From: etxonss@ufsa.ericsson.se (Staffan Axelsson)
Subject: Re: A Proposal For a European Hockey League
Organization: Ericsson Telecom, Stockholm, Sweden
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 11:40:26 GMT

MLINDROOS@finabo.abo.fi (Marcus Lindroos INF) writes:
>
>Great analysis of the European game, shame about the conclusion. I feel that
>any European pro league must achieve two objectives. One, the hockey on offer 
>has to be GOOD. 
>Two, the league will have to have appeal to ALL EUROPEAN HOCKEY FANS.
>Marko's and Staffan's proposal is ignoring both.

 I agree that this proposal doesn't appeal to all European hockey fans, just
 the ones in the included countries. However, I feel that the proposal assures
 that the hockey would be good.

>Will the potential millions of
>hockey fans in France and northern Italy -or even the Germans and Swiss- 
>give a damn about a European final where Turun Palloseura and Djurgardens
>Idrottsforening Stockholm are playing for the championship? I am afraid most
>people on the Continent have never heard of even a top-class Scandinavian 
>hockey team, not to mention the Brynas Gavles or Savonlinnan Pallokerho's that
>most likely are going to reach the finals at one time or another.

 No, but really, will anyone else but the finalists' fans give a damn about
 the European final. I mean, I would for sure care about a final between
 MoDo and Lukko Rauma but I wouldn't be interested in a final between Vienna
 Wind and Paris Hurricane, especially if these two teams consist of 50+ %
 Americans/Canadians that aren't good enough to make it in NHL.

>---
>Will merging the top European leagues produce better standards of play anyway?
>The answer appears to be no. Anyone knows that even an SM-liiga or
>Elitserien-based All-Star team would have to work hard to win 20 games in the
>NHL.

 Sure they would. But it is also true that, for example, the Chicago BlackHawks
 would have to work hard to win 15 games in Elitserien. It all depends on
 size of rink, refs used etc etc.

>Dream on! We'll never be able to match the NHL, especially not if the bulk of
>the EHL is going to be small towns in Sweden, Finland and Switzerland with a
>population of 100,000-200,000 people. The NHL is playing in larger markets, have
>more money, more players... Co-operation with the North Americans is our only
>hope.
>
 If you were a greedy business man I could see your way of reasoning. Take 
 hockey to where the big money is (i.e. big cities), shove it down the
 peoples throats and then expect them to like it, even if they have never seen
 hockey before. I'm not sure I like this 'artificial' way of spreading the
 game of hockey.

>Eurosport etc. will come up with the money if and only if there are teams in 
>Paris, Milan, London etc.. How can we do that if existing national leagues 
>in "unexciting" areas in the middle of nowhere are to form the basis for 
>the European league? The only professional sports league in Scandinavia is
>currently the Danish Soccer League, and they almost went under in their first
>season.
> 
 True, but aren't Stockholm, Dusseldorf, Bern, Helsinki, Cologne, Gothenburg,
 Zurich etc exciting enough?

 Those are the cities that would have teams according to Marko's proposal.
>
>As I see it, the EHL and the national game should be kept apart - much like the
>national team and the domestic leagues are cooperating today. There should be
>no more than one or two pro teams per country, run by the local hockey 
>federation and the national league. There will be about ten teams, in 
>Stockholm, Helsinki, Dusseldorf/Dortmund, Zurich, Vienna, London, Paris, 
>Milan, Moscow, St.Petersburg, Prague... The NHL owns and runs the Eastern 
>European clubs because of the current economical situation there. 
>All teams "borrow" their players (essentially an
>All-Star team assembled from the best players in the domestic game [both local
>and foreign-born]) in much the same way as the national teams currently are
>doing. This will not be disruptive as the schedule should call for no more
>than 30 games to be played during "natural breaks" in the domestic hockey
>season.

 So, these best players (e.g. Thomas Rundqvist, Mika Nieminen etc) would play
 a regular domestic season of 40 games + domestic playoffs, 15 games +
 the EHL regular season, 30 games + the EHL playoffs, 15 games + National
 team tournaments (e.g. Izvetzia, Sweden hockey games, The Olympics, The
 World Championships, Deutschland Cup, Canada Cup etc). 
 These players would have around 130+ GAMES PER SEASON!! No pre-season or
 all-star games included!

 Bikini nights, glitz and glamour and all that.. but I don't think ANY
 player would have the strength to play this kind of season.

>The NHL also supplies some players not quite good enough to play in the
>majors. This ensures that playing standards will be high, except in London and
>(perhaps) Paris and Vienna, there are already enough good players (foreign-
>born in Italy's case) to put on a good show. Naturally, it will be all glitz and
>glamour. Bikini Nights at the Milano Forum, Fireworks Night at Wembley Arena...
>The nicknames will be brand-new and exciting (Helsinki Tornado, Stockholm
>Storm, Vienna Wind...) to have all-European appeal. Take that, MoDo
>Ornskoldsvik or Lahden Kiekko-Reipas! 
>---

 Is Europe an especially windy continent???

>My proposal assumes the the NHL and IIHF are prepared to bury their differences
>for the good of the sport. We know that the NHL would do anything to gain a
>foothold in Europe, and likely would be prepared to make some concessions to
>the European federations if it could help their cause. The EHL would be the
>ideal tool for promoting the game in Europe and might eventually provide the
>basis for an European NHL division. The European anti-NHL bias is unnecessary, 
>we should demand that they release their players for the Olympics and perhaps
>for a "true" World Cup to be played every fourth year, and that they stop
>signing teenage players from Europe and send the European players not good
>enough to play in the NHL to the EHL rather than the AHL/IHL/ECHL. I am sure
>that Gil Stein & co would have no objections, as the EHL would become an
>excellent league for developing talent in its own right while promoting pro 
>hockey overseas. French, Italian and Austrian hockey players would get a chance
>to play professionally against top-class opposition, something that can only
>have a positive impact on the local game there. The Russians and Czechs will be
>able to keep at least some of their best players in their respective homelands.
>One day, they will have NHL teams of their own to root for.
>
 If this NHL-sponsored EHL would become a reality, IIHF would lose all of its
 power it still might have. This would be a total surrender on IIHF's part.
 The only way for IIHF to regain power is to launch a European hockey league
 without any influence from NHL.

> 
>-Den finlandssvenska hockeyfantasten f|rsvinner fr}n scenen

 Jag hoppas att han kommer tillbaka f|r att svara p} fr}gorna :-)

>-Suomenruotsalainen kiekkofani poistuu n{ytt{m|lt{
>
>
>MARCU$

Staffan
--
 ((\\  //| Staffan Axelsson                
  \\  //|| etxonss@ufsa.ericsson.se             
\\_))//-|| contact for Swedish hockey         
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey