Dinamo Riga 2021/22 - From Worst to First?! Sarauj!

[SoundAndFury]

Isn't EBEL league little too dislocated for Riga ?

Maybe you misunderstood, I wasn't suggesting the Austrian league as a possibility, surely. I was just saying that some clubs do manage to survive mostly on ticket revenue even in not-so-rich countries.

 

[Vikz]

Would be cool to have a team in Liiga, but I doubt thats happening. Is there even a precedent of a team from another country playing in any of the top leagues? Yes, there is the Alps league, but none of the participating countries are major hockey nations, so making a league from the best teams from each nation is a win/win situation.

Why would a country with an established league with pyramid hierarchy and lots of local talented players take an outside team? Why would any fan of HIFK or Tappara care about a match against Riga? Why would any team be willing to regulary fly to Riga when most of the Finnish hockey cities are literally 20 km one from another? Why would any Mestis team be happy with Dinamo taking its spot in Liiga, for which they were fighting fairly?

Dinamo is not a team that has any traditions. It was established for Russia, used Russian money, used old soviet brand and has a pro-russian businessman at its head. Even if finns for some reason would want to accept us as their own, Savickis wont be interested in that. There would need to be an iniciative from someone else, who, at best, needs to be able to buy the team and its infrastructure, at worst - build everything from the ground. The only way I see this happening is a big support from the hockey federation. But is it really what they want and should be doing? Untill the situation with covid is dealt with once and for all, nobody would be willing to take on such a project. Finding the budget and sponsors seems like the less difficult task here.

This may wery well be the last thread about Dinamo. It is dead. Would we have another strong home team in a strong league? I really hope so, but it definately wont happen this year. Maybe, someday, when the stars allign.

 

[Urbanskog]

Would be cool to have a team in Liiga, but I doubt thats happening. Is there even a precedent of a team from another country playing in any of the top leagues? Yes, there is the Alps league, but none of the participating countries are major hockey nations, so making a league from the best teams from each nation is a win/win situation.

The Alps Hockey League is a secondary league, while the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League (ICEHL, previously known as EBEL) is the elite league. That league however has had a Czech team playing in it since 2011 which certainly qualifies as a major hockey nation. Additionally, the Bratislava Capitals have also been playing in the league since 2020 although they were forced to withdraw during this season because of tragic circumstances.

 

[Vikz]

The Alps Hockey League is a secondary league, while the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League (ICEHL, previously known as EBEL) is the elite league. That league however has had a Czech team playing in it since 2011 which certainly qualifies as a major hockey nation. Additionally, the Bratislava Capitals have also been playing in the league since 2020 although they were forced to withdraw during this season because of tragic circumstances.

Thank you, I got confused with those Alpian leagues, but it does not affect my arguements. A league based in Austria and consisting of Hungarian and a few Chech and Slovak low level teams is not a good comparison. When an Austrian team gets invited to Extraliga, or a Danish one to the SHL, you let me know. And even in those cases, the geography makes it much more likely than Riga joining the Liiga. Maybe, as a fin, or at least someone living in Helsinki, you can let me know what opinion you have on the other obstacles I mentioned?

 

[Rigafan]

Well the Latvian League when it was under Samsung sponsorship was a decent level. I believe Dinamo Riga appearing for the KHL kind of killed that project? So if Dinamo do leave the KHL couldn't the Latvian League grow once more? Surely it won't be on the same level as the KHL but Dinamo could continue in the home league?

 

[Lackhalak]

Time for the SHL and Liiga to strike. They should combine while adding teams from Norway, Denmark and the Baltics.
Keep relegation and have 3 tiers of 14 teams. it could look something like this:
Top league

	Teams		Arena	Population (metro)
1	Stockholm	Djurgardens	13,850	2,392,000
2	Gothenberg	Frolunda	12,044	1,048,000
3	Malmo	Red Hawks	12,600	730,000
4	Uppsala	Almtuna IS	-10,000	295,000
5	Linkoping	HC	8,500	207,000
6	Stockholm	AIK	8,094	2,392,000
7	Karlstad	Farjestad BK	8,646	180,000
8	Helsinki	Jokerit	13,349	1,671,000
9	Tampere	Ilves	13,455	448,000
10	Turku	TPS	11,820	362,000
11	Helsinki	HIFK	-10,000	1,671,000
12	Riga	Dinamo	10,300	1,100,000
13	Copenhagen		12,500	2,057,000
14	Oslo	Gruner	-12,000	1,600,000

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

2nd Tier

	Teams		Arena	Population (metro)
1	Gavle	Brynas IF	7,909	184,000
2	Orebro	HK	5,316	208,000
3	Jonkoping	HV71	7,000	171,000
4	Vasteras	IK	4,902	200,000
5	Vaxjo	Lakers	5,700	156,000
6	Angelholm	Rogle BK	5,150	143,000
7	Timra	IK	6,000	117,000
8	Oulu	Karpat	6,768	260,000
9	Jyvaskyla	JYP	-7,000	185,000
10	Kuopio	KalPa	5,300	168,000
11	Lahti	Pelicans	5,371	191,000
12	Kaunas	Hockey	13,762	588,000
13	Aalborg	Pirates	5,200	217,000
14	Stravanger	Oilers	4,500	320,000

