Tony DeAngelo Signs With SKA in KHL

[Phil]

 

[phillyb]

Tony DeAngelol

[Morphinity 2.0]

[Pete]

Good for him. His political views should also fit in well there.

[jsm7302]

33 minutes ago, Pete said:

Good for him. His political views should also fit in well there.

Maybe

....

Or his "voice" which he can't seem to control could make him an enemy real quick over there.

[siddious]

He’s going to be fucking miserable lol

[Sharpshooter]

Only a matter of time.

[Phil]

1 hour ago, Morphinity 2.0 said:

 

SKAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Dunny]

Hopefully in a decade, or so, when all the Ukraine stuff is a memory they can continue to build this league, because I'm absolutely convinced we need at least one competitor league to the NHL. Before all the insanity they had a plan to expand across Europe. Maybe it's now impossible, but something needs to happen.

[Phil]

The KHL kind of was a competitor league for a bit. They threw around stupid money early on. But I'm not sure they're ever going to dramatically grow beyond what they are right now. I also don't think any European-based league will ever be true competition for a North American-based one. Any true competition has to come at home.

 

The league best equipped to ever rival the NHL in any aspect is the NCAA.

[Pete]

1 minute ago, Phil said:

The KHL kind of was a competitor league for a bit. They threw around stupid money early on. But I'm not sure they're ever going to dramatically grow beyond what they are right now.

Agreed.

 

And they only threw stupid money at Russian players at the end of their careers, and Jagr that one time.

 

The league is trash. No one wants to play if they don't even know they're gonna get paid, or the money comes in a trash bag, or they have to fly on a plane with no landing gear from 1967.

Edited September 23 by Pete

[Ozzy]

Finally!  He's found a place where he "fits" in!  ...should have been fucking Siberia, but this works!  LOL

[Phil]

Just now, Pete said:

Agreed.

 

And they only threw stupid money at Russian players at the end of their careers, and Jagr that one time.

 

They were a hostile league back then, with no transfer agreement, so there were always reports that they'd offer NHL players all kinds of money to defect. Especially Russian ones.

[Pete]

Just now, Phil said:

 

They were a hostile league back then, with no transfer agreement, so there were always reports that they'd offer NHL players all kinds of money to defect. Especially Russian ones.

Yea. I edited to include other things LOL.

[Phil]

1 minute ago, Pete said:

Yea. I edited to include other things LOL.

 

Totally agreed. I think the allure was there initially. The money was real (though clearly dirty), but they let a player die on their ice (Cherepanov) and lost nearly an entire team to garbage regulations and fuckery with their airplane. I'm not sure you can ever come back from that, least of all when you're a Russian league.

[Dunny]

2 minutes ago, Phil said:

The KHL kind of was a competitor league for a bit. They threw around stupid money early on. But I'm not sure they're ever going to dramatically grow beyond what they are right now. I also don't think any European-based league will ever be true competition for a North American-based one. Any true competition has to come at home.

 

The league best equipped to ever rival the NHL in any aspect is the NCAA.

 

Why? A Euro league makes the most sense, from a growth perspective. Not necessarily Russian based, but with a couple Russian teams, like SKA.

 

The NHL is trash. It should be easy to knock it down a few pegs with simple stuff like no salary cap, no draft, etc.

 

Current Euro clubs all have academies, which is a big leg up on the NHL, who just abuses the NCAA, CHL, and ultimately hockey parents. We foot all the development bill, then the NHL swoops in and just decides who plays where, and for how much. It's a complete trash system for anybody that isn't the NHL.

[Phil]

Just now, Dunny said:

 

Why? A Euro league makes the most sense, from a growth perspective. Not necessarily Russian based, but with a couple Russian teams, like SKA.

 

The NHL is trash. It should be easy to knock it down a few pegs with simple stuff like no salary cap, no draft, etc.

 

Current Euro clubs all have academies, which is a big leg up on the NHL, who just abuses the NCAA, CHL, and ultimately hockey parents. We foot all the development bill, then the NHL swoops in and just decides who plays where, and for how much. It's a complete trash system for anybody that isn't the NHL.

