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Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) -  Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) is once again looking for work. The 25 year old player and his KHL club HC Sibir annulled his contract, making Shkotov a free agent. The former AHL player, Shkotov spent the past two injury filled seasons with HC Salavat Yulayev before being trade to Sibir. A talented forward, Shkotov’s size has always got in a way as he was too susceptible to injury when his career appeared appeared to finally get on the right track. While injury has not played a role in his release from Sibir, it did have an impact in him becoming a member of this club. Still, Shkotov will undoubtedly find work again in the KHL.

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Continental Hockey League (KHL) -  Things are just getting worse and worse for prospect Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues). The young winger hurt his knee during the just the second shift back from a serious injury that sidelined him for months. He hurt his knee seriously enough to miss the rest of the recently started KHL season. The young forward who once was one of the brighter scorers on Russia’s U20 national team has been marred with injuries the last few seasons and has struggled to produce and recover from the long recoveries. It remains to be seen if last season’s champions Salavat Yulayev have any patience left or will release him at the end of this season.

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Super League -  Denis Arkhipov and Alexander Stepanov open the scoring on a nice two on one break, taking advantage of defenseman Vitali Proshkin ’s mistake. Oleg Tverdovsky (Los Angeles Kings) ties it up with a seemingly simple shot that Robert Eshe wasn’t able to handle. Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) scored an important goal on the break away, slipping by Alexei Emelin (Montreal Canadiens) and Vyacheslav Buravchikov (Buffalo Sabres) before beating Eshe. Kazan still manages to tie the game again. Highly effective Igor Volkov (New York Islanders) scored another playoff goal to put his team up 3:2 and then Oleg Tverdovsky (Los Angeles Kings) added his second goal to put his team up 4:2. Kazan came back with a late goal by the first line, but it is too little too late and Salavat Yulayev takes a lead in the series.

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Super League -  Oleg Tverdovsky (Los Angeles Kings) scored two goals, with Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) and Igor Volkov (New York Islanders) adding a tally each to help Salavat Yulayev past HC Ak Bars and take the lead in the series. Robert Esche did not have his best game for Kazan, allowing a soft goal on Tverdovsky’s shot early on in the game and then failing to stop a couple of critical shots, including the one by Igor Volkov (New York Islanders), who skated past Andrei Pervyshin (St. Louis Blues) to the slot. Kazan once again depended too much on the top Danis Zaripov – Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) – Alexei Morozov (Pittsburgh Penguins) line and the team was unable to beat Ufa’s stacked lineup. If Salavat wins the next contest, it will advance to the finals for the first time in team history!

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The game saw some changes in the club lineups, with Mikhail Zhukov (Edmonton Oilers) and Andrei Zubarev (Atlanta Thrashers) being put in reserve by Kazan’s head coach Zinatulla Bilyaletdinov in favor of more experienced and offensively gifted players. The teams exchanged several dangerous scoring chances by Salavat’s Alexander Perezhogin (Montreal Canadiens) and then again Igor Volkov (New York Islanders) who almost scored on a redirect of Kiril Koltsov (Vancouver Canucks)’s hard shot. Dmitri Kazionov (Tampa Bay Lightning) played well in this game, continuing to have a strong playoff. While he did not score, he did cause a number of problems for Salavat and assisted beautifully on a key opening goal by Kazan when he fed Alexander Stepanov from behind the net. It was also interesting to see Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) show signs of life after having a very quiet season. Despite skating on the fourth line he was very active for his club and chipped in on his team’s only tally. With the series tied, the games now move to Kazan for third contest.

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Russian Super League -  Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) has joined a new club in Russia. He has left HC Khimik and signed a new deal through the end of the season with HC Salavat Yulayev, which has retooled significantly during the past off-season. The young forward has reportedly had a number of other suitors, including HC CSKA and the wealthy HC Ak Bars, but he chose Salavat Yulayev due to the club’s stability and his opportunity to get extensive ice time.

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Russian Super League -  Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) has been put on waivers by HC Khimik reportedly over an apparent disagreement between the young player and the club’s coaching staff. The young forward lead the club last year in +/-, but the club’s defensive style likely had to do with his departure from Mytische. Reportedly, several clubs are interested in the player, though the best offer appears to be coming from the wealthy HC Ak Bars.

