From: etxonss@ufsa.ericsson.se (Staffan Axelsson)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey
Subject: European league (was Re: NHLPA Voting Massively AGAINST Owners...)
Keywords: NHL strike, World championships
Date: 8 Apr 92 07:34:01 GMT
Organization: Ericsson Telecom, Stockholm, Sweden

In article <1992Apr4.071218.2835@math.ucla.edu> dstein@phobos.math.ucla.edu (David Stein) writes:
>In article <1992Apr2.200632.18222@nntp.hut.fi>, f33012l@puukko.hut.fi
>(Janne Kivel{) writes:
>|> 
>|> I don't believe they will, but the Best NHL stars would certainly lighten up
>|> the World Championships. I don't know, however, if the players are allowed
>|> to do that. In my opinion it looks like we're going to have World
>|> Championships with no NHL players at all.
>
>   Most probably there will be no NHL players in the WC, which is a shame.  
>   Maybe if the NHL just bankrupts, then we will have a real WC.
>
>|> The Europeans whose contract expires at the end of the season will probably
>|> return to Europe if the strike lasts very long.
>
>   And so this would be a great time to start a European Hockey League. 
>
Yes, it really would.

>   Not something aping the NHL;  instead preserve the national leagues, but 
>   limit them to Fall-Winter (which will make them more intensive).  
>
Exactly. I don't think many people would like to have a European league as
a substitute for the national leagues. This way we would still have our
national leagues as well as a great European league.

>   Then have a World (or just Euro) Championship in the end of the Winter.  
>
>   Then start a Euro league with, say, the 20 best Euro teams chosen
>   on their 
>   record in the home leagues -- use a UEFA-like system to decide how
>   many teams
>   from each league qualify.
>
OK, I imagine the league would look something like this:

Country:     SWE  FIN  CZE  CIS  GER  SWI  ITA  NOR
# of teams:   4    4    3    4    2    2    1    1   = 21 teams

How about the time schedule, would something like this be appropriate:
September-December:    National leagues
December-Mid December: National league playoffs
January:	       World (Euro) championships  
February-April:        Euro league
April:                 Euro league playoffs

Alternative: The World (Euro) championships could be at the end of the
season instead, as it is now.
>   BUT, and this is important, allow the teams in the Euro league to BORROW
>   (for a FEE, of course) players from the teams which don't make it to Europe.
>   This will assure the best players in the Euro League, _and_ a profit for 
>   the less fortunate teams who never-the-less develop their own talent.
>
I'm not sure that this is necessary. If the teams are good enough to qualify
for the Euro league then they can handle with the material they have.  
Besides, some kind of national play must be ongoing while this Euro league
is playing and I think the teams that didn't qualify for the Euro league
would be po'ed if they lost their key players in the middle of the season.

After all, there must be some national competiton, such as qualification for
next year's Elitserie (in Sweden's case), during the Euro league.

>    System like this would, I think, both preserve regional hockey 
>   characteristics _and_ initiate a truly first rate Euro competition.
>
>   While NHL will dominate hockey for the next few decades, economically
>   speaking, I have no doubt that a European League could be viable, would 
>   keep excellent players home some of the time, and would assure decent
>   international competition.
>
I absolutely agree.
>   
>|> I hope the strike ends the ridiculous draft system used in the NHL.
>|> 
>|> If NHL leaders were really interested in the game of hockey and its future
>|> in the long run, there would already have been real World Cup years ago.
>
>   Yup.
>
>   They are only interested in money - and this might be good for a sport in
>   the short term, but could be disastrous in the long term (see the NASL).
>   
>   Europe needs owners who love hockey _and_ love to make money.
>
>						- David
>
Bara mina 20 kronor.

Staffan
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