Hours after signing a contract with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Andrew Ladd decided to renege on the deal, dealing with family affairs as he later explained to the Winnipeg Free Press:
"It's all happened so quick. I was talking to (the KHL team) and they kept asking, ‘We need to know...' and so we did it. But the more we thought about it, the more I decided to change my mind. My wife Brandy is pregnant and I couldn't really justify leaving her by herself. The more I thought about it, the more I thought I didn't want to leave."
As later outlined in the article, this will be the first child for the Ladd's, who obviously feel that moving to the outskirts of Siberia isn't the best scenario for their family at this point in time.
Through and through, Ladd has remained optimistic that an agreement between the NHL and NHLPA can be reached in a reasonable time frame. And with another mouth to feed soon on the way, things can't wrap up soon enough for members of the Ladd household.
It's being reported by Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press that Andrew Ladd has gone back on his decision to join Avangard Omsk of the KHL, citing family reasons.
Just spoke with Jets capt. Andrew Ladd and he has decided not to go to Russia for family reasons. Ladd will remain in Wpg #bn#nhljets#nhl
There you have it, the mystery is solved. It looks as though Ladd will remain in Winnipeg for the foreseeable future,as fans hope that a labour agreement between the NHL and NHLPA can be reached over the upcoming weeks.
Avangard currently sits ninth in the KHL's Eastern Conference with a record of 2-3-1-1-0-5. Their roster includes notable NHLers such as Martin Skoula, Alex Frolov and Alexander Perezhogin.