 

Because the NHL's primary audience — the overwhelming majority of its viewership — is based in North America. Particularly in the United States. There's already a massive drop off ("east coast bias") in ratings between Eastern based teams and Western based ones. I just don't buy the idea that there's any significant appetite from this audience to consume international feeds with jarring start times (due to time zones).

[Dunny]

Just now, Phil said:

 

Because the NHL's primary audience — the overwhelming majority of its viewership — is based in North America. Particularly in the United States. There's already a massive drop off ("east coast bias") in ratings between Eastern based teams and Western based ones. I just don't buy the idea that there's any significant appetite from this audience to consume international feeds with jarring start times (due to time zones).

 

Those are some challenges, for sure, but not insurmountable, European football has no issue with this, for example.

 

With even anything resembling parity, Euro prospects will leave the NHL en masse for a system that doesn't simply arbitrarily make you play for Topeka. At the very least, the threat of something like that may force the NHL to re-think some issues.

[Pete]

6 minutes ago, Dunny said:

 

Why? A Euro league makes the most sense, from a growth perspective. Not necessarily Russian based, but with a couple Russian teams, like SKA.

 

The NHL is trash. It should be easy to knock it down a few pegs with simple stuff like no salary cap, no draft, etc.

 

Current Euro clubs all have academies, which is a big leg up on the NHL, who just abuses the NCAA, CHL, and ultimately hockey parents. We foot all the development bill, then the NHL swoops in and just decides who plays where, and for how much. It's a complete trash system for anybody that isn't the NHL.

I think you spelled "youth hockey organizations" wrong LOL.

[Pete]

1 minute ago, Dunny said:

 

Those are some challenges, for sure, but not insurmountable, European football has no issue with this, for example.

 

With even anything resembling parity, Euro prospects will leave the NHL en masse for a system that doesn't simply arbitrarily make you play for Topeka. At the very least, the threat of something like that may force the NHL to re-think some issues.

You can't compare hockey and soccer. 

 

One is the most popular sport on the planet, the other is probably the 10th most popular sport... Squeezed somewhere between Aussie rules rugby and badminton. 

[Phil]

2 minutes ago, Dunny said:

Those are some challenges, for sure, but not insurmountable, European football has no issue with this, for example.

 

With even anything resembling parity, Euro prospects will leave the NHL en masse for a system that doesn't simply arbitrarily make you play for Topeka. At the very least, the threat of something like that may force the NHL to re-think some issues.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but what are the ratings and viewership numbers for European football versus MLS or other North American-based soccer programs?

 

Also, this feels like a reverse case because Soccer is mostly a Euro-associated sport. Hockey isn't. It's North-American in nature, even if it has significant international growth sectors.

[Albatrosss]

Players will go where the money is.  Whoever pays them more that's where the players will go.  If European leagues can afford higher or similar salaries, only then they can compete with the NHL.  But I doubt people in Czechia or Latvia can afford to pay $300 per ticket

[Pete]

3 minutes ago, Albatrosss said:

Players will go where the money is.  Whoever pays them more that's where the players will go.  If European leagues can afford higher or similar salaries, only then they can compete with the NHL.  But I doubt people in Czechia or Latvia can afford to pay $300 per ticket

Do those arenas even have corporate boxes? That's where the big money comes from. 

[Albatrosss]

Just now, Pete said:

Do those arenas even have corporate boxes? That's where the big money comes from. 

no idea.  Not sure they have the same corporate culture. 

[Dunny]

27 minutes ago, Phil said:

 

Forgive my ignorance, but what are the ratings and viewership numbers for European football versus MLS or other North American-based soccer programs?

 

Also, this feels like a reverse case because Soccer is mostly a Euro-associated sport. Hockey isn't. It's North-American in nature, even if it has significant international growth sectors.

 

I'm sure they're dwarfed by Euro soccer, even with the bad start times (or good start times if you go to bed at 830, like me). Champions League, for instance, likely smashes them, or did before all the rights got chopped up.