The future of hockey ?

[Maelmoor]

How bright does the future of icehockey look ? What new markets can be found ? Are there excisting markets that can be boosted ? What is the future of World Cup, World Championships and the Olympic Games ? What can be done to get even more players and fans to the sport ?

Well here is my list, what do you think ?

- Play the World Championships every fourth year, two years from the Olympics and make them play in February just like the olympics with a NHL break. Play the tournament also in North America from time to time. Then we don't need the World Cup.

- Markets like Canada, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic and Russia are already "hockey crazy" but on the american market there is still lot of work to do, now basket, baseball and american football are larger sports that attracts more people. Other markets that can be boosted Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands and Japan.

- Play all games over the world on the same rinksize, I prefer smaller rinks but the most important thing is to play at the same size all over the world.

- Take away the red-line offside rule in NHL.

- Europe and NHL needs to work "tighter" and together to improve the interest of the sport in general.

Well that was some opinions.

Click to read more...

 

[High flyin' Habs*]

Thats ok.

 

[H/H]

Some good points, except this one.

- Play the World Championships every fourth year, two years from the Olympics and make them play in February just like the olympics with a NHL break. Play the tournament also in North America from time to time. Then we don't need the World Cup.

I think there should definitely NOT be a break in the NHL for the World CHampionships. It's completely unnecessary.

 

[High flyin' Habs*]

Some good points, except this one.



I think there should definitely NOT be a break in the NHL for the World CHampionships. It's completely unnecessary.

Exactly!

 

[teme]

- Play the World Championships every fourth year, two years from the Olympics and make them play in February just like the olympics with a NHL break. Play the tournament also in North America from time to time. Then we don't need the World Cup.

Sounds good to me.

- Markets like Canada, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic and Russia are already "hockey crazy" but on the american market there is still lot of work to do, now basket, baseball and american football are larger sports that attracts more people. Other markets that can be boosted Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands and Japan.

My understanding is that Pro-Sport market in USA is quite saturated, hockey would have to take fans from other sports. About other markets, add Switzerland and Slovakia to hockey crazy countries. Game seems to be doing well in Germany, other growing/potential European markets would be Austria, Denmark, Norway, Latvia and maybe Poland and UK. Don't know about Japan.

- Play all games over the world on the same rinksize, I prefer smaller rinks but the most important thing is to play at the same size all over the world.

I disagree, it's good to have regional variations.

- Take away the red-line offside rule in NHL.

Maybe.

- Europe and NHL needs to work "tighter" and together to improve the interest of the sport in general.

NHL needs an European plan, it is quite obvious they don't have any. OTOH, IIHF and local leagues are doing pretty well by themselves.

 

[High flyin' Habs*]

Sounds good to me.


My understanding is that Pro-Sport market in USA is quite saturated, hockey would have to take fans from other sports. About other markets, add Switzerland and Slovakia to hockey crazy countries. Game seems to be doing well in Germany, other growing/potential European markets would be Austria, Denmark, Norway, Latvia and maybe Poland and UK. Don't know about Japan.


I disagree, it's good to have regional variations.


Maybe.


NHL needs an European plan, it is quite obvious they don't have any. OTOH, IIHF and local leagues are doing pretty well by themselves.

What about the NHL playing their exibition games in Europe?

 

[H/H]

The NHL exhibition games are all major snoozers.

 

[High flyin' Habs*]

The NHL exhibition games are all major snoozers.

But still I think it would help in the popularity categorie.

 

[teme]

What about the NHL playing their exibition games in Europe?

Nice, but what I mean by a plan is a comprehensive approach to European market. For example, making sure that the TV station that buys rights for the games actually broadcasts them. And if they are going to attract viewers, it would be a good idea to for example schedule a game at earlier hours every Sunday so fans don't have to stay up until 7 AM to watch the game. And so on.

 

[High flyin' Habs*]

Nice, but what I mean by a plan is a comprehensive approach to European market. For example, making sure that the TV station that buys rights for the games actually broadcasts them. And if they are going to attract viewers, it would be a good idea to for example schedule a game at earlier hours every Sunday so fans don't have to stay up until 7 AM to watch the game. And so on.

