I wish they created a Central European hockey league for Sweden, Finland, Germany, Czech Rep, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Poland. Would be the best league outside of the NHL.
the Champions Hockey League is starting next fall, you can see that as a first step into this direction. But, as of now, and for the foreseeable future, I don't think there's going to be cooperation beyond that. For Slovak, Czech, Polish, Slovenian and Austrian teams, the money just isn't there for that kind of project. Costs of traveling would explode, as most temas in Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland travel by bus. And the strongest Slovenian team (Olympija Ljubljana) is barely able to afford that. Sure, you can always have conferences and divisions, and teams only seeing each other in the Playoffs, but then what's the point of having a league in the first place.
And the few teams who are able to afford the more expensive roster (you need to stay competitive in order to draw people to the arenas) are lured by the KHL, see f.ex. Zagreb, Bratislava, Jokerit Helsinki, sooner or later Eisbären Berlin, Red Bull Munich and a team in Milan. I think the most realistic option would be KHL expanding west and installing a Euro Division. But that's where you shouldn't forget to factor in politics, and right now the EU-Russia relations sure look tense.
Furthermore, you shouldn't forget that many leagues live off the rivalries the teams have established. Slovakian hockey is still suffering from Bratislava heading off for the KHL - now Kosice is uncontested and teams like Trencin or Zilina, traditionally hotbeds for hockey in Slovakia, don't even bother to put up a fight. It results in a drop in attendance. You'd have the same situation in Czech Republic, if you extract Sparta, Slavia or Kometa from their league. Same for EBEL with KAC, Villach, and possibly even Vienna. I won't speak for DEL or SHL as I don't have the necessary insight, but I think I can remember a bit of a shock in Sweden when Djurgarden was relegated.
Little anecdote: We've had the finals for the European Trophy in Vienna. Lulea played Brynas in the quarters, attendance: about 300. Vienna played Berlin later that night, attendance: 5000. Now, that was with really low prices, I think the most expensive tickets were like 25€ - including BOTH games. So yes, 5000 people bought tickets for both games, as they were only sold as a package, and about 4700 didn't bother to show up for what was (quality wise) probably the best club hockey game on Austrian ice in years. And boy, did the Caps (Vienna's hockey club) ever go all in on the promotion for those games. People are more interested to see ****ing Dornbirn than they are to see Swedish teams, or even their home team taking on European competition. Now, I surely hope they can establish the CHL a little better and draw more people to the arenas. We will see, I'm leaning cautiously optimistic.
I'd love to see Swedish or Finnish teams more frequently in Austria, but right now that's a pipe dream.
/OT rant. Sorry for hijacking the thread.
