no... this is awful... maybe set something up where the championship teams of various leagues play a tourney for some type of compensation... would be really interesting if KHL, NHL, AHL, Swedish leafue, Finnish... etc, all did a tourney... maybe playing games around the world in markets that don't always see some of the high class hockey action... make it really interesting and add the champion ohl, whl, qmjhl, and ncaa teams in the mix as well!

Eklund: Is European Expansion the Wave of NHL's Long-Term Future
- Eklund

I would be on board for this if it meant Garth could become the official expansion blogger

no... this is awful... maybe set something up where the championship teams of various leagues play a tourney for some type of compensation... would be really interesting if KHL, NHL, AHL, Swedish leafue, Finnish... etc, all did a tourney... maybe playing games around the world in markets that don't always see some of the high class hockey action... make it really interesting and add the champion ohl, whl, qmjhl, and ncaa teams in the mix as well!
- ChrisMS

pre season games belong in europe

nothing more, nothing less regarding the nhl

aside from the Olympics, and to be honest I would be ok if they did away with the pros and let the kids decide the medals

You are missing the point , there would be no PHX no Fla no NJ or NYI

12 teams from NA 12 teams from Eur.
- VANTEL

So you're saying you'd want a league currently sitting at 30 teams go down to 24 just to expand into Europe?? That doesn't even make sense.

So you're saying you'd want a league currently sitting at 30 teams go down to 24 just to expand into Europe?? That doesn't even make sense.
- cdninatl

Why? I have no interest in about 10 teams in the current NHL.

24 stong teams is much better than hearing about 6 teams that can't afford rent on their arena or get 10 000 to the games and offer tickets and a beer for 8 bucks.

They could call it the NHL light.

Also, for me hockey was always about skill, speed and vision. But I grew up watching Gretzky and Lemieux, and apparently I don't the sexual release some of the other fans do for seeing staged fight.

And then you wonder why the americans think the NHL is like the WWE on skates...

Another Ek dream, where does this guy get his info, if this ever happened I and most of the NHL supporters would be out. Betman can't fill a stadium in the southern states and he wants to hit Europe, oh pls.

They could call it the NHL light.

Also, for me hockey was always about skill, speed and vision. But I grew up watching Gretzky and Lemieux, and apparently I don't the sexual release some of the other fans do for seeing staged fight.

And then you wonder why the americans think the NHL is like the WWE on skates...
- Euler007

I actually prefer European style of hockey to NA

They could call it the NHL light.

Also, for me hockey was always about skill, speed and vision. But I grew up watching Gretzky and Lemieux, and apparently I don't the sexual release some of the other fans do for seeing staged fight.

And then you wonder why the americans think the NHL is like the WWE on skates...
- Euler007

It's rigged?

i didnt ready any of that and neither should you

no... this is awful... maybe set something up where the championship teams of various leagues play a tourney for some type of compensation... would be really interesting if KHL, NHL, AHL, Swedish leafue, Finnish... etc, all did a tourney... maybe playing games around the world in markets that don't always see some of the high class hockey action... make it really interesting and add the champion ohl, whl, qmjhl, and ncaa teams in the mix as well!
- ChrisMS

You wanna throw kids in against the men?!
Maybe we should include the novice AA champions as well.
How about the British Premier League Champions... or the Australian champs...

Eklund: Is European Expansion the Wave of NHL's Long-Term Future
- Eklund

no. no it isn't.

Will never happen. Never, ever.......ever.

Im a swede that is perfectly happy with the NHL staying in NA.
The only thing I want right now is for the KHL to fold over.
I got no problem with the NHL having the best european players but for the KHL to be stealing the rest of the best is to much and its a corrupt league in a country where the rich dont have to pay taxes and the poor only gets poorer and the president is a homophobic remnant of a failed communist society.
It would be so fun to see the KHL fall apart and then have Kovalchuck crawling back over the atlantic begging for a second chance along with his friend Radulov.
- Dalhabs

Best comment in this thread.

Forget Europe. They play a bastardized version of hockey over there. Bigger ice, no fighting, soccer like rules. Keep it a 200 X 85 foot game and keep what makes NHL hockey great. The game was fine, before they started introducing all of the gimmicks. They should have left the Winter Classic, as the only outdoor event, instead of getting greedy and wanting to get more money with football/baseball stadium games all over the place. Shootouts and extra point games have had their day too! Get rid of all of the crap and get back to the basics that made the game great.
- PrinceLH

totally agree!!

