Atas2000
Registered User
- Jan 18, 2011
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Just in case, FHR made the whole game available on YT.
So if you were eager to watch the prospects, here you go ->
So if you were eager to watch the prospects, here you go ->
This week or a while ago?Larionov said that he's interested in Abramov, Firstov, Kuznetsov, Likhachyov, Ponomaryov from the NA leagues.
After Karjala Cup.This week or a while ago?
No Guschin, BoournsLarionov said that he's interested in Abramov, Firstov, Kuznetsov, Likhachyov, Ponomaryov from the NA leagues.
Easily better than 17/18 one and at least tied with 15/16. And the latter team went to the finals. And this one will have Askarov. So all in all, people are really jumping the gun with their far-reaching conclusions.
Even though the investment doesn't match Canada, the US, Sweden and Finland, all those countries are at 100% capacity. They are at their maximum capability, whereas Russia is only reaching about 20% of its potential.
I would probably agree that the US and Germany are far from maxing out their potential. But much of this potential would be difficult to reach because it would be unlikely for hockey to surpass the more popular sports like American Football, Basketball, Baseball, Soccer (Germany).Maybe some of the other countries are closer to their full capacity but definitely not the US. They also have alot of potential room to grow the game in their country just like Russia, and Germany.
Maybe some of the other countries are closer to their full capacity but definitely not the US. They also have alot of potential room to grow the game in their country just like Russia, and Germany.
I would probably agree that the US and Germany are far from maxing out their potential. But much of this potential would be difficult to reach because it would be unlikely for hockey to surpass the more popular sports like American Football, Basketball, Baseball, Soccer (Germany).
In considering the hockey potential of the US, I thought about a couple of elements that influence developing new players: (1) is it a popular sport that kids want to learn to play, and (2) how can they go about learning to play the game? In the US, I think these two elements kind of merge.
By a very small margin, hockey is the second most popular sport in Russia, just behind football. Kids dream about growing up to become a player. My impression is that in the US, hockey is the 4th or 5th most popular sport at best. I think that the best young athletes in the US gravitate toward the sports that have much greater prestige in their communities, such as American football, basketball and baseball. There are a large number of American players on NHL rosters, but not many really talented or dominant players. Given the massive numbers of youth players reported, this seems to be a bit of anomaly. Outside of the NHL cities located in warm weather climates, there is no outdoor skating, and too few indoor rinks to support a major expansion in American talent.
The geographic areas where kids can learn to play hockey in the neighborhood are limited to a few locations along the northern border with Canada. In other words, locations like those in Russia and Canada where it is cold enough to build "yard rinks" where kids can play for hours on end for 4 to 6 months in the winter. Given the limited geographic locale of outdoor skating, there are substantially fewer American kids who dream about playing in the NHL.
Russia has unlimited outdoor ice for 5 to 6 months a year, but far less investment in indoor rinks, coaching, recruitment and hockey development. There has been a positive change in that direction since the creation of the KHL and MHL, and revitalization of the VHL, but they are only at about 20% capacity at this time.
We both think in similar terms: how do we redirect some talent from the more popular sports to hockey. It's quite a challenge though considering that hockey is a more expensive sport, and climate doesn't allow to play pond hockey in California, Texas, Florida, etc. We can't rely on the Minnesota, Michigan, and New York hockey talent mines to squeeze out the extra "handful". The extra talent should come from the populous southern states, in my opinion. I am not sure though how this could be achieved.They most likely won't surpass these sports, but if hockey can pry even a handful of the top athletes away from some of these sports and increase the number of players playing in each state/region. That's all you can ask for right now. US has the resources to do so as does Russia, Germany would have to put more money into developing the proper infrastructures , high level youth coaches etc.
We both think in similar terms: how do we redirect some talent from the more popular sports to hockey. It's quite a challenge though considering that hockey is a more expensive sport, and climate doesn't allow to play pond hockey in California, Texas, Florida, etc. We can't rely on the Minnesota, Michigan, and New York hockey talent mines to squeeze out the extra "handful". The extra talent should come from the populous southern states, in my opinion. I am not sure though how this could be achieved.
Russia's situation is very different though.
We both think in similar terms: how do we redirect some talent from the more popular sports to hockey. It's quite a challenge though considering that hockey is a more expensive sport, and climate doesn't allow to play pond hockey in California, Texas, Florida, etc. We can't rely on the Minnesota, Michigan, and New York hockey talent mines to squeeze out the extra "handful". The extra talent should come from the populous southern states, in my opinion. I am not sure though how this could be achieved.
Russia's situation is very different though.
