Motivation of Soviet teams to travel to N.A. to play in Super Series?

[Ziostilon]

Was it money, or promoting the Soviet ways of playing hockey that motivated Soviet teams to travel all the way to play in North America

And they were exhibition games to say the least

Nowadays, we're not seeing KHL clubs travel to North America to play NHL teams. Theres only NHL clubs travelling over to Russia.

And even that stopped, most likely because SKA players were trying to take out Eric Staal's knees in a meaningless game for the 'Canes.

Click to read more...

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Was it money, or promoting the Soviet ways of playing hockey that motivated Soviet teams to travel all the way to play in North America

It's probably that they were all members of the Soviet army, and they didn't have too much choice in the matter.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

It's probably that they were all members of the Soviet army, and they didn't have too much choice in the matter.

That's really only true of CSKA, isn't it? Though obviously almost all the Soviet stars of note ended up playing for them.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

That's really only true of CSKA, isn't it? Though obviously almost all the Soviet stars of note ended up playing for them.

Agreed (it was implicit in my assumptions, but not stated).

 

[mooseOAK*]

It was definitely money, hard currency was very important to the Soviets.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

On the subject, I'd think number 1 to 9 on the reasons list is money. 10 is propaganda. The Soviet Bloc put a lot of emphasis on outshining the evil capitalists in competition to "prove" the superiority of communism.

 

[jcbio11]

On the subject, I'd think number 1 to 9 on the reasons list is money. 10 is propaganda. The Soviet Bloc put a lot of emphasis on outshining the evil capitalists in competition to "prove" the superiority of communism.

Came here to post exactly this.

They did probably ruin any effect their propaganda could have had on their players.
I mean their players must have been surprised when they discovered there was no famine in N.A.

 

[Ziostilon]

okay, but what would have been the motivation factor for NHL clubs to join in.

seeing as how they were just exhibition games, random player X on Dynamo Moscow could've severely injured Mario Lemieux

 

[jcbio11]

okay, but what would have been the motivation factor for NHL clubs to join in.

seeing as how they were just exhibition games, random player X on Dynamo Moscow could've severely injured Mario Lemieux

Money as well I guess? Fame? I imagine it must have been a big draw at the time.

Plus it's not like they played against bums.

 

[Crosbyfan]

Somewhere high in any top 10 lists of reasons competitiveness and pride must have been there for both sides.

Same reason we often set up exhibition games ourselves.

 

[Zine]

Don't forget a handful of NHL teams also played exhibitions in the Soviet Union.

 

[Ziostilon]

But what's the difference now? It's not our way of living vs. the communist way. But now its KHL vs NHL

The Super Series was played during mid-season. Can't really see it being held mid-season now, even with the money being involved

Like I said, if X soviet player went after Lemieux's knees. The Pens would lose so much money that season. Why would you take part in a tournament that could potentially kill your investment

I don't know about every Soviet team that took part in the tournament. But no doubt some of those players had to be just as cheap as current KHL players

 

[Bear of Bad News]

But what's the difference now? It's not our way of living vs. the communist way. But now its KHL vs NHL

Didn't you just answer your own question?

 

[Zine]

But what's the difference now? It's not our way of living vs. the communist way. But now its KHL vs NHL

The Super Series was played during mid-season. Can't really see it being held mid-season now, even with the money being involved

Like I said, if X soviet player went after Lemieux's knees. The Pens would lose so much money that season. Why would you take part in a tournament that could potentially kill your investment

I don't know about every Soviet team that took part in the tournament. But no doubt some of those players had to be just as cheap as current KHL players

Teams/players take that risk whenever they play exhibitions - regardless of the opponent.

What makes an exhibition against Dynamo more dangerous than against a fellow NHL team? Sure, KHLers want to prove they can play against NHLers; but you also have players on NHL clubs fighting tooth-and-nail for a job.....most of whom are willing to do anything necessary to win a roster spot.

A few years ago (If I remember correctly, memory hazy) I think it was Sakic? maybe Modano? who complained non-stop about NHL exhibitions being too 'competitive'.

 

[JackSlater]

But what's the difference now? It's not our way of living vs. the communist way. But now its KHL vs NHL

I would say the difference is that no one believes the KHL is legitimate competition for the NHL. The NHL has nothing to gain from playing them, since a win is expected and a loss would be very embarassing. When it was NA vs USSR there was a legitimate question about who was better, and both sides would have some desire to prove that they were superior.

