2014-2015 Champions Hockey League

[Tomas W]

I think the CHL is shooting themself in the foot by using the top scorer jersey and not allowing teams to use their regular jerseys. They want to reach out to most of the fans, but what it really does is proving fans right about it being some kind of pre-season tournament league.

I mean, why wouldn't you be able to use your regular jerseys, and just add the CHL patch plus the sponsor ones? And the big ad on the arm? Looks horrible! They already got a sponsor patch on the right front side of the jersey, why would they also need to ruin a jersey but applying another one on a whole ****ing arm?

They most definitely do. People would take this more seriously if they just let the teams be as there are.

 

[Exarz]

It's not just the jerseys, they made Tappara use blue pants instead of their iconic oranges ones, for example.

For real? The tournament is getting more and more ridiculous..

 

[eme]

They have a rule where the home team needs to play in their dark uniform, and the visitor in the lighter one. But yes, they shouldnt mess with the uniforms as much. I like however that the teams use a bit different jerseys, the home jerseys for IFK look fantastic IMO.

On a sidenote, I like how players seem really up to this. While the games are still filled with mistakes, they are really celebrating their goals. It seems that they don't treat the tournament as 'only practice' games. Should it continue that way, it will catch on to fans alike.

 

[slovakia18]

i see yesterday good Games, Vienna play nice against swedisch top Team Färjestads BK.
Kosice beat the GERMAN Champion (HC Ingolstadt) with 5:1.
Kosice played so smart i think they can easily play in NHL.
IFK helsinki (my Favorit) with hard work against the Denmark Team Sonderjyske.5:4 in Shootout.

So the CHL have good start i think. Yes they must work in spots (Sponsors, TV, and Jerseys) but the NHL would be well advised not laughing about that.in 2-5 years ,with KHL Clubs, is a hard contender for the NHL!

 

[Urbanskog]

For real? The tournament is getting more and more ridiculous..

Yeah, and the pants were made by the same manufacturer as the CHL requires them to be from and had no additional ads on so there would really have been no issue.

 

[Jakk123]

i see yesterday good Games, Vienna play nice against swedisch top Team Färjestads BK.
Kosice beat the GERMAN Champion (HC Ingolstadt) with 5:1.
Kosice played so smart i think they can easily play in NHL.
IFK helsinki (my Favorit) with hard work against the Denmark Team Sonderjyske.5:4 in Shootout.

So the CHL have good start i think. Yes they must work in spots (Sponsors, TV, and Jerseys) but the NHL would be well advised not laughing about that.in 2-5 years ,with KHL Clubs, is a hard contender for the NHL!

Just to correct, you have mistaken Kosice with Vitkovice
Kosice played with Cologne, Cologne won 2:1.

 

[Exarz]

Yeah, and the pants were made by the same manufacturer as the CHL requires them to be from and had no additional ads on so there would really have been no issue.

I hope they realize all of these problems to next season, so they still can repair the damage!

 

[CHargoalie]

One could see that this was an early first round for European hockey teams. Terrible starts for some teams, although most of them got into the game on some point. Obviously, we're going to see better hockey, as the season goes on, and the national leagues begin. I think the only big surprise was Ocelari Trinec's huge victory over SC Bern.

One more thing concerning the jerseys: anybody remember European Hockey League in the '90's? The teams weren't allowed to use their own logos in the front, instead there was the league logo on each team's jersey. Not that there's any excuse for current situation, of course.

But those top scorer items of abomination are here to stay, according to this (rather old) news story:

Cramo to sponsor top scorer helmets and jerseys

 

[Jablkon]

One could see that this was an early first round for European hockey teams. Terrible starts for some teams, although most of them got into the game on some point. Obviously, we're going to see better hockey, as the season goes on, and the national leagues begin. I think the only big surprise was Ocelari Trinec's huge victory over SC Bern.

One more thing concerning the jerseys: anybody remember European Hockey League in the '90's? The teams weren't allowed to use their own logos in the front, instead there was the league logo on each team's jersey. Not that there's any excuse for current situation, of course.

