Why am I not surprised or upset by the news? Pretty exciting day for the KHL.

Well, that answers that. Do we need to see a Kozlov RinkWrap?

Why would his agent just be getting word of a contract being signed? Wouldn’t he already be aware that it was in process?

GMGM hasnt actually confirmed this…. you never know with Free Agents and Russia

Victor,

I just want to say thanks. Thanks for the four playoff goals this year. Thanks for generally appearing to be a class act and a positive influence on our younger Russian players. Thanks for coming to the District during the midst of a rebuild.

Still, Victor, we’ve grown apart, there’s no denying that. When you came to us, we thought you would ride shotgun for Ovie, similar to the way that Dainius did, as 1/2 Right Wing and 1/2 “guy who gives the puck to Alex then gets the hell out of the way and collects his free assist.” You never really reached Dainius’ level there, though. For all your demonstrable skill, you disappeared from the ice and the scoresheet far too often. For all of your size, you rarely went to the net and didn’t score the kind of ugly goals this team needs out of the players not named Alex or Mike or Nick. We even thought you’d weave some of your breakaway magic and improve our dismal record in the shootout. You really stepped up there in 07-08, scoring three times in seven chances, but this year, you fell to one goal in five chances.

What it really comes down to Vik (can we call you Vik?), is that we’re looking for more. We need someone who can go to the net with authority. Someone who can bang bodies and score the dirty, nasty, “broken ribs and sweat”-type goals this team lacked. We’d also like someone whose two-way effort is a little more consistent. We might go younger (there’s this little fireplug down in Hershey who has caught our eye with his playoff performance this summer), or we may go older (yeah, we know that Knuble is never going to have your Ivan Drago good looks, what with his jagged nose and face full of scar tissue, but isn’t that kind of the point?). Ultimately, we just need more than you’re willing to give us.

So Vik, it’s been real. At times it’s been fun. But it hasn’t been real fun, at least not as fun as we would have liked. Please don’t call, and don’t look back in anger. We’ll always have Game 6 in Pittsburgh.

Sincerely,

The Rink Rats

even with the caps’ need at center, i’d rather have kozlov back at a discount than feds back at a discount. the playoffs were a pretty clear indicator that he still has more to give, and i’d prefer koz over current alternatives on the top line (semin or clark/fehr/flash/laich). so long, lebowski rug.

Not surprised, not that upset.

Just meh.

It’s just a little disappointing, inasmuch as it proves unequivocally that we can’t keep the old gang all together. But it’s not a tragedy. I hope he thrives over there.