"Sources say Kings will open 2007-08 in London, England"

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GKJ

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Feb 27, 2002
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and just where would the Kings play????!!!!

THERE ARE NO ARENA IN LONDON ENGLAND

I live here

the arena the London racers play in is crap

if they come to the UK

they wont be playing in London

Obviously that NHl/ESPN chose not to ask "Oh--by the way, is there even an arena in london?"

We have 12 million friggen football stadiums that seat 50k +

not single real hockey arena!

They are going to play in the O2 arena which reopens in July, owned by AEG, who also own the Kings.


It's easy to rip Bettman, but this is Phillip Anschutz's baby.
 

Moody

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Feb 11, 2007
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I think its great I only got into hockey this year after getting NASN to watch MLB, cant wait to see a live NHL game. I think if the NHL promoted the game right could get a good crowd and its a much more accessable sport than say NFL which seems complicated to someone who has not watched it before. Also with budget airlines easy for eastern europeans and scandinavians to get to London. Plenty of Latvians live here too.
 

GarretJoseph*

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I am happy for the people of England who love hockey and the NHL. But from a NHL stand point this is stupid. They are having trouble marketing the game in the US nevermind taking it abroad. Bettman is trying to copy the NBA and the NFL and bring the NHL everywhere. The only difference is the NBA and NFL are established the in US and the NHL is not. Bad move

Agreed.
 
Aug 2, 2005
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I am happy for the people of England who love hockey and the NHL. But from a NHL stand point this is stupid. They are having trouble marketing the game in the US nevermind taking it abroad. Bettman is trying to copy the NBA and the NFL and bring the NHL everywhere. The only difference is the NBA and NFL are established the in US and the NHL is not. Bad move

Furthermore, hockey is an international sport. Obviously England is not an international hub of hockey, but the NHL has vast European influence. I would hate it if my team started the year in another country, as I did with the Yankees, but if Kings fans are not bent out of shape about it, I am not either.
 

Osprey

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Feb 18, 2005
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Now, it looks like the Kings may play a few exhibition games in Austria prior to hopping across the channel:
L.A. Times said:
The Kings are near an agreement to play two exhibitions in Salzburg, Austria, part of a two-day tournament before they open the 2007-08 NHL season in London, a hockey source in Europe said.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/hocke...3084.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-nhl-kings

It's interesting that they mention possibly playing a game in Slovenia, as well. Hmm, I wonder what the inspiration for that was :sarcasm:
 

Steve L*

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Jan 13, 2003
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Do all in London/England/UK/Europe carry the same pejudices that Americans do when it comes to seeing NFL as greater than NHL? I'm doubting it.
Nope, NASNs Euro rights to the NHL was vastly bigger than the MLB and NBA, it would probably have been the same with the NFL had they shown it.

Hockey >>> every other NA sport in Europe.

Most people cant stand the NFL, all stop start and think its a bit gay that they wear pads and a helmet. They think baseball is like cricket, only duller with more ad breaks. Basketball is only liked by teenage chavs while hockey has a similar feel to football, lot of flow and the goals actually mean something.

Hockey has the best chance of being widely accepted in the UK.
 

Steve L*

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American Football has a small but rabid following over in England, believe it or not. The Buccaneers have a UK fan club with a great website.

Anyway, this is a cool idea for the Kings. Hope all involved enjoy it.
It had a pretty big following in the late 80s-early 90s when it was first shown here. Then it became a real minority sport after the initial buzz wore off after a few years.
 

EbencoyE

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Nov 26, 2006
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Not sure why the British would be football fans anyway since they have Rugby. I like football, but that's because I'm American and that's what we have. But I have to admit that Rugby is a much better sport. No constant stop-and-starting and continuous action.

If I lived anywhere else I'd probably be a huge rugby fan. (I already try to follow as much as I can - but it's hard here in the States.)
 

golfmade

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Dec 30, 2002
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It had a pretty big following in the late 80s-early 90s when it was first shown here. Then it became a real minority sport after the initial buzz wore off after a few years.

Wonder how the Bucs got a following in the UK then, certainly wasn't for the jerseys or their winning ways :sarcasm:
 

hluraven

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Aug 15, 2005
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Tickets go on sale today for 2 regular season games between LA and the Ducks, on the 29th/30th September
 

saskganesh

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Jun 19, 2006
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the Annex
I am happy for the people of England who love hockey and the NHL. But from a NHL stand point this is stupid. They are having trouble marketing the game in the US nevermind taking it abroad. Bettman is trying to copy the NBA and the NFL and bring the NHL everywhere. The only difference is the NBA and NFL are established the in US and the NHL is not. Bad move

I agree. maybe they should schedule a couple of hockey games in america. possibly even regular season ones. :sarcasm:
 

Sotnos

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Jul 8, 2002
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Not here
www.boltprospects.com
They had something like 12 or 13 straight losing seasons, on top of that their uniforms were quite a sight.
Here is the great LeeRoy Selmon in his heydey :bow:
Selmon_Lee_Supercard.jpg


We call those the "creamsicle" uniforms. :D They are also not the rusty orange seen here, they were bright, pale orange.

I also find it really strange that those guys in the UK formed an attachment to the Bucs in 1984, most of the locals wouldn't pay to see them in those days!

Sorry, back to hockey now...
 

Shootmaster_44

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Sep 10, 2005
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Wonder how the Bucs got a following in the UK then, certainly wasn't for the jerseys or their winning ways :sarcasm:

Its probably because the owner of the Bucs also owns one of the British soccer teams. But I do like the newer Bucs uniforms, I am glad the ditched the orange and white.
 
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