The Star started the first of a three-part series today looking in-depth at the KHL. A long, but very interesting read. Also in the link is an opportunity to e-mail questions about the KHL to ex-Flame Eric Landry, who is now playing for Moscow Dynamo.
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The latest incarnation of Russian hockey, the KHL boasts 21 teams across this expansive country and three others in Latvia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The league is in its first season and, some significant growing pains aside, is already talking about expanding to new markets in Western Europe such as Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Sweden – untapped hockey markets the NHL also covets.
The KHL has wasted little time selling itself to North American professionals – mostly players on the bubble of an NHL job to this point – and to Europeans who are vexed by language barriers and culture shock in North America.
The league's sales pitch is simple: make millions and pay just 13 per cent federal tax.
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On the ice, there have also been troubling signs. New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherapanov died on his team's bench during a game earlier this season. Several clubs are already said to be struggling to meet payroll commitments. Reviews of the new league by North American players, coaches and scouts are mixed. And one player in Checkhov, a sleepy town of 60,000 about an hour's drive south of Moscow, said he's seen "everything here; mafia, guns, you name it."
The money might be sweet, but it's still a long way from the NHL in many ways.
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KHL team Avangard Omsk plays its home games in the Omsk Arena, a sparkling, well-lit, 10,000-seat stadium with respectable sightlines, 15 private boxes and cheerleaders stationed at every section of seating. Reserved tickets cost $31 (Canadian) rinkside and $4.50 in the more distant rows. Weekend games start at 5 p.m. and finish around 7, giving fans and players alike time to eat out after the game. The local T.G.I. Friday's is a popular choice among players, including 37-year-old Jagr, who was the NHL's most valuable player in 1999 and now earns about $4 million (U.S.) with Avangard.
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Between periods, spectators line up at concession counters, and for about $4.50 at one concessionaire called "Chicken Next Door," they can buy chicken nuggets or kabobs. A pint-sized beer costs $3.80 and Pringle's potato chips are available for $6.70 for a large, or $3.60 for a small. Jagr and Cherapanov black home jerseys – they bear a resemblance to those worn by the Buffalo Sabres – are available for about $70 apiece. The prices may seem in line with those in North America, but here in Omsk, the average family income is about $19,000 a year.
those prices are in line....except for the pint for $3.80. If that was how much a beer costed here there would be a lot more drunken fans methinks....myself included
KHL team Avangard Omsk plays its home games in the Omsk Arena, a sparkling, well-lit, 10,000-seat stadium with respectable sightlines, 15 private boxes and cheerleaders stationed at every section of seating. Reserved tickets cost $31 (Canadian) rinkside and $4.50 in the more distant rows.
As the article says they have got fringe NHL players so far. I think that is being pretty nice, there are what about 10-15 guys in the league at best who could play better than 4 line minutes in the NHL? That might even be high.
The big "get" for the league was overpaying for a 38 year old Jagr? Not really that impressive.
In fact if the KHL can take some of the lazy, mopey Russians away from the NHL it could be a good thing for the NHL.
The KHL has way too much mafia ties, way too much insecurity about how/if the outrageous contracts are going to be paid and of course you have to go live in Russia.
Until they are able to attract anything close to a number of decent NHLers the KHL will always be a second rate league used by idiots in the media to try and scare North American fans into thinking there is something wrong with the NHL and that big changes need to be made.
If it stays like it is with its ridiculous economic structure, shady owners and undesireable locales, then it will pose a 0% threat to the NHL.
I really is not having Stanislav Chistov, Jakub Klepis and Alexander Svitov in the league keeping fans away from arenas in NA or teams from competing for the Stanley Cup?
From another site I read, there was a recent topic about the KHL and it's finances. An article was linked to where 23 of the league's 24 CEO's were interviewed about their financial situation. One team, Novokuznetsk, would not participate they are in such financial trouble and likely will fold after this season. It was said that half of the league's clubs are doing just fine (the powerhouses who signed the bigger names) and about five teams are in trouble.
It is stated that any of the financial troubles aren't big enough to give reason to believe any of the guys who left will return next year. Maybe things change by next summer but at least during the year if players are going to leave KHL teams in financial trouble, it will be to other European leagues since any NHL team interested in signing them would have to pass them through waivers to get them during the season.
