The Rise of Russia

There has been a recent flurry of deals of late, regarding the professional Russian hockey league (KHL) and NHL players. And Yahoo's Puck Daddy blog doesn't think there's much fire behing all this smoke. But perhaps this point of view isn't taking world events into enough perspective. After all, there's something to be said for a player who wants to spend the final years of his playing career near home. Jaromir Jagr, for example, is certainly in the twilight of a brilliant NHL career. And he could have kept playing in the NHL for the next 4-6 years if he chose to. But instead, Jagr will be playing in Russia, for the same team he was on during the lockout. Something new is happening now. As the Russian economy rises back onto the world stage, so too will their influence in international sports. And with that, Russia is... [read full story]