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If the NHL expands to Europe

Sep. 28, 2022 at 5:33 p.m.
#1
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So for the NHL to expand to Europe there must be a division of teams (8 teams):
The cities I would choose:

Helsinki (Finland)
Tampere (Finland)

Stockholm (Sweden)
Malmo (Sweden)

Bratislava (Slovakia)

Prague (Czechia)

Berlin (Germany)

Bern (Switzerland)
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Oct. 1, 2022 at 7:58 p.m.
#2
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Quoting: Finski
So for the NHL to expand to Europe there must be a division of teams (8 teams):
The cities I would choose:

Helsinki (Finland)
Tampere (Finland)

Stockholm (Sweden)
Malmo (Sweden)

Bratislava (Slovakia)

Prague (Czechia)

Berlin (Germany)

Bern (Switzerland)


I'm all in favor of an European division in the NHL and yes you have covered the non-Russian hotbeds of hockey talent. However NHL teams have to look at market size and economics when placing teams not local talent.

Tampere, Bratislava, Bern, and Malmo versus placing teams in London, Paris, the Rhine and Ruhr areas of Germany, or even Vienna would be akin to picking Quebec and Winnipeg type cities over New York City, Chicago, or LA.

Maybe Copenhagen instead of Malmo and you still draw Swedish interest from Malmo but not directly in Malmo.
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Oct. 2, 2022 at 1:01 a.m.
#3
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New York Rangers
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Quoting: HockeyScotty
I'm all in favor of an European division in the NHL and yes you have covered the non-Russian hotbeds of hockey talent. However NHL teams have to look at market size and economics when placing teams not local talent.

Tampere, Bratislava, Bern, and Malmo versus placing teams in London, Paris, the Rhine and Ruhr areas of Germany, or even Vienna would be akin to picking Quebec and Winnipeg type cities over New York City, Chicago, or LA.

Maybe Copenhagen instead of Malmo and you still draw Swedish interest from Malmo but not directly in Malmo.


I placed the teams into the countries where Hockey is actually watched. Placing a team into London would not bring attention to the sport (necessarily). Tampere, Malmo, etc. have great facilities in place where a NHL franchise could play, and both cities would bring in great numbers of fans to the sport. London, Paris, Copenhagen, etc. would need to be put into place after the market has been secured in Europe, if not the teams might fail. If the NHL could wind up support on the continent then it is the time to hit the large (non hockey cities) not before.
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Oct. 2, 2022 at 1:35 a.m.
#4
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Quoting: Finski
I placed the teams into the countries where Hockey is actually watched. Placing a team into London would not bring attention to the sport (necessarily). Tampere, Malmo, etc. have great facilities in place where a NHL franchise could play, and both cities would bring in great numbers of fans to the sport. London, Paris, Copenhagen, etc. would need to be put into place after the market has been secured in Europe, if not the teams might fail. If the NHL could wind up support on the continent then it is the time to hit the large (non hockey cities) not before.


Agree to disagree.

Every major sport starts in those types of cities, but the money drives them to the big metro centers eventually so why not start there. Same reason why Vegas is successful; it isn't about having 15,000 butts in seats; it is about getting large corporate sponsors, luxury suite sales, corporate advertisers, TV ratings, etc.

A team in Tampere would have a worst case scenario financially that is probably a solid "floor", but their best case scenario "ceiling" is not going to be that much higher. A team in London however would have a huge potential.

Just look at the German pro hockey league financially versus even Sweden. Sweden has better players, more interest/attention; but the German league is far better off financially.

As I said, Quebec and Halifax are places "where hockey is actually watched"; but the NHL is never going to those cities for that reason.

In order to support NHL level expenses and salaries; each team would have to produce over $175 million per year in Hockey-Related Revenue (HRR) and that is on the LOW side; this would cause ticket prices to multiply. So, yes some of those cities have popular hockey: they just can't support that level of economics. Even Helsinki Jokerit would have to raise ticket prices almost 10-fold to get close to that level; but at least Helsinki is a major European city and can probably continue to support the team at that level; Tampere however could not; nor the other smaller cities.

London and Paris have Europe's highest GDP by cities by far and with their population they could easily find success drawing fans in professional hockey at the highest level.
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May 2, 2023 at 2:30 p.m.
#5
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European Hockey Association
New League with economics and level of play between AHL and NHL to replace the void of the KHL.

Player salaries would be minimum of € 100k. Team salary cap of € 28,000,000 and max salary of € 5,550,000 per player.

Two way contracts would work between the NHL and EHA just like with NHL-AHL. None of the EHA teams would be "affiliated" with an NHL team; but they can get loaned players for development purposes or sign their own players to direct contracts. Basically they would be just like the Chicago Wolves are going to be.

This would entice European born players to stay closer to home; and vice-versa with North American players displaced by European players in the AHL.

All in-game rules and roster construction would be the same as NHL (just with different figures as listed above).

The future goal would be convert the arenas to NHL size arenas so European players, coaches, and executives can develop for the NHL game.

No rules about the # of foreign born players or % of in-country nationals on the team (as the current Euro leagues often do).

Minimum arena size would be 12,500 for the economics to work.

8 cities to start the league would be chosen with future expansion based on success.

Cities/metro areas are chosen based on economy, population, arena availability, hockey market size. Local hockey talent is not an important factor just "market size" for fans/sponsorships/TV media. Think LA Kings, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, mixed in with Toronto, Minnesota, Boston, Montreal type markets; but not places like Quebec or Halifax where the economics make it really hard to compete financially against bigger markets.

Original Cities:
Stockholm, Sweden
Helsinki, Finland (if arena ownership gets resolved: play temporarily in Tampere until this is done).
Cologne, Germany
Berlin, Germany
Mannheim, Germany
Copenhagen, Denmark (with Malmo, Sweden as co-host)
Zurich, Switzerland
Prague, Czechia

Guaranteed Expansion targets:
London, England (O2 Arena)
Paris, France (Accor Arena)
Vienna, Austria (new ice arena expected 2025-26); (paired with Bratislava, Slovakia as co-host)
Milan, Italy (new ice arena expected for 2026: Olympics)

Strong Expansion targets:
Munich, Germany (new ice arena expected 2024)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Oslo, Norway (if Telenor Arena conversion is completed by 2027)

Possible Expansion targets:
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brussels, Belgium
Glasgow, Scotland
Hamburg, Germany
Zagreb, Croatia
Bern, Switzerland (small immediate market but very large economy and hockey market)
Tampere, Finland (small market/economy but very large hockey base).

