Olympics: If the NHL players don't go in 2018, what happens to players in the KHL and etc?

[Jussi]

Better league, more money, etc.

They pay ridiculous salaries in KHL. Quite frankly they overpay a lot of players there (players that shouldn't even be there). Several Finnish KHL players have said that they go there only for the money, not he quality of the league. "A few years in the KHL to get my retirement fund and then Switzerland, Sweden or back home" is the popular statement.

 

[Jussi]

With the KHL expanding we could see Finns for instance choosing to play for Jokerit instead of the NHL for the chance to play in the Olympics... if the money is good enough.

Nope, Finnish taxation will keep them away.

 

[Canuck21t]

Why does Finland have players in the NHL? The answer is the same, really.

That's kind of obvious. I guess what I'm really wondering is how is the Liiga doing? With Jokerit joining the KHL, isn't that a huge blow to your national pro league?

What about Sweden? Is there many Swedes playing in the KHL too or the SHL is in a much better position?

 

[CornKicker]

if the nhl doesnt allow its players to go then no one will care about olympic hockey and the ratings will get murdered.

 

[modofan]

if the nhl doesnt allow its players to go then no one will care about olympic hockey and the ratings will get murdered.

if the nhl doesnt allow its players to go then no one in NA will care about olympic hockey and the ratings in NA will get murdered.

 

[An Argument For]

if the nhl doesnt allow its players to go then no one in NA will care about olympic hockey and the ratings in NA will get murdered.

North America is where the money and ratings come from.

Over 45 million people watched the 2010 Gold Medal in North America..

That's more than the entire populations of Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lativia, and Switzerland combined.

 

[FiLe]

That's kind of obvious. I guess what I'm really wondering is how is the Liiga doing? With Jokerit joining the KHL, isn't that a huge blow to your national pro league?

Liiga fares pretty much as it has always fared. It has never been a place that could hang onto its players when a bigger paycheck is offered elsewhere.

I'd say very few of those Finnish KHLers would be in Liiga if there was no KHL. Some players would be in NA, either in depth roles in NHL lineups or in the AHL, taking the long road up. Those who hit a wall would return to Europe and sign with leagues able to offer bigger paychecks, the popular choices being the SHL or the Swiss NLA. If you compare the numbers of Finnish players in those two countries today and five years ago, you'll notice a significant dip.

The bottom line is that Liiga's level is pretty much where it has been for the past decade or so. It's those Finns who a while back were earning their pay in various other leagues around Europe now converging in the KHL.


What comes to Jokerit.... guess we'll see what happens with them and how it affects Liiga once next season rolls around. Given how they'll be competing for the attention of the players described above, I doubt it'll really affect the level of play. At least directly. How much attention and income they end up drawing away is another story, and far harder to estimate.

 

[EbencoyE]

If winning 3 of the past 4 best on best hockey tournaments doesn't prove that Canada is the #1 hockey nation, I'm curious as to what you think determines that? LOL

Being the birthplace of the sport, having more registered players than most other countries COMBINED, hockey being more profitable financially there than anywhere else on earth?

Winning a tournament is simply winning a tournament. If Canada hadn't won a single tournament since the 80's, they would still be considered the #1 hockey nation. A few tournaments don't decide something so broad as that. But I'm guessing you already got his point, you just wanted to gloat about your team's victories.

 

[EbencoyE]

if the nhl doesnt allow its players to go then no one will care about olympic hockey and the ratings will get murdered.

Olympic hockey will be the most watched hockey in the world whether NHL players take part or not, as it always has been. the 2010 final (NHL all-stars) couldn't even beat the miracle on ice (NHL-less) ratings in the U.S.

the Olympics are the Olympics. The Olympics are a big deal. Hockey is not.

Canada is the only place where ratings might be dramatically affected.

 

[Xokkeu]

North America is where the money and ratings come from.

Over 45 million people watched the 2010 Gold Medal in North America..

That's more than the entire populations of Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lativia, and Switzerland combined.

More Americans are probably going to watch a USA-Canada gold medal game between KHLers than are going to watch the Bruins vs the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup final.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

if the nhl doesnt allow its players to go then no one in NA will care about olympic hockey and the ratings in NA will get murdered.

I will still watch and pay attention but for the most part your comment is accurate.

There will be no * next to the gold Medal winner in 2018.

 

[cutchemist42]

The IIHF and the IOC extend their courtesy for players in any and all professional league to participate. However, they can't help it if there is a league that decides to turn down said invitation.

If it was the IIHF that would say "nope, the NHLers are not allowed anymore", then it would be unfair. However, if it's the NHL that decides to turn the chance down, all onus on neutering the tournament is on them.

One can't really get past the obnoxiousness here, given some fingers are pointed at the IIHF regardless. As if they should raze the whole playground if the high-and-mighty NHL does not wish to play on the same sandbox.