First off, Mafia ties aside, I think it is a really great idea to have a European league separate from the NHL. It makes sense to me that the KHL spreads into Germany, Sweden, etc. Imagine how we would feel if all the best Canadian players went over and played in Europe? I understand that having all of the best players in the world in one league is a nice concept, and it's been fun, but I bet fans in Europe would love to be able to have home town teams in a Premier league to cheer for. Yes, it would mean that the talent pool would shrink, and the nhl game would suffer. Imagine no Ovechkin, Semin, Malkin, Lundgvist, Kiprusoff, etc. But the development of young players has really come along and we are seeing deeper and deeper drafts. Hockey development is not what it used to be, and if things continue the way they have, there will be some dynamite hockey being played in the AHL in a few years. So, why not separate North American and European leagues, with the occasional player crossing the pond. Makes sense to me.
However, in these economic times, and with economic problems already existing in the KHL, a massive expansion seems foolish. How many times have we seen corporations use expansion as a way to hide losses and bloat success with projections that often don't pan out? Look, things must be going well because we've just added eight more teams!
But, I do think that there will eventually be a regular hockey league in Europe, one way or another. That is if civilization doesn't end.
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Back in the summer I thought it was a threat.
But isn't the KHL run by oil tycoons? They're not so rich anymore.
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Until that league is completely free of any illegal influences it will never rival the NHL.
That one quote says it all:
I don't think that nessasarly makes players want to go to Edmonton instead of Florida, Philly or New York. The finances and choas they have there should scare off high demand pro's though. What the NHL does hold is a brand name, something the KHL will have a real tough to overcoming.
I think its a little ego-centric to think the best players in the world should only play in North America. To be fair, I'm sure Germany, Czech, Slovakia, Poland et al would like a hockey team to cheer for over there too.
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Originally Posted by Robbob
at the end of the day you have to applaud the oilers for making it look so easy. I never would have thought it would be this difficult to be the worst team in the league.
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Never for a second viewed the KHL as a threat. It is nothing more than the RSL wrapped in delusions of grandeur, and the RSL was nothing the NHL had to worry about either.
Jagr is making 4 million? He could have made more than that in the NHL. The media made it sound like he was going over there for the money, but maybe that wasn't the case? I looked it up on wikipedia (no idea how credible that is) and it says he is making around 10 million a year...... so which is it?
First off, Mafia ties aside, I think it is a really great idea to have a European league separate from the NHL. It makes sense to me that the KHL spreads into Germany, Sweden, etc. Imagine how we would feel if all the best Canadian players went over and played in Europe? I understand that having all of the best players in the world in one league is a nice concept, and it's been fun, but I bet fans in Europe would love to be able to have home town teams in a Premier league to cheer for. Yes, it would mean that the talent pool would shrink, and the nhl game would suffer. Imagine no Ovechkin, Semin, Malkin, Lundgvist, Kiprusoff, etc. But the development of young players has really come along and we are seeing deeper and deeper drafts. Hockey development is not what it used to be, and if things continue the way they have, there will be some dynamite hockey being played in the AHL in a few years. So, why not separate North American and European leagues, with the occasional player crossing the pond. Makes sense to me.
Why not have the best players in the world all playing together?
What is the point in having two mediocre leagues operating in two different places?
The demand in Europe is not big enough for them to have a league that rivals the NHL, that is why it hasn't happened yet.
If Europeans want to play in Europe so badly they are free to but it appears that they value playing in the best league in the world over playing at home.
Having a second tier European league makes sense, expecting guys like Lidstrom, Ovechkin and Malkin to want to play in that second tier league does not make sense at all.
The demand in Europe is not big enough for them to have a league that rivals the NHL, that is why it hasn't happened yet.
I bet you there is more demand in Europe for hockey than in North America. The difference is that there is more consumer spending in North America, since the hockey demand in Europe is confined to the former USSR, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Also the cities in NA are much larger for the most part than their European counterparts.
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I bet you there is more demand in Europe for hockey than in North America. The difference is that there is more consumer spending in North America, since the hockey demand in Europe is confined to the former USSR, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Also the cities in NA are much larger for the most part than their European counterparts.
Then why don't tournaments and leagues draw close to as much as they do when held in NA?
Every time I see articles about the KHL they talk about 10,000 or less seat arenas. Those are great arenas for second tier leagues like the KHL or AHL but show that the interest is not there for a league to rival the NHL.
As bad as attendence is in some cities in the NHL it still destroys any numbers that the European leagues put up.
Jagr is making 4 million? He could have made more than that in the NHL. The media made it sound like he was going over there for the money, but maybe that wasn't the case? I looked it up on wikipedia (no idea how credible that is) and it says he is making around 10 million a year...... so which is it?
It could be a 4 million base salary with a signing bonus and incentives.
I think people are reading way too much into how things are now. The KHL is just in it's forming stage. If they actually manage to expand westward and stay afloat for a while so that name recognition starts to kick in, there's huge potential.
The NHL wasn't always the juggernaut it is now, and nothing is forever anyway.
Does the KHL threaten the NHL?