Fringe Targets:
Riga, Latvia
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Manchester, England
Turin, Italy
Krakow, Poland
Lodz, Poland
Katowice, Poland
Budapest, Hungary
Sheffield, England
Nottingham, England
Kaunas, Lithuania

Unavailable Expansion Targets:
Moscow, Russia
St. Petersburg, Russia
Minsk, Belarus
Kiev, Ukraine
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Astana, Kazakhstan
Targets without sufficient Arena:
Dublin, Ireland
Belgrade, Serbia
Bucharest, Romania
Gdansk, Poland

Examples of Available Players:

Forwards
Joakim Nordström Victor Rask Loui Eriksson
Jonathan Dahlén Oscar Lindberg Andreas Johnsson
Tom Kühnhackl Emil Bemström Andreas Martinsen
Patrick Thoresen Pontus Holmberg Sven Andrighetto
Valtteri Filppula Jori Lehterä Janne Kuokkanen
Juho Lammikko Sakari Manninen Sven Bärtschi
Liam Kirk Markus Granlund Martin Frk
Oskar Steen Henrik Borgström Martin Kaut
Kaspars Daugavins Dominik Kahun Rudolfs Balcers
Filip Hållander Lias Andersson Nils Höglander
Damien Brunner Lucas Wallmark Alexander Nylander
Alexander True Frans Nielsen Mikkel Bødker
Frederik Storm Peter Regin Dominik Bokk
Lukas Sedlak Roman Cervenka David Desharnais
Dmitri Jaskin Radim Zohorna Stephane Da Costa
Gregory Hofmann Enzo Corvi Lino Martschini
Antoine Roussel Gaetan Haas Tomas Jurco
Andrew Agozzino Zach Boychuk Peter Cehlárik
Michael Raffl Cedric Paquette Marko Dano
Marian Studenic Alexandre Texier Borna Rendulic
Shane Prince Adam Gaudette Nic Petan
Tobias Rieder Adam Tambellini Martin Pospisil

Defense
Jacob Larsson Anton Stralman
Christian Djoos Jonas Holøs
Lawrence Pilut Yannick Weber
Michal Kempný Raphael Diaz
Robin Salo Sami Vatanen
Sami Niku Julius Honka
Ville Heinola Olli Juolevi
Dean Kukan Andrej Sustr
Kristians Rubins Libor Hájek
Lucas Carlsson Mattias Norlinder
William Lagesson Leon Gawanke
Mirco Müller Milan Jurcina
Sean Day Michal Cajkovsky
Simon Després Samuel Knazko
Michael Del Zotto Martin Gernat

Goalies
Mikko Koskinen
Jonas Johansson
Reto Barra
Oscar Dansk
Harri Säteri
Magnus Hellberg
Joey Daccord
Louis Domingue
Jean-Francois Berube
Erik Källgren
Adam Huska
Olle Eriksson Ek
Henrik Haukeland
Patrik Rybar
Simon Hrubec
Kristers Gudlevskis
Jul. 4, 2023 at 7:38 p.m.
#6
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Joined: Sep. 2020
Posts: 66
Likes: 4
Quoting: HockeyScotty
European Hockey Association
New League with economics and level of play between AHL and NHL to replace the void of the KHL.

Player salaries would be minimum of € 100k. Team salary cap of € 28,000,000 and max salary of € 5,550,000 per player.

Two way contracts would work between the NHL and EHA just like with NHL-AHL. None of the EHA teams would be "affiliated" with an NHL team; but they can get loaned players for development purposes or sign their own players to direct contracts. Basically they would be just like the Chicago Wolves are going to be.

This would entice European born players to stay closer to home; and vice-versa with North American players displaced by European players in the AHL.

All in-game rules and roster construction would be the same as NHL (just with different figures as listed above).

The future goal would be convert the arenas to NHL size arenas so European players, coaches, and executives can develop for the NHL game.

No rules about the # of foreign born players or % of in-country nationals on the team (as the current Euro leagues often do).

Minimum arena size would be 12,500 for the economics to work.

8 cities to start the league would be chosen with future expansion based on success.

Cities/metro areas are chosen based on economy, population, arena availability, hockey market size. Local hockey talent is not an important factor just "market size" for fans/sponsorships/TV media. Think LA Kings, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, mixed in with Toronto, Minnesota, Boston, Montreal type markets; but not places like Quebec or Halifax where the economics make it really hard to compete financially against bigger markets.

Original Cities:
Stockholm, Sweden
Helsinki, Finland (if arena ownership gets resolved: play temporarily in Tampere until this is done).
Cologne, Germany
Berlin, Germany
Mannheim, Germany
Copenhagen, Denmark (with Malmo, Sweden as co-host)
Zurich, Switzerland
Prague, Czechia

Guaranteed Expansion targets:
London, England (O2 Arena)
Paris, France (Accor Arena)
Vienna, Austria (new ice arena expected 2025-26); (paired with Bratislava, Slovakia as co-host)
Milan, Italy (new ice arena expected for 2026: Olympics)

Strong Expansion targets:
Munich, Germany (new ice arena expected 2024)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Oslo, Norway (if Telenor Arena conversion is completed by 2027)

Possible Expansion targets:
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brussels, Belgium
Glasgow, Scotland
Hamburg, Germany
Zagreb, Croatia
Bern, Switzerland (small immediate market but very large economy and hockey market)
Tampere, Finland (small market/economy but very large hockey base).

Fringe Targets:
Riga, Latvia
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Manchester, England
Turin, Italy
Krakow, Poland
Lodz, Poland
Katowice, Poland
Budapest, Hungary
Sheffield, England
Nottingham, England
Kaunas, Lithuania

Unavailable Expansion Targets:
Moscow, Russia
St. Petersburg, Russia
Minsk, Belarus
Kiev, Ukraine
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Astana, Kazakhstan
Targets without sufficient Arena:
Dublin, Ireland
Belgrade, Serbia
Bucharest, Romania
Gdansk, Poland

Examples of Available Players:

