Why is the KHL destroying European Hockey?

[Jonimaus]

What kind of interest do you think hockey drew in Florida or Texas before they got NHL teams? Is it much different to the level of interest in London or Milan nowadays? Jari Kurri played in Milan in 1991.



I think it's safe to say that people in Texas and Florida are also way more interested in football than in hockey. There are only two countries in the world where ice-hockey is number one: Finland and Canada.

I think Latvia has it as number one too. In all honesty, London *might* be able to support a KHL team, I mean they are supporting like 10+ pro football teams, so why not.

 

[WagonFan]

There have been discussed before that SM-liiga have two teams too much and that drops a little bit the quality level of the league. Now there are 14 teams and the league would do fine with 12 teams. Maybe they should also drop one of the weakest teams off the SM-liiga at the same time when Jokerit leaves. That would keep the average quality of teams better then just to take Jokerit out.

Overall I think this will be a great thing for finnish hockey. It will create more interest and spectators for hockey and hopefully (with the extra money) Jokerit will also develope more junior talent to a world class players. I'm sure Jokerit will have an affiliate team in Helsinki area in a few years and they could even play at the SM-liiga then.

You should know better than to call Helsinki "the hockey town". The hockey town, it isn't.

Well, Helsinki have two SM-liiga teams and every finn in Helsinki knows what HIFK and Jokerit are if you ask randomly on the street. But ofcourse there are a lot of other sports in there and you can live without hearing hockey, so I'm partly with you on that regard.

 

[Lepardi]

Well, Helsinki have two SM-liiga teams and every finn in Helsinki knows what HIFK and Jokerit are if you ask randomly on the street. But ofcourse there are a lot of other sports in there and you can live without hearing hockey, so I'm partly with you on that regard.

There's a difference between being "a hockey town" and being "the hockey town". You ask Finnish people what the hockey town of Finland is, and Helsinki won't finish number 1 in that poll.

 

[Jussi]

I think Latvia has it as number one too. In all honesty, London *might* be able to support a KHL team, I mean they are supporting like 10+ pro football teams, so why not.

Slovakia and Czech Republic as well.

 

[PhillyPhinn]

Slovakia and Czech Republic as well.

Slovakia maybe, but I've always thought football is king in the Czech Republic...

 

[zorz]

Slovakia maybe, but I've always thought football is king in the Czech Republic...

it is. And I think if the local league goes to hell for whatever reason, hockey interest will decline greatly.

 

[Ivan94]

Slovakia maybe, but I've always thought football is king in the Czech Republic...

a month ago I was in Prag at the football WCQ-Match Czech Republic against Italy. sparta stadium(21.000 seats) wasn´t sold out. i get a ticket one day before match. In the stadium I saw a lot of people wearing a hockey jersey.

 

[Vicente]

I think Czech Republic/Slovakia are 50:50 hockey/football. Though I don't really see why there is so much support for football in these countries as both their football leagues as their national teams are second class at best.

PS:

It's true that football national games often are not sold out in Czech Republic. Maybe football is really not that big if they can't get 20,000 fans into a stadium.

 

[BalticWarrior]

I think Czech Republic/Slovakia are 50:50 hockey/football. Though I don't really see why there is so much support for football in these countries as both their football leagues as their national teams are second class at best.

Similiar to sweden,but football is number 1 there nevertheless.

 

[Vicente]

Similiar to sweden,but football is number 1 there nevertheless.

And in Norway too. The world can be strange at times. Although many players from the Swedish league actually make it to the big clubs.

 

[zorz]

I think Czech Republic/Slovakia are 50:50 hockey/football. Though I don't really see why there is so much support for football in these countries as both their football leagues as their national teams are second class at best.

PS:

It's true that football national games often are not sold out in Czech Republic. Maybe football is really not that big if they can't get 20,000 fans into a stadium.

Czechs have a bit different football culture. Even those who are into it a lot won't attend the games in person in many cases. They would rather watch in a pub with their mates or at home.

 

[Lepardi]

I think Czech Republic/Slovakia are 50:50 hockey/football. Though I don't really see why there is so much support for football in these countries as both their football leagues as their national teams are second class at best.

Maybe it's because football is a global sport, unlike hockey.

 

[Jussi]

a month ago I was in Prag at the football WCQ-Match Czech Republic against Italy. sparta stadium(21.000 seats) wasn´t sold out. i get a ticket one day before match. In the stadium I saw a lot of people wearing a hockey jersey.

There's a poster at the biggest Finnish hockey message board that's lived in Prague for years now and he said hockey is right now the most popular sport in the country(winning the Worlds in 2010 helped greatly) but that if the football team were to succeed in WC or Euro, things could change again.

 

[Lepardi]

Czechs have a bit different football culture. Even those who are into it a lot won't attend the games in person in many cases. They would rather watch in a pub with their mates or at home.

Sounds like the ticket prices are too high.

 

[Babula]

Sounds like the ticket prices are too high.

Like NHL, real fans are at home

 

[icing]

What kind of interest do you think hockey drew in Florida or Texas before they got NHL teams? Is it much different to the level of interest in London or Milan nowadays? Jari Kurri played in Milan in 1991.

