The NHL2

Number 57

Registered User
Dec 21, 2004
11,629
2,255
Montreal
There have been some talks in the past about how hockey should expand to Europe and such, and today I offer my view of this idea. Actually, I think hockey should adopt European soccer's rules. Here's how I'd set-up the NHL2:

1) No more draft. Players from all around the world would be fair game the July 1st after their 16th birthday, or in other words, if a guy is 16 on July 1st, he's fair game. By fair game, I mean any team in the world can sign him. They can offer any amount of money and contract lenght they want.

2) No more salary restrictions/salary cap. Like I said in point #1, you can offer a player any amount of money you want, include bonuses, etc.

3) Free agency. No more complicated free agency stuff. If a player's contract runs out on July 1st, he's fair game to sign with any team in the world.

4) Transfers. Just like in soccer, there would be transfer periods, from July to August, and from December to January. During that period of time, you can buy, sell or loan any players from any team in the world. You can't trade. Again, no restrictions on how much you can pay to buy a player. Unlike in soccer though, you'd have to take on the current player's contract, which means there would be an agreement for the NHL2 on the form of every contracts, namely language and other stuff like this.

5) NHL2 Schedule: No more boring summers:
July-August = Transfer period
July 1st = Start of Free Agency
July 1st = 16 year olds are fair game
September 1st = Start of training camp
October 1st = First day of the season
December-January = Transfer period
April 1st = Last day of the season
June 1st = Last day of the playoff
Mid June-Mid July = Champion's league

6) Each league would have their own schedule during the reg season, but they cannot start prior to Oct 1st or end after April 1st. Also, all-star games and other events like that should be planned by every league's commishes.

7) Champion's league: After each league's finals, every championship teams would face off in a tournament to win the Stanley Cup. This tournament would take place from mid June to mid July.

8) More international events. More friendly matchup between countries. More small international tournaments. No olympic. International events would be scheduled at the start of every year (January 1st) for the year by an international comitee. Also, we'd have the NHL2 World Cup once every 4 years. This would be a pretty big event, that would take place in the middle of the reg season. For this, each league's schedule would be reduced.

9) The beginning: every player in the world would become free agents. From 16 years old kids to 45 years old veterans. It's up to every GMs to assemble a winning team.

10) The AHL2: Of course, those are divison I teams. There would be a 2nd division and even a 3rd, which would basically be farm teams just like the AHL and ECHL. No more waivers or two-way contracts. If you want to send a player to your farm club, you do it. Also, while we are on the subject, there would be no roster limit. Obviously, you'd need to have 18 skaters and 2 goalies up with your club, but you could also have 40 players up if you wanted. Division II teams would be responsible to pay for their players, which would be 60% of their real salary (kinda like in the AHL).

11) Finally, get Jerry Bruckheimer on board. Get him to do all the marketing stuff. This would be awesome and would really help grow the game.

Who cares about small arenas and low attendance, the brand new NHL2 is all about excitement and heart. Every wealthy man in the world will want an NHL2 franchise, weither it is in Europe or North-America. The money they'd make by selling young stars or established veterans alone will make them want to be part of the NHL2.

The Fantasy League Part:
I always wanted to start a mega fantasy league, with this NHL2 setup. GMs would compete in different leagues, but in the end, only the Stanley Cup matters. Also, with all the International events there would be, and all the stuff that GMs could be doing during the summer, we sure wouldn't be an innactive league. Anyway, just a thought, but a league like this could be a big hit.

Picture this: GMs surfing the net in search of the next 16 year old phenom to sign on July 1st. More than an hundred GMs negotiating during transfer periods over the summer or during the Christmas holidays. GMs whining about how his star player didn't make his international squad for the upcoming friendly, and all the excitement there would be during the Champion's league and the World Cup.

Yeah, I know, I know, will never happen. Obviously, this is just the general idea. There would be a lot more rules to it, and we'd need an international agreement, which I know would never happen. Just for fun, here's how I'd set up the North-American Hockey league:

Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, California Golden Seals, Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes, Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins, St-Louis Blues, Washington Capitals

20 teams, each team playing against each other three times (57 games total). Players would be fresher for the playoffs, there would also be less injuries, and players would make the same amount of money, playing less games. Less teams also means more rivaltries.

At the start of the NHL2, the rich teams (probably most of the Russian and N-A clubs) would end up with most of the super stars and bluechip prospects. The rest of the clubs in the world would end up with less high-profile players, kinda like in European Football.

Like I said, there could be a lot more to this, feel free to add any idea you have, and tell me what you think about it!
 

saskganesh

Registered User
Jun 19, 2006
2,368
12
the Annex
I would expect about 10-12 big market teams to sign most of the best players, leading to either a contraction of the weak sisters or the need to create a second tier out of them. the market backlash would be large in either case.
 

RandV

It's a wolf v2.0
Jul 29, 2003
26,831
4,924
Vancouver
Visit site
There have been some talks in the past about how hockey should expand to Europe and such, and today I offer my view of this idea. Actually, I think hockey should adopt European soccer's rules.

Any sort of good idea ended right there. If you want any chance of an NHL 2 league in Europe, it's more the opposite would need to happen, the European hockey leagues should break away from the Football format and adopt North American rules.
 

TheSabre

Guest
There are some interesting ideas here that have me fascinated, but I agree with PortlandRanger: Before the NHL can expand any more, they've gotta fix what's wrong with it in the first place.
 

Chioster

Registered User
Jan 22, 2007
111
0
The major flaw is some teams, or cities do not have to the money to pay for all those "Pros". The current format is good as it is. If you made the world a league. The poorer teams will never win and sooner or later, will defunct. Also, making everyone a free agent will be horrible. Imagine a team like somewhere in Japan, who in the NHL would want to sign there? Being away from their family.

Not everyone wants to win the stanley cup. This is why the current format is good as it is.
 

puckhead103*

Guest
nhl2 won't happen.....

you need nhl2pa union get all the players freebees....ie free agency....
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->