Non-KHL territory fans who follow the league

[ariesboychik]

I wanted to see how many non-KHL territory fans there who follow the KHL. State your location and why you follow the league. Also, how do you watch the games? - Subscribe to KHL TV?

Thanks in advance to all those who will reply.

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[Vicente]

I wanted to see how many Americans here at the board follow the KHL and why. Thanks in advance to all those who will reply.

Why not make it a thread about people from non-KHL territory who follow the league. There are many people who can choose between watchning their local league, NHL and KHL. And in the end of the day it is important for KHL to reach people in new markets.

I for example am from Germany which never had a KHL team but I do follow KHL since its start in 2008 although my interest decreased significantly after the departure of Lev Prague - which I supported - and Donbass Donetsk.

I am primarily a fan of DEL and NHL though.

 

[RicEsteban85]

Why not make it a thread about people from non-KHL territory who follow the league.

I like that.

I`m from Germany as well. Was a huge nhl fan for many years but switched to the K 3 years ago. The level of play developed significantly since the times of the RSL. The european hockey style and the braodcasting hours suit me better and as I love traveling to Eastern Europe, I just can relate more to teams like Slovan, Moscow, SKA and Helsinki than to the Oilers, Coyotes etc.

 

[Exarz]

Why not make it a thread about people from non-KHL territory who follow the league.

I'm in!

 

[ariesboychik]

Why not make it a thread about people from non-KHL territory who follow the league. There are many people who can choose between watchning their local league, NHL and KHL. And in the end of the day it is important for KHL to reach people in new markets.

I for example am from Germany which never had a KHL team but I do follow KHL since its start in 2008 although my interest decreased significantly after the departure of Lev Prague - which I supported - and Donbass Donetsk.

I am primarily a fan of DEL and NHL though.

Yes I like that idea, I updated the thread. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Ivan94]

I wanted to see how many non-KHL territory fans there who follow the KHL. State your location and why you follow the league. Also, how do you watch the games? - Subscribe to KHL TV?

Thanks in advance to all those who will reply.

I'm from Germany, too. With the first Medvescak to join KHL rumors I started to follow the KHL.

I watch the free HD-streams on laola1.tv (available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland)

 

[Exarz]

I'm from Sweden, and I support Dinamo Riga because it was the first KHL-team I went to see live and Riga is a wonderful city which is less than an hour away by flight. I also try to follow SKA St. Petersburg, Jokerit, Medvescak, HK Sochi and Admiral Vladivostok as much as possible.

I started following the league for real during the 2012-13 lockout because it was fun to see all the NHL-players playing in the league. Before that, it was only highlights now and then.

After that, I started to get more interested in the league and started to gain information about future expansions and league plans, which made me realize that this league has a lot of potential.

I subscribe to the all games package on KHL TV.

 

[Dueling Banjos]

Slovenia here, i follow KHL for few years now, got even more interested after our guys entered the league.

Went to Prague last year to check one of the Gagarin cup finals game between MMG & Lev Prague, great experience, great game (5:4 for MMG), solid fight at the very end and the outstanding O2 arena ofcourse.

One of our sports channels air 2-3 KHL games per week, mostly Medvescak games, sometimes games including top western conference clubs. We also get KHL Ice Week weekly update show, all come with Slovenian commentators.

Yeah i use laola1 as well and cdn.livetv.sx for streams.

 

[Ivan94]

I see now that is not only available in Germany, Switzerland and Austria anymore: "Worldwide except BLR, CRO, FIN, KAZ, LAT, RUS, SVK"

today they show Jokerit - Minsk and SKA - Ak Bars

http://www.laola1.tv/de-de/live/jokerit-helsinki-dinamo-minsk/289940.html

http://www.laola1.tv/de-de/live/ska-saint-petersburg-ak-bars-kazan/289942.html

 

[Chileiceman]

Hello,

I'm a Canadian living in Toronto. I began watching during the NHL lockout in 12-13. I settled on cheering for Dinamo Riga and Torpedo. Those two teams played one fo the first games I watched and it was a very entertaining game.
I'm a student so I often have time during the day to watch games. Next year I'm beginning work full-time, so I'm not sure how much I will be able to watch, but I hope to continue following it.

