To counter raids by NHL teams on...
From Staff and Wire Reports
To counter raids by NHL teams on their best players, Soviet hockey officials are stepping up plans to start a professional league in their country, the coach of the Soviet national team says.
Viktor Tikhonov said the league originally was planned to open in 1995, “but life is forcing us to introduce it now.”
Tikhonov, in an interview published in the German magazine Sports, said he did not know when the league would start.
Dozens of Soviet stars have joined NHL teams, and their departure has been felt. The Soviets finished third in the 1991 World Championships.
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