Alex Galchenyuk has officially become a SKA player.
North American fans considered Alex Galchenyuk to be an eternally promising guy who flashed at the beginning of his career and gradually squandered his talent. Now in the NHL, the hockey player has no future at all. All because of the resonant story of escaping from the police.
But at once several KHL clubs showed an active interest in the American striker with Belarusian roots. As a result, SKA won the transfer fight for him: the army team gave the striker a contract for two years. But signing an experienced legionnaire is controversial. On the one hand, the league received a bright hockey player, on the other hand, a bad guy and a brawler who was abandoned across the ocean.
Forever promising
Galchenyuk, at the dawn of his career in the NHL, spent several powerful seasons for Montreal. Canadiens fans even decided that the team finally got the first center around which to build a team. But then the bright talent of the player began to fade gradually. Galchenyuk, after leaving the club in 2018, began to travel around the league, changing the team every year.
Recently, Galchenyuk did not give journalists a reason to talk positively about his game, but from time to time he got into unpleasant stories. For example, in 2016, the police detained the striker’s girlfriend for domestic violence against an athlete!
Photo: © Eurasia Sport Images / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
The most high-profile scandal, which forever closed the forward to the NHL, occurred a month ago. Two weeks after signing a contract with Arizona, Galchenyuk tried to escape from the local police in a car in Scottsdale. The Arizona’s Family publication reported that the hockey player threatened law enforcement officers and their families with connections in Russia. During his street racing, Alex also caused damage to city and private property. As a result, serious charges were brought against the hockey player in court: even a real prison term threatened.
escaped punishment
Already at that moment it became clear that Galchenyuk would no longer appear in the NHL. Arizona almost immediately after the incident put the player on an unconditional waiver draft. Galchenyuk, on the other hand, clung to any opportunity to stay in the league: he wrote a letter of apology and joined the player assistance program. At the same time, the KHL clubs became more active, closely monitoring the situation. There were rumors that several Russian teams at once kept their finger on the pulse and were ready to give the American a contract at any time.
Galchenyuk had to wait for the court decision, which could put an end to his sports career. But the striker was very lucky: the American court dropped the charges against him on five out of six counts and punished him with only 30 days in prison – while 27 of them will be canceled if Galchenyuk goes through a rehabilitation program and lasts a year without alcohol.
It was expected that if a player decides to sign a contract with a club from the KHL, then only a month later, or after passing through the assistance program. However, after a few days, Galchenyuk ended up in Russia and agreed on a two-year agreement with the St. Petersburg SKA. The transfer caused a mixed reaction from the public.
On the one hand, the army team took a cool center under the first link, and the KHL got a strong legionnaire who will only decorate the championship. However, not all fans like that Russian clubs give bad guys chances. Previously, Jake Virtanen and Reed Boucher, who also have reputation problems, got the opportunity to continue their careers in Russia. In addition, no one gives guarantees that Galchenyuk will not break again.
“Team Leader, Dressing Room Leader”
North American fans are happy that the NHL got rid of Galchenyuk, but they are afraid that he could negatively affect Matvey Michkov, who will now be a teammate of the controversial American. Some, however, regret that Alex never revealed his talent.
Of course, it is not worth doing absolute evil from Galchenyuk. An American, like any person, is a complex nature. For example, in 2015, along with his sister, he received the Medal of Honor from the National Assembly of Quebec for their work with children who are being treated for stuttering. And recently, the ex-forward of the Colorado system, Mikhail Maltsev, responded to the criticism of the former teammate by defending Alex.
– Increasingly, I see posts and articles about Galchenyuk, that he was almost a monster of some kind. Even commentator Dmitry Guberniev makes fun of his possible arrival in the KHL. I don’t know what happened in that situation with the accident and the police, but Galch became my good friend during the time at the Eagles, we often lived on the road, talked. It’s not for me to deal with some excuses, but I want to talk about the other side that I know. Alex is a real pro, as you know, they say – the leader of the team, the leader of the locker room. He did a lot for the atmosphere, talked with newcomers, pulled them up. He is also a leader at work. I think I plowed the most, – wrote the striker of “Los Angeles” Maltsev in his Telegram channel.
2023-08-26 20:15:05
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