The KHL

[Kyle]

With all the recent signings, defections back to Russia, and the contract squabbles with NHL player's, what are your thoughts on the KHL? At this point the NHL hasn't really lost a big superstar. Most of the guys leaving are marginal player's or older guys who just want to play out the string at home. How long will it be before a really big name goes? Do you care? Would you care if, say, Malkin or Ovechkin walked? Just a thought.

 

[penguinfan]

being a Pens fan I would hate to see Malkin go. However(and not any bias) for different reasons I would also hate to see Ovechkin go...just because no matter how much I can't stand him(mostly since he is a Caps player) it would be bad for the league and though not as important the Pens/Caps rivary.
While you only named a two players I hate to see any star player go especially ones not even in their prime or in their prime.

 

[Kharlamov17]

I wish the league well, but I can't see it holding up for more than a few years, sadly. I doubt the sponsors will be able to keep pumping in more and more money without getting anything in return. I hope they prove me wrong. I wish it would be very successful so we can get a European League started instead.

Gonna try and make my way down to Riga (A ferry goes there daily for a very cheap cost) for a game or two during the next season.

 

[DXFlyers]

With all the recent signings, defections back to Russia, and the contract squabbles with NHL player's, what are your thoughts on the KHL? At this point the NHL hasn't really lost a big superstar. Most of the guys leaving are marginal player's or older guys who just want to play out the string at home. How long will it be before a really big name goes? Do you care? Would you care if, say, Malkin or Ovechkin walked? Just a thought.

Malkin nor Ovechkin will NEVER leave the NHL. They like the global spotlight that the NHL gives them. I dont think Malkin is a fan of playing for Russia anyways. Ovechkin is already the highest paid player in the NHL, plently of job security with the long contract with the Caps, face of the franchise, has the nations capital in the palm of his hand, he is an international superstar, and he has a dire quest for the Cup. I truly believes the GR8 loves being in America.

 

[Kyle]

I dont think Malkin is a fan of playing for Russia anyways.

When there was some rumbling that the NHL might be against allowing guys to play in the Olympics in 2014 in Russia, Malkin said he was playing regardless of what the league or the Pens said. Ovechkin did too.

 

[DXFlyers]

When there was some rumbling that the NHL might be against allowing guys to play in the Olympics in 2014 in Russia, Malkin said he was playing regardless of what the league or the Pens said. Ovechkin did too.

Bettman is a jack--- but he is not that stupid to stop them from playing for Russia in Sochi. This past Olympics was the best thing that happened to the NHL post strike era. Viewership had CRAZY numbers, it increased to the playoffs. It will be career suicide for him to do something that outragious.

 

[will-411]

Given that the CBA expires at the end of the 2011 season, Gary Bettman has no right to say yay or nay to the players going to Sochi. It has to be negotiated as part of the CBA. Gary has set it up with his innuendo and occasionally raised eyebrow that he is against it; he now has it as a bargaining chip that he'll give back to the players as a concession for something he wants.

Cory

 

[Tom R]

unless there is something new that was said, Malkin never did say this. Gonchar did.. Malkin when asked stated that he would like to play in the Olympics, but did not say he would play no matter what. Sergei Gonchar on the other hand said he would play no matter what..but he will be 40, so good luck with that.

When there was some rumbling that the NHL might be against allowing guys to play in the Olympics in 2014 in Russia, Malkin said he was playing regardless of what the league or the Pens said. Ovechkin did too.

 

[Stadium Sports]

As a kid, I doubt Malkin or OV dreamed about playing the KHL... The pinnacle is the NHL - not the KHL, AHL, IHL, ECHL.....

They are living the dream. Here!

If the KHL is such a draw for young Russians, why do so many get over here so they can play Junior....

 

[koondog44]

As a kid, I doubt Malkin or OV dreamed about playing the KHL... The pinnacle is the NHL - not the KHL, AHL, IHL, ECHL.....

They are living the dream. Here!

Russians never had an elite league to dream about at all (other than the NHL). Now they do. Believe it or not, SOME Russian born people actually do love their country and might not wish to leave it. Once again, before, the NHL was one of the few options for making a lot of cash, but it isn't any more.

I personally think the NHL is far superior, but it's all I know. I have never ever watched a KHL game. Honestly...I LOVE watching CHL/WHL just as much as the NHL. IMO, those kids don't drag their butts around as a lot of NHL'ers. The reason they try so hard...to make the big cash in the NHL, or other leagues such as the KHL.

I also couldn't care less about anyone wanting to go play over there. If they wanna go, see ya!! Those players that bail that easily usually think they are bigger than the game anyways.

 

[warsawknuckles]

doesn't anyone remember Malkin secretly defecting so he could play here? that says a helluva lot about his ambitions.

 

[slckrsx]

I'm thinking the players, especially superstars, can make waaaaay more here in endorsements etc. then they ever could in Russia.

 

[pacadie]

Like it or not, I think we got to respect the choice of a player to go play in the KHL.

If the best league in the world was in Russia instead of North America, how many Canadians or Americans will move there, forced to learn a new language and live in a completely different culture? Will you blame them if, after six or seven years in Russia, they choose to leave and play next to home, in an inferior league? I don't think so.

I think that we, North American, tend to think that it is easy for the Europeans players to move here. We tend to overlook the cultural aspect of those moves. We tend to think that everybody, around the world, live like the people we see in those American movies.

The turth is that I am glad that I didn't have to move to Russia or Czech Republic at 19 years old. I would have been scare to death. If I did, I would have move back to Canada at the first occasion. But that's me.

As a passionnate fan hockey fan, I would love that all the best players in the world play in the NHL. But Russian fans also have the right to see live some of the best players. This does not have to be a North American hockey fans privilege. Like it or not...

 

[Metrags]

With all that Malkin went through to come to the Americas, I dont think he would go back for a few bucks.


As for the league, it is a viable option for anyone who isnt satisfied with the NHL.

Heck, remember the lockout year? The entire NHL was over in Europe playing in Swedish, Russian, and Finnish leagues (etc etc). It is pretty darn unfair to criticize guys for going over there now, when no one said anything in 2003.

I just think it is a shame that we cant watch them here. We are pretty spoiled over here, we take the best from every country to our continent to play in our league and play by our rules (Euro rinks and rules are slightly different remember).

Just some food for thought.

 

[Cam98]

if KHL was stable i understand all the russian players leaving NHL (when contract up) to go to KHL...they playing at home closer to family etc, its totally understandable.

 

[gigs6027]

I think that for some of the Russian players, it's about cashing in as much as they can before they get too old. So yeah the KHL may grab those guys who are just cresting the hill and on the downward slide. As far as a "star" player going back home? I highly doubt it. If it's all about the money, I think that Lemaire and the Devils have shown that there are ways around that and still be able to play in the best league in the world.

 

[maradona]

The KHL are disillusioned. They think it's possible to just set up a major league almost from scratch and expect it to rival the NHL, which has about a hundred years' headstart, in just a few years. The ambitions are big, and it might not be an impossible dream given time, but I don't think the league will ever get that big. Investors will lose interest long before that is reached.

Obviously the KHL will remain a place for washed-up former NHL stars and current 3rd or 4th-liners, but I don't see it becoming huge anytime soon.