Forwards
Joakim Nordström Victor Rask Loui Eriksson
Jonathan Dahlén Oscar Lindberg Andreas Johnsson
Tom Kühnhackl Emil Bemström Andreas Martinsen
Patrick Thoresen Pontus Holmberg Sven Andrighetto
Valtteri Filppula Jori Lehterä Janne Kuokkanen
Juho Lammikko Sakari Manninen Sven Bärtschi
Liam Kirk Markus Granlund Martin Frk
Oskar Steen Henrik Borgström Martin Kaut
Kaspars Daugavins Dominik Kahun Rudolfs Balcers
Filip Hållander Lias Andersson Nils Höglander
Damien Brunner Lucas Wallmark Alexander Nylander
Alexander True Frans Nielsen Mikkel Bødker
Frederik Storm Peter Regin Dominik Bokk
Lukas Sedlak Roman Cervenka David Desharnais
Dmitri Jaskin Radim Zohorna Stephane Da Costa
Gregory Hofmann Enzo Corvi Lino Martschini
Antoine Roussel Gaetan Haas Tomas Jurco
Andrew Agozzino Zach Boychuk Peter Cehlárik
Michael Raffl Cedric Paquette Marko Dano
Marian Studenic Alexandre Texier Borna Rendulic
Shane Prince Adam Gaudette Nic Petan
Tobias Rieder Adam Tambellini Martin Pospisil

Defense
Jacob Larsson Anton Stralman
Christian Djoos Jonas Holøs
Lawrence Pilut Yannick Weber
Michal Kempný Raphael Diaz
Robin Salo Sami Vatanen
Sami Niku Julius Honka
Ville Heinola Olli Juolevi
Dean Kukan Andrej Sustr
Kristians Rubins Libor Hájek
Lucas Carlsson Mattias Norlinder
William Lagesson Leon Gawanke
Mirco Müller Milan Jurcina
Sean Day Michal Cajkovsky
Simon Després Samuel Knazko
Michael Del Zotto Martin Gernat

Goalies
Mikko Koskinen
Jonas Johansson
Reto Barra
Oscar Dansk
Harri Säteri
Magnus Hellberg
Joey Daccord
Louis Domingue
Jean-Francois Berube
Erik Källgren
Adam Huska
Olle Eriksson Ek
Henrik Haukeland
Patrik Rybar
Simon Hrubec
Kristers Gudlevskis


Absolutely love this idea, I may even come up with some mock rosters after the NHL's silly season. As much as Champions HL is considered the big european league, I think something with a full regular season would be very cool.
Jul. 15, 2023 at 10:42 a.m.
#7
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Oak View Group (OVG) is one of the largest arena groups in the world and one of the founders/partners and CEO is Tim Leiweke (older brother of Seattle Kraken CEO).

OVG was the lead developer of Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, UBS Arena (Long Island).

OVG is also currently building Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester, England (with ice hockey capabilities) the new Milan, Italy arena for their Olympics, and just now were awarded the new Vienna, Austria arena.
Jul. 20, 2023 at 5:02 p.m.
#8
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Joined: Sep. 2020
Posts: 66
Likes: 4
Quoting: HockeyScotty
European Hockey Association
New League with economics and level of play between AHL and NHL to replace the void of the KHL.

Player salaries would be minimum of € 100k. Team salary cap of € 28,000,000 and max salary of € 5,550,000 per player.

Two way contracts would work between the NHL and EHA just like with NHL-AHL. None of the EHA teams would be "affiliated" with an NHL team; but they can get loaned players for development purposes or sign their own players to direct contracts. Basically they would be just like the Chicago Wolves are going to be.

This would entice European born players to stay closer to home; and vice-versa with North American players displaced by European players in the AHL.

All in-game rules and roster construction would be the same as NHL (just with different figures as listed above).

The future goal would be convert the arenas to NHL size arenas so European players, coaches, and executives can develop for the NHL game.

No rules about the # of foreign born players or % of in-country nationals on the team (as the current Euro leagues often do).

Minimum arena size would be 12,500 for the economics to work.

8 cities to start the league would be chosen with future expansion based on success.

Cities/metro areas are chosen based on economy, population, arena availability, hockey market size. Local hockey talent is not an important factor just "market size" for fans/sponsorships/TV media. Think LA Kings, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, mixed in with Toronto, Minnesota, Boston, Montreal type markets; but not places like Quebec or Halifax where the economics make it really hard to compete financially against bigger markets.

Original Cities:
Stockholm, Sweden
Helsinki, Finland (if arena ownership gets resolved: play temporarily in Tampere until this is done).
Cologne, Germany
Berlin, Germany
Mannheim, Germany
Copenhagen, Denmark (with Malmo, Sweden as co-host)
Zurich, Switzerland
Prague, Czechia

Guaranteed Expansion targets:
London, England (O2 Arena)
Paris, France (Accor Arena)
Vienna, Austria (new ice arena expected 2025-26); (paired with Bratislava, Slovakia as co-host)
Milan, Italy (new ice arena expected for 2026: Olympics)

Strong Expansion targets:
Munich, Germany (new ice arena expected 2024)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Oslo, Norway (if Telenor Arena conversion is completed by 2027)

Possible Expansion targets:
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brussels, Belgium
Glasgow, Scotland
Hamburg, Germany
Zagreb, Croatia
Bern, Switzerland (small immediate market but very large economy and hockey market)
Tampere, Finland (small market/economy but very large hockey base).

Fringe Targets:
Riga, Latvia
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Manchester, England
Turin, Italy
Krakow, Poland
Lodz, Poland
Katowice, Poland
Budapest, Hungary
Sheffield, England
Nottingham, England
Kaunas, Lithuania

Unavailable Expansion Targets:
Moscow, Russia
St. Petersburg, Russia
Minsk, Belarus
Kiev, Ukraine
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Astana, Kazakhstan
Targets without sufficient Arena:
Dublin, Ireland
Belgrade, Serbia
Bucharest, Romania
Gdansk, Poland

Examples of Available Players:

Forwards
Joakim Nordström Victor Rask Loui Eriksson
Jonathan Dahlén Oscar Lindberg Andreas Johnsson
Tom Kühnhackl Emil Bemström Andreas Martinsen
Patrick Thoresen Pontus Holmberg Sven Andrighetto
Valtteri Filppula Jori Lehterä Janne Kuokkanen
Juho Lammikko Sakari Manninen Sven Bärtschi
Liam Kirk Markus Granlund Martin Frk
Oskar Steen Henrik Borgström Martin Kaut
Kaspars Daugavins Dominik Kahun Rudolfs Balcers
Filip Hållander Lias Andersson Nils Höglander
Damien Brunner Lucas Wallmark Alexander Nylander
Alexander True Frans Nielsen Mikkel Bødker
Frederik Storm Peter Regin Dominik Bokk
Lukas Sedlak Roman Cervenka David Desharnais
Dmitri Jaskin Radim Zohorna Stephane Da Costa
Gregory Hofmann Enzo Corvi Lino Martschini
Antoine Roussel Gaetan Haas Tomas Jurco
Andrew Agozzino Zach Boychuk Peter Cehlárik
Michael Raffl Cedric Paquette Marko Dano
Marian Studenic Alexandre Texier Borna Rendulic
Shane Prince Adam Gaudette Nic Petan
Tobias Rieder Adam Tambellini Martin Pospisil

