MLH - New 3 on 3 league? Saudi backing?

[IU Hawks fan]

Woah.

Click to read more...

 

[Neil Patrick Harris]

This whole situation seems very suspect, not least of all Steve Dangle being the one to break this story.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Lol, what a fraud.

 

[Takuto Maruki]

I mean...lets be real, this board (and really, the Minor Pro board since there's a fair amount of overlap) shouldn't be surprised a hockey league with big promises died before it got off the ground. Hell, hockey as a sport is probably the largest contributor of those failed leagues overall.

What Dangle should be criticized for is either taking the potentially dirty money on something that obviously wasn't going to pan out, or taking the gambit of directing eyeballs to SDPN considering it is a new sports media company in a country that effectively is boxed out entirely by the big two telcos.

 

[GKJ]

No word on if the guy running the league’s name rhymes with Remuelo

 

[MeHateHe]

The best** part of social media is that any dingus with a big mouth and lots of hot takes can get a following and then spew out nonsense that has not been ground-truthed. And then, when it turns out to be completely bogus, he can just say 'duh whoops.' Wash, rinse, repeat.

**By "best" I mean "worst." Like how "literally" now literally can mean "not literally."

 

[WarriorofTime]

lol, Steve Dangle got completely duped by a fake twitter account. Bro, your channel is way too big to be breaking unverified fake crap like that!

OOF

 

[GKJ]

Paywall

 

[Yukon Joe]

So 30 million for a 16 man roster seems completely ridiculous for a brand new league.

The Saudis have invested in some pretty strange things (LIV Gold, the linear city) but pro hockey seems pretty far from their usual areas.

And is it just me, but while 3 on 3 is exciting in small doses, I really don't want to watch entire games of it. There's just so much room it becomes a total possession game with few opportunities for the opposing team to steal the puck.

 

[Tawnos]

So 30 million for a 16 man roster seems completely ridiculous for a brand new league.

The Saudis have invested in some pretty strange things (LIV Gold, the linear city) but pro hockey seems pretty far from their usual areas.

And is it just me, but while 3 on 3 is exciting in small doses, I really don't want to watch entire games of it. There's just so much room it becomes a total possession game with few opportunities for the opposing team to steal the puck.

Since it would be a totally new league, they can make some tweaks to the rules. People talk about the half-ice rule, which I think should be there, but since it's starting from scratch I would also add a shot clock the way the NLL does it.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Wikipedia has an odd list of locations as teams, but I don't know where the claim for them is coming from, but I'll default not care if there's no Chicago team.

Granted, I might not care even if there was a Chicago team, but at least the door would be possibly open.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Wikipedia has an odd list of locations as teams, but I don't know where the claim for them is coming from, but I'll default not care if there's no Chicago team.

There doesn't appear to be any indication they've secured arena leases / local partners in any of these locations.

 

[Tawnos]

Wikipedia has an odd list of locations as teams, but I don't know where the claim for them is coming from, but I'll default not care if there's no Chicago team.

View attachment 871169

Granted, I might not care even if there was a Chicago team, but at least the door would be possibly open.

That's taken directly from Dangle's original video.

Some of those are pretty obvious where they'd be. Saskatoon, QC, Hamilton, Omaha, Kansas City, Phoenix. Others could be a couple of places.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1797813659034419227

 

[oknazevad]

The above excerpted Wikipedia article has already been deleted as a hoax, btw.

 

[hockeyguy0022]

The way I see it, there is a market/niche for another pro-league, you could do some different (or old) stuff. I don't like the 3on3 so much, it's too gimmicky.

There is lots of players who've aged out or just never got more of a chance in the AHL/NHL. NHL careers are short for regular players now 27/28YO as a 3rd/4th line/pairing guy is common for cheaper/younger players.

If the money is there, it's better then playing in the KHL for sure, more money then the AHL as well.. so it's certainly enticing if the moneys right.

Ticket prices need to be comparable, maybe a touch higher then the secondary professional sports leagues NLL/CFL etc...

Mind you, the NHL isn't expensive outside the major US/Original 6 cities, still cheap to go to a game in Dallas, Florida, Tampa, etc.. compared to Toronto, Edmonton/Calgary, and Original 6 market.

I think it can work, but can't be too gimmicky. I like 3on3 overtime, but not all the time.

What rules would you guys want to see? I think the games good as it is.

If you could make "Playoff hockey" all the time, it would be good, hitting picks up, intensity picks up. Ironically, putting in the redline again, does increase traffic as such.

I would also cut down on whistles, you notice in the playoffs they go 7-8 minutes without an offside or icing because puck possession is very good in the playoffs compared to the regular season in the NHL. It's a better game to watch.

Keeping things "moving" like in an NLL game would be good, like just having to regroup outside the blue line, but you can keep possession instead of the whistle blowing. (could put a time limit on it)

 

[Tawnos]

3v3 isn’t a gimmick when it’s how the whole game is played. What makes it a gimmick in the NHL is that it only happens in OT and it’s explicitly designed to increase the chances of a goal compared to normal 5v5.

I saw my first NLL game about a month ago. Some sort of shot clock like that would be helpful for 3v3 even in NHL overtimes (not that it would ever happen). Limiting the ability to regroup past the red line, or even the blueline, is already talked about and it probably a good idea for permanent 3v3.