OT: KHL Inaugurates 'Cup of Hope'

[jsho]

MOSCOW, January 22 (R-Sport) - Hockey teams that miss out on the playoffs this season will compete for the newly created Cup of Hope, the KHL said Tuesday.

The competition will last through March and involve six teams from the Western Conference and four from the East, the KHL said.

"To retain the interest of the fans in their hockey and maintain the sporting form of the players, including candidates for the Russian national teams, the League has decided to institute the Cup of Hope," a website statement said.

The 10-team event will see the clubs seeded in accordance with their finishing position in the regular season. Eastern Conference teams are entered at the quarterfinal stage, while the Western teams require an extra round to shed two participants.

The KHL will fund the tournament and name an MVP, top goaltender, defenseman and forward, just like the top-tier Gagarin Cup.

The final series ends March 20.

Two teams are already guaranteed entry, with the Eastern Conference's two bottom team's Amur Khabarovsk and Avotmobilist unable to qualify for the playoffs with six games of the regular season remaining.

In the West, Spartak Moscow, Dinamo Riga and Vityaz Chekhov look all but assured of falling short of the playoffs, though they still have a mathematical chance of qualification.

Seems a like a bit of a ridiculous concept to me....

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[Bum]

Instead of Cup Of Hope they should label the championship game the Horribowl.

 

[McDreamy]

Good way to injure your players in meaningless games.

 

[Alex87]

Good way to injure your players in meaningless games.

IIRC, in the KHL players continue practicing until the end of the playoffs, even if their team has been eliminated. So it's a bit of a different culture over there; the thinking is basically "you're on payroll, so you still need to show up for work." With that in mind, you can see why some would prefer to have a tournament with actual games rather than just having players show up at the rink every day to run drills.

 

[jsho]

IIRC, in the KHL players continue practicing until the end of the playoffs, even if their team has been eliminated. So it's a bit of a different culture over there; the thinking is basically "you're on payroll, so you still need to show up for work." With that in mind, you can see why some would prefer to have a tournament with actual games rather than just having players show up at the rink every day to run drills.

I don't even think players wanted it though. Sounds like the KHL just announced it out of nowhere and the players were not consulted.

You don't make the playoffs because you either suck, or have injuries. Its just another month of bad hockey teams.

 

[Eytinge]

aka the Loser Cup.

 

[Alex87]

Its just another month of bad hockey teams.

And revenue.

 

[40oz]

I read that this will be used to determine draft order, as well as having cash incentives...
Not a bad idea if you have seasons under 82 games.

edit:
Not draft order, an unscpecified draft pick (could be top pick). And ~$500,000 bucks.
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/khl-invents-playoff-losers-bracket-winner-gets-no-141549610--nhl.html

 

[Bouch1337]

Should result in more revenue i suppose... wonder if there is a money issue in the league? Must have huge travel bills, and being a society with relatively low per capita income combined with small arenas ( in some cases) and also huge contracts ( in some cases) perhaps this is a way they "hope" to generate more revenue.

 

[Wheathead]

As I said on reddit, the winning team should be able to lift the consensus #1 pick over top their heads and parade him around the rink, passing him off to other teammates.

 

[Oil Gauge]

This coming from a league that had a dance competition at its all star game...

 

[Draiskull]

more $$$ to KHL

 

[Mr Forever]

Toilet Bowl.

 

[jsho]

And revenue.

I understand what it does for owners...but I still think its stupid.