Mikhail Sergachev causes stir in Russia after bashing KHL

While the Kontinental Hockey League has established itself has the second best league in the world behind the NHL, The KHL, its fans and the media that cover it like to consider it just a smidge below the NHL in terms of quality. So, when a high-profile player from their own country rates it well below the NHL, it's bound to ruffle some feathers. That is definitely the case with Mikhail Sergachev of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Sergachev is currently at home is Russia preparing for the upcoming season where the Bolts are hoping to make it three Stanley Cups in a row. While there, he did a Youtube interview with a show called "Cherkas Atlant" where he was asked to rate the KHL in relation to the NHL.

"NHL is 10, let's say. KHL in relation to NHL [is a] 3," said Sergachev.

That assessment didn't sit well with many. Reporters were quick to point out that Sergachev never actually played in the KHL, opting instead to play for the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League for a season before being drafted by the Montreal Canadiens. After four games with the Habs, he would return to Windsor for another season before he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, with Jonathan Drouin going the other way. Others also pointed out that if the KHL was really that far below the NHL, players like Kirill Kaprizov, Artemi Panarin, Ilya Sorokin, Alexander Romanov and Igor Shesterkin never would have played there despite being eligible to go to the NHL.

Sergachev isn't the first Russian hockey player to bash the KHL. In fact, teammate Nikita Kucherov has said similar things about the league, and especially his former team, CSKA Moscow. While he only played 26 games in the league, all for CSKA Moscow, Kucherov stated it almost ruined his hockey career as the system there was terrible.

"I don't like watching CSKA because they play terrible hockey," said Kucherov in a 2017 interview. "I feel bad for the guys who play there."

Asked if CSKA tried to reach out to him when he was without a contract, Kucherov said no, but it didn't matter as he wouldn't have listened to their offers.

Source: Sport24.ru

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