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KHL president bashes “egotistical” NHL for lockout

Alexander Medvedev

KHL president Alexander Medvedev wasn’t shy about bashing the NHL for what he believes is an “egotistical” move to roll with another lengthy lockout, R-Sport reports.

“No one knows how the league will behave in his situation,” Medvedev said. “But it’s all generally showing how egotistical the NHL is. Financial issues trump the development of the game for them. But at the same time, this will all hit their pockets anyway.”

Of course, these comments could seem foolish in hindsight if Medvedev’s own league suffers a work stoppage. The KHL president was adamant that wouldn’t happen, however.

“No, we’re not that kind of league, because while we might have arguments with the players unions, we always think about the hockey first of all, and about everything else later,” Medvedev said.

Running (arguably?) the NHL’s greatest rival league naturally inspires a competitive desire, but if nothing else, his league has benefited from the lockout. Stars like Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Alex Ovechkin wouldn’t normally spend months playing in the KHL league, after all.

(H/T to Kukla’s Korner.)

Just to review, here are the other major figures who’ve bashed the lockout recently:

U.S. president Barack Obama

Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper

New Jersey governor Chris Christie