Bingo

 

[robwangjing]

Why all the hate against Russia and KHL here?

Someone said "if the NHL decides not to send their players, KHL will send theirs". I mean, come on. All leagues has always allowed every single player to participate, except for the NHL. No matter if NHL decides to allow their players to participate or not, the rest of the world will still allow their players to go.

Also, there are a lot of talented Americans and Canadians playing in Europe. Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, KHL etc. So both nations could make a great team from players in Europe and AHL.

Yes not best-on-best. But if you are going to rage out against anything here, don't hate on Russia, Europe or KHL for doing nothing wrong at all, rage out against the NHL for this stupid decision instead.

 

[Yakushev72]

Olympic hockey will be the most watched hockey in the world whether NHL players take part or not, as it always has been. the 2010 final (NHL all-stars) couldn't even beat the miracle on ice (NHL-less) ratings in the U.S.

the Olympics are the Olympics. The Olympics are a big deal. Hockey is not.

Canada is the only place where ratings might be dramatically affected.

Totally true! Outside of Canada, very few people really know the names of current NHL players, at least past the top two or three superstars whose names are publicized intensively (Ovechkin, Crosby). Only an elite few of American fans would really know or care that NHL players were missing. They would see the USA, Canada, Russia, etc., on the sweaters, and focus on whether "our guys" are better than "theirs." My guess is that ratings wouldn't be affected noticeably.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

what happens?

you gotta lace up bra

 

[RandV]

Why all the hate against Russia and KHL here?

Someone said "if the NHL decides not to send their players, KHL will send theirs". I mean, come on. All leagues has always allowed every single player to participate, except for the NHL. No matter if NHL decides to allow their players to participate or not, the rest of the world will still allow their players to go.

Also, there are a lot of talented Americans and Canadians playing in Europe. Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, KHL etc. So both nations could make a great team from players in Europe and AHL.

Yes not best-on-best. But if you are going to rage out against anything here, don't hate on Russia, Europe or KHL for doing nothing wrong at all, rage out against the NHL for this stupid decision instead.

I'd be curious to see how the latter works out, if the NHL says no but clubs are allowed to release AHL, CHL, and college players to play in the Olympics. Team USA this year for example could have been lead by guys like John Gibson and Johnny Gaudreau. It would make the selection processes much more intriguing, and it would be interesting to see how these players will do against KHL'ers and the like.

 

[Mara]

Meh. It'd be slightly disappointing but business is business. If NHL decides that the losses are too great then that's that. Money trumps everything else in when it comes to entertainment. But at least the Russian NHL players will probably be there no matter what.

 

[airbus1094]

Wouldn't it just turn the olympics into a more popular world championships. With all of the euro players and a few NHLers participating. Would be a huge shame though, I've always liked olympic hockey.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

The IIHF and the IOC extend their courtesy for players in any and all professional league to participate. However, they can't help it if there is a league that decides to turn down said invitation.

If it was the IIHF that would say "nope, the NHLers are not allowed anymore", then it would be unfair. However, if it's the NHL that decides to turn the chance down, all onus on neutering the tournament is on them.

One can't really get past the obnoxiousness here, given some fingers are pointed at the IIHF regardless. As if they should raze the whole playground if the high-and-mighty NHL does not wish to play on the same sandbox.

I agree with this. The IIHF and IOC shouldn't be the ones to water the tournament down. They should leave the conditions in place to allow it to be a best on best tournament - and if the NHL refuses to release players to play then that's their choice.

 

[QnebO]

Nothing special happens, teams will compete from Olympic Gold without NHL players.

 

[Yabob]

All depends on how the Olympic committee decides to put it together. They COULD put an armature requirement into the selection requirements.

The main problem is that there aren't many amatures left. For the European nations the skill level would be so low that you might as well cancel the entire tournament as it would just be a mockery of the sport (especially with a WC were the pros can participate). Even the teams which the Euro nations send to the WJC are usually made up of professionals (with a few exceptions).

Also, there are a lot of talented Americans and Canadians playing in Europe. Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, KHL etc. So both nations could make a great team from players in Europe and AHL.

Indeed. For example, the player who scored the most goals in the SHL this season is an american.

 

[QnebO]

Why all the hate against Russia and KHL here?

Someone said "if the NHL decides not to send their players, KHL will send theirs". I mean, come on. All leagues has always allowed every single player to participate, except for the NHL. No matter if NHL decides to allow their players to participate or not, the rest of the world will still allow their players to go..

Yep. Last Olympics had these KHL, SEL, FEL players too, it doesn't affect if NHL goes or not.

 

[roto]

It makes me wonder why some posters (including the OP) think that if NHL players won't play in 2018 Olympics, it has some big effects on the tournament. No, it does not. NHL is the best league, but still it's just one league and just one part of the hockey world. Olympics can be well played without NHL players. 100% of the non-hockey fans wouldn't see any difference and most of the hockey fans wouldn't see any difference in game quality either.

