Russia calls NHL terrorists

Russia calls the NHL terrorists.

Nope, the NHL is not some new political organization or Muslim group.

Russia has declared an all-out war on the National Hockey League (NHL), accusing the North Americans of stealing its best players.
...
"This is pure sports terrorism," [Russian hockey club] Metallurg general director Gennady Velichkin told Reuters following the sudden disappearance of his best player.

Velichkin said his club had already hired an American lawyer to look after their interests. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and Russian champions AK Bars Kazan said they also planned legal action against NHL clubs.

Shut up with the "terrorism" thing. You are cheapening the charge of the label when placed on people that truly deserve the label (like Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, ELF, etc).

[T]he NHL said it would not negotiate compensation packages with any Russian club after the European nation refused to sign a transfer agreement with the North American league.

Russia remains the only major hockey power not to join the deal, approved by the International Ice Hockey Federation in 2005.

Under the agreement Metallurg would have received a basic $200,000 fee for [teenage prodigy Evgeni] Malkin. The Russian club reportedly wanted at least 10 times more.

Tretyak said the Malkin case was the main reason behind their decision not to sign the agreement while the Metallurg boss slammed the offer as "disgraceful."

Malkin has faxed a letter to Metallurg, asking them to annul his contract, which he said he had signed under pressure.

And the Russian team's response to the charge of pressuring Malkin:

"You can ask militia (Russian police) about pressure. Pressure is when they bang your head against a wall radiator.

"As far as the letter he faxed to us, it wasn't written by Malkin so I think it's a pure fabrication. I just threw it in the garbage can."

Does this mean the Cold War has started again with Russia? Can we now root against the Russians with the same fervor as in the Olympics before 1992?