I watch streams from onhockey.tv. I watched Traktor-Riga the other day on laola (which for the last 2 seasons was blocked in Canada) and it was glorious.

 

[kometa]

Next guy from Germany here. I started following the league from the beginning. These days they had free streams at the league's website sportbox.ru without geoblocking as well. But I only picked up the scores and maybe two or three games per month during this time.

In 2011 the whole thing went more interesting to me, when we had an investor's group who wantes to establish a team in my home city Leipzig. I live in a suburb, only a few miles away. The project failed but a year later HC Lev came to Prague and I visited some matches there. During Lev's second season I was a season ticket holder and had the luck to follow the team's run to the finals, which was a great experience.

After Lev left the league last summer I still follow the KHL with much interest und subscribed the yearly streaming package at khl.ru. I follow St. Petersburg in the first place but also matches from the other big teams like CSKA, Dynamo Msk, Magnitka, Ak Bars etc.

As a memory to the best two years as a hockey fan I had so far, I have two game worn jerseys from the teams auctions Lev did during the summer breaks. At least something for real from that great time.

 

[Exarz]

During Lev's second season I was a season ticket holder and had the luck to follow the team's run to the finals, which was a great experience.

That's really awesome being able to have a season ticket! How many games did you attend? I saw that a single-way drive to Prague was about 2.5 hours away from your town.

I have some hopes that AIK manages to join the league (even though they would not be a good addition seen from an expansion point of view) as it is only one hour away from my city! Would be really awesome to catch up with some KHL-games!

 

[kometa]

I visited 13 of 27 during regular season plus 5 more games in the playoffs that year. But I have to say, that I work in the tourism sector especially Czech Republic and Poland, so I was able to match up business trips and the team's home schedule.

But in the end I have to say, that the investment of 4500 CZK / 180 EUR for that wasn't the worst idea in my life so far.

 

[punchonico99]

I'm from Canada, started following the league during the 2011-12 season. I have always been a fan of European hockey mostly because of the EA Sports NHL games that involved the Czech, German and Finish league if I remember well. And someday (I don't know why) I decided to watch some despite the fact that the matches are almost always during the morning. After seeing lots of marvellous plays and the high quality of players in the KHL, I chose to watch this league. I wanted to make my own opinion of it, media in NA is always so negative about the K.

I'm a fan since then and I try to watch as much KHL games as I can.

I still follow the NHL, I'm a big Wings fan.

 

[geri]

i m from vienna austria, my wife is from bratislava, therfore hockey was "imported" to me.
which is good, as now i can support another strong national team also (as austria is elevator team)
actually i got be fan of hockej late 2013, after i first visited KHL matches of slovan. this 14/15 season it is total 12 games. bratislava is only 1 hour trip, and tickets 16 to 20 € (even for 1.row) is for us austrian very good price to see top quality KHL, (EBEL of vienna capitals cost 16-25 but 2 quality levels lower )
at free laola1.tv most of slovan games are broadcasted, so no need for me to pay package with slovak SPORT1 or 2 to watch it.
2014 i also attended 7 NHL games (6 at florida panthers, 1 at tampa bay), but i must say, the level in the KHL games was better (in my "subjective not an hockey expert" opinion). not to compare the fans, in usa they come late, leave early if they loose, not really supporting team, but obvious florida is much different from rest of USA. also ticket price is extremly high - ok, you start for 30 $, but sit up at the sky

 

[habsturies]

I'm from Nothern Spain,but living in Baja California-MEX for a while.

subscribe at KHL-TV (more HD games,please!!) and cheering for Riga & Sibir.

I like this stuff,open hockey with good skating and stickhandling.

 

[cska78]

I wish KHL knew how to market to more people like you. It's just sad, that there's a market for this, but no marketing.

 

[malkinfan]

I'm from Nothern Spain,but living in Baja California-MEX for a while.

subscribe at KHL-TV (more HD games,please!!) and cheering for Riga & Sibir.

I like this stuff,open hockey with good skating and stickhandling.

