hansomreiste - I like the topics you bring up, you are obviously very passionate about hockey and the KHL which is very nice to see
I think you are thinking to deep into this SKA situation though? It doesn't matter who's funding the teams really, sure SKA will always have an unlimited stream of cash, however they are one of the few teams that actually put an effort in to establish their brand, get their name out, get people in the arena, put on a nice show in the arena ect this is why, I believe, the league told teams to look to them to better improve their marketing!
With the dominance, its the guys on the ice not the ones in the boardroom that make results. Look back in.. 2010 or so. Dinamo Riga were a serious team! We usually have a budget around €8-11m and we competed with the big teams. Yes its all falling apart now but that is to bad management and VERY bad recruiting, also a reliance on using 99% Latvian players
Its the guys on the ice that have to put in the effort to beat teams like SKA. There are always teams like SKA. Growing up for me it was AK Bars, they were THE Russian team, everybody knew they and knew they were good. Then Magnitka had their day. I'd highly suggest, if you haven't already, to read
https://www.amazon.com/King-Russia-Russian-Super-League/dp/0771095708
In 2005 Metallurg under Dave King lost only 4 games, In 1998 they only lost 2 games! You see each team has it's day.
I do agree the KHL needs its regulations, but it's only born in 2008!
Thanks a lot for the kind words - I am indeed very passionate about hockey and I think the moment I stop loving hockey is when I stop living - in a way, hockey saved my life in past and the feelings it gives me is extremely strong. I will never let this thing leave me. For example, our local team, Zeytinburnu BB (which is sometimes referred to as İstanbul BB as well - BB stands for "Buyuksehir Belediyesi", metropolitan municipality) consisted of glue-sniffing dudes who had no future. This team got as far as second round in Continental Cup this year. The story goes like that,
Zeytinburnu, a municipality in İstanbul which is home to the biggest ice hockey rink of the city and a few other smaller ones, decided to start a campaign a few years ato to keep streets cleaner. So they started giving people free coupons to skate in return for recycable waste. For example, if you collected like 10 empty cans at street, you could get a 30-min session for free. However, this campaign had a problem: street children who regularly collect waste as a means of making money started bringing tons of it and the ice rink dedicated to this campaign was just not enough to let so many people skate.
In the end, mayor was like, "That's enough boyz, let's go!" and decided to create a hockey club so that both children would have a healthy lifestyle and a reason to live decently and of course, leave the ice rink alone and stop bringing tons of waste which would grant them with tens of free passes.
Now you see where they are. Of course, the current team doesn't fully consist of them, with some foreign players and other recruitments but this is pretty much how it all began in İstanbul. We had ice hockey before that too but it was nothing worthy of speaking. Now, after this thing, it's getting bigger in Turkey. For example, my school (Istanbul University) has an ice hockey team and regular skating sessions (free) for students. Well, it has over 85.000 students but that's another story.
So, I was not one of those guys but I had a similar story - at some points, you'd wish I was a street child. Hockey was what lifted me up and gave me a reason to wake up at morning. Though I have never been a hockey player - I got badly injured while skating and stopped since. At the age of 22, I'm not sure if I can break into even our school team with all those extra weight and a "broken" (I mean, not working properly) ankle but my plan is definitely to try this in future. Let's hope I can make the most out of spending a month in Ukraine in this winter and get back to skating properly at least!
Back on topic, the reason I think SKA's domination is more dangerous than the previous periods of dominance other teams had is that they have been establishing it for some time. Of course, from time to time, some teams pop up and dominate the game... Nothing surprising with that - not every season will go down to the wire with five strong contenders. But the way SKA progresses and plunders the league is indeed worrying because they have means to keep up this pace. As you said, they have an unlimited supply of cash and this will probably never change as they remain in that enchanting city. When their elite players leave, others will come... I'm not suggesting they WILL dominate the scene for next 10 years. My point is that I am afraid and think they MAY because of what I've seen so far. Marketing aspect and creating a strong image is definitely a positive but as a passionate fan who actually doesn't even care about stuff like that... I'm obsessed with competitiveness. Other aspects of the business are also very important for the growth of the league, for sure. But I don't care about them. Most people (especially Americans) treat their favorite sports organizations as "products". I am fine with that mentality, I get their point. However, KHL is not a product for me. If KHL disbanded and God forbid, something bad in Russia happened, I'd still watch local boys of Omsk playing on pond against, let's say, other team from Novokuznetsk or Magnitogorsk. Sure, this international & shiny product is cool and all, but I can live without it - what I love is "taste" of hockey, not organization. So, the "plus" SKA provides in this aspect doesn't make their dominance any less scary for me.
Long story short, I think the domination of SKA differs from others' ones, because SKA have means to turn this into a monopoly. Many other teams did not. You have good financial sources, a good coach and many players in their primes... Success follows. Only for a limited period of time. For SKA, all these factors can be provided almost every year. Good coach? Who wouldn't want to work for SKA? Good players in their prime or exceptionally talented young ones? Well, many love being in St. Petersburg and playing for a strong & successful club rather than staying in cold and gray Siberian cities. Money to support all those fancy additions? No problem at all! Of course, we are human beings and not machines, so even the most dominant teams can fail from time to time, but overall I believe everything is set in place for SKA to dominate the league.
Aside from CSKA, no team is likely to be a challenger for the title for a foreseeable future. Dynamo have financial problems. Torpedo and Loko have been traditionally strong sides but nothing more than that. Jokerit? No way. Eastern conference is another story... Magnitka has hit that sweet spot last year and got away with Gagarin Cup. Now they have an aging roster, which becomes an issue when your key guys are all over 30 and even 35 years old. Avangard? Ak Bars? Salavat? Those teams are regionally good but not strong contenders for the cup. Even if they were, they wouldn't be able to keep a good team together for some period of time. I just feel like KHL teams are not getting better while SKA surely does. Hockey is a play-off game... Not much room for surprise in play-off and I am fine with that. Though the question of who can mess with SKA? This is what bothers me. To me, it's nobody. Not in next five years, if things go this way. Many say it won't and KHL is quite unstable when it comes to that but let's see... I hope you guys will be right in the end and we will not see KHL turn into a one-team league.
