| | OTTAWA -- Suspended Ottawa Senators center Alexei Yashin
will not be eligible to play for the Russian team in the World
Championship this month.
NHL spokesman Frank Brown said an agreement between the league
and International Ice Hockey Federation prohibits suspended NHL
players from playing in the championships.
Yashin, who is in Russia practicing with the national team, said
he planned to play in the world tournament if the Senators were
eliminated in the early rounds of the NHL playoffs.
Yashin appeared to be under the impression that when the
Senators' season was over, the suspension prohibiting him to play
elsewhere would be nullified.
He was suspended last fall after refusing to report to the team
unless his contract was renegotiated. Yashin, who would have earned
$3.6 million this season in the final year of a four-year contract,
was seeking about $10 million to $12 million annually.
"The IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) agreement
supports the enforcement of suspension by the NHL," Brown told the
Ottawa Citizen.
Murray Costello, former president of the Canadian Hockey
Association and an IIHF member of council, agreed with Brown's
interpretation.
"It is in the IIHF agreement with the organization, to honor
the suspension of the NHL," Costello said.
Costello said if an NHL player is in good standing with the
league, he can play in international tournaments when the NHL
season is over.
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