Defense
Jacob Larsson Anton Stralman
Christian Djoos Jonas Holøs
Lawrence Pilut Yannick Weber
Michal Kempný Raphael Diaz
Robin Salo Sami Vatanen
Sami Niku Julius Honka
Ville Heinola Olli Juolevi
Dean Kukan Andrej Sustr
Kristians Rubins Libor Hájek
Lucas Carlsson Mattias Norlinder
William Lagesson Leon Gawanke
Mirco Müller Milan Jurcina
Sean Day Michal Cajkovsky
Simon Després Samuel Knazko
Michael Del Zotto Martin Gernat

Goalies
Mikko Koskinen
Jonas Johansson
Reto Barra
Oscar Dansk
Harri Säteri
Magnus Hellberg
Joey Daccord
Louis Domingue
Jean-Francois Berube
Erik Källgren
Adam Huska
Olle Eriksson Ek
Henrik Haukeland
Patrik Rybar
Simon Hrubec
Kristers Gudlevskis


I came up with some team names for a potential pan-European league. Most of these are either work of a google translation, a football team being in the same city, or they were rumoured to join the KHL.

London Emperors - London, GBR
Paris Saint-Germain HC - Paris, FRA
Vienna Schwarz Adler - Vienna, AUT - translates to Vienna Black Eagles
HK Hnede Medvede Bratislava - Bratislava, SVK - translates to Brown Bears
EHC Bayern Munchen - Munchen, DEU
Goteborgs HK - Goteborg, SWE
Oslo IHK - Oslo, NOR
Jarvet Tampereeen - Tampere, FIN - translates to "lakes"
Amsterdam IHC - Amsterdam, NED
Lions de Bruxelles - Brussels, BEL
Hamburg Freezers - Hamburg, DEU
Medvescak Zagreb - Zagreb, CRO
EHC Bern Kuhe - Bern, CHE - translates to Cows
Glasgow Snipers - Glasgow, GBR
Dinamo Riga - Riga, LAT
Belfast Wildcats - Belfast, GBR
Patriot Budapest - Budapest, HUN
Torino HC - Turin, ITA
Huttwil Helvetics - Huttwil, CHE
Oliva Gdansk - Gdansk, POL
HC Geneva Cerfs - Geneva, CHE - translates to deers
SG Dynamo Dresden - Dresden, DEU
Manchester Rapids - Manchester, GBR
Vetra Vilnius - Vilnius, LTH - roughly translates to storm
Espoo Blues - Espoo, FIN
Ilves Tallinn - Tallinn, EST - translates to lynx
Stockholm IHK - Stockholm, SWE
Helsingin Jaakiekkoseura - Helsinki, FIN - short form "HJS", translates to Helsinki Hockey Club
Kolner Piranhas - Koln, DEU
Mannheimer Falken - Mannheim, DEU
Zurich Fuchse - Zurich, CHE - translates to foxes
HK Kamzik Praha - Praha, CZE - translates to chamois
Jul. 27, 2023 at 6:44 p.m.
#9
GO KNIGHTS GO
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Joined: Jul. 2021
Posts: 2,623
Likes: 2,260
Quoting: HockeyScotty
European Hockey Association
New League with economics and level of play between AHL and NHL to replace the void of the KHL.

Player salaries would be minimum of € 100k. Team salary cap of € 28,000,000 and max salary of € 5,550,000 per player.

Two way contracts would work between the NHL and EHA just like with NHL-AHL. None of the EHA teams would be "affiliated" with an NHL team; but they can get loaned players for development purposes or sign their own players to direct contracts. Basically they would be just like the Chicago Wolves are going to be.

This would entice European born players to stay closer to home; and vice-versa with North American players displaced by European players in the AHL.

All in-game rules and roster construction would be the same as NHL (just with different figures as listed above).

The future goal would be convert the arenas to NHL size arenas so European players, coaches, and executives can develop for the NHL game.

No rules about the # of foreign born players or % of in-country nationals on the team (as the current Euro leagues often do).

Minimum arena size would be 12,500 for the economics to work.

8 cities to start the league would be chosen with future expansion based on success.

Cities/metro areas are chosen based on economy, population, arena availability, hockey market size. Local hockey talent is not an important factor just "market size" for fans/sponsorships/TV media. Think LA Kings, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, mixed in with Toronto, Minnesota, Boston, Montreal type markets; but not places like Quebec or Halifax where the economics make it really hard to compete financially against bigger markets.

Original Cities:
Stockholm, Sweden
Helsinki, Finland (if arena ownership gets resolved: play temporarily in Tampere until this is done).
Cologne, Germany
Berlin, Germany
Mannheim, Germany
Copenhagen, Denmark (with Malmo, Sweden as co-host)
Zurich, Switzerland
Prague, Czechia

Guaranteed Expansion targets:
London, England (O2 Arena)
Paris, France (Accor Arena)
Vienna, Austria (new ice arena expected 2025-26); (paired with Bratislava, Slovakia as co-host)
Milan, Italy (new ice arena expected for 2026: Olympics)

Strong Expansion targets:
Munich, Germany (new ice arena expected 2024)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Oslo, Norway (if Telenor Arena conversion is completed by 2027)

Possible Expansion targets:
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brussels, Belgium
Glasgow, Scotland
Hamburg, Germany
Zagreb, Croatia
Bern, Switzerland (small immediate market but very large economy and hockey market)
Tampere, Finland (small market/economy but very large hockey base).

