[News] Jokerit joins the KHL

[sureLoss]

Pretty significant team leaves the Finnish SM-Liiga league to join the KHL.

http://www.jokerit.com/uutiset/?nid=2428

Sports businessman and all-round entrepreneur Harry “Hjallis” Harkimo has sold Hartwall Areena to the Russian-Finnish businessman Gennady Timchenko and the Russian-Finnish Rotenberg family. The deal also opens the doors for the ice-hockey team Jokerit to the Russian KHL League, which is currently considered the second toughest after NHL.

Gennady Timchenko is an energy and logistics businessman who has been active in Finland for a long time, he is also chairman of KHL and SKA of St Petersburg. Brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg are operating in Finland in the background of e.g. the Spa and Congress Hotel Långvik. Together they have established a company called Arena Events Oy for the administration of Hartwall Areena. Mr. Harkimo will continue to lead the Jokerit team and has also otherwise committed himself to the operations of Hartwall Areena for the next five years.

Jokerit will remain the main tenant of the entertainment venue, playing one more season in the Finnish national league. In the autumn of 2014, the team will move over to the KHL League with support from the new business partners.

If more teams from the SM-Liiga joins, we could see all Finnish prospects be KHL prospects.

Also got to wonder when a SEL team will go join the KHL.

[The Swedish Flame]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Also got to wonder when a SEL team will go join the KHL.

I'm rooting for "never".

[FlamesAddiction]

A few months ago it was announded that Zagreb was joining as well.

http://en.khl.ru/news/2013/4/30/25146.html

I am not sure if it went through or not though.

With the KHL adding non-Russian alternatives, it could lure even more players over.

[The Swedish Flame]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

A few months ago it was announded that Zagreb was joining as well.

http://en.khl.ru/news/2013/4/30/25146.html

I am not sure if it went through or not though.

Yeah, I believe they will be playing there starting 2013/2014.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

A few months ago it was announded that Zagreb was joining as well.

http://en.khl.ru/news/2013/4/30/25146.html

I am not sure if it went through or not though.

With the KHL adding non-Russian alternatives, it could lure even more players over.

It wouldn't be too terrible to get more european teams and get rid of the little guys in the league and create a Euro NHL.

[Vulcan]

The KHL is slowly doing what the NHL wanted to do, create a European major league of hockey. They're going about it the right way too by taking in existing clubs with strong loyalties instead of creating new teams.

This isn't good news for the NHL recruiting European players but it's probably good for hockey.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

The KHL is slowly doing what the NHL wanted to do, create a European major league of hockey. They're going about it the right way too by taking in existing clubs with strong loyalties instead of creating new teams.

This isn't good news for the NHL recruiting European players but it's probably good for hockey.

Umm, what?

[Vulcan]

The KHL will have teams in 8 foreign countries. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Belarus, Latvia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and now Finland.

[Itse]

It will certainly be an interesting experiment. First team outside of the former east bloc to do this I believe.

However, there's been so much talk of western teams joining the KHL over the years that I'll believe it when I see it.

It could open the floodgates however. The theoretical potential for a pan-European league is huge and Finland is the first rich western country with a strong hockey history in the KHL. (Czech being a bit of a borderline case as always.)

I'll have to say this lights an interest in Jokerit for me. Quality of hockey in SM-liiga has been on a downward spiral for years now anyway, so any change is welcome.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Itse

It will certainly be an interesting experiment. First team outside of the former east bloc to do this I believe.

However, there's been so much talk of western teams joining the KHL over the years that I'll believe it when I see it.

It could open the floodgates however. The theoretical potential for a pan-European league is huge and Finland is the first rich western country with a strong hockey history in the KHL. (Czech being a bit of a borderline case as always.)

I'll have to say this lights an interest in Jokerit for me. Quality of hockey in SM-liiga has been on a downward spiral for years now anyway, so any change is welcome.

Although communist, Croatia (well, Yugoslavia) was not technically considered part of the Eastern Bloc. The Soviet Union considered them a rogue nation and they were heavily aided by the "West" during the cold war. The Soviet Union never invaded and occupied them like they did "Eastern Bloc" countries.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Although communist, Croatia (well, Yugoslavia) was not technically considered part of the Eastern Bloc. The Soviet Union considered them a rogue nation and they were heavily aided by the "West" during the cold war. The Soviet Union never invaded and occupied them like they did "Eastern Bloc" countries.

True. However I don't see that historical detail mattering in this case

I guess I should have said "first country that's not a former communist country. (Although technically speaking Finland had what is sometimes called a mixed economy.)

