GENEVA (AP) - The Czech and Russian ice hockey federations have refused to sign the proposed player transfer agreement between the NHL and the sport's world governing body as the Monday deadline for a deal expired, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation.
''We really don't know about the ramifications of those two countries saying no to the proposed deal,'' IIHF spokesman Szymon Szemberg told The Associated Press.
The IIHF and NHL are still in talks to decide their next course of action.
With their clubs opposing the deal, both national federations declined to sign, pushing for a better accord. Czech clubs say the minimum amount of compensation the NHL pays to European federations to sign players is too low. The Russian clubs would like to deal directly with NHL teams in determining player compensation.
The other five federations - Sweden, Finland, Germany, Slovakia and Switzerland - have said they would sign the new proposed deal.
While the Russian federation simply refused to sign the agreement, the Czechs had come up with their own counterproposal for the NHL.
In it, they wanted to raise the minimum compensation for any draft pick from $150,000 to $300,000 US.
In addition, they resisted the one-time compensation fee paid to federations for players. The Czechs agree this should apply to players under 23 but ''we cannot agree (in the case of) a player who leaves for the NHL with the basic compensation at the age of 18, then coming back and growing up into a top player (then) going back to the NHL free,'' said Stanislav Sulc, director of the Association of professional ice hockey clubs.
The Czechs also want half of any compensation to be paid immediately and agree with the compensation being lowered by 20 per cent in case the player played in junior hockey overseas.
The NHL had had already said it would not consider any counterproposals.
It is unsure what course of action the NHL and IIHF will take next.
One theory is that they will proceed with a player transfer agreement with the five countries who are willing to sign it, but exclude Russia and the Czech Republic.
The two bodies had until 5 a.m. ET Monday to give a ''final reply'' to the deal offered by the NHL.
The previous NHL-IIHF agreement, which expired, covered player transfers, as well as NHL players' participation in Olympic, world championship and World Cup tournaments.
In the proposed five-year player transfer plan, the NHL would pay $12.5 million annually to a fund managed by the IIHF - a $3.5-million increase from the previous deal.
The IIHF would distribute the money among the national federations and clubs that lose players to the NHL based on a formula devised by the IIHF and the national federations.
A player picked first in the NHL draft is worth $900,000 with each successive pick down to 30th decreasing by $20,000. Later draft picks are valued at $150,000 each.