Russia is a big country, having cold & warm regions. Hockey is popular in traditionally hockey regions like Moscow, Povolzhie, Ural, Sibir, North around St.Pete + Loko/Cherepovets. And even there it is not working for 100%. Not speaking about other regions, either warm one or without hockey infrastructure. And that is a big issue. Russia has been working on it, building small rinks around the country. Meanwhile, hockey should be implemented as a school subject in elementary & high schools. But that is a long process .... You need to teach many coaches while building many rinks.
Agree. I would just add that such competitions between school teams will not be sponsored by schools themselves but rather regional/federal governments or pro clubs. Thats the Russian way. It works a bit different in America.It is a long way away, but Russian elementary and high schools should sponsor school teams to compete against other schools. Extend the competition through Regions, maybe up to a national championship. This is a system that the US uses effectively, especially for American football, basketball and baseball, but also hockey in places where hockey is played. The advantage of a school system is that it goes far deeper in identifying talented prospects who could then be supported by existing hockey leagues (e.g., MHL, VHL). As you say so well, there are large Regions of Russia where, despite being able to skate outdoors for 6 plus months each year, hockey is in relative terms nonexistent.
Yes, this would help, but the problem is that hockey development is a riskier investment. There are simply safer choices where money could be made. That's why I hold the view that the US might not be able to tap its undeniably enormous hockey potential in the near future. The sport has too many constraints, but I would be delighted to be wrong.so the only way there can be improvement there is marketing and making hockey more easily accessible for young kids
You are correct. That's why I mentioned that hockey is an expensive sport (its biggest constraint), and kids from lower middle class and below typically end up playing a different sport.When you pinpoint exactly where in the "Southern States" indoor rinks have been built, almost all have been built in Los Angeles, Dallas, Phoenix, Tampa Bay and Miami, where NHL franchises exist. In fact, many of the rinks have actually been built by the NHL franchises, such as in Dallas, where a friend of mine tells me that there are about ten "Star Centers" that have been built by the Dallas Stars. But these are all located in rich, white areas where kids can afford to pay the fees to use indoor rinks year-round and make international trips for tournaments. That is a very limited demographic. So in a huge metropolis like Dallas-Fort Worth, with a population of nearly 8 million, you have 2 or 3 guys who end up skating a regular shift in the NHL. The expected explosion of stars in the US has never materialized.
Agree. I would just add that such competitions between school teams will not be sponsored by schools themselves but rather regional/federal governments or pro clubs. Thats the Russian way. It works a bit different in America.
For example, Avangard Omsk is building outdoor rinks in Omsk & region. All these rinks will be run as club´s franchises, all scouted by Avangard & the best kids moving to Avangard´s youth academy, which was finished a few months ago. Basically, this academy is a pro hockey (kids above 15).
Avangard hockey youth academy
SKA Hockey Town Academy. The same model as Omsk and Kazan. Swedes have the same model and the Russian Hockey Federation (with the federal government) is planning to launch similar hockey academies in several bigger regions/cities.
You are 100% correct. In Russia, "community funded" translates to "Kremlin" or "Duma." And of course, the great majority of funds for hockey comes from oligarchs and conglomerates like LUKOIL and GAZPROM. This is a big stumbling block, I think, and the reason Russia lags behind where they could be in improving the game. City and Oblast-level government has no ability to collect the kind of taxes like they do in Canada, Sweden, Finland and the US to build local rinks and fund coaches and other vital infrastructure. So Russian schools would have no funds to create teams, build rinks, hire coaches, etc. It would be out of the question!
Great videos! Its always great to see the kids having fun, and I still believe that, inheriting and refining methods developed in the Soviet days, Russia does a better job of teaching kids fundamental skills than probably anyone else! Borrowing from the Tarasov tradition, coaches are still good at teaching skills by creating drills that are fun, so the kids are really working hard but hardly notice it!
Personal Income tax rate is at 13 % except for non residents where tax rate for Russian sourced income is at 30 %. This is just looking at personal income tax itself of course but is a system where the wealthy pay a higher percentage in taxes or where there is tax brackets not heavily supported? This would help fund any of the infrastructure which may be lacking
Sorry, but this is a non-sensical attempt to copy the US system. We definitely shouldn't do that. It is flawed for a huge number of reasons and wrong for Russia.It is a long way away, but Russian elementary and high schools should sponsor school teams to compete against other schools. Extend the competition through Regions, maybe up to a national championship. This is a system that the US uses effectively, especially for American football, basketball and baseball, but also hockey in places where hockey is played. The advantage of a school system is that it goes far deeper in identifying talented prospects who could then be supported by existing hockey leagues (e.g., MHL, VHL). As you say so well, there are large Regions of Russia where, despite being able to skate outdoors for 6 plus months each year, hockey is in relative terms nonexistent.