Emery off to Russia
Following in the footsteps of Jaromir Jagr, Ray Emery has become the second player to sign a contract in Russia, as he’s signed a one year deal worth over $2 million US to play for Mytishchi of the new Russian Continental Hockey League.
This is a good move by Ray Ray.
He could have went in to Atlanta for cheap and try to win the number one spot from Lehtonen, but some would still look at that as Emery being selfish. What he needs to do is go over there and prove to people that he can play the game at a high level without being a distraction.
He will gain the rockstar status in Russia, that’s a given. He is a very talented goalie with a bright future, as long as he can keep his head in it.
If I’m an NHL scout, and my boss sends me over to Russia to see how Emery is doing, I’d give him very high marks if I found out the media attention he’s getting isn’t affecting his play.
If he does well over in Russia, getting a contract in the NHL season won’t be a case of a team just taking a chance on him, like we heard someone would. They didn’t.
So if he can win the Vezina of the Russian league and come back next season, he could be looking at a $5 million dollar contract, especially if the cap continues to rise.
Loading ...
A complete NBA preview, addressing all the biggest basketball issues for the 08/09 year.
TSC brings you a complete preview of every team for the 2008-2009 NHL season.
The 2008 NCAA Football season is here, and TSC's own Thomas Miller started things off with his conference previews:
With the 2008 Summer Games over, relive the Beijing experience with
I concur. There wasn’t a whole lot left for Emery in the NHL at this point in time, not because of his playing level, but because of the type of media pressure that would face him.
Even if he succeeds in gaining “rock star status”, as you suggest, the media attention over there will largely be based on his play, so long as he keeps away from any disastrous off-ice habits. Over here, the least bit of news about his “real” life would wind up with him being eaten alive by the media. Over in Russia, most of the little things will be ignored if his play is good. That’ll give him a chance to prove that he can handle the pressure of being a number one goaltender without having to watch every decision he makes in life.
Will he be back? I sure hope so. I thought the media was vile towards him, and that although he deserved a slap on the wrist, he got a whole lot more. I like him a lot as a media figure, and one year of struggling with an overly pessimistic media isn’t enough to convince me that his effect on the game was entirely negative.