The participation of NHL players in int'l hockey tournaments is "likely to end after the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010, partly because of the skyrocketing cost of insuring long-term contracts," according to David Shoalts of the GLOBE & MAIL. Insurance costs are "rising so dramatically that some countries will be unable to put their best players into the world championship or even the world juniors." Hurricanes President & GM Jim Rutherford: "It's a pretty easy solution -- just don't go to those tournaments." An anonymous U.S. exec said, "We're not going to the Olympics again." At the World Championships this spring, the estimated cost to insure Russia native and Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin "ran between $500,000 and $800,000." Hockey Canada President Bob Nicholson said that the cost of insuring the Canadian team "jumped to $600,000 in 2008 from $250,000 in 2007." USA Hockey Assistant Exec Dir of Hockey Operations Jim Johannson said that the U.S. team is "already choosing players with an eye to insurance costs." Hockey execs "predict that hockey federations will be forced to fill their rosters with younger, cheaper and more mediocre players." Johannson: "In my opinion, there is no solution right now. The worlds are becoming more of a financial drain on us. The thing doesn't work." Nicholson said that the Int'l Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) "could support insurance costs by increasing the prize money at the world championship." IIHF President Rene Fasel declined to comment on the issue ( GLOBE & MAIL, 9/16 ).
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