KHL Contraction Part I (Mod Warning - Post #15)

[Medo]

Yes, Medveščak with big fanbase and attendance is the same as non existing teams in Israel or Turkey. Exactly the same.

 

[TollefsenFan]

Yes, MedveÅ¡čak with big fanbase and attendance is the same as non existing teams in Israel or Turkey. Exactly the same.

How many Croatian players play in the KHL? How many prospects do Croatia have compared to Slovakia? Im not bashing Croatia. Im just pointing out that i would rather have two slovakian teams, than teams from smaller hockey nations (including Norway).

 

[BlueBratislava]

Why bother? First of all u would get a great rivalry in Slovakia. This rivalry would be good for both teams as fans, tv Companies etc would spend alot of Money on hockey. More important Slovakia develops some great players and With two slovak teams the KHL will get more controll over slovakian hockey.

It makes sense. What dosent make sense is KHL in Israel, Croatia, China, South Korea, Turkey and Japan.

HC Košice in the KHL would be ideal, even Medvedev said it officially when he came to Bratislava...BUT. The thing is that the US Steel Factory owns the team, just like the Eastern Slovakian Steel Company did before privatization to the Americans. And the case is the Americans from Pittsburgh headquarters said no to the KHL idea, this has been talked about over and over and over again in Slovakia. Slovakian club hockey scene is seriously lacking a new impulse, because the Slovaks are hungry for good hockey and if they see something interesting, they will come and support the team.

 

[TollefsenFan]

HC Košice in the KHL would be ideal, even Medvedev said it officially when he came to Bratislava...BUT. The thing is that the US Steel Factory owns the team, just like the Eastern Slovakian Steel Company did before privatization to the Americans. And the case is the Americans from Pittsburgh headquarters said no to the KHL idea, this has been talked about over and over and over again in Slovakia. Slovakian club hockey scene is seriously lacking a new impulse, because the Slovaks are hungry for good hockey and if they see something interesting, they will come and support the team.

Well then Kosice will join the League in the future. Their arena is great and With a bigger Budget the team would be okey aswell. Medvedev should replace Lev With Kosice. Maybe not today, but in the future. The czechs dosent want to join, so leave them alone.

 

[BlueBratislava]

Well then Kosice will join the League in the future. Their arena is great and With a bigger Budget the team would be okey aswell. Medvedev should replace Lev With Kosice. Maybe not today, but in the future. The czechs dosent want to join, so leave them alone.

I already told my Russian friends, that if the Russians like how the games are in Bratislava, they havent seen a Slovakian rivalry. Because if it happened in the league, the KHL media would go crazy. Not even kidding. When you listen to what these Eastern Slovakian people say before the game in Košice against Slovan...things like: "This is not just a game Košice-Slovan, we're playing for the honor of the whole East" or "this is a celebration of hockey" or some people from Poland came and said "We came from Poland to see this game, the atmosphere is very good in Košice" etc. etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Joget8wAc

 

[TollefsenFan]

I already told my Russian friends, that if the Russians like how the games are in Bratislava, they havent seen a Slovakian rivalry. Because if it happened in the league, the KHL media would go crazy. Not even kidding. When you listen to what these Eastern Slovakian people say before the game in Košice against Slovan...things like: "This is not just a game Košice-Slovan, we're playing for the honor of the whole East" or "this is a celebration of hockey" or some people from Poland came and said "We came from Poland to see this game, the atmosphere is very good in Košice" etc. etc.

The slovakian derby Sounds awesome! The video didnt work, but i believe u. Two good teams With very Nice arenas.

Maybe a Serbian team would be a great idea aswell Bratislava vs Kosice and Zagreb vs Belgrade or Donetsk vs Kiev. Need more rivalries to get media attention. Even non-hockey fans would be intrested in Kosice vs Bratislava. Its about pride.

Who is Jokerits rival? Jokerit vs St Petersburg? The Winter war rivalry? No... Jokerit dosent belong in the KHL. Simple as that.

