134151022 copyThe firing of Bruce Boudreau is still being talked about in Washington and beyond. Blame for what happened, including the Washington Capitals' recent struggles, is being directed at one player — the team captain, Alex Ovechkin.

Some people question his commitment to the team. Others question his leadership skills and whether he has the respect of his teammates. Ovechkin was even called a "coach killer" because of the recent dismissal of Boudreau.

But all of the above allegations cannot be further from the truth, at least for the players in the Capitals' dressing room. It's not only in their "on the record" conversations that they throw their support behind their captain. A few players (no, not Semin or Orlov) have said privately that Ovechkin is sincerely respected by his teammates in the dressing room; that he is very much a team player and works hard for the team.

As far as Ovechkin's recent struggles, I was told he is facing them without panic, concentrating on working hard on his

263363 copyThe KHL's Vityaz Chekhov is now a renowned club all over the hockey world. For all the wrong reasons.

We have brought you many posts about brawls started by the team. Last week a video of a street fight involving three of Vityaz's North American born tough guys and a number of wedding guests in Russia. One of the players involved in the altercation later said that the man on the video "wasn't him and only looked like him." Sure. Right.

The craziness in the Vityaz system is not limited to the first team. Recently Vityaz's head coach and former NHLer Andrei Nazarov got into a fight with fans in Minsk, trying to hit some of them with a hockey stick. Vityaz's junior team also learned from its big comrades the art of brawling.

There have been calls for the KHL to ban the goon squad. And now the league is finally reacting after the latest round of anarchy on ice courtesy of Vityaz. Jeremy Yablonski sucker punched Traktor's Alexander Ryazantsev not once but twice, to make sure Ryazantsev was down.

The incident led to a brawl. It is worth noting that the incident took place just 44 seconds before the end of the third period in a game Vityaz was losing 5-1.

Before the incident, Yablonski had already been disqualified for 10 games of the 27 played in the KHL season. This time the league suspended him until the end of the season.

Another Vityaz tough guy, Kip Brennan, was suspended for 15 games for his actions in the same game.

But the most interesting impact that came out of the latest portion of disqualifications is the emergence of what we are going to call the Yablonski Rule.

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Has there been a more surprising resurgence in the NHL this season than that of Nikolai Khabibulin?

Last year saw the Edmonton Oilers goaltender playing in the shadow of his DUI charges from Feb. 2010, for which he'd eventually spend 15 days in an Arizona detention facility. He played 47 games for the Oilers in 2010-11, going 10-32-4 with an .890 save percentage in an injury-plagued year.

Before this season, it appeared the 38-year-old goalie's status as a No. 1 goaltender was at an end, with 25-year-old former first-rounder Devan Dubnyk ready to take over. But The Bulin Wall has been sturdy in the opening month of the 2011-12 season: He's 4-0-2 with a great 0.97 goals against average and a .965 save percentage, leading the NHL in both numbers after Thursday night's win over the Washington Capitals.

"Going into the season I don't think we had a clear distinction who the No. 1 goaltender would be and who the No. 2 would be," Khabibulin told Puck Daddy this week, prior to the Capitals

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The International Central Scouting service released their October prospects list for the 2012 NHL Draft. Nail Yakupov of the Sarnia Sting is the No. 1 name on virtually every prospects list. It is possible that Yakupov will become the third Russian ever to be selected first overall in an NHL entry draft. Ilya Kovalchuk was the first, and Alex Ovechkin was the second.

Both Kovalchuk and Ovechkin were stars in Russia when they were drafted. Both played for the first teams in the old Superleague, not the juniors. Ovechkin even won the Superleague title with Dynamo Moscow in 2005 before coming to the NHL.

Nail Yakupov is different. Hardly anyone knows him in Russia. He came to Canada from a Russian junior team with no Big League experience. It is even fair to say that more people in North America know about him than in his native country.

The most memorable thing about him here in North America? Probably his name. The name "Nail" is of Arabic origin and means "reaching" or "achieving" or

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Pavel Datsyuk and the Detroit Red Wings were undefeated before facing the Washington Capitals in a Saturday night showdown. The Capitals routed the Red Wings, 7-1.

Was this the first "real" challenge for Detroit this season?

"I wouldn't say that. Every opponent is a serious one. Don't underestimate other teams!" said Datsyuk. "I don't agree with you here. Yes, some teams didn't start well, but our wins don't come easy. But you can consider the Capitals to be one of the favorites. They have a good, balanced, young team with a good goaltender."

Myself and Dmitry Malinovski, Sovetsky Sport's correspondent in Detroit, spoke with Datsyuk after the Red Wings' win over Columbus and their loss in Washington. This is a combination of those two discussions. As usual, Pavel discussed a variety of topics, including realignment, his wax statue and Halloween. Enjoy.

Q. When you played Washington you were the only two undefeated teams in the NHL. It must have been a test for you still?

DATSYUK:

BUN_2094U.S. Olympic swimming hero Michael Phelps is prepping for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, after which he will retire. He's currently in Russia with the U.S. national swim team for a competition.

He's also a big sports fan, attending Ravens games in his hometown of Baltimore. But he hasn't traveled to D.C. to see the Washington Capitals play … at least not yet.

Here is SovSports' Pavel Lysenkov, speaking with Phelps about his hockey fandom:

You live in Baltimore… Why aren't you going to Capitals' games?

PHELPS: "It's funny.  The first day we got over here everybody was like 'Why does everybody have Ovechkin on?' And I said 'Guys, we are in Russia, and he is the biggest player in the NHL. Of course you're going to see a ton of Ovechkin stuff.'

"I am actually going to head down to a game this year. I have seen just one hockey game in my life and it was USA vs. Canada, the gold medal game at the Olympics. So, it's a fun sport that I really want to get into more. And being able to see

CDAADDSA little over 40 days have passed since the tragic plane crash in Yaroslavl that took lives of Lokomotiv's players and the plane crew. Forty days is a significant date for the Russians for religious reasons. A special memorial service was held in Yaroslavl to mark the 40 days.

On Wednesday, the news emerged that the investigators are working on the final report on the causes of the crash. The report is set to list pilot error as the cause of the crash.

Based on the data recovered from the flight recorders, investigators were able to imitate the conditions the plane was in when it overshot the runway and didn't take off as it should have. Scientists concluded that the doomed plane crashed not due to technical difficulties, and not due to the quality of fuel, but due to the braking applied to the landing gear. This braking momentum was not created by technical difficulties with the plane, but by the pilot who put his feet on the brake pedals, according to Russian newspaper "Kommersant."

112072952 copyAlexander Radulov's Twitter confessions we posted about this morning are now the talk on both sides of the ocean. Radulov's trade request opened a remote possibility that the player may indeed come to the NHL this season.

But this isn't going to be the case, according to Radulov's Russian agent Yuri Nikolaev, who told Pavel Lysenkov of Sovetsky Sport: "As of today Alexander Radulov has a contract with Ufa. For two more seasons. And there is a possibility that, with the club's agreement, he can leave for the NHL in 2012."

More of that interview:

Q. You left a window just in case there is a lockout in North America?

NIKOLAEV: "We have to see what will happen. And whether Radulov will indeed go to the NHL. Actually Alexander never denied that he could one day return [to North America]."

And what about this season?

"To the NHL right now? This [option] is not provided."

Interestingly enough, the fact that Radulov may very well come back to the NHL next year is now official.

There is a