 

[Ziostilon]

Teams/players take that risk whenever they play exhibitions - regardless of the opponent.

What makes an exhibition against Dynamo more dangerous than against a fellow NHL team? Sure, KHLers want to prove they can play against NHLers; but you also have players on NHL clubs fighting tooth-and-nail for a job.....most of whom are willing to do anything necessary to win a roster spot.

A few years ago (If I remember correctly, memory hazy) I think it was Sakic? maybe Modano? who complained non-stop about NHL exhibitions being too 'competitive'.

The difference is when Steve Downie takes out Dean Mccamond, there's a suspension forthcoming.
However, when an SKA player takes a run at Erik Cole, what kind of repercussions are there?

Did the pride of showing that the NHL is better than USSR override the possibility of losing one of their star players for the rest of the season. That is the ultimate question.
because that seems to be the mentality that has changed

 

[Zine]

The difference is when Steve Downie takes out Dean Mccamond, there's a suspension forthcoming.
However, when an SKA player takes a run at Erik Cole, what kind of repercussions are there?

Did the pride of showing that the NHL is better than USSR override the possibility of losing one of their star players for the rest of the season. That is the ultimate question.
because that seems to be the mentality that has changed

I doubt some potential suspension is going to stop some NHLer who's fighting for a roster spot. Players understand the big picture and will continue to do anything to make an impact and/or show they belong.

Regardless, the European exhibition games have been very clean overall (even the KHL ones). It's a bit disingenuous to cite 1 instance (SKA vs Carolina) as proof there's a risk when there's been countless clean games.
In fact, I'd say compared to a normal NHL exhibition, they're less of a risk because they're played on big ice vs less physical European teams.
Plus, the NHL gets to showcase it's brand while it's a good team bonding exercise for clubs.

 

[Merya]

They were fighting the cold war on ice. Great to show games to the proletariat where their factorytowns team beats the corrupt capitalists. Losses perhaps weren's shown, or were edited.

 

[begbeee]

They were fighting the cold war on ice. Great to show games to the proletariat where their factorytowns team beats the corrupt capitalists. Losses perhaps weren's shown, or were edited.

When Peter Stastny played for Canada on Canada Cup and scored a goal against CSSR, announcer on TV (in CSSR) said the goal scored a player who was not even on ice at that moment.
Weird times.

 

[EbencoyE]

The difference is when Steve Downie takes out Dean Mccamond, there's a suspension forthcoming.
However, when an SKA player takes a run at Erik Cole, what kind of repercussions are there?

Did the pride of showing that the NHL is better than USSR override the possibility of losing one of their star players for the rest of the season. That is the ultimate question.
because that seems to be the mentality that has changed

Pretty sure the Soviet teams had the better record. So perhaps what was in it for the NHL was trying to save face and show they could keep up with the Soviets?

Unlike today where the NHL is the undisputed top league in the world due to the amount of money available to NHL teams to spend on players, the only way to know what league was superior back then was for the teams to actually play each other.

You seem to be passing off the Super Series as "just some tournament". It was a big deal back in the day. It was a fight for global hockey dominance and was even a bigger deal than the Olympics.

Also, as far as I'm aware, there are more KHL-NHL games scheduled or at least in the works for next season. Not sure where you got the idea that there wouldn't be any more.

 

[JuniorNelson]

Soviet hockey was learned from a Canadian, post war. They thought they had learned the game well enough to compete. They proved they could. There are books about this, Dryden's has some insights.

 

[Patriks7]

It was to prove who is better. Same thing with the NHL vs KHL games, even though those are more friendly games. Of course money and stuff like that was also a part of it.

 

[Beef Invictus]

My guess is "money" and "propaganda."

 

[Vladsky]

IMO: Money and other benefits were not really a huge motivator for USSR players in the Super Series. The Soviet skaters were usually rewarded for winning the "officially approved" tournaments - that is, WCs and Olympics.

 

[Merya]

money was totally a nonissue, its dumb to even suggest that.
Soviet hockey was funded by soviet state, soviet state gnp wouldn't move 0,0001 from the money gained from the exhibition games. So please put that idiocy to rest, pretty please.