From: f31922c@kaira.hut.fi (Asko Tapani Huumonen)
Subject: Re: A Proposal For a European Hockey League
Summary: Damn the Tornados
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 14:53:09 GMT

Our argument about European hockey League goes on and on without getting
anywhere. At least I am sticking to my guns. Anyway, here are my points of view
again... 


In article <1992Nov17.111554.28171@abo.fi> MLINDROOS@finabo.abo.fi (Marcus Lindroos INF) writes:
>In <1992Nov10.120726.2102@nntp.hut.fi> f31922c@kaira.hut.fi writes:

>> True, but in Stockholm and other hockey cities there are existing teams with
>> existing fans who are more or less devoted to current teams. You can't be sure
>> that these fans would change their favourites overnight. I sure would not. Both
>> in Stockholm and in Helsinki (not to mention Prague and Moscow) there are two
>> teams with intense local rivalry.The team in the new league probably could be
>> neither of these.  
>
>This is a problem, I admit that. Note, however, that my plan assumes that the
>pro team playing in the European league will not supersede the local
>SM-liiga/Elitserien etc. teams in any way. Rather, they will complement each
>other - the Euro league teams will play most of their games during natural
>breaks in the domestic season.
>---
>Swedish and Finnish fans will turn out to watch their European league teams play
>because they know the best players from their respective countries are on the
>ice. If Jokerit and IFK Helsingfors fans can root for the national team, why
>not also cheer for the Helsinki Tornado on the occasions they come to town?

I think your idea of players playing in two leagues simultanously has little or
no chances of success. How would the management of IFK think about a player
getting injured in a Tornado game? Or vice versa. How much would the fans of 
TPS Turku care about how their players do in Tornado's games if TPS is about 
to win the championship and Tornado about to miss the playoff spot? I sure 
don't take it for granted that fans would care too much about those Tornado 
games. 

>Really? I would say that a great many of the people watching SM-Liiga games
>are "ordinary" people who show up occasionally. Especially the girls tend to
>hang out with their husbands/boyfriends, not because they are especially fond
>of the sport. 

I suppose that something like half of the crowd consists of season ticket
holders who go to practically every game. And almost all season tickets belong 
to fans themselves, not some companies who want to entertain their clients who
don't give a damn about the game anyway. Considerable part of the rest see at
least 10 games a season.

At least some girls come to games without any male company or even alone.


>....the GHL was for real, until the officials realized that most of the European
>federations were against the idea and that there were plenty of legal obstacles
>as well. This is a common problem, North American sports entrepreneurs would
>like to put hockey teams in Europe but know far too little about how 
>things work this side of the pond. 

Perhaps they noticed some of the points of view I have presented in this
discussion. There are too many toes hear that will be stepped on when you want
to start league in sport that has already established its organisations here.


>Again, look at the WLAF. There had been no professional American Football teams
>in Barcelona and Frankfurt before the WLAF - yet gridiron football was a hit
>from the start. I am convinced that it could work - if done the right way. 

Then again, the league did not survive. Gridiron Football is known as one of 
the cornerstones of American Culture and may have some appeal as such. For some
people this may increase the sport's appeal. Those potential GI Football fans
really had no alternative or tradition to break. And Frankfurt even looks like
America. (If I would use those damn smileys I would put one here)

>> Transfer to New League should not be too drastic. There is a hockey culture on
>> this continent and it should not be bounced out of balance too much. I admit 
>> the eastern part of this culture lost its balance quite totally some years 
>> ago. It might be a good idea to reconstruct it in such a way that would not 
>> prohibit launching the EHL in the future.
>
>Bah, there is nothing wrong with having domestic (amateur-) teams but there is
>no need to build the European game on such a limited and small basis. Face it,
>hockey is not as popular as soccer or even basketball here. It would be much
>better to have a few extremely strong (almost NHL-caliber) teams playing in
>major media markets. 

Hockey certainly is not as popular here as soccer and basketball are and it 
will never be. However, there are areas on our continent where hockey really 
is a significant part of culture. If the proposed new league tries to 
establish itself elsewhere or not to adapt to this existing culture it will 
be taking unnecessary risks. I'd much rather see the transfer to big markets 
be done through evolution than revolution. 

Face it, the European popularity of our sport is on the small-town level.
Therefore the international club-level competiotion would at first be taken 
part by those small-town-clubs. As a first step the current basketball 
Eurocups could be used as a model. Once the culture of that competition has
established itself there is a chance that there eventually will be interest 
in big markets also. At present the sport is unknown on those markets and 
so is any competition the possible teams might participate.


>MARCUS



Asko Huumonen                | f31922c@kaira.hut.fi     | phone 358-0-4522211
			     |				| home  358-0-8043563
----  In certain situations a good canister is worth a flood of rhetoric   ----