Fringe Targets:
Riga, Latvia
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Manchester, England
Turin, Italy
Krakow, Poland
Lodz, Poland
Katowice, Poland
Budapest, Hungary
Sheffield, England
Nottingham, England
Kaunas, Lithuania

Unavailable Expansion Targets:
Moscow, Russia
St. Petersburg, Russia
Minsk, Belarus
Kiev, Ukraine
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Astana, Kazakhstan
Targets without sufficient Arena:
Dublin, Ireland
Belgrade, Serbia
Bucharest, Romania
Gdansk, Poland

Examples of Available Players:

Forwards
Joakim Nordström Victor Rask Loui Eriksson
Jonathan Dahlén Oscar Lindberg Andreas Johnsson
Tom Kühnhackl Emil Bemström Andreas Martinsen
Patrick Thoresen Pontus Holmberg Sven Andrighetto
Valtteri Filppula Jori Lehterä Janne Kuokkanen
Juho Lammikko Sakari Manninen Sven Bärtschi
Liam Kirk Markus Granlund Martin Frk
Oskar Steen Henrik Borgström Martin Kaut
Kaspars Daugavins Dominik Kahun Rudolfs Balcers
Filip Hållander Lias Andersson Nils Höglander
Damien Brunner Lucas Wallmark Alexander Nylander
Alexander True Frans Nielsen Mikkel Bødker
Frederik Storm Peter Regin Dominik Bokk
Lukas Sedlak Roman Cervenka David Desharnais
Dmitri Jaskin Radim Zohorna Stephane Da Costa
Gregory Hofmann Enzo Corvi Lino Martschini
Antoine Roussel Gaetan Haas Tomas Jurco
Andrew Agozzino Zach Boychuk Peter Cehlárik
Michael Raffl Cedric Paquette Marko Dano
Marian Studenic Alexandre Texier Borna Rendulic
Shane Prince Adam Gaudette Nic Petan
Tobias Rieder Adam Tambellini Martin Pospisil

Defense
Jacob Larsson Anton Stralman
Christian Djoos Jonas Holøs
Lawrence Pilut Yannick Weber
Michal Kempný Raphael Diaz
Robin Salo Sami Vatanen
Sami Niku Julius Honka
Ville Heinola Olli Juolevi
Dean Kukan Andrej Sustr
Kristians Rubins Libor Hájek
Lucas Carlsson Mattias Norlinder
William Lagesson Leon Gawanke
Mirco Müller Milan Jurcina
Sean Day Michal Cajkovsky
Simon Després Samuel Knazko
Michael Del Zotto Martin Gernat

Goalies
Mikko Koskinen
Jonas Johansson
Reto Barra
Oscar Dansk
Harri Säteri
Magnus Hellberg
Joey Daccord
Louis Domingue
Jean-Francois Berube
Erik Källgren
Adam Huska
Olle Eriksson Ek
Henrik Haukeland
Patrik Rybar
Simon Hrubec
Kristers Gudlevskis


The amount of effort you’ve put into this boggles the mind.
AK50 liked this.
Jul. 28, 2023 at 7:21 a.m.
#10
JT Miller for Hart
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Here's what I'd do.
Original 8:
Stockholm, Malmo, Oslo, Copenhagen, Berlin, Munich, Prague, Bern
Expansions:
London, Paris, Lyon, Zurich, Geneva, Bratislava, Tampere, Brussels/Amsterdam
Jul. 28, 2023 at 8:35 a.m.
#11
stop daddy it hurts
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Quoting: HockeyScotty
European Hockey Association
New League with economics and level of play between AHL and NHL to replace the void of the KHL.

Player salaries would be minimum of € 100k. Team salary cap of € 28,000,000 and max salary of € 5,550,000 per player.

Two way contracts would work between the NHL and EHA just like with NHL-AHL. None of the EHA teams would be "affiliated" with an NHL team; but they can get loaned players for development purposes or sign their own players to direct contracts. Basically they would be just like the Chicago Wolves are going to be.

This would entice European born players to stay closer to home; and vice-versa with North American players displaced by European players in the AHL.

All in-game rules and roster construction would be the same as NHL (just with different figures as listed above).

The future goal would be convert the arenas to NHL size arenas so European players, coaches, and executives can develop for the NHL game.

No rules about the # of foreign born players or % of in-country nationals on the team (as the current Euro leagues often do).

Minimum arena size would be 12,500 for the economics to work.

8 cities to start the league would be chosen with future expansion based on success.

Cities/metro areas are chosen based on economy, population, arena availability, hockey market size. Local hockey talent is not an important factor just "market size" for fans/sponsorships/TV media. Think LA Kings, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, mixed in with Toronto, Minnesota, Boston, Montreal type markets; but not places like Quebec or Halifax where the economics make it really hard to compete financially against bigger markets.

Original Cities:
Stockholm, Sweden
Helsinki, Finland (if arena ownership gets resolved: play temporarily in Tampere until this is done).
Cologne, Germany
Berlin, Germany
Mannheim, Germany
Copenhagen, Denmark (with Malmo, Sweden as co-host)
Zurich, Switzerland
Prague, Czechia

Guaranteed Expansion targets:
London, England (O2 Arena)
Paris, France (Accor Arena)
Vienna, Austria (new ice arena expected 2025-26); (paired with Bratislava, Slovakia as co-host)
Milan, Italy (new ice arena expected for 2026: Olympics)

Strong Expansion targets:
Munich, Germany (new ice arena expected 2024)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Oslo, Norway (if Telenor Arena conversion is completed by 2027)

Possible Expansion targets:
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brussels, Belgium
Glasgow, Scotland
Hamburg, Germany
Zagreb, Croatia
Bern, Switzerland (small immediate market but very large economy and hockey market)
Tampere, Finland (small market/economy but very large hockey base).

Fringe Targets:
Riga, Latvia
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Manchester, England
Turin, Italy
Krakow, Poland
Lodz, Poland
Katowice, Poland
Budapest, Hungary
Sheffield, England
Nottingham, England
Kaunas, Lithuania

Unavailable Expansion Targets:
Moscow, Russia
St. Petersburg, Russia
Minsk, Belarus
Kiev, Ukraine
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Astana, Kazakhstan
Targets without sufficient Arena:
Dublin, Ireland
Belgrade, Serbia
Bucharest, Romania
Gdansk, Poland

Examples of Available Players:

Forwards
Joakim Nordström Victor Rask Loui Eriksson
Jonathan Dahlén Oscar Lindberg Andreas Johnsson
Tom Kühnhackl Emil Bemström Andreas Martinsen
Patrick Thoresen Pontus Holmberg Sven Andrighetto
Valtteri Filppula Jori Lehterä Janne Kuokkanen
Juho Lammikko Sakari Manninen Sven Bärtschi
Liam Kirk Markus Granlund Martin Frk
Oskar Steen Henrik Borgström Martin Kaut
Kaspars Daugavins Dominik Kahun Rudolfs Balcers
Filip Hållander Lias Andersson Nils Höglander
Damien Brunner Lucas Wallmark Alexander Nylander
Alexander True Frans Nielsen Mikkel Bødker
Frederik Storm Peter Regin Dominik Bokk
Lukas Sedlak Roman Cervenka David Desharnais
Dmitri Jaskin Radim Zohorna Stephane Da Costa
Gregory Hofmann Enzo Corvi Lino Martschini
Antoine Roussel Gaetan Haas Tomas Jurco
Andrew Agozzino Zach Boychuk Peter Cehlárik
Michael Raffl Cedric Paquette Marko Dano
Marian Studenic Alexandre Texier Borna Rendulic
Shane Prince Adam Gaudette Nic Petan
Tobias Rieder Adam Tambellini Martin Pospisil

