

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, meets with former KHL President Alexander Medvedev, right, and the KHL’s newly appointed president Dmitry Chernyshenko late last month. (Alexei Druzhinin/AP /RIA-Novosti)

The Russian ruble, has tanked. This is not good. Not only is the downward spiral, which has been tied to decreasing world oil prices and U.S. sanctions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, bad for the Russian people, but it also could spell the end for some KHL hockey teams. Per James Mirtle, a hockey reporter for The Globe and Mail:

Three KHL teams may fold due to monetary issues related to crashing ruble and Russian economy. Some coaches haven't been paid anything. — James Mirtle (@mirtle) December 16, 2014

Don't know exactly which teams are distressed enough to bow out of KHL but best guesses are Atlant, Bratislava and Riga. Major pain there. — James Mirtle (@mirtle) December 16, 2014

Multiple sources confirming players on those three KHL teams haven't been paid this season: "Roughly one-third of KHL has serious problems." — James Mirtle (@mirtle) December 16, 2014

Some agents say they've protected their KHL players' contracts from currency devaluation. But if teams don't have the money, then what? — James Mirtle (@mirtle) December 16, 2014

The core of the problem has to do with clubs being able to pay players. As many business dealings in Russia do, the KHL has a wild reputation, including at times, paying its players in cash.

Bernd Bruckler, who played for KHL teams Torpedo in Nizhny Novogorod and Sibir in Novosibirsk, detailed his personal experience in his book “This Is Russia: Life in the KHL — Doctors, Bazas and Millions of Air Miles.” He writes (via an except published on ESPN):

“My first payment of the year was delayed… “We had been with the team for a month and a half, and our captain, Mikhail Varnakov Jr., asked about the payments. There were rumours of the salaries getting paid shortly, but nothing happened. A week went by, and then, on Monday, they announced that everybody was getting paid that day after practice. “And that could mean one thing only. Cash. “After practice, the players were told to wait for their turn to get paid. There was a big guard in front of one of the storage rooms. He was, naturally, dressed in black. After a while, they called me in. “I grabbed a garbage bag and walked into the room. There were two more guards inside, and a lady behind a desk, and in front of her were wads of money, some in little plastic bags, some bound with rubber bands. Under each pile there was a note with the player’s name, so I could see where it said ‘Bruckler.’ “

That payment tale may sound strange to the average Western reader — and maybe even the average Russian — but the key point there is the team had the cash to pay Bruckler — eventually.

But the cash is running out for some teams, as money troubles have increased around the league since Bruckler left the KHL in 2012. Two teams, the Czech Republic’s Lev Praha and Russia’s Spartak Moscow, dropped out of the 2014-15 season citing financial reasons. Those kind of pre-existing troubles, combined with skyrocketing interest rates and a devalued currency certainly have worried many in the league, which was founded in 2008 and consists of 28 teams spread out over seven countries.

Vityaz Chekhov team president Mikhail Golovkov recently voiced his opinion on the matter in the Russian media, calling for reductions in the salary cap.

Russian media sources have also reported two players from Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, Tim Stapleton and Dan Sexton, went on strike due to the ruble devaluation. Their major complaint: the rubles, when converted to Euros or dollars are now paltry compared to what they were promised. The players’ agents have since denied the allegations, the Russian news service Itar-Tass reports.

RBK Sport, another Russian news source, offered a dreary outlook for the KHL on Tuesday.

“Before the end of the season, it seems there will be a lot of news about strikes,” it said.