Champions Hockey League for 2021/2022

[swissdude]

I don't think that there's an easy solution. Of course to raise the prize money would help but teams especially swiss teams always prioritize the local championship over the CHL in addition, there are already very many dates for EHT/national team. CHL isn't anything near best on best since the teams really only pretend to care...

 

[Elias40]

It's all bullshit talk. The only way to make this tournament attractive to teams other than the ones from development leagues with smaller budgets is to at least triple the prize money. That would get you in the range of the 08/09 competition which was the last true best on best competition in European club hockey. If that can't be arranged, SHL will continue to dominate since they're the strongest development teams still interested in the bit of money on offer. You can change the system or the number of teams but none of that will change anything. The only way to win back the KHL and to get the bigger budget teams to compete is to up the prize money. Like it or not but that's the reality. Money rules. Hockey isn't just a sport, it's also a business. Teams want to make, not lose money.

Let's say that the prize money will be three times higher than now, there will not be KHL teams in CL, but teams that play CL right now and the Swedes will win anyway. What will you say then? That they are not the best because there are no Russian clubs?

I already understand your bullshit, it is important for you to have three times more money from prize money plus the participation of KHL teams. And if that happens and Lulea or Frölund win, does that mean the Swedish league is the best? Barely.

Do you know I hope why the competition ended three times more prize money years ago? No one puts three times more money into CL at once, the money will increase gradually, every year. It's all about the prestige of that competition, you know from the past that the WHL also disappeared and stayed with the NHL.
I'm sorry, but I have to laugh at your opinion that coaching is the only problem in Switzerland. There are more of these problems and a lot of them are related. And what does it feel like when you come to a Swiss league match and the best players in almost every club are Swedes, Finns, Canadians or Czechs? This idea sincerely scares me to go to the stadium and cheer on imports, because I don't have domestic quality.

 

[Hinterland]

Let's say that the prize money will be three times higher than now, there will not be KHL teams in CL, but teams that play CL right now and the Swedes will win anyway. What will you say then? That they are not the best because there are no Russian clubs?

I already understand your bullshit, it is important for you to have three times more money from prize money plus the participation of KHL teams. And if that happens and Lulea or Frölund win, does that mean the Swedish league is the best? Barely.

Do you know I hope why the competition ended three times more prize money years ago? No one puts three times more money into CL at once, the money will increase gradually, every year. It's all about the prestige of that competition, you know from the past that the WHL also disappeared and stayed with the NHL.
I'm sorry, but I have to laugh at your opinion that coaching is the only problem in Switzerland. There are more of these problems and a lot of them are related. And what does it feel like when you come to a Swiss league match and the best players in almost every club are Swedes, Finns, Canadians or Czechs? This idea sincerely scares me to go to the stadium and cheer on imports, because I don't have domestic quality.

Whoever wins is the best. In that case unlikely to be a smaller budget team though. Last time there was actual money to win, no smaller budget teams were competitive. Espoo Blues may have been the exception, not sure what their budget was back then. They did have a very good team though led by impressive goaltending (Mikko Koskinen was only the backup) and Ryan Keller.

The Swiss League is a development league and you're only allowed to have two imports on the ice so of course those are the best players. I don't know why anybody should feel bad about this. Good Swiss players obviously want to play National League, not Swiss League.

 

[Elias40]

Whoever wins is the best. In that case unlikely to be a smaller budget team though. Last time there was actual money to win, no smaller budget teams were competitive. Espoo Blues may have been the exception, not sure what their budget was back then. They did have a very good team though led by impressive goaltending (Mikko Koskinen was only the backup) and Ryan Keller.

The Swiss League is a development league and you're only allowed to have two imports on the ice so of course those are the best players. I don't know why anybody should feel bad about this. Good Swiss players obviously want to play National League, not Swiss League.

My mistake, I should have written the National League, not the Swiss League. This is the second league. Well I tried to take the top fifty best scoring players in NL. And there are only 21 Swiss in the first fifty players. There are 33 Swedes in SHL. But we probably see this thing differently, if I were Swiss and went to my NL team regularly, I would need to have home players on my team, not a team of mercenaries, even though it is true that they are quality mercenaries. That's why I prefer SHL, simply because there are more domestic players, more young talent and experienced veterans next to them. But these things are on a subjective basis, so I understand the view that people in Switzerland may have it differently.

