Don't know if this has been posted before
http://www.rushockey.com/events.php?i=iihf&stream=iihf_news&id=399
Sounds like its pretty shaky
http://www.rushockey.com/events.php?i=iihf&stream=iihf_news&id=399
Sounds like its pretty shaky
roryb said:I don't see any way that this would get off the ground successfully by next year, or the year after, but it will happen somewhere down the road.
With the salary cap now, European clubs can pay more for the top end guys. Now, I doubt you'll see Canadian or American guys going over, but guys like a Jagr, a Datsyuk, Yashin etc. would be able to make more money at home.
Also, the second tier guys that will get paid 3-4 million would probably get a bit more in Europe.
Again, I don't think it'll be a success soon at all, but somewhere down the road a NHL rival league or and NHL-friendly league will open up in Europe, as there is definitely a market there.
Maybe that will be the legacy of our next Commissioner?
As for now, they have to be worried about rebuilding in the U.S. though.
The deep financial crisis that ravaged Lada not that long ago actually propelled the owners of Superleague teams to come to realize that a new hockey league would serve as a remedy from the problems that are slowing down the development of hockey in Russia. Another Fetisov’s interview appeared in Soviet Sport on October 14th. He was asked questions about the EAHL (Euro-Asian Hockey League) project again. He said that Lada crisis was provoked by the so-called budget race in Russian Superleague and there would be more bankrupt teams in future. He said there would be financial stability in the new league and a higher level of organization. Fetisov informed the newspaper there would also be a salary cap which would be determined by the team owners.
...
President of the Spartak supporting fund Igor Shabdurasulov provided his comments on the project in Soviet Sport. He explained the mechanisms of the economic success of the new league, which would include inviting new international and transcontinental sponsors by adding CIS teams to the league, effective management of television rights, precise legal mechanism and equality with the NHL in terms of contracts and player transfers, creating a professional and legally accurate regulation system to avoid problems with referees and escapes of players from one team to another, a salary cap which would put an end to the ‘budget race’ which kills financial stability in the league and finally, the draft system.