Should There Be An “NHL Summer League”?

[johnjm22]

Bring back the RHI.

 

[Menzinger]

No, I mean the regular NHL goes on too long as it is

 

[adsfan]

Bring back the RHI.

Don Parsons! Old Time Roller Hockey!!!

 

[PernellKarl76]

I'd rather an official NHL sanctioned summer league than the garbage that is currently out there. Da Beauty League or whatever they call it sounds like some unprofessional bro'ed out beer league where they pass out shots of Jager in the locker room after games.

 

[Brodeur]

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.

Potential revenue seems like a tough sell for most markets. NBA Summer League can sell a few headliners from the most recent drafts, but most of the rosters seem comprised of undrafted guys and benchwarmers. Not exactly sure that'd be a formula for success with hockey. Most teams don't get huge crowds for their own summer rookie games, so it'd be a little dicey to expect a large group to travel to see those same prospects. A handful of teams do early September prospect tournaments with varying degrees of attendance.

 

[LeafShark]

We're starting the XHL.

No instigator rule. All penalties are penalty shots. No hooking penalties. No holding penalties. No freezing. If the goalie has possession of the puck, he CAN be checked. No offsides. No icing. Constant 3 on 3. The value of each goal is determined fan vote. Each team must dress have one special guest celebrity player per game. All refs are women under the age of 30.


... And every player HAS to fight at least once in a game.


Brought to you by Don Cherry. Eddie Shore old time hockey.

 

[hockeyguy0022]

No, guys are gassed already.

Look at what happened to the Kings after you run deep for awhile....

Some of these guys are playing an extra season every 3-4 years with all the extra shit.

 

[HisIceness]

We're starting the XHL.

No instigator rule. All penalties are penalty shots. No hooking penalties. No holding penalties. No freezing. If the goalie has possession of the puck, he CAN be checked. No offsides. No icing. Constant 3 on 3. The value of each goal is determined fan vote. Each team must dress have one special guest celebrity player per game. All refs are women under the age of 30.


... And every player HAS to fight at least once in a game.


Brought to you by Don Cherry. Eddie Shore old time hockey.

"THIS IS, THE XHLLLLLLL!".

 

[Kshahdoo]

Let's take, say, EPL. The league's season usually starts in August and finishes in May. With preseason and international games some players hardly have 1.5 months to rest. And they do pretty ok. SC finalists from the NHL spend 3 months on vacations, and almost half the league rest for more than 5 full months.

 

[Lotusflower]

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.

Every NBA team participated in the Vegas Summer League this year.

Potential revenue seems like a tough sell for most markets. NBA Summer League can sell a few headliners from the most recent drafts, but most of the rosters seem comprised of undrafted guys and benchwarmers. Not exactly sure that'd be a formula for success with hockey. Most teams don't get huge crowds for their own summer rookie games, so it'd be a little dicey to expect a large group to travel to see those same prospects. A handful of teams do early September prospect tournaments with varying degrees of attendance.

This is the main issue. Just not enough young, bankable names straight out of the draft to draw enough interest.
Top picks in the NBA have exposure through college ball and almost all play immediately.
Top picks in the NHL draft might not even sniff the roster for a couple years and dont carry the same face value appeal.

 

[northeastern]

A lot of players do play in men's leagues. The foxboro league up here is very competitive with current and future NHL players in the mix.

 

[powerstuck]

So after two pages...
It's not needed, but most teams do a sort-of anyway alone or with 2-3-4 other teams.

So...why not get something more organised, league sanctioned ? And no, it isn't aimed to see Crosby and McDavid face off in mid-July.

 

[JerseyMike34]

No. And the NBA shouldn't have a summer league, baseball shouldn't have winter ball. The over saturation of sports will lead to it's demise.

 

[Makorov]

We're starting the XHL.

No instigator rule. All penalties are penalty shots. No hooking penalties. No holding penalties. No freezing. If the goalie has possession of the puck, he CAN be checked. No offsides. No icing. Constant 3 on 3. The value of each goal is determined fan vote. Each team must dress have one special guest celebrity player per game. All refs are women under the age of 30.


