The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in Russia has grown rapidly over the last decade and looks to be a serious competitor to the National Hockey League (NHL). With the growth of the KHL, the NHL will experience a weakening in their product as many European players as well as North American players will play there.
The biggest benefit to playing in Russia is first and foremost for Russian players. They will now be given the ability to play within their own nation. The time period seems to be over when players try to escape Russia, something we saw near the collapse of the Soviet Union. Players now feel at home in Russia post communism and are willing to play in their home nation. A homesickness of such has been seen before by players wanting to play back in their home nations over playing in North America, because they want to feel at home. Some say that is the reason Marcus Naslund recently retired from the NHL, wanting to play back in Sweden, which he did after a year. But the trend reaches further than European and Russian players.
The new NHL, one with cap spaces, has left many talented players over the past few years without a team. They might be a little too old to play in an obstruction-less NHL, they might be asking too much to play and teams just cannot afford their services. The best move for them would be to either retire or maybe go and join the AHL, or get on a staff somewhere. But for those who still have the desire to play, they will try and move on to Russia to get a second chance.
Second chances have a dual meaning here. Certain players have drawn ire from the NHL and while looking to escape the attention, they move over to the KHL for a season. That is what Ray Emery did last year, playing in Russia for a year before retuning to the NHL. If the cement business and construction was not such a money-making venture in Alberta, Canada, than I assume that Theoren Fleury would be playing in the KHL. He did play in Ireland for a while, and I am sure that one of the KHL teams would be willing to pick him up if he wanted to leave the comfort of home.
The NHLs drug testing is not the greatest, but it has caught players before. As the KHL is not fully part of the IIHF, it has the ability to have players who have been forced out of the NHL because of wellness issues, something that did happen to Theoren Fleury.
The NHL lock out of 2004 changed the way the NHL is played with the previously mentioned Cap and Obstruction rules. What it also did was exposed players and perhaps fans to European markets. Dany Heatley played in Europe, a player I highly doubt would have ever played in the continent despite it being his birthplace (son of an armed forces personnel). With that stint, there is now an openness for players wanting to go overseas for a paycheck.
The contracts are grand. They might not reach the level of NHL contracts in general, but they do come with advantages. Martin Gerber faced a similar situation when he was offered $700,000 to play in Russia. The article here http://www.fromtherink.com/2009/7/22/958088/how-khl-clubs-woo-nhl-free-agents describes this situation where he was offered more money in the NHL, but with all the added benefits of the KHL, he chose the KHL.
Players already in the KHL are some of the NHLs former best. Names like Jagr, Federov, Yashin and so forth. Their leading scorer is Alexei Yashin who has 52 points in 46 games. That is NHL calibre scoring, but because he was unable to get a contract, he went back to Russia to play. At 39 Jozef Stumpel might be too old for the NHL by many teams standpoints, but as one of the leading scorers in the KHL, he is proving his worth, after being bought out by the Florida Panthers. Marcel Hossa at one time was discussed as a future top six forward in the NHL, but after a rough time in New York and Montreal, he retreated back to Europe to play. Jiri Hudler is a Stanley Cup winner, and was offered a pretty good salary by the Detroit Red Wings but left to play in Russia because he wanted to be home. Jaromir Jagr was getting old, but still knew how to play. Most importantly, he drew fans, but he is no longer drawing them to the NHL, he is drawing them to Avangard games. One time a cherished player is gone, because of the draw of the KHL. The same can be said about Stanley Cup winners Sergei Zubov, Sergei Federov, and Viktor Kozlov. Its the reason that former NHL goalies Robert Esche, Martin Gerber, Tyler Moss no longer lace up here.
At this rate, the NHL will not be able to stop players from entering KHL draft one day. The young NHLers such as Ovechkin, Semin, Malkin could have never saw the light of day in the NHL. At current rates, we might not see the next batch of Russian superstars. I think that the NHL will lose its monopoly on hockey greats one day and their will be a split between the two leagues. What are your thoughts?
The biggest benefit to playing in Russia is first and foremost for Russian players. They will now be given the ability to play within their own nation. The time period seems to be over when players try to escape Russia, something we saw near the collapse of the Soviet Union. Players now feel at home in Russia post communism and are willing to play in their home nation. A homesickness of such has been seen before by players wanting to play back in their home nations over playing in North America, because they want to feel at home. Some say that is the reason Marcus Naslund recently retired from the NHL, wanting to play back in Sweden, which he did after a year. But the trend reaches further than European and Russian players.
The new NHL, one with cap spaces, has left many talented players over the past few years without a team. They might be a little too old to play in an obstruction-less NHL, they might be asking too much to play and teams just cannot afford their services. The best move for them would be to either retire or maybe go and join the AHL, or get on a staff somewhere. But for those who still have the desire to play, they will try and move on to Russia to get a second chance.
Second chances have a dual meaning here. Certain players have drawn ire from the NHL and while looking to escape the attention, they move over to the KHL for a season. That is what Ray Emery did last year, playing in Russia for a year before retuning to the NHL. If the cement business and construction was not such a money-making venture in Alberta, Canada, than I assume that Theoren Fleury would be playing in the KHL. He did play in Ireland for a while, and I am sure that one of the KHL teams would be willing to pick him up if he wanted to leave the comfort of home.
The NHLs drug testing is not the greatest, but it has caught players before. As the KHL is not fully part of the IIHF, it has the ability to have players who have been forced out of the NHL because of wellness issues, something that did happen to Theoren Fleury.
The NHL lock out of 2004 changed the way the NHL is played with the previously mentioned Cap and Obstruction rules. What it also did was exposed players and perhaps fans to European markets. Dany Heatley played in Europe, a player I highly doubt would have ever played in the continent despite it being his birthplace (son of an armed forces personnel). With that stint, there is now an openness for players wanting to go overseas for a paycheck.
The contracts are grand. They might not reach the level of NHL contracts in general, but they do come with advantages. Martin Gerber faced a similar situation when he was offered $700,000 to play in Russia. The article here http://www.fromtherink.com/2009/7/22/958088/how-khl-clubs-woo-nhl-free-agents describes this situation where he was offered more money in the NHL, but with all the added benefits of the KHL, he chose the KHL.
Players already in the KHL are some of the NHLs former best. Names like Jagr, Federov, Yashin and so forth. Their leading scorer is Alexei Yashin who has 52 points in 46 games. That is NHL calibre scoring, but because he was unable to get a contract, he went back to Russia to play. At 39 Jozef Stumpel might be too old for the NHL by many teams standpoints, but as one of the leading scorers in the KHL, he is proving his worth, after being bought out by the Florida Panthers. Marcel Hossa at one time was discussed as a future top six forward in the NHL, but after a rough time in New York and Montreal, he retreated back to Europe to play. Jiri Hudler is a Stanley Cup winner, and was offered a pretty good salary by the Detroit Red Wings but left to play in Russia because he wanted to be home. Jaromir Jagr was getting old, but still knew how to play. Most importantly, he drew fans, but he is no longer drawing them to the NHL, he is drawing them to Avangard games. One time a cherished player is gone, because of the draw of the KHL. The same can be said about Stanley Cup winners Sergei Zubov, Sergei Federov, and Viktor Kozlov. Its the reason that former NHL goalies Robert Esche, Martin Gerber, Tyler Moss no longer lace up here.
At this rate, the NHL will not be able to stop players from entering KHL draft one day. The young NHLers such as Ovechkin, Semin, Malkin could have never saw the light of day in the NHL. At current rates, we might not see the next batch of Russian superstars. I think that the NHL will lose its monopoly on hockey greats one day and their will be a split between the two leagues. What are your thoughts?