Actually Sochi tournament sucked. Quality level of playing was poor ja most games were really boring. Gold medal game was also something really anti-climatic. If the players had had KHL-player names on their backs, all "experts" here would say here that this is the outcome if NHL players are not along.

It just doesn't matter if Canadians don't care about some tournament, whether is it WHC or Olympics without NHLers. The tournament is about players who are playing and not about those who are not there or those fans who don't care. The team wins the gold, not the nation or players not available. It's really weird how many people try to use tournaments to prove which is best hockey nation. It's not logical. Tournament only proves that the winning team won that tournament.

If one accepts the cold fact above, it's easier to understand why the world is not circling around NHL players. Olympic teams don't need NHL players, the participating players still care and the winning team deserves Olympic gold medals. If Canadian people don't care, it's their problem. I don't care who wins curling gold, but still it doesn't mean that curling gold is meaningless to those who get it, or those who are interested of it.

Some posters also have claimed that Russia would have an easy way to gold with euro players. Claims like that reveals just lack of expertise. Finland, for example, has won Russia six times in row. It includes Olympics, WHC and four wins in Euro Hockey Tournament with euro players. It doesn't mean that Finland is better hockey country than Russia, but it means that Russia isn't overpowering with its euro players.

EHT standings before last two four games:
Finland 10 8 0 1 1 28-16 25
Czech 10 4 1 0 5 15-23 14
Russia 10 4 0 0 6 20-19 12
Sweden 10 2 1 1 6 22-27 9

 

[Yakushev72]

The main problem is that there aren't many amatures left. For the European nations the skill level would be so low that you might as well cancel the entire tournament as it would just be a mockery of the sport (especially with a WC were the pros can participate). Even the teams which the Euro nations send to the WJC are usually made up of professionals (with a few exceptions).



Indeed. For example, the player who scored the most goals in the SHL this season is an american.

With the NHL gone, the KHL would almost certainly pause their season to permit full KHL participation. It would be a golden opportunity for the KHL to show off its product and to have the spotlight shined on it. As the KHL has seemingly progressed each year, I expect that by 2018, a lot of KHL names will be well known by world hockey fans.

 

[Yakushev72]

It makes me wonder why some posters (including the OP) think that if NHL players won't play in 2018 Olympics, it has some big effects on the tournament. No, it does not. NHL is the best league, but still it's just one league and just one part of the hockey world. Olympics can be well played without NHL players. 100% of the non-hockey fans wouldn't see any difference and most of the hockey fans wouldn't see any difference in game quality either.

Actually Sochi tournament sucked. Quality level of playing was poor ja most games were really boring. Gold medal game was also something really anti-climatic. If the players had had KHL-player names on their backs, all "experts" here would say here that this is the outcome if NHL players are not along.

It just doesn't matter if Canadians don't care about some tournament, whether is it WHC or Olympics without NHLers. The tournament is about players who are playing and not about those who are not there or those fans who don't care. The team wins the gold, not the nation or players not available. It's really weird how many people try to use tournaments to prove which is best hockey nation. It's not logical. Tournament only proves that the winning team won that tournament.

If one accepts the cold fact above, it's easier to understand why the world is not circling around NHL players. Olympic teams don't need NHL players, the participating players still care and the winning team deserves Olympic gold medals. If Canadian people don't care, it's their problem. I don't care who wins curling gold, but still it doesn't mean that curling gold is meaningless to those who get it, or those who are interested of it.

Some posters also have claimed that Russia would have an easy way to gold with euro players. Claims like that reveals just lack of expertise. Finland, for example, has won Russia six times in row. It includes Olympics, WHC and four wins in Euro Hockey Tournament with euro players. It doesn't mean that Finland is better hockey country than Russia, but it means that Russia isn't overpowering with its euro players.

EHT standings before last two four games:
Finland 10 8 0 1 1 28-16 25
Czech 10 4 1 0 5 15-23 14
Russia 10 4 0 0 6 20-19 12
Sweden 10 2 1 1 6 22-27 9

Good points! First, the Sochi games were truly boring, with almost no offense at all. Everyone played a trap and collapsed back into their defensive zone. It just turned out that Canada did it a little bit better than the opposition in their games. Second, winning a one-game tournament like the Olympics doesn't prove anything about which is the best hockey nation. By that logic, if the 1972 series was 1 game instead of 8, the Soviets would have been crowned the undisputed King of world hockey based on their lopsided 7-3 victory over Canada. Third, I wouldn't expect that Russia would win the 2018 Games with Euros only because Russia is still in a situation where all of its best players continue to leave to play in the NHL. Lastly, in my opinion, looking at the spectrum of world hockey, it seems that Finland might have the best claim on No. 1 in world hockey, especially on a per capita basis.