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

112283726 copyAbout six months ago, I wrote a post arguing that Alexander Radulov's NHL return may be a lot sooner than people may be expecting. With all due respect to Jaromir Jagr, who sailed across the pond to the NHL this offseason, Alexander Radulov was and still is the best player in hockey not currently playing in the NHL.

Last summer Radulov signed, somewhat secretly, a new three-year contract with KHL's Salavat Yulaev. The thinking behind it was that it would allow the current NHL CBA to expire; under new rules, he could return to the League without the shackles of the one year he still has left on his entry level contract with the Nashville Predators.

There was still a chance, however, that Radulov would come back to the NHL this year, after Predators' representative met with the player last March to persuade him to come back.

Radulov stayed in the KHL. But the club he is with is no longer the club he resigned with — the ownership changed, the coaching staff changed as well. And that new

BRAWL1 copyIt looks like the KHL bad boys Vityaz found another team to bully this season.  You may recall that until lately, Jaromir Jagr's former KHL team, Avangard Omsk, was the subject of Vityaz' misplaced violence. Avangard was on the receiving end of Vityaz' pseudo hockey players back in Jan. 2010. After that game Jagr said:

"I want the KHL to promptly reconsider the rules. Everything must be clearly addressed in the league's charter … The KHL is a new league. It is developing very quickly. If you want the KHL to be as strong as the NHL, you have to regulate fighting. Write out every nuance."

At the time, the KHL fined Vityaz for the incident, citing, in part, "damages caused to the reputation of the Kontinental Hockey League, its partners and Russian hockey as a whole, and for the aggregate violations and instigation."

That wasn't the end of the Avangard - Vityaz saga. In Dec. 2010, the two sides "met" again for another bout. After that brawl, it was reported that Roman Cervenka and Martin

125712859 copyBALTIMORE — The Nashville Predators played in the inaugural The Baltimore Hockey Classic against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night; an event held to promote hockey in Baltimore, the city that once hosted an AHL team.

There are quite a few hockey fans who live in Baltimore and travel to Capitals games in Washington DC, and both the Predators and the Capitals treated Baltimoreans with some of their biggest stars: Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Shea Weber and Pekka Rinne.

The conditions of the ice surface proved to be an issue and the "Hockey Classic" turned out to be a far shot from a true hockey game, with players falling over for no apparent reason and pucks getting stuck in puddles of water. One player noted that the concrete was visible through the cracks in the ice right next to the boards. Alexander Semin told me that the ice reminded him of a worse version of the Winter Classic ice in Pittsburgh.

"The ice was, well… It was the same for both teams" Predators' goaltender

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Alex Semin didn't speak to the media assembled on the first day of Washington Capitals camp, following a summer that featured speculation about his future with the team and critical comments from an ex-teammate.

Last month, former Capital and current Florida Panthers forward Matt Bradley told Team 1200 in Ottawa:

"[Alex Semin] is one guy who has so much talent he could easily be the best player in the league and just, for whatever reason, just doesn't care.

"When you've got a guy like that, you need him to be your best player or one of your best players. When he doesn't show up, you almost get the sense that he wants to be back in Russia. That's tough to win when you've got a guy like that who's supposed to be your best player not being your best player, or one of your best players."

I spoke with Semin on Saturday about the Capitals' off-season changes, their quest for the Stanley Cup, his training and the KHL Lokomotiv plane crash. But we began with Bradley's comments:

Q. Could

16065136Alexander Galimov, the only Lokomotiv's player to have survived the terrible crash on Sept. 7, passed away Monday morning. He is survived by his wife and a daughter.

Andrei Alexeev, Head of the Vishnevsky hospital, one of the leading medical facilities in Russia, issued a statement that "In the morning of September 12, despite the treatment using the best modern therapy methods, Alexander Galimov dies of burns incompatible with life."

He added that Galimov's heart stopped and the efforts to resuscitate him were futile.

Alexeev also added:

"The chances to save Galimov were minimum from the very beginning. He was conscious only in the first few hours after the crash. This is possible even with the severest of burns due to the shock the victim was in. During the transfer to Moscow Galimov was put in a medically induced coma. That was it is easier to perform the mechanical ventilation and to maintain other internal organs.

"We were fighting for him to the end. We were hoping that the

jdfjkjksafdThe NHL Media Tour this year involved special events for non-North American media. The League cordially invited us to attend; due to previous engagements we were unable to.

However, Sovetsky Sport's New York reporters Alexander Klamkin and Alisa Volbidakht did, and forwarded the following interview they had with Pavel Datsyuk, who was unable, quite understandably, to talk about anything but the tragedy in Russia.

Here are some excerpts from their talk with the Detroit Red Wings star about the plane crash that took the lives of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players and coaches:

Q. We were getting ready for this interview for a week now. Thanks to the NHL for organizing it. We wanted to talk about the upcoming season, about the Red Wings' chances of winning the cup, about other teams…  But none of it will happen because all of the thoughts are with Lokomotiv.

DATSYUK: "That is all correct. I am in a very bad state. I call my friends in Ekaterinburg, talk to them. Every time they tell me all the

On Friday afternoon, we received a call from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Evgeni Malkin, overcome with emotions, wanted to say a few words to his fellow countrymen in his native Russian, grieving with them after the plane crash this week that killed the players and coaches of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.

It is easy to see how emotional he is in this video:

This is what he said:

"It is difficult to describe with words everything that happened. I still cannot comprehend it. I have a heavy heart… My sincere condolences to all the close ones, parents, wives, children and the entire city of Yaroslavl that supports this team.

"We are all sincerely feeling sorry and sincerely supporting all the close ones, relatives. Any help that may be needed — we will always help.

"All the players who are overseas right now — and I talked with a lot of them — we are all feeling for you, supporting…. This is a terrible tragedy. We have to live through it together. We have to keep together and move on. I know that