below is the e-mail I wrote to the Times and to a number of reporters in the Moscow bureau, including Mr. Schwirtz:

I am writing in regards to the article that appeared in today's issue (February 29th, 2008) titled "Russia Is Luring Back N.H.L. Stars" by Michael Schwirtz. As a former reporter for Russia's RTR-Sport television station and a long-time follower of Russian hockey, I must say that the article overstates the case for the growth of the Russian Superleague, relying far too heavily on the opinions of Russian government officials and hockey boosters, and not looking at the story across the wider hockey landscape in Russia.

I have to object to the use of the word "star" to describe a player like Alexei Yashin. Schwirtz seems to suggest the fact that had a $87.5 million contract makes him a premier NHL player, when the fact that neither the Islanders nor any other club wanted him, even without his albatross contract, suggests that he had few options to continue his career other than to return home to Russia. While Oleg Tverdovsky and Darius Kasparaitus have had successful NHL careers, no NHL clubs are currently interested in their services. This is the typical player returning to the Superleague - older veterans who are on the NHL bubble - and they far outnumber the bona fide NHLers who have opted for Russia (like Alexei Morozov or Dmitry Bykov).

During the NHL lockout in 2004-05, more than 70 NHL players, both Russian and non-Russian, flooded into the Superleague, and it truly was the best league in the world, but it still had major shortcomings. NHL players routinely complained about poor officiating, and even Russian players grew tired of the authoritarian attitudes towards training, practice and equal ice time for all that many coaches maintain. Not to mention the fact that, Yaroslavl and other wealthy teams like Ak Bars Kazan aside, most teams' facilities remain sub-par by even North American minor league standards.

A far more telling example of the state of Russian hockey is that of Pavel Datsyuk. A legitimate star for the Detroit Red Wings, he played for Dynamo Moscow during the 2004-05 season. More importantly, following the lockout, Datsyuk was ready to stay in Russia, signing a contract with Avangard Omsk. But a contract dispute erupted between his current and former teams, and with no reliable league regulation or arbitration system, Datsyuk was left in limbo, barred from playing for either side. Fed up with the infighting that plagues Superleague clubs, Datsyuk signed with Detroit and returned to the NHL. Russia's very best young players, like Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Semin and Alexander Ovechkin, continue to leave Russia at a regular clip for the NHL - and without a transfer agreement in place, Superleague clubs receive nothing in return for them. Russia is right to complain that too many players are brought to North America too soon, and they end up languishing in the minor leagues. As part of the new transfer agreement, the NHL should provide assurances that drafted players will be allowed to continue their development in Russia, just as other European players do.

The financial picture of Russian hockey is not so rosy, either. After years of work to establish the Professional Hockey League, a governing body for Russia's two top professional leagues, the PHL was dissolved in 2006 and taken over by the Russian Hockey Federation, and there remain major problems with the league's contract and financial regulations. While many of clubs have experienced a financial windfall in recent years, almost entirely due to the largess of their state corporation sponsors, other storied clubs like Spartak Moscow and Lada Toliyatti have been driven into financial crisis. Fan support is indeed strong, but attracting 10,000 spectators to a game is an outlier - even a rich club like Yaroslavl averages only 7,000 fans per game, while Spartak draws 4,800. With most tickets costing less than $20, these teams remain financially solvent due to the support of sponsors, not fans.

Many of the efforts of the Russian Hockey Federation to foster development of their players and leagues have been laudable, but they have mostly done this by keeping foreigners out, not by attracting Russians overseas back home. The league places limits on the number of foreign players teams can keep on their rosters, and they have to pay hefty fines for every foreign player they sign, especially for goaltenders. Players from Russia and other former Soviet republics (especially Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus) make up more than 90% of the players in the Superleague. By comparison, only 72% of NHL players are American- or Canadian-born.

I do not mean to suggest that the Russian Superleague is not one of the world's premier leagues - it probably ranks second or third in the world behind the NHL, and perhaps the AHL. However, the notion forwarded in this article that it will challenge the NHL is far-fetched, to say the least. The Eurasian Hockey League, which was proposed by Fetisov back in 2005, has not materialized in any form. While most players have been lured back from places like Switzerland and Sweden, where most fled in the early 1990's, the league has done little to attract top-flight talent from outside Russia. The Federation must decide whether it wants to turn the Superleague into an international competitor to the NHL or if it wants to use it to develop homegrown talent, because it can't do both.

And a final correction - Alexei Yashin and Carol Alt are not married, but they have been in a long-term relationship.

Like so much reporting about Russia these days, this article fails to venture outside of the glitz and glamor of the moneyed ring around Moscow. A trip just across town from your office to the dilapidated home of Spartak would tell you a somewhat different story of Russian hockey.

Andrew Gustafson
Boulder, CO

I did receive a response from Mr. Schwirtz, though not from the Times, meaning my letter will not be appearing anywhere, well, other than here. This is what he said:

Dear Mr. Gustafson,

I appreciate your taking the time to write such a detailed and obviously informed response to my article. I disagree with some of the points you have raised, if not with the general thrust of your argument.

I believe that we are in general agreement about the relative strengths of the Superliga vis-à-vis the NHL. I did not set out to make the case that the Superliga can, at this moment, compete with the NHL, only to discuss recent trends in its development. I stated clearly that the best young players continue to opt for the NHL, where the financial incentives surpass what the Superliga can now offer. And, yes, many teams do continue to play in run-down, Soviet-era stadiums. That some can now afford modern facilities, however, is a concrete example of the point I am making about the league's increasing wealth.