 

[Hinterland]

My mistake, I should have written the National League, not the Swiss League. This is the second league. Well I tried to take the top fifty best scoring players in NL. And there are only 21 Swiss in the first fifty players. There are 33 Swedes in SHL. But we probably see this thing differently, if I were Swiss and went to my NL team regularly, I would need to have home players on my team, not a team of mercenaries, even though it is true that they are quality mercenaries. That's why I prefer SHL, simply because there are more domestic players, more young talent and experienced veterans next to them. But these things are on a subjective basis, so I understand the view that people in Switzerland may have it differently.

Again. Money talks.

Of course there are mostly Swedes playing SHL because top players from elsewhere have better options than to play SHL. SHL teams can't compete with the other European teams because they don't have any money to offer. What they can do is develop players. Quite a prospects from all across Europe go there in order to benefit from better coaching and more professional structures. For a prospect with high ambitions, Sweden, besides NA of course, is the place to go. But hardly any big names are ever gonna sign in Sweden. There are exceptions like Plüss back in the days but usually, good imports leave Sweden rather quickly because they get better offers in no time.

 

[Elias40]

Again. Money talks.

Of course there are mostly Swedes playing SHL because top players from elsewhere have better options than to play SHL. SHL teams can't compete with the other European teams because they don't have any money to offer. What they can do is develop players. Quite a prospects from all across Europe go there in order to benefit from better coaching and more professional structures. For a prospect with high ambitions, Sweden, besides NA of course, is the place to go. But hardly any big names are ever gonna sign in Sweden. There are exceptions like Plüss back in the days but usually, good imports leave Sweden rather quickly because they get better offers in no time.

Okay, let's end this because it's going nowhere. Just one more question .. So NL is resigning to improving young domestic talent and will it be a league of experienced and well-paid veterans from abroad? Does this view have support in Switzerland?

In SHL, financial support for clubs will increase, so I just hope that they will not pay more money to foreigners, but rather it will mean keeping domestic players before leaving for the KHL or NL. Leaving the NA is far more about sports ambition than money, and neither the Russians nor the Swiss can compete.

 

[Hinterland]

Okay, let's end this because it's going nowhere. Just one more question .. So NL is resigning to improving young domestic talent and will it be a league of experienced and well-paid veterans from abroad? Does this view have support in Switzerland?

In SHL, financial support for clubs will increase, so I just hope that they will not pay more money to foreigners, but rather it will mean keeping domestic players before leaving for the KHL or NL. Leaving the NA is far more about sports ambition than money, and neither the Russians nor the Swiss can compete.

No, that's why pretty much everybody except the club officials was against the league reform and why they had to take it back at least partially. They're trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist instead of focussing on the actual problem. That didn't sit well with players and fans. Again. The problem in Switzerland is coaching. We have exactly three Swiss born coaches who may have international quality. You heard it right. May. The rest is either trash or never had the opportunity to coach a pro team. That all goes down to junior teams. It's a structural problem. Hiring foreign coaches like most pro clubs do is a shortterm solution at best but coaches are more difficult to hire than players and foreign coaches may not know the league, the players or any of the languages spoken.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Again. Money talks.

Of course there are mostly Swedes playing SHL because top players from elsewhere have better options than to play SHL. SHL teams can't compete with the other European teams because they don't have any money to offer..

You make it sound like NLA and KHL is NHL level.

 

[Hinterland]

You make it sound like NLA and KHL is NHL level.

No.

 

[OskarOskarius]

No.

NL is a mickey mouse league. I’m sorry but that’s a fact. SHL is better, as shown in CHL performance.

 

[Eye of Ra]

NL is a mickey mouse league. I’m sorry but that’s a fact. SHL is better, as shown in CHL performance.

If NLA is mickey mouse league, i wonder then what u think of the slovakian league

 

[Hinterland]

NL is a mickey mouse league. I’m sorry but that’s a fact. SHL is better, as shown in CHL performance.

Fun fact: in the mickey mouse league, average salary is at least 2x the average SHL salary and at least 9 out of 10 SHL players would sign a contract offer from any NL club without hesitation.

I'm also still shocked to hear SHL revenue is almost entirely depending on and coming from the broadcast deal. That's not a solid business model.

 

[Prntscrn]

I'm also still shocked to hear SHL revenue is almost entirely depending on and coming from the broadcast deal. That's not a solid business model.

Very vague, how much is "SHL revenue is almost entirely depending on and coming from the broadcast deal"?

 

[colonia]

I don't think that there's an easy solution. Of course to raise the prize money would help but teams especially swiss teams always prioritize the local championship over the CHL in addition, there are already very many dates for EHT/national team. CHL isn't anything near best on best since the teams really only pretend to care...