Just have in mind that fans in Europe (well, most fans) just don't accept a new team being dropped on them. They already have their teams and could not care less if i new one came around that was "better". With that said a new team would more likely work in areas where hockey is not that big, since the local teams doesnt have that many fans anyway.

 

[Babula]

If it was say HC Sparta moving to the KHL I would have more respect for it (I say that as a fan of Slavia Praha as well).

I'm not so sure, what you're talking about. I think that most fans, of our "development" league, hate this idea...

 

[Burner99]

I'm from Austria and I have no clue about finish hockey, so I could care less if they move to the KHL or if they stay. But I have some fears regarding the KHL expansion politics if it's successful. I mainly know the Austrian and the Swiss league, so I will talk about the Swiss league, as Austria is kind of a joke when it comes to ice hockey. I fear that if the KHL can successfully establish a team in Switzerland than most fans will watch this team. This wouldn't be a problem, but it could be that less people will watch the other teams so the make less money. With less money they can't invest as much in youth development and the development would decrease. I don't think that one club can compensate if the effect is huge. In Europe the Hockey Talent is mainly developed by the top clubs and if the number of top clubs decrease, this could mean that less are developed. I don't say that this will happen only that is my fear.

 

[swosh]

a month ago I was in Prag at the football WCQ-Match Czech Republic against Italy. sparta stadium(21.000 seats) wasn´t sold out. i get a ticket one day before match. In the stadium I saw a lot of people wearing a hockey jersey.

As i know. Football ultras dont attend national match. Boring atmosphere keep people in pubs and home in front of tv

 

[saskriders]

What if the old leagues became farm leagues (like the AHL). Or the khl became relegation and you has to qualify out of your country (top x teams from country Sweden play in KHL the rest play in SEL)

 

[Sucro]

What if the old leagues became farm leagues (like the AHL). Or the khl became relegation and you has to qualify out of your country (top x teams from country Sweden play in KHL the rest play in SEL)

Slovan, Lev, Donbass, Riga and Barys already have affiliated clubs in National Championships, if you mean this. For Russian clubs there is the VHL, that shares some features with the AHL, many teams there are farms of the KHL ones.
Far not every team in countries represented in the league can meet the KHL regulations of budget and arena conditions, that makes relegation and promotinon nearly impossible. If a team meets this regulations, why should it be dropped down to national championship and be replaced by a 50k town with 3k arena? It also means that teams from the KHL will likely be stronger than teams from National Championship, because the level of play is different, so there won't be any promotion in case of play-off between these clubs. If some club is strong enough for the league, then just join, no need to fight for a promotion.

 

[obskyr]

The legacy of relegation is what the KHL is trying to overcome all these years. That system is really faulty and inappropriate for pro leagues. It may suit soccer fans who don't bother with their local teams winning any titles period and/or care more for the League of Champions, but for hockey it was never an option. North American league system is the best for professional sports and its promotion in Europe is one of the great things about the KHL.

 

[ozo]

The legacy of relegation is what the KHL is trying to overcome all these years. That system is really faulty and inappropriate for pro leagues. It may suit soccer fans who don't bother with their local teams winning any titles period and/or care more for the League of Champions, but for hockey it was never an option. North American league system is the best for professional sports and its promotion in Europe is one of the great things about the KHL.

All this makes no sense. There's nothing wrong with relegation system and it has nothing to do with soccer fans seemingly being ok with loosing.

 

[obskyr]

All this makes no sense. There's nothing wrong with relegation system and it has nothing to do with soccer fans seemingly being ok with loosing.

It may suit soccer fans, k? That's how it works for them for decades anyway. There will always be Reals and Barcelonas, there will always be MU-dominated "Big Four"s, until another crazy sheikh buys another team to challenge (but not to change) that.

Relegation is not just a soccer thing, that's true, still the only big money sports leagues that use that system are the European soccer leagues. And non-soccer European leagues that see less money aren't much better. Spanish basketball is all about Real vs. Barcelona too, Russian basketball is nothing but CSKA warming up for the Euroleague finals. There may be nothing wrong with that when teams competing in that system are equal and amateur, but it turns ugly when sports become business. The barrier between major and minor leagues must exist.

 

[ozo]

It may suit soccer fans, k? That's how it works for them for decades anyway. There will always be Reals and Barcelonas, there will always be MU-dominated "Big Four"s, until another crazy sheikh buys another team to challenge (but not to change) that.

Relegation is not just a soccer thing, that's true, still the only big money sports leagues that use that system are the European soccer leagues. And non-soccer European leagues that see less money aren't much better. Spanish basketball is all about Real vs. Barcelona too, Russian basketball is nothing but CSKA warming up for the Euroleague finals. There may be nothing wrong with that when teams competing in that system are equal and amateur, but it turns ugly when sports become business. The barrier between major and minor leagues must exist.

What has relegation got to do with BC CSKA having far more money than any other team in the league? Would Real and Barca not dominate Spanish league if they removed relegation/promotion?

Just because KHL doesn't relegate anyone, doesn't change the fact SKA has more money than the rest of the league combined. KHL wouldn't be any worse or different if Tyumen in past years where yo-yoing with Novokuznetsk.