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Russian Super League -  A detailed recap of the game between two of the strongest Russian Super League clubs. The game featured Super League's top forward Alexei Morozov, as well as a number of young NHL prospects. READ MORE

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World Championships -  Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) will miss the World Championships due to a foot injury that has sidelined him during Team Russia’s training camp. He was one of three Khimik forwards invited to the training camp, with Denis Arkhipov (Nashville Predators) and Alexander Semin (Washington Capitals) continuing to compete for spots on the team traveling to Latvia.

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Russian Super League -  Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) today made his return back to Khimik’s (Voskresensk) lineup, skating on the club’s third line. Shkotov’s injury was not as severe as initially diagnosed, and he returned to the ice two weeks early. In the game, he tied the game up for Khimik with just under two minutes left in regulation, clearing the path for an eventual overtime goal by Denis Ezhov (Buffalo Sabres).

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Russian Super League -  Alexei Shkotov (St.Louis Blues) is sidelined for a month after suffering a broken hip in the Tuesday’s game against HC MVD. While the injury is serious, the break in the hip as not as serious as it could have potentially be and will require only approximately five weeks to heal. This is an unfortunate turn of events, as Shkotov had an opportunity to be at the Blues camp, but decided to instead stay in Russia for the 2005-06 season.

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Russian Super League -  RussianProspects.com has learned that Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) will remain with RSL’s Khimik (Vosskresensk) for the remainder of the 2005-06 season and will not attend the Blues training camp. The move came as a surprise, since the young forward has two years left on his three year deal with the Blues and was obligated by his contract to return to North America. He is bound to get a lot of ice time with Khimik, but it remains questionable whether the increased ice time will improve his chances of an NHL debut, considering his unwillingness to play in the AHL. Thus far, Shkotov has skated on Khimik’s third and fourth line, scoring a goal in his club’s last game. We will keep you posted on any future developments.

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Russian Super League -  Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) made his return on February 17th from a bruised shoulder he suffered in the game against CSKA almost three weeks earlier. The young forward skated on Khimik’s third line and will likely gets more ice time as he returns to full strength. Fortunately, the injury was not as serious as initially believed when it looked like he may have broken his collar bone. Shkotov did not miss many games, as his injury coincided with the break in the Super League season due to the Sweden Games international competition.

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Russian Super League -  Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) appears to have suffered a collar bone injury in the game against CSKA (Moscow). The young forward had a great game, scoring Khimik’s first goal and being eventually named the third star. Towards the end of the third period, former NHL defenseman Evgeny (John) Namestnikov checked Shkotov and the young forward was forced to leave the game. We will keep you updated on the young forward’s status.

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Russian Super League -  Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) skated in his first game back in Russia since returning from the AHL. The young forward scored a goal and was recognized as the third star of the game in the victory against Dynamo (Moscow).

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Russian Super League -  Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) returns to his hometown Elektrostal and has signed a contract with a neighbor Super League (Russia 1) club Khimik (Vosskresensk). The young forward has spent the first part of the 2004-05 season in North America with the Worcester Ice Cats. In his professional rookie season, Shkotov registered 12 points (6G+6A) in 23 games prior to his departure.

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Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) will not return to the Quebec Ramparts for his final junior season, instead deciding to turn pro. He signed a contract with St. Louis two years ago, but the deal has not yet gone into effect, as Shkotov spent the 2002-03 season in Russia, and the 2003-04 season in the juniors with the Ramparts. The young forward has already joined the Blues’ AHL affiliate in Worcester for some mid summer workouts. He will attend the NHL club’s training camp. Depending on his success there, Shkotov will either play in the NHL, or be assigned to the Worcester Ice Cats in the AHL.

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A jury in Traverse City, MI found Alexei Shkotov not guilty of drunk driving in the case that spans back to September, when a rookie tournament was held in the city. The case against Shkotov was fluid at best, since the police officer did not pull the car over, but found it pulled over on the side of the road, with Shkotov in the driver's seat. Shkotov maintained the whole time that he was not driving, but that he switched seats with his teammate to figure out how to turn off the interior light. His claim was supported by the testimony of Evgenii Skachkov, who flew in from Russia for the trial. According to a Traverse City Record Eagle article, the jury took only 20 minutes to find Shkotov not guilty.