I can assure you that all participating teams most definitely care about this tournament. There wouldn't be a competition if teams were not interested. It's only after their favourite teams are eliminated that fans come forward on here to loudly proclaim how unimportant CHL is. Just out of curiosity, what do you think the prize money should be? With European hockey being dominated by clubs that are virtually unknown outside of their regional markets. With North America having a global monopoly on all talented players which automatically diminishes all other competitions. With only one major western European country having somewhat of a hockey culture. This tournament is so unpopular because international hockey simply isn't a very competitive sport to begin with. It's entirely confined to a small set of (mostly) small countries. And with all due respect, most Europeans would have a hard time locating European hockey powerhouses on a map. Gothenburg might be the hockey equivalent to Barcelona or Munich, but that's about it. Frölunda won't cause excitement anywhere outside of, well, Sweden...I suppose? Small markets, little attention, less money. We should be glad there's an international club competition we can enjoy.

 

[OskarOskarius]

Fun fact: in the mickey mouse league, average salary is at least 2x the average SHL salary and at least 9 out of 10 SHL players would sign a contract offer from any NL club without hesitation.

I'm also still shocked to hear SHL revenue is almost entirely depending on and coming from the broadcast deal. That's not a solid business model.

The SHL salaries are not the most transparent because of tax evasion. Some players have 500k sek/month

Sportchefens utspel – felaktig bild om löner i Sverige: ”Finns spelare som tjänar 400 000 kr”

Media rights was about 30 % in 2018/2019. It would have been lower if play offs wasn’t cancelled. But obviously with media rights getting bigger and bigger that will change. The SHL will only become more and more powerful in Europe.

Hur mår svensk elithockey? En analys av den finansiella ställningen i SHL 2018/ PDF Gratis nedladdning

So don’t be shocked. SHL have a sound foundation, unlike sugar daddy leagues like NL and KHL.

 

[Hinterland]

Very vague, how much is "SHL revenue is almost entirely depending on and coming from the broadcast deal"?

According to the numbers posted in this thread, SHL clubs average budget is 7,5 millions but they get 4,5 millions from the broadcast deal alone. Based on that, the only conclusion you can come up with is that they create barely any revenue themselves and are completely depending on that broadcast deal. Quite the shock for me to find out.

 

[Hinterland]

The SHL salaries are not the most transparent because of tax evasion. Some players have 500k sek/month

Sportchefens utspel – felaktig bild om löner i Sverige: ”Finns spelare som tjänar 400 000 kr”

Media rights was about 30 % in 2018/2019. It would have been lower if play offs wasn’t cancelled. But obviously with media rights getting bigger and bigger that will change. The SHL will only become more and more powerful in Europe.

Hur mår svensk elithockey? En analys av den finansiella ställningen i SHL 2018/ PDF Gratis nedladdning

So don’t be shocked. SHL have a sound foundation, unlike sugar daddy leagues like NL and KHL.

7,5 million budget despite a 4,5 broadcast deal doesn't sound like a solid foundation to me. I certainly wouldn't invest in such a business. If ever that deal expires and can't be renewed at at least the same terms then SHL clubs will either go bankrupt or be by no means competitive anymore.

 

[Prntscrn]

According to the numbers posted in this thread, SHL clubs average budget is 7,5 millions but they get 4,5 millions from the broadcast deal alone. Based on that, the only conclusion you can come up with is that they create barely any revenue themselves and are completely depending on that broadcast deal. Quite the shock for me to find out.

According to Ernst & Young TV rights is about 28% of the revenue, sounds like a solid number to me

https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/e.../09/ey-hockeysrapporten-final-2020-screen.pdf

 

[Hinterland]

According to Ernst & Young TV rights is about 28% of the revenue, sounds like a solid number to me

https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/e.../09/ey-hockeysrapporten-final-2020-screen.pdf

That's not at all solid. The numbers don't match anyway though. How can they have an average budget of just 7,5 millions if the tv deal of 4,5 millions is just 28% of the revenue. Something smelling terribly wrong here.

 

[Prntscrn]

That's not at all solid. The numbers don't match anyway though. How can they have an average budget of just 7,5 millions if the tv deal of 4,5 millions is just 28% of the revenue. Something smelling terribly wrong here.

Because the average revenue was 13 million euros (would have been slightly higher if the playoffs were not cancelled) and tv rights income about 3,6 millions (tv rights may be higher since, this is from the 19/20 season since last season was with people in the stands)

Färjestad had the highest revenue with 17,2 millions and Oskarshamn the lowest with about 6,1 millions

 

[OskarOskarius]

That's not at all solid. The numbers don't match anyway though. How can they have an average budget of just 7,5 millions if the tv deal of 4,5 millions is just 28% of the revenue. Something smelling terribly wrong here.

