Should There Be An “NHL Summer League”?

[DryIslandBartender]

I don’t see why not? More exposure for rookies and young players looking to catch a break, plus there’s a potential revenue for NHL. You can have it in a number of NHL Cities and non-NHL cities like Salt Lake City, Quebec.

I could be wrong on the numbers, but the NBA is pretty successful with their summer league and seem to have a good following in Las Vegas.

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[CHRDANHUTCH]

I don’t see why not? More exposure for rookies and young players looking to catch a break, plus there’s a potential revenue for NHL. You can have it in a number of NHL Cities and non-NHL cities like Salt Lake City, Quebec.

I could be wrong on the numbers, but the NBA is pretty successful with their summer league and seem to have a good following in Las Vegas.

uh, no, because most teams start the league season in September, and so does the CHL and it's respective leagues.... there are prospect tournaments such as Traverse City that accomplish the same thing the NBA Does

The Summer NBA League ends in mid July and ends on the 17th this year

 

[DryIslandBartender]

uh, no, because most teams start the league season in September, and so does the CHL and it's respective leagues.... there are prospect tournaments such as Traverse City that accomplish the same thing the NBA Does

The Summer NBA League ends in mid July and ends on the 17th this year

NBA starts their training camp and preseason games in September as well.

I’m not sure many people know or follow the tournament in Traverse City, limited in terms of teams.

 

[alko]

Full 12 months season? Please, dont do it. Players are not robots. They have to rest.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

NBA starts their training camp and preseason games in September as well.

I’m not sure many people know or follow the tournament in Traverse City, limited in terms of teams.

so was the Summer league

 

[Boxer Courage]

If you're not getting exposure in juniors or the minors, its doubtful that a summer league will help.

 

[Spirit of 67]

Should there be? No.
Could there be? I guess.

I don't really see a big need for it. I doubt it would make any money.

Also did not realize there was a Salt Lake City in Quebec.

 

[Montrealer]

There's zero need for it. Only certain NBA teams participate, and they do it because there's a need for some teams to evaluate young talent in the context of a game. The NHL is able to do this already with existing scrimmages and preseason structures, and since the NHL is much more flexible in lineups can even give tryouts in the regular season that would be difficult to do in the NBA.

 

[Hoek]

When I saw the title I was thinking roller hockey and totally different players. That might be an interesting diversion.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Professional pro hockey leagues already exist. Twin Cities has Da Beauty League. Chicago has Chicago Pro Hockey League. It exists as a way for pro players to start to get their game back into shape in advance of training camp, and for minor leaguers to try and get noticed.

Does anyone know of any other leagues that exist out there?

 

[justafan22]

Closest thing to what summer league is (rookies and sophmores) is the leafs usually with 2-3 other teams hold a rookie tournament over a weekend in early september.

Something like that in september for different teams is how this would work. However, the big difference is that this is in a neutral location as Las Vegas for the NBA. The NHL equivalent would be something like Houston?

 

[seroes]

Maybe a better idea would be a mini league. Teams can send players with less then a certain amount of games played, say 50 and under s certain age, maybe 22, or something similar. They would also play not on a team made up of young players from one team, but rather from the entire division, thus making a 4 team league. Make it short, say 9 or 10 games plus playoffs, either single elimination or best of three. Might be really interesting to see the best up and coming talent play each other.

 

[Drake88]

Professional pro hockey leagues already exist. Twin Cities has Da Beauty League. Chicago has Chicago Pro Hockey League. It exists as a way for pro players to start to get their game back into shape in advance of training camp, and for minor leaguers to try and get noticed.

Does anyone know of any other leagues that exist out there?

In Michigan, there are two leagues for college and pro players..

Made In Michigan Hockey (Mostly college/junior players): Home

East Side Elite (More pro players. Run by AHL/NHL player Steve Oleksy): Home Page | Eastside Elite Hockey League

 

[tony d]

Nope, let the players have some sort of break in the summer.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Nope, let the players have some sort of break in the summer.

Uh, the players don't get a break in the summer. They'll take a few weeks off after the season is over, but then they go right back to work training for the next season.

The only question is whether players would be better off doing drills and dryland training, or would they be better off playing more-or-less full games.

 

[Pirate King Luffy]

Uh, the players don't get a break in the summer. They'll take a few weeks off after the season is over, but then they go right back to work training for the next season.

The only question is whether players would be better off doing drills and dryland training, or would they be better off playing more-or-less full games.

The offseason is the most important time for hockey players to get ready for the upcoming season. I can't imagine playing hockey consistently for 12 months for multiple years. There would be burnouts and players would retire much earlier because it's so demanding. They aren't robots.

Players also just don't do dryland training and drills. They also do strength training which is also very important.

 

[DowntownBooster]

Nope, let the players have some sort of break in the summer.

The fans as well.

 

[Bonk]

Don't like the summer league idea for the reasons mentioned, but maybe the prospect tournaments could open up eligibility to guys trying to get back into game shape from injuries.

 

[Butch 19]

good threads on HF take summers off as well...

 

[HisIceness]

Well Traverse City has the prospect tournament. It's played right before mid September so technically it is a "summer league".

Just saying.

 

[Shrimper]

No, players and fans deserve a break

 

[Inkling]

Given the existing ways that the NHL has to evaluate and develop prospects, I haven't seen any good reason for this to exist other than 'well, the NBA does it'. My mother might say, "if the NBA jumped off a bridge...."

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

Most teams do a rookie camp tournament anyways. I know the Jets usually team up with CGY-EDM-VAN to do one.

 

[Chrispy]

Well Traverse City has the prospect tournament. It's played right before mid September so technically it is a "summer league".

Just saying.

Getting more coverage of this to gauge interest would be an easy and relatively cheap start. If people are interested in watching and following it, more teams might be interested and more coverage added.

Barring that, I think Traverse City gives enough of a "summer league" presence along with internal development camps to get the die-hards through the summer.

 

[93LEAFS]

Season is too taxing, plus key young players generally have the summer showcase events. In Basketball, summer league is generally filled with young players who either didn't get much playing time at the NBA level or guys coming off 35 game seasons, whose seasons ended in March or at latest in early April. In Hockey, most guys are playing full seasons into May, and are playing big minutes. Its also a more physically demanding sport in lesser roles.