JEFF MITCHELL
He may have been added to a list of reserve players for Russia's Olympic team, but don't expect Sergei Zubov to be making the trip to Vancouver next month for the Games.
The long-time Stars defenceman, now one of the top blueliners in the KHL, called his exclusion from the team's original roster "humiliation of me as a personality and a sportsman" in a statement to Russian newspaper Sport Express today.
"I am not 25 years old and have proved my high level with seventeen seasons in NHL," Zubov said. "I am not going to prove anything any more.
"If there is a place for me in the reserves only I regard it as a spit in my face. I wanted to play for the national team very much, but unfortunately I will not.
"I want to apologize to our supporters. I think they will understand me. And I wish good luck to our guys in Vancouver."
There's some dispute as to if such a reserve list is even warranted, however, as Russia is the only team to have named extra players to go to Vancouver in case of injury. A Russian publication last week listed Alex Kovalev, Alex Frolov and Nikolai Kulemin as other NHL players who will serve as substitutes.