Defense
Jacob Larsson Anton Stralman
Christian Djoos Jonas Holøs
Lawrence Pilut Yannick Weber
Michal Kempný Raphael Diaz
Robin Salo Sami Vatanen
Sami Niku Julius Honka
Ville Heinola Olli Juolevi
Dean Kukan Andrej Sustr
Kristians Rubins Libor Hájek
Lucas Carlsson Mattias Norlinder
William Lagesson Leon Gawanke
Mirco Müller Milan Jurcina
Sean Day Michal Cajkovsky
Simon Després Samuel Knazko
Michael Del Zotto Martin Gernat

Goalies
Mikko Koskinen
Jonas Johansson
Reto Barra
Oscar Dansk
Harri Säteri
Magnus Hellberg
Joey Daccord
Louis Domingue
Jean-Francois Berube
Erik Källgren
Adam Huska
Olle Eriksson Ek
Henrik Haukeland
Patrik Rybar
Simon Hrubec
Kristers Gudlevskis


Someone should make this happen.
Oct. 6, 2023 at 3:25 a.m.
#12
Just one more thing
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Just one division? Who will they play with? Inside the division? Another covid times.
Oct. 7, 2023 at 12:56 a.m.
#13
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Edited Oct. 9, 2023 at 11:08 p.m.
Quoting: ZaZooM
Just one division? Who will they play with? Inside the division? Another covid times.


Yeah ok. You do realize the NHL had 6 teams for 25 years right?
Oct. 18, 2023 at 8:05 p.m.
#14
Why am i a pen fan
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Quoting: Finski
So for the NHL to expand to Europe there must be a division of teams (8 teams):
The cities I would choose:

Helsinki (Finland)
Tampere (Finland)

Stockholm (Sweden)
Malmo (Sweden)

Bratislava (Slovakia)

Prague (Czechia)

Berlin (Germany)

Bern (Switzerland)


Id also add a team in London, Copenhagen, Zurich and Munich
Oct. 26, 2023 at 3:33 a.m.
#15
RangersFan66530
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Quoting: Finski
So for the NHL to expand to Europe there must be a division of teams (8 teams):
The cities I would choose:

Helsinki (Finland)
Tampere (Finland)

Stockholm (Sweden)
Malmo (Sweden)

Bratislava (Slovakia)

Prague (Czechia)

Berlin (Germany)

Bern (Switzerland)


I'd maybe add Vienna.
Nov. 22, 2023 at 10:18 a.m.
#16
It's Just a Guess
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Quoting: HockeyScotty
I'm all in favor of an European division in the NHL and yes you have covered the non-Russian hotbeds of hockey talent. However NHL teams have to look at market size and economics when placing teams not local talent.

Tampere, Bratislava, Bern, and Malmo versus placing teams in London, Paris, the Rhine and Ruhr areas of Germany, or even Vienna would be akin to picking Quebec and Winnipeg type cities over New York City, Chicago, or LA.

Maybe Copenhagen instead of Malmo and you still draw Swedish interest from Malmo but not directly in Malmo.


Quoting: Finski
I placed the teams into the countries where Hockey is actually watched. Placing a team into London would not bring attention to the sport (necessarily). Tampere, Malmo, etc. have great facilities in place where a NHL franchise could play, and both cities would bring in great numbers of fans to the sport. London, Paris, Copenhagen, etc. would need to be put into place after the market has been secured in Europe, if not the teams might fail. If the NHL could wind up support on the continent then it is the time to hit the large (non hockey cities) not before.


Quoting: HockeyScotty
Agree to disagree.

Every major sport starts in those types of cities, but the money drives them to the big metro centers eventually so why not start there. Same reason why Vegas is successful; it isn't about having 15,000 butts in seats; it is about getting large corporate sponsors, luxury suite sales, corporate advertisers, TV ratings, etc.

A team in Tampere would have a worst case scenario financially that is probably a solid "floor", but their best case scenario "ceiling" is not going to be that much higher. A team in London however would have a huge potential.

Just look at the German pro hockey league financially versus even Sweden. Sweden has better players, more interest/attention; but the German league is far better off financially.

As I said, Quebec and Halifax are places "where hockey is actually watched"; but the NHL is never going to those cities for that reason.

In order to support NHL level expenses and salaries; each team would have to produce over $175 million per year in Hockey-Related Revenue (HRR) and that is on the LOW side; this would cause ticket prices to multiply. So, yes some of those cities have popular hockey: they just can't support that level of economics. Even Helsinki Jokerit would have to raise ticket prices almost 10-fold to get close to that level; but at least Helsinki is a major European city and can probably continue to support the team at that level; Tampere however could not; nor the other smaller cities.

London and Paris have Europe's highest GDP by cities by far and with their population they could easily find success drawing fans in professional hockey at the highest level.


Quoting: HockeyScotty
European Hockey Association
New League with economics and level of play between AHL and NHL to replace the void of the KHL.

Player salaries would be minimum of € 100k. Team salary cap of € 28,000,000 and max salary of € 5,550,000 per player.

Two way contracts would work between the NHL and EHA just like with NHL-AHL. None of the EHA teams would be "affiliated" with an NHL team; but they can get loaned players for development purposes or sign their own players to direct contracts. Basically they would be just like the Chicago Wolves are going to be.

This would entice European born players to stay closer to home; and vice-versa with North American players displaced by European players in the AHL.

All in-game rules and roster construction would be the same as NHL (just with different figures as listed above).

The future goal would be convert the arenas to NHL size arenas so European players, coaches, and executives can develop for the NHL game.

No rules about the # of foreign born players or % of in-country nationals on the team (as the current Euro leagues often do).

Minimum arena size would be 12,500 for the economics to work.

8 cities to start the league would be chosen with future expansion based on success.

