HabGirlYVR Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 Hopefully I'm not wrong, but this seemed the most suitable place to start this thread... I'm also kinda surprised there isn't already a thread to discuss the KHL! I'll start off by saying that one of the newest teams in the KHL is instantly "my team" in the league - Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk (for ethnic reasons, primarily). This will be their first season in the KHL, as I'm sure you all know. If they don't finish last I'll be happy! They're looking alright in goal, having signed Masalskis and Biryukov; only other highlights I can instantly comment on are Tommy Wargh on defence and Marek Zagrapan up front (two 80+ point seasons in the QMJHL, best AHL season 49 points in 80 games). LW Denis Tyurin could be solid as well. Ex-NHLers: RW Pavel Vorobiev (25 points in 57 games with Chicago in 03-04 and 05-06), and D Yevgeni Shaldybin (3 games with Boston 96-97). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathradio Posted July 27, 2010 Report Share Posted July 27, 2010 Trotter seems to be the first young North American player that decides to come over to the KHL. Everyone else that they poached seem to be failed NHLers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabGirlYVR Posted July 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2010 Trotter seems to be the first young North American player that decides to come over to the KHL. Everyone else that they poached seem to be failed NHLers. I've been taking Trotter's signing as a good thing for the KHL. Very interested to see how he performs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathradio Posted July 27, 2010 Report Share Posted July 27, 2010 If I'm not mistaken Trotter is on loan for a season until he can try for the big team again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Bah Posted July 27, 2010 Report Share Posted July 27, 2010 Brock Trotter will be happy to earn $250,000, instead of making taxi fare in the AHL. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathradio Posted July 27, 2010 Report Share Posted July 27, 2010 The SKA St. Petersburg will have to trade the ex-cheesepuff goalie or else they will have to face a "Battle between the pipes" similar to what we had to endure for the past few years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteenIsThaFuture Posted July 27, 2010 Report Share Posted July 27, 2010 Trotter seems to be the first young North American player that decides to come over to the KHL. Everyone else that they poached seem to be failed NHLers. Trotter is just about a failed pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathradio Posted July 27, 2010 Report Share Posted July 27, 2010 Trotter is just about a failed pro. If he was a KHL failure then I would say that he is a failed pro. But, as it stands now, I'd say that it is too early to tell. Anyhow, if Couturier also bolted, then he is in deep trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabGirlYVR Posted July 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2010 Well if Trotter wants to be a solid player in the KHL he'll still have to work at it, since the league is a step up from the AHL. I'm also quite looking forward to the two KHL vs NHL exhibition games. Hopefully they'll both treat the games with some amount of seriousness, and then we could be in for a couple of decent games! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabGirlYVR Posted July 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2010 So the latest news in the KHL expansion saga... the KHL announced that Lev Poprad will not take part in the upcoming season. The Slovak hockey federation had said that it would give final approval on whether they'll allow the club to play in the KHL on August 18, but I guess the KHL couldn't wait any longer. Understandable - if they'd waited for the decision, and the federation said no, then that would've thrown a big mess into the scheduling so close to the start of the season. For my part I'm not sure why the Slovak federation has to approve this, as Lev is not a member of the Slovak or any other national hockey federation. So it looks like the KHL will be competing with 23 teams next season; I doubt they'll try to quickly stuff Vetra Vilnius into the league for this next season (Vetra was another of the teams that had applied for one of the expansion spots). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EHIW Posted July 29, 2010 Report Share Posted July 29, 2010 I'm not going to include anything constructive into my first post in this thread but SPARTAK*clap clap clap*SPARTAK....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathradio Posted July 29, 2010 Report Share Posted July 29, 2010 Maybe the Lev Poprad will play next year if the Vetra Vilnius or the Budivelnyk Kiev weren't ready by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabGirlYVR Posted July 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 Preseason: Spartak vs Zlin (Czech) 4:3 SO Sibir vs Neftekhimik 3:2 For my part, eagerly awaiting Yugra's first preseason games. On an aside, I can hardly believe hockey's already starting up again, it just ended for the summer...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathradio Posted July 31, 2010 Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 The day the NHL's pre-season comes it will probably be the end of the KHL's pre-season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EHIW Posted July 31, 2010 Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 Can't believe Spartak actually signed Hasek haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabGirlYVR Posted August 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 I think SKA are intent on taking the Gagarin Cup. Signing Maxim Afinogenov for 5 years... A SKA-Ak Bars final wouldn't surprise me in the least. ... Other exhibition games since the first pair (sorry about the delay!) Severstal vs Gomel (Belarus) 3:4 Dinamo Riga vs Neftekhimik 5:2 Red Bull Salzburg (EBEL) vs Avangard 2:5 Neftekhimik vs Amur 1:3 Avtomobilist vs Hokki (Finland) 6:2 Havlickov Brod (Czech) vs Spartak 1:5 Liberec (Czech) vs Spartak 6:4 Dinamo Riga vs Amur 2:3 (SO) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathradio Posted August 7, 2010 Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 More than this and the KHL head office would ask the NHL to play the NHL champion for the Stanley Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabGirlYVR Posted August 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 More than this and the KHL head office would ask the NHL to play the NHL champion for the Stanley Cup. I remember back in the mid 90s someone called in to the sports radio show here and suggested that the NHL champion should play the European champion for the Stanley Cup... ...which is the idea behind the Victoria Cup, I guess. I think that's a great thing, I wish it would get more exposure. And see? The Blackhawks won the Cup - but Zurich Lions beat the Blackhawks for the Victoria Cup! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathradio Posted August 7, 2010 Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 I remember back in the mid 90s someone called in to the sports radio show here and suggested that the NHL champion should play the European champion for the Stanley Cup... ...which is the idea behind the Victoria Cup, I guess. I think that's a great thing, I wish it would get more exposure. And see? The Blackhawks won the Cup - but Zurich Lions beat the Blackhawks for the Victoria Cup! Like the WHA back in the day. But how much of a threat is the KHL to the NHL? Especially if Niemi (or, more unlikely, Price) bolts to that league... we already lost Trotter to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabGirlYVR Posted August 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 Like the WHA back in the day. But how much of a threat is the KHL to the NHL? Especially if Niemi (or, more unlikely, Price) bolts to that league... we already lost Trotter to them. Well, it's got growing pains of course, which isn't unexpected. Hopefully next season they'll add one more team to get a nice even 24, and then stay with those 24 for the next several seasons, and stabilise, and I'm sure by the end of the coming decade it'll be close to parity with the NHL. I think the bigger threat to the NHL, though, is if the Hockey Europe plan comes together, and an international league is formed in Western and Central Europe. I say that because I'm pretty sure most guys would prefer living and playing in cities like Berlin, Stockholm, Vienna or Prague, than in Novosibirsk or Nizhnekamsk. If that league happens, between it and the KHL there is a very serious challenge to the NHL in attracting European players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathradio Posted August 7, 2010 Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 But how long would the KHL last before collapsing under its own financial weight? And U.S. NHL hopefuls are most excited to see the KHL grow because they see that some of the Europeans would bolt to the KHL and other European major leagues (correct me if I'm wrong but the Big 7 are all above the AHL in playing level) so that U.S. players could play on NHL teams more. The Big 7: KHL SM-liiga Czech Extraliga Elitserien Slovak Extraliga Swiss Serie A Deutsche Eishockey League Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabGirlYVR Posted August 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 But how long would the KHL last before collapsing under its own financial weight? And U.S. NHL hopefuls are most excited to see the KHL grow because they see that some of the Europeans would bolt to the KHL and other European major leagues (correct me if I'm wrong but the Big 7 are all above the AHL in playing level) so that U.S. players could play on NHL teams more. The Big 7: KHL SM-liiga Czech Extraliga Elitserien Slovak Extraliga Swiss Serie A Deutsche Eishockey League Well, you're not wrong - SM-Liiga and Elitserien definitely better than the AHL, the others at least on a par; we know that Serie A teams are good enough to beat NHL teams on any given night, and it's probably the second-weakest out of the bunch; the Slovak Extraliga is the weakest - if you include that league into such a list, you have to include EBEL (Austria/Hungary/Slovenia/Croatia) which is at least on a par with the Slovak Extraliga, if not slightly better. And with the formation of a league with teams from Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Czechia and Austria, the attraction for European players to stay in Europe will be considerably stronger. Of course, the desire to win a Stanley Cup, which will always be the most prestigious trophy in the sport, will always be a factor even for Europeans. But if there are European leagues otherwise comparable to the NHL, then I think you might see more of a free flow back and forth between the NHL and the Euro-League/KHL. (Okay, I've won a Stanley Cup, now let's go win the Gagarin Cup, or similar). As for the KHL's financials, it's hard to say. However, it *can* be made to be long lasting, IF they go about things wisely. Adding a 24th team is the very last change they should make to the teams for a rather long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathradio Posted August 7, 2010 Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 For some reason I would say that Hartford would get a KHL team before it gets its NHL team back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theRazor67 Posted August 7, 2010 Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 I remember back in the mid 90s someone called in to the sports radio show here and suggested that the NHL champion should play the European champion for the Stanley Cup... ...which is the idea behind the Victoria Cup, I guess. I think that's a great thing, I wish it would get more exposure. And see? The Blackhawks won the Cup - but Zurich Lions beat the Blackhawks for the Victoria Cup! I for one have never heard of the Victoria Cup till now and I agree that it should have more exposure. I always wanted to see a tourney of some kind between the elite clubs of the different leagues. Is there a 2010 Victoria Cup? If so, I hope they make a bigger deal of it. Were either of the first two Victoria Cup Games on NA t.v.? I assume they were, but I never caught wind of it. I like that "our game" is growing around the world, and I hope an event like the Victoria Cup can expand it further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabGirlYVR Posted August 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 I for one have never heard of the Victoria Cup till now and I agree that it should have more exposure. I always wanted to see a tourney of some kind between the elite clubs of the different leagues. Is there a 2010 Victoria Cup? If so, I hope they make a bigger deal of it. Were either of the first two Victoria Cup Games on NA t.v.? I assume they were, but I never caught wind of it. I like that "our game" is growing around the world, and I hope an event like the Victoria Cup can expand it further. I'm not certain if there will be a Victoria Cup this year; doesn't really look like it, because of various IIHF stupidities, and no European championship this year. The Victoria Cup games weren't on TV anywhere over here, unfortunately. But, it was good to see that Chicago played seriously in the game, and didn't just treat it as a mean-nothing exhibition game (there WAS a couple million $ at stake, which was probably why they did play seriously). I too love seeing hockey expand - the Arab Cup of Hockey is one I'm particularly keen on (UAE, Kuwait, Algeria and Morocco took part last time, the next one, Tunisia is planning on competing as well). There's even an African Nations Cup being planned (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa and possibly Namibia). But back to the Victoria Cup, I really think it could become a great competition if it got better exposure in NA, and the NHL took it more seriously as well - like sending the Stanley Cup champion instead of just a random team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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