Sockers Sign Soviet Golovnia

The Sockers moved to shore up their defense Tuesday by signing Soviet national Alex Golovnia, a veteran of 12 outdoor seasons, including seven with Dynamo Moscow of the Soviet first division.

Golovnia has sparse indoor experience but has displayed solid skills in training camp and was rewarded with an eight-month contract.

The signing of Golovnia is significant not only because the Sockers are thin in back, but also because the team can carry only one new foreign-visa player per year, and there is at least one other foreign newcomer the Sockers have their eyes on, John Sveinson, a defender from Iceland.

But the only way the Sockers can keep him would be to cut Golovnia, which doesn’t appear likely, or to convince the players’ union that Sveinson should not be counted as a new foriegn player because he has been in this country attending college (though no one with the Sockers knows where he went to school).