I chose to profile Mr. Yashin in the piece because, with his long career in the NHL and successes in the Superliga, he was able to bridge the two worlds. I would argue that Mr. Yashin's NHL record and notoriety in the Superliga certainly qualify him as a "star."

As for the relationship between Mr. Yashin and Ms. Alt, please note the clarification in today's Times.

I can only respond to your last remark concerning "reporting about Russia these days" by pointing out that I wrote the article from Yaroslavl, not within "the glitz and glamour of the moneyed ring around Moscow."

Again, I thank you for your comments.

Sincerely,

Michael Schwirtz

Let me address some of these points.

First, he says that while Lokomotiv's wealth may not be representative of the whole Superleague, it is important to note that some teams are getting richer. While true, the point I was making is that the source of their wealth is important as well. These teams have not grown organically, but instead have simply found wealthy benefactors in the form of state corporations. Just as the collapse of AvtoVAZ nearly put Lada Toliyatti out of business, a change in commodities prices - or perhaps some more sensible management that actually invests in the core business - might force the likes of Gazprom to pull out of the hockey racket.

Second, I will concede that Alexei Yashin is very famous, and he is extremely popular in Russia, but the fact remains that no NHL team had any interest in his services, and even without his absurd Islanders contract that made him untradeable, it is unlikely that he will ever skate in the NHL again.

His final point about the current state of reporting in Russia deserves some consideration. I had wanted to draw more attention to this in my original letter but decided to focus on the hockey issues instead. Firstly, Yaroslavl is an easily-accessible, major city that is just a four-hour train ride from the capital, and I was including it within the "moneyed ring around Moscow." But my larger point is that even a cursory review of the major American and British papers reporting in Russia will show that far too many stories are features about the same thing: Russia's newfound wealth.

There are a number of problems with these types of stories, and Mr. Schwirtz' is by no means the most egregious example, but it is part of a pattern. This view through the eyes of Moscow's (or Yaroslavl's) elite is a total perversion of Russian society. Who cares about a Lamborghini dealership in Moscow when the majority of people live in desperate poverty? This gaze also perpetuates a myth about the accomplishments of Vladimir Putin - the myth that he has provided the "stability" that enabled the growth of the Russian economy over the past eight years. The world needs fewer stories about the habits of Russia's ultra-rich and more about what is going on it the country's more remote and impoverished corners. Or perhaps a mere acknowledgment of the fact that the country's current crop of oligarchs are no less thuggish and criminal than the robber barons of the 1990's that Putin supposedly brought to heel.

This story is also not really news. Many of the developments in the Superleague described in the piece have been going on since 2004. Alexei Yashin signed with Yaroslavl back in July. But this is not unique to this article. The Times recently published a piece by Clifford Levy about the Russian parliamentary elections in Nizhny Novgorod - an event that had taken place two and half months earlier. And much of the voting irregularities he described had been widely reported elsewhere, both in English and Russian. As if to add to the absurdity, the next day Mr. Levy wrote another non-article about reactions to his original piece.

I understand that this hockey piece is a feature, but with so much time to write this article, the reporting still seems slipshod. This is mostly due to the fact that the statements of various Russian hockey officials are left unqualified, leaving the reader with the impression that the Superleague is closing the gap with the NHL.

While I am sure that many readers who were unfamiliar with the Russian Superleague found this article informative and interesting, I see it as another example of the uninspired reporting that is rampant in Moscow. Russia is a massive and massively misunderstood part of the world, and American newspapers have a responsibility to ensure that the public is well-informed about the country. The Russian government is currently waging a propaganda war, clamping down on dissent in the media at home and using its wealth and reach to shape its image abroad. If our reporters are not diligent about getting the real stories in Russia, we are damned to be subjected to state-owned tripe like Russia Today, where the streets of Grozny are safer than New York, every Russian drives a BMW, and Alexi Yashin is a superstar.

Good Old Pond Hockey

BOULDER, Colorado -- Today's New York Times had a story by Charles McGrath about playing pond hockey while growing up in New Jersey. Where I grew up in Connecticut, playing hockey outdoors was one of the highlights of my childhood. Granted, some winters were better than others, but we could always get in at least a couple of days skating outdoors, either on Johnson's Pond in Hamden or Wright's Pond in Orange.

My senior year of high school was a particularly cold winter, and my friend Anthony and I managed to briefly play on our school's biology pond during a free period. It was only about 30 feet across, and after a couple of passes, a custodian came over to chase us off the pond. When we refused, telling him that the ice was several inches thick and perfectly safe, he enlisted the help of our headmaster, and we begrudgingly surrendered the pond. After being thrown off the only patch of ice at our school, we roamed the halls brandishing our hockey sticks shouting at anyone who would listen that the headmaster should learn a thing or two about winter weather or go back to Texas (we assumed that was where he was from, though I actually have no idea. Regardless, it was someplace where pond hockey is unknown.)


Left: Playing bandy at Irkutsk's Lokomotiv Stadium, Red Wings vs. White Power (yes, unfortunately the team calls themselves that in English), February 2005.

Out here in Colorado, the nearby town of Nederland has constructed an outdoor rink, and I look forward to their Sunday morning shinny sessions every week. The corners are a little rough, especially if you're tracking down pucks behind your own net as a defenseman, but there's always at least one goalie, and the bracing wind and thin mountain air make for the best early morning exercise imaginable.

Of course, as bandy players and fans, hockey outdoors is simply a fact of life. We have various methods for dealing with the cold.