There so much wrong with this post, from basic facts to exaggerations and ridiculous comparison with Swedish league playouts.
I never said there are virtually no positives from this tournament, but the way (and the timing) this cup was introduced, set up made it look even worse then it was.
Like it or not KHL is being slavish in following the NHL in most fields, but one thing they shouldn't of tinkered with is the ultimate dream and the one focal point (well, not anymore) of the season - the God damn Cup.
I don't understand what the hell are you talking about in the highlighted part about basic facts, exaggerations and ridiculous comparisons. Swedes could as well do without Kvalserien, just relegated some teams from Elitserien and bring new ones from Allsvenskan and that's all. Still they've created this tournment which is a big deal in the towns it is played. Why can't KHL create a tournament for teams that did not make the play-offs. I don't understand what kind of facts and exaggerations are you talking about?
Of course the way how the cup was introduced was stupid, Pejorative Slured, completely idiotic, wrong etc. So what? The way how the cup was introduced certainly left an impact on how these ''losers' playoffs'' happened but if such a tournament is still being played next year nobody will remember... Just like 0 people today are concerned with KHL logo while when it was introduced all kinds of people rose up against the ''stupid look'' of it. The same with the Opening Cup (now Lokomotiv Cup), a great idea but also, at the beginning, met with a lot of boos and angry, snarky comments... This year when the league started and Dynamo faced Avangard in the first game of the season everybody was glued to TV screens to see the game and were happy that the game was really good. If there was no Opening Cup, no certain advertized season opener in KHL, nobody here in Riga would care to switch on the TV if Dinamo wasn't playing on that day.
This cup does not in any way impact the fact that Gagrin Cup is and still will be the main trophy for any team and making play-offs will be more important than winning the Cup of Hope. Some idiots on Latvian sports portal laughed about the fact that Atlant was out of play-offs faster than Dinamo Rīga even started the real fight for this "losers' cup". Well guess what- Latvian Hockey Championship final ended just yesterday while Dinamo's season has been over for a while already. Does that mean that anyone thought this final was more interesting that the final of Cup of Hope?? Three people probably thought so and three people probably also thought that the Cup of Hope final was more important than Gagarin play-offs... But that's always the case in any sport.
Nobody cared about the Cup of Hope in the cities that were in the play-offs and nobody cared for the Cup of Hope in the cities where there were no teams at all. But people from all these cities, including ones in the Cup of Hope, still followed and follow KHL play-offs, so I don't see where's the problem.
In short, in what way
ozo do you think the ''ultimate dream'' will shift from making play-offs = fight for the Gagarin, to Cup of Hope? How do you imagine it happening? Do you think Amur Khabarovsk will go into the season thinking really considering whether to aim for play-offs or Cup of Hope?? That's ridiculous. Vorky already mentioned Europa League, nobody who has a chance at Champions League top 16 go into the group stage thinking - I guess we will not fight till the end and just settle for 3rd place in the group to play in a less prestigious tournament and maybe win it...
What this cup might be able to do though is:
1) increase post regular season interest in KHL (including play-offs) in cities that have not made play-offs
2) small teams who see they won't make play-offs will not sell off their stars thinking that at least the still have a shot at Hope's.
3) give a chance for smaller teams to try out their youth, practice play-off hockey
All these things would bring benefits to KHL parity of teams in future.