In any case, it's a new situation for sports media and fans here in Finland, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Especially since the Flames will propably suck anyway in 2014-15, I'll propably have some extra time to follow Jokerit and see how they do.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Itse

True. However I don't see that historical detail mattering in this case

I guess I should have said "first country that's not a former communist country. (Although technically speaking Finland had what is sometimes called a mixed economy.)

In any case, it's a new situation for sports media and fans here in Finland, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Especially since the Flames will propably suck anyway in 2014-15, I'll propably have some extra time to follow Jokerit and see how they do.

Let us know what the fan and media reactions are.

[Fire]

Oh Oh. Barkov will become a flight risk! Better not risk it.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Let us know what the fan and media reactions are.

Well, here's a roundup of bits from here and there.

While people recognize that the KHL is a superior league, it will be hard to imagine a life without the local matchups against HIFK. This is the single biggest issue brought up. (I expect plans to arrange matchups outside of both leagues schedules are already been drawed.)

While people recognize it's a superior league, most people don't know anything about it, and fear that the atmosphere will never be the same. The head of the Jokerit fan club said that (surprisingly to me at least) older fans seem to have more of a neutral or even a positive reaction, emphasizing quality of hockey, while younger fans were clearly more negative, talking more about the need to know your opponent to get into the games emotionally.

Also, formerly Jokerit had regular roadtrips to the away games, which was a big thing for the local fan club. Now the away games will be too expensive (and too far away) to be a a regular thing.

The biggest fear seems to be that the team will be completely sold to new Russian owners and the team colours, name and logo will be changed. That would propably kill a lot of interest for the local fans.

The teams arena is already being sold to Russian owners, as well as part of the team. The main Russian partners seems to be two youngish Russians with strong Finnish ties. One is Gennady Timchenko, a Russian oil billionaire with a Finnish passport, who has been trying to buy other Finnish teams since at least 2008. (He has among other things also sponsored the Finnish national tennis team at Davis Cup.) The other public partner is Roman Rotenberg has lived and played junior hockey in Finland. He can also speak Finnish and was there at the press conference. (The Rotenberg family is heavily involved in the KHL already, partially owning Dynamo Moscow and being on the board of ZSKA St. Petersburg.)

I find the ownership thing interesting from a cultural point of view. The new owners seem to have genuinely strong cultural ties to Finland, which might soften the blow for many local fans; Many Finns have a instinctive distrust and dislike of anything Russian.

Media reactions seem to be mostly that of great interest, which is not surprising. Media loves new things.

League reactions are careful, but Jokerit has been a big draw, and losing them will obviously be a blow. (They have given permission for Jokerit to move however.)

The current owner Harry Harkimo has stated that the team already has plans to triple it's budget to be competitive in the KHL.

He also stated that since other plans to create various European leagues have failed before (he's been personally heavily involved in those), this is the natural step forward. (So basically he's pretty open about the fact that this is in effect a continuation of his personal ambitions.)

[Vulcan]

I guess this is bad news for the SM-liiga.

[Itse]

Btw;

The Hartwall Arena (which was effectively built by Harkimo) has been bleeding money pretty much from the start, and it's been long known Harkimo would sell it if he could find a buyer somewhere. Since buying it actually makes no financial sense, really the only option was selling it to the Russians, who have a major long-term interest in expanding the league beyond the former Iron Curtain and so are ready to throw millions into a project like this.

This is notable because like everybody knows, owning a sports team or a sports arena can often be terrible business, and the situation in Helsinki is hardly unique. We could see other teams joining the KHL as a result of a similar process; western owners tired of propping up losing ventures, selling teams and arenas to Russian billionaires who are playing the long game.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

The KHL will have teams in 8 foreign countries. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Belarus, Latvia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and now Finland.

Okay, but when exactly did the NHL want to create a "European major league of hockey"?

[Itse]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potenti...on_into_Europe

The talks of NHL expanding into Europe have been going on since at least the sixties.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Itse

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potenti...on_into_Europe

The talks of NHL expanding into Europe have been going on since at least the sixties.

I don't think it has ever been anything more than a pipe dream. I mean look at the comments there, a few one off comments in the 60's and another a few years a go (which is shockingly similar to the quote from Campbell in 1969, which obviously didn't come to pass). I don't believe that there has ever been a report of the NHL ever making a concerted effort to expand into Europe, or to create a NFL Europe style European league of its own.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by valo403

I don't think it has ever been anything more than a pipe dream.

True. I'm sure at some point there's been some calculations done, but that's propably it.