Cities/metro areas are chosen based on economy, population, arena availability, hockey market size. Local hockey talent is not an important factor just "market size" for fans/sponsorships/TV media. Think LA Kings, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, mixed in with Toronto, Minnesota, Boston, Montreal type markets; but not places like Quebec or Halifax where the economics make it really hard to compete financially against bigger markets.

Original Cities:
Stockholm, Sweden
Helsinki, Finland (if arena ownership gets resolved: play temporarily in Tampere until this is done).
Cologne, Germany
Berlin, Germany
Mannheim, Germany
Copenhagen, Denmark (with Malmo, Sweden as co-host)
Zurich, Switzerland
Prague, Czechia

Guaranteed Expansion targets:
London, England (O2 Arena)
Paris, France (Accor Arena)
Vienna, Austria (new ice arena expected 2025-26); (paired with Bratislava, Slovakia as co-host)
Milan, Italy (new ice arena expected for 2026: Olympics)

Strong Expansion targets:
Munich, Germany (new ice arena expected 2024)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Oslo, Norway (if Telenor Arena conversion is completed by 2027)

Possible Expansion targets:
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brussels, Belgium
Glasgow, Scotland
Hamburg, Germany
Zagreb, Croatia
Bern, Switzerland (small immediate market but very large economy and hockey market)
Tampere, Finland (small market/economy but very large hockey base).

Fringe Targets:
Riga, Latvia
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Manchester, England
Turin, Italy
Krakow, Poland
Lodz, Poland
Katowice, Poland
Budapest, Hungary
Sheffield, England
Nottingham, England
Kaunas, Lithuania

Unavailable Expansion Targets:
Moscow, Russia
St. Petersburg, Russia
Minsk, Belarus
Kiev, Ukraine
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Astana, Kazakhstan
Targets without sufficient Arena:
Dublin, Ireland
Belgrade, Serbia
Bucharest, Romania
Gdansk, Poland

Examples of Available Players:

Forwards
Joakim Nordström Victor Rask Loui Eriksson
Jonathan Dahlén Oscar Lindberg Andreas Johnsson
Tom Kühnhackl Emil Bemström Andreas Martinsen
Patrick Thoresen Pontus Holmberg Sven Andrighetto
Valtteri Filppula Jori Lehterä Janne Kuokkanen
Juho Lammikko Sakari Manninen Sven Bärtschi
Liam Kirk Markus Granlund Martin Frk
Oskar Steen Henrik Borgström Martin Kaut
Kaspars Daugavins Dominik Kahun Rudolfs Balcers
Filip Hållander Lias Andersson Nils Höglander
Damien Brunner Lucas Wallmark Alexander Nylander
Alexander True Frans Nielsen Mikkel Bødker
Frederik Storm Peter Regin Dominik Bokk
Lukas Sedlak Roman Cervenka David Desharnais
Dmitri Jaskin Radim Zohorna Stephane Da Costa
Gregory Hofmann Enzo Corvi Lino Martschini
Antoine Roussel Gaetan Haas Tomas Jurco
Andrew Agozzino Zach Boychuk Peter Cehlárik
Michael Raffl Cedric Paquette Marko Dano
Marian Studenic Alexandre Texier Borna Rendulic
Shane Prince Adam Gaudette Nic Petan
Tobias Rieder Adam Tambellini Martin Pospisil

Defense
Jacob Larsson Anton Stralman
Christian Djoos Jonas Holøs
Lawrence Pilut Yannick Weber
Michal Kempný Raphael Diaz
Robin Salo Sami Vatanen
Sami Niku Julius Honka
Ville Heinola Olli Juolevi
Dean Kukan Andrej Sustr
Kristians Rubins Libor Hájek
Lucas Carlsson Mattias Norlinder
William Lagesson Leon Gawanke
Mirco Müller Milan Jurcina
Sean Day Michal Cajkovsky
Simon Després Samuel Knazko
Michael Del Zotto Martin Gernat

Goalies
Mikko Koskinen
Jonas Johansson
Reto Barra
Oscar Dansk
Harri Säteri
Magnus Hellberg
Joey Daccord
Louis Domingue
Jean-Francois Berube
Erik Källgren
Adam Huska
Olle Eriksson Ek
Henrik Haukeland
Patrik Rybar
Simon Hrubec
Kristers Gudlevskis


Quoting: end2endhky
Absolutely love this idea, I may even come up with some mock rosters after the NHL's silly season. As much as Champions HL is considered the big european league, I think something with a full regular season would be very cool.


Quoting: HockeyScotty
Oak View Group (OVG) is one of the largest arena groups in the world and one of the founders/partners and CEO is Tim Leiweke (older brother of Seattle Kraken CEO).

OVG was the lead developer of Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, UBS Arena (Long Island).

OVG is also currently building Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester, England (with ice hockey capabilities) the new Milan, Italy arena for their Olympics, and just now were awarded the new Vienna, Austria arena.


Quoting: end2endhky
I came up with some team names for a potential pan-European league. Most of these are either work of a google translation, a football team being in the same city, or they were rumoured to join the KHL.

London Emperors - London, GBR
Paris Saint-Germain HC - Paris, FRA
Vienna Schwarz Adler - Vienna, AUT - translates to Vienna Black Eagles
HK Hnede Medvede Bratislava - Bratislava, SVK - translates to Brown Bears
EHC Bayern Munchen - Munchen, DEU
Goteborgs HK - Goteborg, SWE
Oslo IHK - Oslo, NOR
Jarvet Tampereeen - Tampere, FIN - translates to "lakes"
Amsterdam IHC - Amsterdam, NED
Lions de Bruxelles - Brussels, BEL
Hamburg Freezers - Hamburg, DEU
Medvescak Zagreb - Zagreb, CRO
EHC Bern Kuhe - Bern, CHE - translates to Cows
Glasgow Snipers - Glasgow, GBR
Dinamo Riga - Riga, LAT
Belfast Wildcats - Belfast, GBR
Patriot Budapest - Budapest, HUN
Torino HC - Turin, ITA
Huttwil Helvetics - Huttwil, CHE
Oliva Gdansk - Gdansk, POL
HC Geneva Cerfs - Geneva, CHE - translates to deers
SG Dynamo Dresden - Dresden, DEU
Manchester Rapids - Manchester, GBR
Vetra Vilnius - Vilnius, LTH - roughly translates to storm
Espoo Blues - Espoo, FIN
Ilves Tallinn - Tallinn, EST - translates to lynx
Stockholm IHK - Stockholm, SWE
Helsingin Jaakiekkoseura - Helsinki, FIN - short form "HJS", translates to Helsinki Hockey Club
Kolner Piranhas - Koln, DEU
Mannheimer Falken - Mannheim, DEU
Zurich Fuchse - Zurich, CHE - translates to foxes
HK Kamzik Praha - Praha, CZE - translates to chamois


Quoting: TheFastAndTheFleuryous
The amount of effort you’ve put into this boggles the mind.


