2023-06-23 05:09:55
Time behind bars forced the Olympic champion to rethink a lot.
Russian fans follow the performances of our legionnaires in the NHL almost more closely than domestic competitions. However, this was not always the case. Back in the 90s, the American championship was broadcast intermittently, so hockey players from Russia, having moved overseas, seemed to be lost sight of – especially if they did not play for the national team.
Such an “early migrant” was Nikolai Khabibulin, who is still considered one of the most underestimated Russian league players. The goalkeeper rarely gave interviews and did not appear in the yellow press, but in 2010 he unexpectedly gave journalists a sensation.
Olympic champion … put behind bars in the USA!
Black line
The 2009/10 season marked important changes for Khabibulin. In the summer, the Russian goalkeeper left Chicago and signed a four-year contract with Edmonton, a much less successful team. The Oilers had not played in the playoffs for three years by then. The Canadians considered Khabibulin a status acquisition and saw him as their unconditional first number – it was not for nothing that in the States he was nicknamed the “Bulin wall”.
However, at first, the newcomer disappointed local fans. His debut match was marked by a ridiculous mistake: at the end of the third period, an experienced goalkeeper lost control of the puck and literally gave the winning goal to his opponents. In winter, Nikolai received a serious injury, due to which he dropped out until the end of the season. Khabibulin managed to play only 18 games for the Oilers, missing an average of three hits per hour – in aggregate, this result was one of the worst in his career for a hockey player.
Nikolai Khabibulin / Photo: © Noah Graham / Contributor / National Hockey League / Gettyimages.ru
Edmonton, according to the results of that campaign, turned out to be the worst team in the league: the team suffered the most losses (47 in 82 games) and conceded the most goals (284 – almost 3.5 per game). Naturally, with such results in the regular season, the team did not participate in the fight for the Stanley Cup, so Khabibulin had almost the entire spring and summer at his disposal to recover from injury and find himself once more. But, unfortunately, the black streak in the biography of the athlete continued – moreover, due to a very unexpected event.
Jail for irresponsibility
Khabibulin went on forced leave earlier than his colleagues – back in mid-January, when he went for an operation to remove a herniated disc. Rehabilitation of Nikolai went well, so that in February he might already freely travel around the States … However, the player behind the wheel felt even too “free”.
On February 8, in the state of Arizona, a famous hockey player was detained by American police. In Russia, the incident became known only a week and a half later, and this news was expectedly shocking for many, although the reason for the arrest was not too severe – drunk driving. The goalkeeper was stopped on the track for speeding and immediately checked for alcohol in the blood: Khabibulin “failed” the test, so he was detained.
Nikolai Khabibulin / Photo: © KHL / Bezzubov Vladimir
Fans in this situation were scared not so much by the offense itself, but by the possible punishment. For such misconduct in the United States, a person might receive a prison term – a small one, but still tangible. Consideration of the Khabibulin case proceeded slowly: hearings in court were to be held only in July, but then were postponed to August. As a result, Nikolai was nevertheless found guilty, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 30 days – according to his article, this measure was minimal.
“Come on, it’s time for you to think”
The hockey player tried to challenge the court’s decision and eventually delayed the execution of the sentence for almost a year, but was ultimately forced to withdraw the appeal. In August 2011, Nikolai was sent to an Arizona prison:
— A typical tent city, tents. The heat was 38 degrees at night, no air conditioning. Pleasant little, – said the athlete in an interview with “Championship”.
Particularly in Khabibulin’s prison, food was disturbing. The prisoners were fed “sandwiches with raw and moldy meat”, so that in the early days Nikolai was starving and even began to lose weight – the hockey player did not even want to touch such food.
Otherwise, however, the conditions of detention were tolerable. The Russian goalkeeper said that during the day, security allowed him and other troublemakers to work, so the hockey player continued to train. Ordinary people sat together with Khabibulin: someone was punished for non-payment of alimony, someone for misconduct on the road. Some even came to the Russian for an autograph! In a word, Nikolai did not have to face real American crime there.
Photo: © x12 / ZUMA Press / Global Look Press
Ultimately, Nikolai served only 15 days – the second half of the term was replaced with house arrest. However, these two weeks in prison, as well as a year in anticipation of punishment, affected the goalkeeper: the athlete began to treat driving much more responsibly.
– This incident completely discouraged me from even taking a sip of beer before getting behind the wheel. In America, it is considered normal when you drink one or two beers and drive. But it’s not right. Stopped for speed, God bless him. But everything can end worse, you can get into an accident, you can be injured, or, God forbid, you can cripple someone, someone will die. It was a good lesson, as if they told me from above: “Come on, it’s time for you to think,” Khabibulin summed up the story.
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