"Active negotiations are underway. One thing is clear: our side has no intention of inviting...

"Active negotiations are underway. One thing is clear: our side has no intention of inviting unattractive, weak teams. We are planning for the strongest representatives of the NHL to come to Russia. It is already clear that one of these teams will be Washington. Whether or not the Capitals will play against a "delegation" from the KHL or against a rival from their own league, we will find out a little bit later."

KHL President Alexander Medvedev in an interview with Sport-Express, when asked about the possibility of an NHL game in Russia next season.

over 1 year ago tuvanhillbilly 11 comments 0 recs |

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Oh boy. I wonder how fans of other “strong” teams are going to take this. sigh

Warning: I started watching hockey in 2007. So, yeah. Heh.

by Laich Button on Dec 17, 2010 10:00 PM EST reply actions

Well, there are a lot of strong teams in the NHL. The weak teams know who they are so I seriously doubt they are ashamed of it by now. Islanders, Oilers, Leafs, pretty much sums up the weak teams.

I don’t think an NHL team playing a KHL team would be a good thing, though. Too many things to take away from a game like that.

Bruce Boudreau when asked about Brooks Laich's return to the lineup, he said: "He just adds another dimension to our team. If it was puzzle, he just fits that thing. He completes us."

Brooks Laich completing everything from teams to tires and everything in between.

by breaklance on Dec 17, 2010 10:35 PM EST up reply actions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekH2zovSEIE&feature=player_embedded

You mean something like this?

‎"I ain't no rodman... I don't have no blond hair, red hair. I'm Reggie Evans"

by Amacaps on Dec 17, 2010 11:06 PM EST up reply actions

After seeing the exhibition game from earlier this year, I’m not sure I want the Caps playing against the KHL, at least not with KHL officials. I could possibly be persuaded if they used NHL officials, of maybe IIHF officials. The SKA vs. Carolina game this fall left a bad taste in my mouth. I’d rather not lose Backstrom for a season because some guy in the KHL thought he’d make a statement by taking runs at his knees (like they did to Staal this year).

I am a hockey fan first, and a Caps fan second.

by iwearstripes on Dec 17, 2010 11:15 PM EST reply actions

I would like to see this happen regularly someday. One of the things about soccer that I enjoy is the Champions League where different teams from different national leagues play each other to determine the best club in the region or as it’s going on now with Club World Cup, the world.

Does NHL have anything to gain by participating? No because if we do win, then it only proves what most people know: NHL is the best league in the world. If the team loses, then NHL does get a bit of grief.

Unfortunately our length of the season and schedule does not allow us to do this during the season, but it would be neat to have a “Champions League” hockey tournament perhaps in the summer with the Stanley Cup Finalists playing KHL, SEL, and other capable leagues champions. Of course, the typical issues appear: injuries, need to rest, not ready for the season as well as other international tournaments taking place, but soccer teams face all of these issues as well especially those that go far in many tournaments face tight scheduling.

However, such exchanges are always good and increases innovation and competition. The Summit Series changed hockey for the better, and this could spur innovations not only in the NHL, but on Russia side to get better and train better players to increase the quality of players coming to the NHL or staying in KHL I always hope that the NHL will be considered the best league in the world, but I hope there would be a day when another team from another league beats us and it’s not considered shameful. Just as English Premier League is considered the best league in the world, but the 2009-2010 Champions League winner was Inter Milan from Italy’s Serie A (third best in the world).

I say go for it. With the Russian star power we have, i can’t think of a better team to do it.

by HobbesLionheart on Dec 17, 2010 11:33 PM EST reply actions

Toughest part about doing a CL style tournament is the geography. Between ridiculously different time differences here and Moscow, as well as the rest of Russia, travel would be near impossible to schedule along with NHL games. Whenever a team like CSKA Moscow or Rubin Kazan is home for a CL game, the game is always around noon here as opposed to 2:45. And that’s just considering Europe. Imagine what would happen for any East Coast team.

Also, the differences in leagues is far different than comparing Serie A to the EPL. The NHL KHL comparison would be like the EPL and the Dutch league.

I’m fine with us going there to play, but like mentioned above, I don’t want to play against a KHL team and have them go after our guys to prove a point.

"Well, either side could win it, or it could be a draw." -Ron Atkinson

I finally gave in and got a Twitter. Follow me @sami426

by sami426 on Dec 17, 2010 11:45 PM EST up reply actions

I understand logistics make it impossible for it to occur during the regular season and the time zones do play havoc with the time, but that is one of the arguments why the NHL is balking about playing in Sochi. I, for one, support them playing in the Olympics because the product is awesome and it’s a honor to play for your country. Will we be able to see our games live? Unless we stay up in the wee hours, no.

Soccer is obviously unique because it’s truly a global sport and the talent pool is far more vast than any other sport. Obviously hockey’s talent pool is very limited. That makes me wonder if there can ever be a semblance of parity between leagues to make a Champions League feasible talent-wise. The other thing will have to be the money spent to acquire the best players. Even within domestic soccer leagues, there are very little parity as the superteams often dominate the top five spots of the table whereas here in American sports (except baseball), parity within the league is the rule.

Obviously, it’s complicated with many different logistics and factors to work out, but it would be nice to see more international competition between leagues in all sports as I think it will raise the level of the sport.

by HobbesLionheart on Dec 18, 2010 10:05 AM EST up reply actions