 

[Urbanskog]

Maybe a Serbian team would be a great idea aswell Bratislava vs Kosice and Zagreb vs Belgrade or Donetsk vs Kiev. Need more rivalries to get media attention. Even non-hockey fans would be intrested in Kosice vs Bratislava. Its about pride.

I think that Sokil Kiev attempted to join the KHL at some point but there were some financial issues.

 

[BlueBratislava]

The slovakian derby Sounds awesome! The video didnt work, but i believe u. Two good teams With very Nice arenas.

Maybe a Serbian team would be a great idea aswell Bratislava vs Kosice and Zagreb vs Belgrade or Donetsk vs Kiev. Need more rivalries to get media attention. Even non-hockey fans would be intrested in Kosice vs Bratislava. Its about pride.

Who is Jokerits rival? Jokerit vs St Petersburg? The Winter war rivalry? No... Jokerit dosent belong in the KHL. Simple as that.

I don't know why...here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Joget8wAc
I'm on the same boat as you, the KHL needs to have these twins for media, merchandise and overall popularity. I don't know about Zagreb vs. Belgrade, I think with MedveÅ¡čak in the KHL and Ljubljana in the EBEL the hockey possibilities of Balkan are about done. Jesenice used to play in the EBEL but they went bust too.
Do you think Oslo-Helsinki could be a derby?

 

[Urbanskog]

Do you think Oslo-Helsinki could be a derby?

Stockholm-Helsinki, sure. Oslo-Helsinki? I don't think so.

 

[Urbanskog]

Does anyone know when will the final verdict be announced today?

 

[TollefsenFan]

I don't know why...here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Joget8wAc
I'm on the same boat as you, the KHL needs to have these twins for media, merchandise and overall popularity. I don't know about Zagreb vs. Belgrade, I think with Medveščak in the KHL and Ljubljana in the EBEL the hockey possibilities of Balkan are about done. Jesenice used to play in the EBEL but they went bust too.
Do you think Oslo-Helsinki could be a derby?

We have no problems With the Finns, so that wouldnt be a rivalry. We only care about the swedes and danes.

Edit: Cool video. Full house and alot of noise

 

[loppa*]

What does size of the city have to do with it? It's bigger than Khanty-Mansiysk, and not much smaller than Sochi, Cherepovets and Magnitogorsk. As long as they can fill out the arena, that's all that matters. Maybe not even that, as is evidenced by some Russian teams not filling out theirs.

Khanty-Mansiysk should be the first team to contract/get out of the league.
Population is important because teams in general should aim for high attendance. It is easier to do that when the city is big.

Malmö in Sweden has around the same number of inhabitants, so why would the city be too small?

I would never include Malmo in the league if I were in charge.

Why bother? First of all u would get a great rivalry in Slovakia. This rivalry would be good for both teams as fans, tv Companies etc would spend alot of Money on hockey. More important Slovakia develops some great players and With two slovak teams the KHL will get more controll over slovakian hockey.

It makes sense. What dosent make sense is KHL in Israel, Croatia, China, South Korea, Turkey and Japan.

I don't really care about such rivalries. They don't have enough Slovak players to boast two KHL teams. Heck, if one was talking about rivalries then why are you not mentioning Tampere in Finland? Oh yeah, again, too small for it to be a long term thing, just like Kosice.



I agree with you 100% that Croatia does not make sense in the KHL. It is my opinion that their presence is only temporary, to disguise the league as more international, to get more teams to join. I think Medvescak was the bait (or part of the bait at least) that got Jokerit to join the league.

Yes, Medveščak with big fanbase and attendance is the same as non existing teams in Israel or Turkey. Exactly the same.

And Croatian born KHL talent is basically non-existent. Croatia is not what one would call a hockey country.

Does anyone know when will the final verdict be announced today?

No.

 

[Exarz]

I would never include Malmo in the league if I were in charge.

Why so? They have the most modern hockey arena in Sweden with a capacity of 12,500. The team had an average of 5,667 last season in the second division, and an average of 9,275 in the qualification round to SHL (SEL).

