Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin(notes) is appealing a DUI conviction sentence while recovering from January surgery to fix a herniated disk in his back. So maybe attending training camp is the best way to put it all behind him.
His agent believes that, if football jersey
nothing else, the tumultuous year could provide extra motivation for the 37-year-old, who is in the second of a four-year, $15 million contract he signed last summer.
“He’s coming back and one thing I know about Nik, when his back is to the wall he’s always come up to the task,” agent Jay Grossman told Sporting News. “Despite a lot of achievement in his career, he still has something to prove.”
According to Grossman, Khabibulin has been checked out by doctors in Edmonton and is back on the ice and ready to recapture the starting job.
“He’s been skating and he’s a guy who keeps himself in really good shape,” Grossman said. “We’re obviously hopeful that he doesn’t have any problems going forward.”
Mark DuBiel, Khabibulin’s lawyer, immediately served notice that Khabibulin’s 30-day sentence would be appealed, freeing him to attend camp when it opens next week. But Khabibulin’s decision to appeal — rather than get the jail time out of way before the regular season Dallas Cowboys jersey
— has drawn criticism from those who think it could become a distraction.
But the way the appeal process works, it’s also possible it could drag on beyond the regular season—meaning he might not miss any playing time at all.
Grossman declined comment on the appeal, other than to say the team has been supportive of Khabibulin’s decision.
“We had really good support from people in Indianapolis Colts jersey
the Oilers organization,” Grossman said. “They understood all along he had the right to appeal and that it was his decision.”
In 18 games last season, Khabibulin was 7-9-2 with a 3.03 goals-against average and .909 save percentage.
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