Recently, the Russian transfer market is experiencing a serious crisis, and this applies to all sports without exception. Valuable legionnaires are leaving the country, and other newcomers from abroad are in no hurry to take their place. Someone refuses to move to Russia out of their own convictions, someone – because of pressure at home … For our sport, the result is the same: the average level of clubs is significantly falling.

Against this background, every transfer of Western players to Russian clubs is perceived as a small sensation. One of these miracles, according to the latest data, was made by Spartak. The Moscow club managed to get an American striker in very difficult times.

An unexpectedly bold decision for a native of the United States. Is money more important to him than his reputation at home?

American, but not a legionnaire

Spartak signed a one-year contract with American hockey player Shane Prince. The transfer of the player became known on July 8 from the message of the Right Grip Telegram channel.

Prince’s transfer is certainly a great success for the Moscow club. According to the source, the “red-whites”, firstly, signed the striker on very favorable terms for themselves: the exact amount of Prince’s salary is unknown, but the author said that the hockey player would receive “reasonable money”. Secondly, for the Russian team to get a Western player in today’s conditions is already an achievement. Americans have been valued in the KHL before, and today they will be worth their weight in gold.

Photo: © picture alliance / Contributor / picture alliance / Gettyimages.com

At the same time, Shane Prince cannot even be classified in the full sense of the word as legionnaires. A few years ago, an American received Belarusian citizenship, declared that he “fell in love with Belarus” and compared it with Europe. Shane later began to play for the national team. A native of New York naturalized in Minsk in 2020, and six months later he made his debut for Belarus at the 2021 World Cup.

Otherwise, most likely, Prince would not have received the opportunity to play at the international level. In the US team, he was rejected at the junior level when he was removed from the list of candidates for participation in the World Cup due to a shoulder injury. Later, health problems prevented the player from gaining a foothold in the NHL. The forward played first for the Ottawa Senators, then for the New York Islanders, but in four seasons he shot a total of only 12 goals.

Bold Transfer

It is not surprising that the American eventually had to seek his fortune outside the States. Having tried himself in Switzerland, Prince moved to the KHL, where he managed to play for Sibir, Dynamo Minsk and Avtomobilist.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Danichev

Shane left Yekaterinburg on February 26 of this year, breaking the contract with the club in order to move to the Swiss Lugano … It seemed that the player’s path in Russia would definitely end there. However, the striker decided not to reconsider his attitude to our hockey – and now joined the ranks of the capital’s team, not afraid of criticism.

If in the old days Prince’s move to work in the KHL would have been of little concern to anyone, today compatriots may be outraged by the player’s decision. This transfer has not yet been discussed on social networks, but against the backdrop of, for example, the recent scandal surrounding Miks Indrasis, it is not difficult to imagine the reaction to the transition. But Shane, apparently, does not worry about his reputation in his homeland: money and a career for the player turned out to be more important than political intrigues.