"Evgeni Nabokov, who left the NHL for a four-year contract with Russian club SKA St. Petersburg during the summer, has left that team and his contract has been terminated, SKA announced Monday.

"The contract between the club and the goaltender (Evgeni) Nabokov was rescinded because of the family circumstances of the hockey player," was the explanation on the team's website.

In 22 games, Nabokov is just 8-8-5 with a 3.02 goals-against average and .888 save percentage. That's far below the career numbers the 35-year-old put up during his 10 seasons with the San Jose Sharks."