I'd say they have a potential average attendance of around 10,000 in the SHL, and probably around 8,000 in the KHL.

Malmö is also 30 minutes from Copenhagen, which is great for selling their brand.

 

[QnebO]

Stockholm-Helsinki, sure. Oslo-Helsinki? I don't think so.

Stockholm-Helsinki might be able to work as rivalry. It usually escalates fast into ranting, taunting and insulting other team between Finns and Swedes, when at least important National Team hockey game is played. Swedish media always starts talking about victory day before the game and ranting for Finns, ect. If blow out victory comes, media rubs it in both countries ect.

I I think Medvescak was the bait (or part of the bait at least) that got Jokerit to join the league.

I think Praha was much more important.. it being lost is kinda a bad blow. That is place that I really would've liked to visit even myself. Good well known town. Sad if its really out.

 

[Medo]

How many Croatian players play in the KHL? How many prospects do Croatia have compared to Slovakia? Im not bashing Croatia. Im just pointing out that i would rather have two slovakian teams, than teams from smaller hockey nations (including Norway).

Last time i checked KHL is professional and not development league.

This forum has a problem that there are too many "old fans" who are too stuck into their own little declining and egoistic leagues. If you prefer to have feeder leagues for biggest leagues to grab freely from, feel free. Let us other enjoy the KHL as it is, and don't tell us (and especially don't tell the Russians who finance it) how to run it and who to have in it. So far KHL proved that they know just a tiny bit more about everything than other smaller leagues.

Anyone who doesn't see that future is in expanding into new hockey markets (Be it Croatia or more hockey familiar like Denmark, Norway, France or similar) and that hockey cannot live from rivalries and 20k salaries is deluded. KHL, EBEL, some potential "all-scandi" leagues are the future. Like it or not..

 

[QnebO]

Is there bigger rivalry than Jokerit-HIFK anywhere in the hockey world? Not that I know.. thats pure hate, its really black and white.. In Helsinki, you must choose your side, even if you don't know the rules of hockey. HIFK would be great addition to KHL... but extremely unlikely

 

[Medo]

Why? They have the Arena and i think that Medveščak proved so far that you don't need 30 million euros to be competative. We also had to buy entire team, HIFK has more options with cheaper but equally good home players.

 

[QnebO]

Why? They have the Arena and i think that MedveÅ¡čak proved so far that you don't need 30 million euros to be competative. We also had to buy entire team, HIFK has more options with cheaper but equally good home players.

They could go if they wanted but they don't want. It's not even in public discussion or anything like that, not even close. I just said HIFK because it simply would be the best possible rivalry. If Jokerit-KHL thing goes well, I would kinda hope for HIFK to join, but..

 

[martin1983]

I don't know why...here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Joget8wAc
I'm on the same boat as you, the KHL needs to have these twins for media, merchandise and overall popularity. I don't know about Zagreb vs. Belgrade, I think with Medveščak in the KHL and Ljubljana in the EBEL the hockey possibilities of Balkan are about done. Jesenice used to play in the EBEL but they went bust too.
Do you think Oslo-Helsinki could be a derby?

Maaan, that is only one thing I miss after Slovan entered the KHL.. it was huge, rivalry was even between players, especially in PO games.. i still remeber bloodstained Igor Liba after Runsak's punch from behind..



Slovan fans created song on that..

Last time i checked KHL is professional and not development league.

sure, but Croatian team without Croatian players.. ehm ok i like it

I don't really care about such rivalries. They don't have enough Slovak players to boast two KHL teams. Heck, if one was talking about rivalries then why are you not mentioning Tampere in Finland? Oh yeah, again, too small for it to be a long term thing, just like Kosice.

Just quick research of the Slovak players in good leagues:
56 players in Czech Extraliga
50 players in KHL
18 players in NHL
7 players in AHL
4 players in Liiga
4 players in Allsvenskan
4 players in Meestis
3 players in NLA
1 player in SLA

not counting players without contracts.. so I guess you are just wrong.