That's great.
I grew up 5 minutes from Detroit, played Canadian juniors but loved the Russian 5. I met each one of them and have been addicted to that style of hockey. I have been craving it ever since and the closest I can get to it is the KHL. Been following since I was 14, started with the last few years of the old superleague. Watch games on Laola1 or KHLTV.

 

[jaco]

Italy here, but used to live in Switzerland and therefore my main interest is and probably will remain NLA. Got into the KHL after having seen Minsk winning the Spenglercup (2009) and started to follow it first loosely and then more closely. Don't know why but the team that captured my heart is Amur (I guess at the beginning I felt sorry for them because of all the travelling through endless time zones they have to face....) and because the year I really started following the K (11/12) they made the playoffs, but I'm obviously no die hard fan and watch games of most teams.
I'm quite happy with KHLTV and laola1.tv
Of course the NHL is on my radar as well (and the Blues are my team of choice), but the style of play of the KHL suits me far better.

 

[Vicente]

After Lev left the league last summer I still follow the KHL with much interest und subscribed the yearly streaming package at khl.ru. I follow St. Petersburg in the first place but also matches from the other big teams like CSKA, Dynamo Msk, Magnitka, Ak Bars etc.

As a memory to the best two years as a hockey fan I had so far, I have two game worn jerseys from the teams auctions Lev did during the summer breaks. At least something for real from that great time.

I have a Chara jersey from his time with Lev Prague. It's a nice memory from this short and eventful KHL period in Czech Republic. Quite a few friends of my cousin from Bautzen, Saxony also went to many Lev games. Seems the departure of Lev was a sad thing for many Germans, maybe more than for the Czechs themselves.

After Levs departure I was really angry and disappointed because I invested a lot of time watching Lev games and trying to stay informed about the team. That's why I decided not to watch much KHL in 2014-15 but I am sure back in 2015-16.

I will probably follow SKA St. Petersburg next season as I did before the arrival of Lev Prague. SKA are the best team to follow as a person from Non-KHL territory. They have many updates in English and really care about their foreign fans.

PS: My uncle who is German too also supports SKA St. Petersburg but is mostly checking on results and few games. I know about 1 guy from the UK who is supporting Slovan Bratislava and 1 guy from the UK who is supporting SKA St. Petersburg. Both have watched games inside the respective arenas.

 

[Zamboni Parade]

KHL ranks third for me behind NHL/DEL. I've been following Lev for a while and enjoyed their playoff run last year, these days I'm trying to catch Jokerit games on Laola1. Quite pleased with the quality of their streams although I sometimes wish they had commentators as an option.
What I like about KHL, other than quality of players etc, is that the games start at decent times for people in Europe... it sure beats staying up till stupid o'clock to watch the Sabres lose

 

[Exarz]

I will probably follow SKA St. Petersburg next season as I did before the arrival of Lev Prague. SKA are the best team to follow as a person from Non-KHL territory. They have many updates in English and really care about their foreign fans.

SKA has been one of my favorite teams since 2007 (07-08 season when there was a report on TV about Swedish SKA-players), and I have after that followed the team as much as possible. I always want them to win, but if Riga plays SKA, I will support Dinamo!

I agree with you that they are very professional about their marketing. I've mailed them a few times and I always get a good respond in English (very fluent English as well), and having English social media accounts is a good step of getting a bigger European fan base. Next step would be opening a store inside a EU-country to avoid the customs

I'm glad that SKA will share their marketing experience with the other clubs so the league will develop even further. I hope that SKA will be the first club in the league to have English commentators on their games, it would raise the status of KHL TV a lot, and they would gain a lot more fans

 

[ariesboychik]

Wow I am amazed on how many KHL fans there are from non-KHL territory. I enjoyed reading each of your responses.

My next question would be where do many of you get your KHL news, rumors, etc besides here at the forum. Any particular website that has good reliable KHL news/rumors?

 

[Ivan94]

reliable news are official statements on en.KHL.ru

on all other sites there are always political/speculative factors.

 

[Exarz]

Most news from the forum, but I also get news directly from the KHL website and social medias. I get team news from SKA's and Riga's official websites plus on social medias as well.

Even though it has become better in Swedish media, media is still pretty negative about the league. The only time they write positive things about it is when Jokerit has played and our Swedes have done something good..