On 26 October 2005, Capitals general manager George McPhee announced the Capitals had filed a complaint against Semin and his agent, Mark Gandler. McPhee stated, "We have done everything we could to avoid this step, but we felt we had no choice but to now seek a legal remedy. This filing seeks to compel Alexander Semin's agent and the Russian hockey team Lada Togliatti to return Alex to the Washington Capitals... We look forward to the resolution of this process so that we can welcome Alex back to the Capitals this season." Likewise, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said, "This is a situation where a valid, legally-binding contract is not being honored, and that's not right." U.S. District Court Judge Henry H. Kennedy, Jr., issued a temporary restraining order on 4 November 2005 ordering Gandler and his International Sports Advisors Company to stop representing Semin in contracts with teams other than the Capitals. Due to Lada Togliatti's financial challenges, Lada released Semin, but he instead signed with Russian squad Mytischi Khimik on 22 November.