On Friday afternoon, the Detroit Red Wings signed goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to a one year contract. Since Nabokov played in Europe this season, he would have to clear waivers to play for the Red Wings. I think it is safe to say that everybody knew Nabokov would not be playing for the Wings as someone was bound to claim him off waivers.
Everybody knew this. His manager even made it publicly known to Bob Mckenzie of TSN that Nabokov would report to any team who claims him as long as he could be a starter.
Enter the New York Islanders.
On New Years Day, the Islanders traded goaltender Dwayne Roloson for defensive prospect Ty Wishart of the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the game immediately following the trade, Rick DiPietro left with a groin injury and did not return for about two weeks later. So the Isles turned to 27 year old rookie Nathan Lawson, and 20 year old rookie Kevin Poulin to hold down the fort. As Nabokov was being put on waivers, Lawson was playing for the Islanders in Buffalo on Friday night, and he injured his left knee in the process. According to Katie Strang of Newsday, Lawson will be out for the next 1-2 weeks with an MCL strain.
So that left the Islanders with an oft-injured goalie in DiPietro, an injured 27 year old rookie goalie in Lawson, and a 20 year old rookie in Poulin who the team would rather have develop properly in the American Hockey League.
Obviously the Islanders would make a claim for Nabokov with a goaltender situation like they have now.
And that is exactly what they did. It was announced by Mckenzie around 12:05 Saturday afternoon that the Islanders had indeed claimed Nabokov off waivers.
That should not surprise anybody.
However, what happened next surprised everybody. Mckenzie was told by Nabokov's agent an hour or so after Nabokov was claimed that he would not report to play for the Islanders.
Now that came less than a full day after his agent said that he would report to any team who claimed him.
Garth Snow would later say on Saturday afternoon that he had left messages on Nabokov's phone, but had yet to actually speak to him. He said that everything was "on the up and up" and that they were "making his jersey as we speak."
Today, Nabokov finally spoke. Not to the Islanders, not to Garth Snow, but to Pierre Lebrun of ESPN. Nabokov said he was surprised that he was claimed by the Islanders and said "Wow, what's the point?" Nabokov also claimed that he was not left any messages by Snow.
Another development in this story was brought to light by the Associated Press. Apparently Nabokov hung up on Snow when Snow called him yesterday. What allegedly happened was Snow identified himself, and Nabokov immediately hung up. Snow was then called by Nabokov's agent and immediately offered an apology.
But for now, everything is the same as it was yesterday. Nabokov is property of the New York Islanders. Nabokov still refuses to play for the New York Islanders.
Now it is time for Garth Snow to make a decision. He could be the nice guy and let Nabokov go back on waivers and get claimed by another team. Or he could suspend Nabokov and prevent him from playing in the NHL for any team this season.
Personally, I would suspend Nabokov. I would not let Nabokov get what he wants. He knew the rules. He knew that he would be claimed by another team. He and his manager even said he would play for any team if claimed. Either they lied, or they forgot that the Islanders existed. I'm willing to bet that they did the former.
Nabokov should not be able to pick and choose and essentially bend the rules to his liking. He knew the rules and he should abide by them as every other player in this league does.
Because of this situation, and Garth Snow's stance on this situation, my respect level for Garth has gone up quite a bit.
So with that said, I have a message for Garth, and I think many Islanders fans will agree with me on this: Suspend Evgeni Nabokov and make sure he doesn't play in the NHL ever again.
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