... And every player HAS to fight at least once in a game.


Brought to you by Don Cherry. Eddie Shore old time hockey.

New question then, what celebrity would play for which team?

 

[adsfan]

New question then, what celebrity would play for which team?

Have a draft. Manute Bol is a must! Pete Rose, Rob Kardashian, Kathy Griffin, Steve Valentine, Clint Howard, Jose Canseco, Ariana Grande, the Miz, Barbra Streisand (I know that she can roller skate), Keanu Reeves, Hugh Laurie, Linus Roche, Rick Ross, Dwight Howard, Miley Cyrus, Riff Raff, Tito Jackson and Don Lemon.

 

[Makorov]

Have a draft. Manute Bol is a must! Pete Rose, Rob Kardashian, Kathy Griffin, Steve Valentine, Clint Howard, Jose Canseco, Ariana Grande, the Miz, Barbra Streisand (I know that she can roller skate), Keanu Reeves, Hugh Laurie, Linus Roche, Rick Ross, Dwight Howard, Miley Cyrus, Riff Raff, Tito Jackson and Don Lemon.

Sean William Scoot ( American Pie, and the movie Goon) is from Minnesota, I'd loe to see if that dude can actually skate.

 

[aqib]

Have a draft. Manute Bol is a must! Pete Rose, Rob Kardashian, Kathy Griffin, Steve Valentine, Clint Howard, Jose Canseco, Ariana Grande, the Miz, Barbra Streisand (I know that she can roller skate), Keanu Reeves, Hugh Laurie, Linus Roche, Rick Ross, Dwight Howard, Miley Cyrus, Riff Raff, Tito Jackson and Don Lemon.

Manute Bol died years ago

 

[adsfan]

Manute Bol died years ago

Thanks for the info. I checked the date, in 2010. My kid had just graduated from college. I missed the news for a several days with the packing and driving 2100 miles on the trip.

Bol had dressed for a game with the Ft Wayne Komets but didn't step onto the ice. His name wasn't just a random pick. My bad.

 

[Ernie]

NHL could make a ton of money from organizing the disparate rookie tournaments.

Split each division into two groups, for a total of 8 groups. Play a round robin in each group, then have a 7 game mini tournament for the winning 8 teams.

Each team in the groups would take a turn choosing the location at the group stage, then the finals tournament location would be chosen by the league.

Doing well in the rookie tournament would be a boost for teams that are in the rebuilding stage. The NHL could easily sell TV rights for the final tourney.

 

[Jackets Woodchuck]

No. And the NBA shouldn't have a summer league, baseball shouldn't have winter ball. The over saturation of sports will lead to it's demise.

Most of the baseball winter leagues are in other countries where they are that country's top baseball league. If MLB didn't assign players there, they would still exist (Cuba is an example of a league that exists with no MLB assignments).

 

[Voight]

- The NBA has much smaller teams, and its alot easier to set up a basketball court as opposed to a hockey rink

- They have it in cities that are summer vacation spots, so you attract fans who are there anyway. Nobody is going out of there way to watch an NHL summer league.

- Teams usually only include some sophomores, d-league guys, recent picks and undrafteds/overseas players.

- It only gets attention because some of the star players are there, but thats because they are in Vegas at that same time every year for Team USA mini camps/scrimmages.

 

[JerseyMike34]

Most of the baseball winter leagues are in other countries where they are that country's top baseball league. If MLB didn't assign players there, they would still exist (Cuba is an example of a league that exists with no MLB assignments).

I would say that the difference with Winter Ball, is that it's not covered. It just happens, but it was making my point that these sports are becoming 12 months out of the year, when they shouldn't. They should be 8-9 max.

 

[ForsbergForever]

Don Parsons! Old Time Roller Hockey!!!

I seriously wish this was still a thing, I remember going to see the Montreal Roadrunners vs Ottawa Lumberjacks! High scoring and tickets were cheap!