Khabibulin to Serve Jail Time in DUI Case

No one wants to spend time in jail, but Edmonton goalie Nikokai Khabibulin will spend 30 days between jail and house arrest after not continuing to appeal his DUI charge in Arizona earlier this week. The DUI occurred February 8, 2010 when he was caught driving 70 mph in a 45 mph zone near his Phoenix area home. When he was pulled over, Khabibulin was arrested after a field sobriety test showed his blood-alcohol level at .164, more than double the legal limit in Arizona. He was in Phoenix while recovering from an injury he suffered while in Edmonton.

Khabibulin, 38, played for Phoenix from 1996-99. He signed a four-year, $15 million deal with Edmonton in 2009. He was originally sentenced last August but decided to appeal. He withdrew the appeal after realizing the court process would linger into Edmonton’s training camp and potentially the regular season, preventing him from being in two different cities and countries at the same time. He wanted to get the situation behind him and focus on training camp and the upcoming season.

In a statement, he said “Despite assurances by legal counsel regarding the strength of my appeals case, I have decided to withdraw my appeal and proceed with sentencing. Once completed, I eagerly anticipate a timely return to Edmonton for training camp, where I will strive to be the best player, teammate and citizen possible.”

He will not spend the entire 30-day sentence behind bars, Khabibulin will serve the first 15 days of his sentence in jail with work release and the other half of his sentence under house arrest. He will have to wear an ankle monitor and is subject to random alcohol testing.

The Oilers open preseason action with split-squad games September 20. One half of the team will take on Minnesota at home while the other half will travel to Saskatoon, SK to play Chicago.