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

3rd Tier

	Teams		Arena	Population (metro)
1	Uema	IF Bjorkloven	5,400	156,000
2	Leksand	IF	7,650	69,000
3	Ornskoldsvik	Modo	7,600	56,000
4	Lulea	FH	6,300	78,000
5	Skelleftea	AIK	6,001	73,000
6	Sodertalje	SK	6,200	99,000
7	Pori	Assat	6,300	137,000
8	Espoo	Keikko	6,982	282,000
9	Kouvola	KooKoo	6,200	61,000
10	Hameenlinna	HPK	5,360	67,000
11	Lapreenranta	SaiPa	4,820	73,000
12	Tallin	HC Everest	5,840	455,000
13	Aarhus		5,001	350,000
14	Bergen	IK	-8,320	420,000

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Sweden - 20 teams
Finland - 13 teams
Norway - 3 teams
Denmark - 3 teams
The Baltics - 3 teams
Total - 42 teams

What are your thoughts?

 

[Heg82]

Funny when some teams you put in third tier has been way better than the ones in first tier for a long time, seems like you know absolutely nothing about Swedish hockey.

No one would accept something like that, also fans here are really not interested in closed leagues.

 

[Lackhalak]

Funny when some teams you put in third tier has been way better than the ones in first tier for a long time, seems like you know absolutely nothing about Swedish hockey.

No one would accept something like that, also fans here are really not interested in closed leagues.

It would still be relegation so not closed. I kinda sorted them by population and arena size. Who fits n what tier to begin with could be up for debate. I think it would be a hit

 

[Urbanskog]

Time for the SHL and Liiga to strike. They should combine while adding teams from Norway, Denmark and the Baltics.
Keep relegation and have 3 tiers of 14 teams. it could look something like this:
Top league

	Teams		Arena	Population (metro)
1	Stockholm	Djurgardens	13,850	2,392,000
2	Gothenberg	Frolunda	12,044	1,048,000
3	Malmo	Red Hawks	12,600	730,000
4	Uppsala	Almtuna IS	-10,000	295,000
5	Linkoping	HC	8,500	207,000
6	Stockholm	AIK	8,094	2,392,000
7	Karlstad	Farjestad BK	8,646	180,000
8	Helsinki	Jokerit	13,349	1,671,000
9	Tampere	Ilves	13,455	448,000
10	Turku	TPS	11,820	362,000
11	Helsinki	HIFK	-10,000	1,671,000
12	Riga	Dinamo	10,300	1,100,000
13	Copenhagen		12,500	2,057,000
14	Oslo	Gruner	-12,000	1,600,000

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

2nd Tier

	Teams		Arena	Population (metro)
1	Gavle	Brynas IF	7,909	184,000
2	Orebro	HK	5,316	208,000
3	Jonkoping	HV71	7,000	171,000
4	Vasteras	IK	4,902	200,000
5	Vaxjo	Lakers	5,700	156,000
6	Angelholm	Rogle BK	5,150	143,000
7	Timra	IK	6,000	117,000
8	Oulu	Karpat	6,768	260,000
9	Jyvaskyla	JYP	-7,000	185,000
10	Kuopio	KalPa	5,300	168,000
11	Lahti	Pelicans	5,371	191,000
12	Kaunas	Hockey	13,762	588,000
13	Aalborg	Pirates	5,200	217,000
14	Stravanger	Oilers	4,500	320,000

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

3rd Tier

	Teams		Arena	Population (metro)
1	Uema	IF Bjorkloven	5,400	156,000
2	Leksand	IF	7,650	69,000
3	Ornskoldsvik	Modo	7,600	56,000
4	Lulea	FH	6,300	78,000
5	Skelleftea	AIK	6,001	73,000
6	Sodertalje	SK	6,200	99,000
7	Pori	Assat	6,300	137,000
8	Espoo	Keikko	6,982	282,000
9	Kouvola	KooKoo	6,200	61,000
10	Hameenlinna	HPK	5,360	67,000
11	Lapreenranta	SaiPa	4,820	73,000
12	Tallin	HC Everest	5,840	455,000
13	Aarhus		5,001	350,000
14	Bergen	IK	-8,320	420,000

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Sweden - 20 teams
Finland - 13 teams
Norway - 3 teams
Denmark - 3 teams
The Baltics - 3 teams
Total - 42 teams

What are your thoughts?

Espoo is part of the same metro as Helsinki. The arena is 10 kilometers away from the center of Helsinki.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Is there even a precedent of a team from another country playing in any of the top leagues?

How is the KHL not exactly that?

And in general, there is an Austrian multi-national league, Hungarian teams played in the Slovak league, Hungary and Romania share the same league, Dutch team plays in Oberliga, Latvian team played in the Belarussian league, there is obviously KHL/VHL. Long story short, foreign teams in local leagues aren't exactly uncommon.

Also, we aren't talking about flying here, this isn't the NHL, bus journey from Helsinki to Riga is 6 hours. I'm pretty sure it's shorter than from Helsinki to Oulu, for example.

We all understand this is extremely unlikely for a whole bunch of reasons. But it's not impossible and even if you think it is, it's still the most possible out of all options to have a Latvian team in a foreign league. Which the whole point was about.