Because not all money goes to salaries. They also operate venues etc. Yeah we are not solid. Better to have a shit league with sugar daddies and Allsvenskan tier players being paid 200k a season while you get your ass spanked in the CHL.

 

[rizka]

I'm looking forward to Tuesday, can't wait really! And no KHL teams in sight! Pleasant, isn't it?

Ever since I witnessed a final in Oulu some years ago, I've believed I'll see Tappara in the final next year. And next year... After so many disappointments Tappara has finally done it. They've proven wrong the analysts who in this topic claimed that Tappara lose on purpose every year. Clearly not, not after the very first editions particularly. Tappara has been taking this extremely seriously for many years now. Sometimes you still lose, that's hockey.

Tappara is currently very much ready. The team has been hot for some months now. After the slow start they took the top place in domestic standings last weekend. And on Wednesday we had our best possible roster on the ice for the first time this season. Perfect timing I'd say. Let's just hope nothing happens before Tuesday: you never know these days. Players to watch:

#76 Anton Levtchi (LW)
Also known as the Magician. It took some time to adapt to professional game, but for the last three seasons the 26-year-old has been a prominent scorer in the Finnish league. He is under contract until 2024, but I don't think people really believe he'll play in Finland next year anymore. Although now that KHL is out of question, he just might. I most certainly hope so. He is most well-known for his brilliant passing game and puck control. This season he has much scoring instinct into his game which has made him almost unstoppable. We need good performance from him.

#19 Waltteri Merelä (RW)
Another home-grown hero, although he spent last three years in Lahti to return to Tampere at the age of 23. He is less flashy than Levtchi, but a very solid all-rounder anyway. He keeps making right decisions on the ice, in both ends. I think it would be very unfair to say that it's easy to shine when you play with Levtchi. No - I believe Merelä is also a reason for Levtchi's success. He recently extended his contract unti 2024 which is amazing.

#71 (Top Scorer) Kristian Kuusela (RW)
The 39-year-old veteran keeps on delivering. Apart from his brief visits into Sweden and KHL, he has been a star in the Finnish league for almost 20 years now. Since coming to Tappara in 2013 he has been a cornerstone of our semi-dynasty. Known as a sniper at the beginning of this career, he is now known as an elite playmaker. Given an opportunity he will still score, too. Notably, if gets into breakaway, the goalie should guard his five-hole. You'll see if it happens! He may not be the fastest player on the ice anymore, but he may be the smartest. For how long can he keep going? He is just 80 points shy of becoming the all-time top scorer in the Finnish league. It's within the realm of the possible.

#30 Christian Heljanko (GK)
You could argue that he is the best player in our squad. The 24-year goalie has been our starter for some years already. Some fans have been roasting him for years, even though he has given little reason. This season he has given no reason. He won't give any easy goals and makes great saves whenever needed. If you are an elite goalie in the Finnish league, often you are a very good goalie in Europe. By surprise, he recently extended his contract until 2023.

---

Our main weakness is the lack of an elite blue-liner. While all our defencemen are EHT-level or almost at least, none of them is a legit threat on powerplay. Kemiläinen used to be that guy for years but now he is playing against us with Rögle. Rantakari returned to us in the summer after spending a few years in Switzerland and Russia, but he was rehabilitating from a serious injury. He still hasn't quite found his form. Therefore Santtu Kinnunen is playing in our main powerplay unit. He is quite skilled but his shot isn't that lethal. Our powerplay therefore relies on shots from the wings and creative passes into the crease.

Projected line-up:

Levtchi-Morley-Merelä
Luoto-Virta-Kuusela
Peltola-Platzer-Bertrand
Tanus-Rauhala-Puhakka
Moilanen

Vittasmäki-Tuulola
Jurgens-Kinnunen
Austin-Seppälä
Rantakari

Heljanko (Piiroinen)

 

[Eye of Ra]

rögle is favorites if we compare rosters

 

[rizka]

rögle is favorites if we compare rosters

No doubt. Even though some Swiss guy roasted SHL for being poor above, from Finnish point of view SHL teams are still filthy rich. A great example of that is that Kemiläinen plays for Rögle, not Tappara. But we have fairly good chances to fight back anyway! For reference, the betting market thinks Rögle wins about two games out of three, on their home ice. That means that the teams aren't considered exactly of equal strength but quite close to equal anyway.

 

[Lartsaman]

Im eagerly waiting for tuesday´s game. Its almost like a Finland-Sweden WCH final. Tappara has a chance just like Jyp had in 2018.