I didn't even read this thread.. it reeks of stupid in the title. How about moving the 5 worst franchises into markets that work first, but I cant see that, we have an American for a commish..I vote for gretzky to be commish. get somebody in there that knows a little about hockey and money, not just some greedy assface. Leave the damn game alone, let it grow n stop screwing with new rules every damn year, and stop this stupid idea of Europe joining the nhl..wont happen..

This idea is dumber than the Fox Trax puck.....and that was pretty atrocious
- Pyzik

I actually liked that

Personally, I like the idea... will it work?... NO.
The travelling is not feasible.

What I would propose is the 9th and 10th seeds from each Conference enter a tournament in Europe for some made up trophy. 6 teams on each side, mix up the teams so that there is a west and east team in each (same for the European teams), and have a battle. Each team plays eachother twice to build a rivalry.
Televise on NHL network or whatever during the day like soccer matches...
The motivating factors would have to be money. (SO, figure out the splits)
I feel that as soon as the tournament begins, the players will develop a rivalry and be inspired to win... It would be fun for the NHLers to experience European play + be ambassadors for the NHL.

Why in Europe? because the NHL teams are not in the playoffs!

Why not an implementation similar to the UEFA Champion's League? Allocate a certain # of spots to the NHL, KHL etc. into a tournament which would take place during built-in breaks of the regular season. The top 4 teams in the regular season NHL get spots, and one wildcard from each conference for a total of 6. 6 from NHL 6 from KHL, 1 each for SEL, Czech League, German Ice Hockey League and Swiss league. Home team picks the ice surface.
- Chadavitch

This is good idea... but there remains one "SMALL" issue... whether its this Champion's League style plan or EK's euro expansion plan.

WIth soccer, there is one set of in game rules (albeit refereed differently in different countries/leagues - e.g. Spanish, Brazilian diving, English, German, Dutch not reworded for crying like a school girl)... whereas hockey leagues have rules and ice surfaces that are different enough to change the nature of how the game is played.

The collective of leagues would need to come to agreement on rules, ice surface, number of on ice officials. And the KHL will need to have a salary CAP imposed, as it is essentially doing what the WHA did back in the 70s all over again.

You wanna throw kids in against the men?!
Maybe we should include the novice AA champions as well.
How about the British Premier League Champions... or the Australian champs...
- mlindsay

Hey, bloody leave Australia alone!

the only real idea that could work would be to make an all canada division. and all american division. an all europe division and an all russian division and then who ever wins their divisions will compete in a 4 team tournament to see who is the WHL (world hockey league) champion. 15 teams per division.

Canada:

1. vancouver
2. calgary
3. edmonton
4. quebec city
5. montreal
6. toronto
7. halifax
8. ottawa
9. winnipeg
10. 2nd toronto team
11. saskatoon
12. regina
13. prince george
14. victoria
15. manitoba

USA division:
1. pittsburgh
2. philly
3. NYR
4. DET
5. CHI
6. BOS
7. Tampa
8. ANA
9. washington
10. minnesota
11. NJ
12. NYI
13. Buffalo
14. STL
15. LA

Europe division:
1. Sweden
2. finland
3. germany
4. england
5. france
6. italy
7. chech
8. slovakia
9. poland
10. norway
11. austria
12. belarus
13. spain
14. romania
15. hungary

Russia:
15 cities in russia lol

whoever wins respective divisions play for world championship
- boltsfan48

I think you're thinking more along the lines of 2050, i just think we might be better off waiting until these planes that fly at the edge of space are more than just prototypes, and even with with those planes somehow i feel like its pretty likely soccer would be the first global league sport

If the NHL really wants to make inroads into Europe it would be best served by honoring its traditional fan base in America. Including European clubs in the Stanley Cup playoffs would disgrace the entire competition.

Instead of including European teams in the NHL as a league it would be far more interesting to see the NHL follow the model used by UEFA in organizing their international competitions.

What a lot of people in North America who do not follow International Soccer may not realize is that Champions League was not always a success when the competition first began as the European cup in the 1950s. Now its the top honor for club competition.

Now it should be noted that there is already a Champions League for ice hockey in Europe but it hardly represents the best hockey in the world.

League set up could easily follow the model used by Champions League and Euro League without burdening the schedule to much. In addition the NHL could loosen up call-up, and roster size regulations to ease the burden.

You could have group competition in the pre-season (September/October) and scrap the All-Star game and replace that week with a knock out phase. Throw in a Championship match in April and it would be good to go.

Depending on how that works out I think the NHL could make a move into Europe. If an afore mentioned Champions League set-up can't succeed than there is no reason to think that the current proposals for Euro Expansion would...