OK, but if it doesn't work in the states what makes you think it will in Europe?
They have their footbal, what else do they need?

 

[DownFromNJ]

How bright does the future of icehockey look ?

Never been brighter.

Ask any American outside of Minnesota/Michigan/New England. Hockey is getting bigger every day.

America will be converted

 

[High flyin' Habs*]

Never been brighter.

Ask any American outside of Minnesota/Michigan/New England. Hockey is getting bigger every day.

America will be converted

Right on. America will celebrate when hockey is gone.

 

[teme]

OK, but if it doesn't work in the states what makes you think it will in Europe?
They have their footbal, what else do they need?

To quote the great ex-German national team striker Jurgen Klinssman, "In Germany football is part of life, in Italy life is part of football." Football in other words is something akin to religion in many parts of Europe. But there is no clear second game in most countries. Basketball, handball, volleyball, etc. have their fans but there is genuine room for hockey too. The market is different though, there isn't a kind of pro-sports culture like in US and I don't think there will be either. Regarding culture, as a Finn I like NHL hockey but there is something that kind of puts me off. Could be the general pompousness. And while we're at it, if we really have to have add breaks inside a period, just stop once and let the zamboni redo the ice so the break actually serves some purpose.

 

[TORRUS]

Play the World Championships every fourth year, two years from the Olympics and make them play in February just like the olympics with a NHL break. Play the tournament also in North America from time to time. Then we don't need the World Cup.

1. In that case there is no difference between Olympics and the world championships! And that is unacceptable! I think every 2 years for the world championship is OK.
2. More of international club games. For example NHL teams vs. best teams in Europe. It would be great for the popularization of hockey in Europe.
3. I think it's great that IIHF decided to start with that ''European champions league''
4. NHL regular season of 72 games and first of all(!!!), AGREEMENT BETWEEN NHL AND NHLPA

 

[Jazz]

I think the future in Europe is not as bright as it can be.....

We've got the usual bureaucracy in the IIHF, and we have national federations that do not help other nations.

Don't get me wrong, we've got some bright spots in countries like Denmark and Hungary where hockey is on the rise, and in countries like Switzerland and Latvia where hockey is one of the popular sports.

However, most of any success by a country is self-made, without much help from any outside country.

It's a pity to see that Canada does more for European hockey development by agreeing to play in Hungary than the other 5 leading Hockey nations in Europe. Hockey Canada did the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation a HUGE favor by holding their World Championship training camp in Hungary, plus it gave hockey in Hungary a huge boost...

Take a look at these 2 articles from the Edmonton Sun from April of this year to see the impact the Canadian team's visit had in Hungary.
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam040419/col_jones-sun.html
http://www.canoe.ca/Slam040421/col_jones-sun.html

The only other example I can think of is the Finnish SM-Liiga club, Hämeenlinna, who just recently wrapped up a training camp in Hungary, and offered 150-200 used children hockey equipment to the Hungarian Federation.

We all know what the overall problem is, playing against weaker nations during the season wouldn't bring the same revenue and attract the same crowds in those top nations.

If anyone's got any other examples of national federations helping other countries out, please let me know...

 

[kjri]

I don't agree IIHF being a "bureaocratic" organization. I don't know how much IIHF helps poorer ice hockey federations, but at least IIHF organizes the World Championship tournaments available to all ice hockey playing world. Seniors, juniors and women. Participation to these tournaments promotes ice hockey worldwide.

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

Don't baseball teams sometimes play pre-season games in Japan? Certainly it helps that baseball is quite big in Japan, but Japan's a market that could be tapped more than it currently is.

also the NHL tv deals in Europe. Right now theyre on pay channels like Canal+ and thus are available for a small portion of europeans, and hockey at 3am isn't something that people are that interested in paying for. If it was on normal tv it'd be more accessible.. or the NHL should make, with some tv channels, say ESPN or TSN or whatever a more comprehensive highlights package than NHL power week thats available to national tv station in europe.
Besides, why is power week only once a week? Twice a week would be great! More game highlights, more goal replays, more player interviews.. maybe "in-depth" journalism about teams/players/fans and hockey development in say x country..

Play more pre-season exhibition games in Europe, the Leafs played in Finland and Sweden last year and they were practically sell-outs despite the lacklustre play..
Why not have say, the Flyers tour Finland and Sweden, play in Oulu and sell Pitkänen Flyer jerseys, play in Sweden and sell Jönssön Flyer jerseys etc.. get more marketing, jersey sales can be huge in europe!
*when Real Madrid bought Ronaldo for $50million from Inter, they made up that $50 million by selling Ronaldo jerseys! In two weeks they had payed for their biggest purchase!

San Jose would greatly benefit their shirt sales by touring Germany, Sturm jerseys anyone?

What about an off-season tournament, like a team NorthWest division playing say team Switzerland in Zurich? Target to raise NHL awareness, shirt sales, and get more fans to the game. It's a lot easier to support teams/players when you see them live. It's harder when you see them on tv at 3 am.
That way we could have several NHL "star" teams playing in different countries at the same time.. or we could just do it with induvidual teams.. The Devils appear to have a lot of shirt sales in europe (judging from number of people I see wearing their jerseys around here), it'd be beneficial for them to do something..

Montreal or a team Quebec could go and promote the game in France, then French people would have a team of french speakers coming and showing their skills and holding a training camp for kids etc.. It could be huge.

 

[High flyin' Habs*]

Don't baseball teams sometimes play pre-season games in Japan? Certainly it helps that baseball is quite big in Japan, but Japan's a market that could be tapped more than it currently is.

also the NHL tv deals in Europe. Right now theyre on pay channels like Canal+ and thus are available for a small portion of europeans, and hockey at 3am isn't something that people are that interested in paying for. If it was on normal tv it'd be more accessible.. or the NHL should make, with some tv channels, say ESPN or TSN or whatever a more comprehensive highlights package than NHL power week thats available to national tv station in europe.
Besides, why is power week only once a week? Twice a week would be great! More game highlights, more goal replays, more player interviews.. maybe "in-depth" journalism about teams/players/fans and hockey development in say x country..

Play more pre-season exhibition games in Europe, the Leafs played in Finland and Sweden last year and they were practically sell-outs despite the lacklustre play..
Why not have say, the Flyers tour Finland and Sweden, play in Oulu and sell Pitkänen Flyer jerseys, play in Sweden and sell Jönssön Flyer jerseys etc.. get more marketing, jersey sales can be huge in europe!
*when Real Madrid bought Ronaldo for $50million from Inter, they made up that $50 million by selling Ronaldo jerseys! In two weeks they had payed for their biggest purchase!

San Jose would greatly benefit their shirt sales by touring Germany, Sturm jerseys anyone?

What about an off-season tournament, like a team NorthWest division playing say team Switzerland in Zurich? Target to raise NHL awareness, shirt sales, and get more fans to the game. It's a lot easier to support teams/players when you see them live. It's harder when you see them on tv at 3 am.
That way we could have several NHL "star" teams playing in different countries at the same time.. or we could just do it with induvidual teams.. The Devils appear to have a lot of shirt sales in europe (judging from number of people I see wearing their jerseys around here), it'd be beneficial for them to do something..

Montreal or a team Quebec could go and promote the game in France, then French people would have a team of french speakers coming and showing their skills and holding a training camp for kids etc.. It could be huge.

Agreed.

 

[EroCaps]

Never been brighter.

Ask any American outside of Minnesota/Michigan/New England. Hockey is getting bigger every day.

America will be converted

Isn't hockey attendance inside the USA rising, while TV audiences are shrinking?

ESPN hates hockey.

 

[Freudian]

USA is the next big superpower in hockey. In the US there are almost 500 000 registred players, much more than in Sweden, Russia and Finland combined.

When you have so many playing, it will produce class players which will only increase interest even more.

Russia on the other hand has very few players compared to what they used to have. Perhaps it is a superpower on the decline (in the long run).