 

[Jablkon]

The slovakian derby Sounds awesome! The video didnt work, but i believe u. Two good teams With very Nice arenas.

Maybe a Serbian team would be a great idea aswell Bratislava vs Kosice and Zagreb vs Belgrade or Donetsk vs Kiev. Need more rivalries to get media attention. Even non-hockey fans would be intrested in Kosice vs Bratislava. Its about pride.

Who is Jokerits rival? Jokerit vs St Petersburg? The Winter war rivalry? No... Jokerit dosent belong in the KHL. Simple as that.

I don't understand you. On one hand you vote for two slovak teams in KHL. On the other hand you think Jokerit does not belong there...What is a difference?

 

[Jablkon]

I don't know why...here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Joget8wAc
I'm on the same boat as you, the KHL needs to have these twins for media, merchandise and overall popularity. I don't know about Zagreb vs. Belgrade, I think with MedveÅ¡čak in the KHL and Ljubljana in the EBEL the hockey possibilities of Balkan are about done. Jesenice used to play in the EBEL but they went bust too.
Do you think Oslo-Helsinki could be a derby?

So what will remain from Slovak league afterthat? Will you guys close it or use it as a development league? I do not really understand to this attitude. Instead of focusing more on hockey and league development, sending teams abroad......

 

[QnebO]

So what will remain from Slovak league afterthat? Will you guys close it or use it as a development league? I do not really understand to this attitude. Instead of focusing more on hockey and league development, sending teams abroad......

I think some one mentioned you guys don't want to combine their leagues.. I think for Slovaks, its really wise to have KHL teams. Their own league is not strong enough. Isn't it alredy a development league, like all euro leagues are for NHL and lately even for KHL.

 

[punchonico99]

Is there bigger rivalry than Jokerit-HIFK anywhere in the hockey world? Not that I know.. thats pure hate, its really black and white.. In Helsinki, you must choose your side, even if you don't know the rules of hockey. HIFK would be great addition to KHL... but extremely unlikely

The rivalry between the Canadiens and the Nordiques was huge when it existed. Both teams and fans hated each other. This as caused many memorable fights. For Quebec beating Montreal in the playoffs was almost bigger than winning the Stanley Cup. Even in the society, people from Quebec hate people from Montreal and it is still like that.

I think that was the biggest rivalry that ever existed.

 

[BlueBratislava]

Maaan, that is only one thing I miss after Slovan entered the KHL.. it was huge, rivalry was even between players, especially in PO games.. i still remeber bloodstained Igor Liba after Runsak's punch from behind..



Slovan fans created song on that..


sure, but Croatian team without Croatian players.. ehm ok i like it



Just quick research of the Slovak players in good leagues:
56 players in Czech Extraliga
50 players in KHL
18 players in NHL
7 players in AHL
4 players in Liiga
4 players in Allsvenskan
4 players in Meestis
3 players in NLA
1 player in SLA

not counting players without contracts.. so I guess you are just wrong.

Remember this from our media? Describes it perfectly

I miss those days when Košice came to Bratislava and the old arena would go crazy, literally crazy. The emotions were 100x stronger than playing a "derby" against Lev in the KHL, Košice in the KHL would be the best thing right now for Slovakian hockey and the KHL league as well.
For me this was the most emotional game in 2008, when we won the title at home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_oP_tHFrpI

 

[loppa*]

@ Martin... many of those leagues mentioned are bellow KHL quality. So your point is a moot point. The ones in the NHL are not likely to simply come over, and the ones in leagues bellow the KHL are likely to remain in those leagues. So, my concern that Kosice would fall out of the league if it joins it in the near future still stands.




--------------------------------------

Update regarding Lev.

~ 37 mins ago
Nemáme žádné nové informace. Stále se jedná a jednání se mohou protáhnout do nočních hodin.
We don't have any new information. Still, it and the negotiations may stretch into the late night hours.