Quoting: AK50
Here's what I'd do.
Original 8:
Stockholm, Malmo, Oslo, Copenhagen, Berlin, Munich, Prague, Bern
Expansions:
London, Paris, Lyon, Zurich, Geneva, Bratislava, Tampere, Brussels/Amsterdam


Quoting: Sharkie69
Someone should make this happen.


Quoting: ZaZooM
Just one division? Who will they play with? Inside the division? Another covid times.


Quoting: HockeyScotty
Yeah ok. You do realize the NHL had 6 teams for 25 years right?


Quoting: MrAicrow2009
Id also add a team in London, Copenhagen, Zurich and Munich


Quoting: KasperRoos
I'd maybe add Vienna.


Good luck trying to get the players union on board.
Also are all of you suggesting that players from those countries stay in those countries? If so, just as well keep Canadian players in Canada and US players in America. If you aren't suggesting that then what's the incentive for either a Canadian or American to uproot their lives to live overseas? And if your answer is that European players do that now then my reply is so what, if they want to play where the NHL originated from then that's on them. Finally, if you say that players from those countries will only play there then you diminish every franchise in North America and team owners will not go for that. In fact, I think any team(s) overseas diminish the product over here. Not to mention all the money players lose playing in Europe. Globalism isn't the answer to all your problems.
Nov. 22, 2023 at 11:23 a.m.
#17
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Posts: 1,289
Likes: 906
Quoting: mactad
Good luck trying to get the players union on board.
Also are all of you suggesting that players from those countries stay in those countries? If so, just as well keep Canadian players in Canada and US players in America. If you aren't suggesting that then what's the incentive for either a Canadian or American to uproot their lives to live overseas? And if your answer is that European players do that now then my reply is so what, if they want to play where the NHL originated from then that's on them. Finally, if you say that players from those countries will only play there then you diminish every franchise in North America and team owners will not go for that. In fact, I think any team(s) overseas diminish the product over here. Not to mention all the money players lose playing in Europe. Globalism isn't the answer to all your problems.


You did a great job of using the Multi-Quote tool, but a poor job of paying attention to the content of the posts. There were 2 streams of thought that your reply merged together; so I can't respond thoughtfully to your remarks since they don't follow either of those ideas that were presented.

Canadien and American hockey players regularly "uproot" their lives to go play in Europe today, even to still play in Russia. Europeans do the same coming to NA. Nobody suggested that would change.

And nobody made a statement that could be construed as "Globalism needs to solve our problems".
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Nov. 22, 2023 at 11:34 a.m.
#18
It's Just a Guess
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Quoting: HockeyScotty
You did a great job of using the Multi-Quote tool, but a poor job of paying attention to the content of the posts. There were 2 streams of thought that your reply merged together; so I can't respond thoughtfully to your remarks since they don't follow either of those ideas that were presented.

Canadien and American hockey players regularly "uproot" their lives to go play in Europe today, even to still play in Russia. Europeans do the same coming to NA. Nobody suggested that would change.

And nobody made a statement that could be construed as "Globalism needs to solve our problems".


The players that currently go to Europe are players who can't make it in the NHL. I was questioning all the "quoters" as to what they meant or intended, such as did they mean that players native to that country would automatically stay there or if already in the NHL be allowed to move back. If not then any drafted player from north America would now find the hardship of playing in a different country that is not next door and why? Because we want a Global game? Our game is global BUT is centered right here in North America. You could make the argument that if most players playing in the NHL are from Europe, then fine let's have teams there. But currently that's not the case.
Nov. 22, 2023 at 1:07 p.m.
#19
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Likes: 906
Quoting: mactad
The players that currently go to Europe are players who can't make it in the NHL. I was questioning all the "quoters" as to what they meant or intended, such as did they mean that players native to that country would automatically stay there or if already in the NHL be allowed to move back. If not then any drafted player from north America would now find the hardship of playing in a different country that is not next door and why? Because we want a Global game? Our game is global BUT is centered right here in North America. You could make the argument that if most players playing in the NHL are from Europe, then fine let's have teams there. But currently that's not the case.


That's not exactly true; it's very situational and timing affects things for each team. There isn't a great mechanism for teams to "spread talent around" and it's not their job; NHL teams would rather stockpile players in the AHL but then they usually take a massive paycut and have to ride busses in small cities. Many of them would rather go back home for roughly the same money and play in Euro leagues.

It has been widely reported that the flat cap has caused NHL teams to pull back on offers. Look at Dominik Kahun, Jonathan Dahlen, Rūdolfs Balcers.

There is enough "borderline NHL talent" that fits into this category; which is what the post was about. This wasn't a "create a Euro version of the NHL" it was about creating an AHL version in Europe to grow the game and provide better feeder system into the NHL for European players, coaches, front office staff, and referrees.

My proposal wasn't to make them "national" teams; just like the AHL currently is not either.
Nov. 22, 2023 at 1:28 p.m.
#20
It's Just a Guess
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Likes: 3
Quoting: HockeyScotty
That's not exactly true; it's very situational and timing affects things for each team. There isn't a great mechanism for teams to "spread talent around" and it's not their job; NHL teams would rather stockpile players in the AHL but then they usually take a massive paycut and have to ride busses in small cities. Many of them would rather go back home for roughly the same money and play in Euro leagues.

It has been widely reported that the flat cap has caused NHL teams to pull back on offers. Look at Dominik Kahun, Jonathan Dahlen, Rūdolfs Balcers.

There is enough "borderline NHL talent" that fits into this category; which is what the post was about. This wasn't a "create a Euro version of the NHL" it was about creating an AHL version in Europe to grow the game and provide better feeder system into the NHL for European players, coaches, front office staff, and referrees.

My proposal wasn't to make them "national" teams; just like the AHL currently is not either.


Well then you were right I didnt understand the thread. I thought they were suggesting divisions at the NHL level. My apologies.
HockeyScotty liked this.
Nov. 22, 2023 at 1:48 p.m.
#21
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Likes: 906
Quoting: mactad
Well then you were right I didnt understand the thread. I thought they were suggesting divisions at the NHL level. My apologies.


That's OK. It started that way but turned into something else.
 
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