Germany is another country that probably will improve. They are producing quality players at a pace they didn't before. It is a big country and they love sports. They can support good teams in pretty much all world sports.

 

[High flyin' Habs*]

"USA is the next big superpower in hockey" :lol Good one!

 

[Maelmoor]

USA is the next big superpower in hockey. In the US there are almost 500 000 registred players, much more than in Sweden, Russia and Finland combined.

When you have so many playing, it will produce class players which will only increase interest even more.

Russia on the other hand has very few players compared to what they used to have. Perhaps it is a superpower on the decline (in the long run).

Germany is another country that probably will improve. They are producing quality players at a pace they didn't before. It is a big country and they love sports. They can support good teams in pretty much all world sports.

Hmm, Finland has about 5 million people and 120000 players, Sweden 9 million people and 170000 players while US has, like 250 million people and 500000 players. Couldn't get any facts about Russia thou. Star players from US ? Well have not see any new for the last 15 years....

 

[Roughneck]

I think that the IIHF should try and take a similar step to promoting the game that the INternational Rugby Board has.

With the NHLPA and all the legal mumbo jumbo it may be alot harder to put into practice, but it is an idea that I think should be looked into. The IRB asked the big rugby countries (England, Australia, New Zealand, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and South Africa) to go on tours and play the lesser countries that have respectable teams and programs as a way of increasing interest. For example, England and the New Zealand Maori came to Calgary and Edmonton to play Canada and the US. It has had good success.

I think that the Big 8 nations should o on little tours in the offseason the the borderline hockey nations like Denmark, Norway, Italy, France etc. to help promote the game. Set up camps for the youngsters, maybe even pay for new equipment or something like that. Promote the game at the grassroots level.

 

[Jazz]

Don't baseball teams sometimes play pre-season games in Japan? Certainly it helps that baseball is quite big in Japan, but Japan's a market that could be tapped more than it currently is.

also the NHL tv deals in Europe. Right now theyre on pay channels like Canal+ and thus are available for a small portion of europeans, and hockey at 3am isn't something that people are that interested in paying for. If it was on normal tv it'd be more accessible.. or the NHL should make, with some tv channels, say ESPN or TSN or whatever a more comprehensive highlights package than NHL power week thats available to national tv station in europe.
Besides, why is power week only once a week? Twice a week would be great! More game highlights, more goal replays, more player interviews.. maybe "in-depth" journalism about teams/players/fans and hockey development in say x country..

Play more pre-season exhibition games in Europe, the Leafs played in Finland and Sweden last year and they were practically sell-outs despite the lacklustre play..
Why not have say, the Flyers tour Finland and Sweden, play in Oulu and sell Pitkänen Flyer jerseys, play in Sweden and sell Jönssön Flyer jerseys etc.. get more marketing, jersey sales can be huge in europe!
*when Real Madrid bought Ronaldo for $50million from Inter, they made up that $50 million by selling Ronaldo jerseys! In two weeks they had payed for their biggest purchase!

San Jose would greatly benefit their shirt sales by touring Germany, Sturm jerseys anyone?

What about an off-season tournament, like a team NorthWest division playing say team Switzerland in Zurich? Target to raise NHL awareness, shirt sales, and get more fans to the game. It's a lot easier to support teams/players when you see them live. It's harder when you see them on tv at 3 am.
That way we could have several NHL "star" teams playing in different countries at the same time.. or we could just do it with induvidual teams.. The Devils appear to have a lot of shirt sales in europe (judging from number of people I see wearing their jerseys around here), it'd be beneficial for them to do something..

Montreal or a team Quebec could go and promote the game in France, then French people would have a team of french speakers coming and showing their skills and holding a training camp for kids etc.. It could be huge.

Agreed as well..

Also along the same line of what Team Canada did in Hungary this year, why not have a Top 5 European countries do, once every couple of years, a training camp in Division I country, and plan it so that it is right after a Division I tournament (which usually finishes about a week before the World Championships starts).

 

[Freudian]

"USA is the next big superpower in hockey" :lol Good one!

Ironically thats what the americans said said when they beat Canada in the World Cup 1996. It was even best two out of three to reduce the luck element.