But those top scorer items of abomination are here to stay, according to this (rather old) news story:

Cramo to sponsor top scorer helmets and jerseys

Together with the helmet and special socks top scorers really look Pejorative Slured. However I understand to it from perspective that we guys really do not know each other so we can easily focus on special players. It is interesting that probably each of us knows more about Florida Panthers than about other teams even from european powerhouses.......Hope this leage will last for years because it is really necessary even from fans perspective....

 

[Atas2000]

Sorry, but the first results clearly show the attitude of the stronger teams towards this tournament. This farce by Mr.Fasel will change or will be over soon.

 

[Vicente]

Sorry, but the first results clearly show the attitude of the stronger teams towards this tournament. This farce by Mr.Fasel will change or will be over soon.

Time will tell what happens. If more and more teams and players take the tournament seriously, then something can develop.

 

[Vicente]

It is interesting that probably each of us knows more about Florida Panthers than about other teams even from european powerhouses.......Hope this leage will last for years because it is really necessary even from fans perspective....

Yes. I was at the ET final tournament in Berlin last year. Was really worth it seeing the other European top teams. I honestly think most fans no barely anything about neighbouring leagues. That really should be changed soon! I mean imagine football fans in Spain not knowing who plays for Manchester United or Chelsea and fans from Italy not knowing anything about Real Madrid or FC Barcelona from Spain. That's the situation we have right now in ice hockey.

Could be great if fans from allover Europe connect and help spread the love for hockey. Especially the guys coming to Italy, France and the UK should give a very good impression of what a nice fan culture hockey can offer.

 

[Jablkon]

Sorry, but the first results clearly show the attitude of the stronger teams towards this tournament. This farce by Mr.Fasel will change or will be over soon.

From czech perspective there were always concerns about czech teams attitude in int. leagues. Slavia cancelled its participation in European trophy and Zlin was not so happy to play in CHL as a czech champion. Otherwise as far as I watched czech teams games, their attitude seems to me very OK. Even attendance at czech home game was more than 3000 (except Liberec with 1700) which is not bad for the first matches and compare to european trophy matches in the same time year ago... I was actually afraid of attendence less then 1000....

 

[van22]

Sorry, but the first results clearly show the attitude of the stronger teams towards this tournament. This farce by Mr.Fasel will change or will be over soon.

Time will tell what happens. If more and more teams and players take the tournament seriously, then something can develop.

It's not an IIHF tournament. CHL is governed by a separate company. The driving force of this tournament are the 26 founding clubs themselves and the 6 country leagues of these founding teams,
How can the founding teams not take this championship seriously when they are the ones that set it up and are financing it?

 

[Eye of Ra]

i see yesterday good Games, Vienna play nice against swedisch top Team Färjestads BK.
Kosice beat the GERMAN Champion (HC Ingolstadt) with 5:1.
Kosice played so smart i think they can easily play in NHL.
IFK helsinki (my Favorit) with hard work against the Denmark Team Sonderjyske.5:4 in Shootout.

So the CHL have good start i think. Yes they must work in spots (Sponsors, TV, and Jerseys) but the NHL would be well advised not laughing about that.in 2-5 years ,with KHL Clubs, is a hard contender for the NHL!

färjestad is not a top team anymore.

 

[CHargoalie]

Together with the helmet and special socks top scorers really look Pejorative Slured. However I understand to it from perspective that we guys really do not know each other so we can easily focus on special players. It is interesting that probably each of us knows more about Florida Panthers than about other teams even from european powerhouses.......Hope this leage will last for years because it is really necessary even from fans perspective....

Definitely. European hockey deserves better than just the annual World championships with the best players absent. And there's also the long tradition of pan-European competition in other major sports. I don't know if the CHL could be seen as the first step towards actual pan-European hockey league, but I think it's good start to have at least a series alongside with national leagues.
In my opinion, the national team tournaments played during the season breaks are far more useless than club competitions like CHL or its predecessors.

 

[Jussi]

Sorry, but the first results clearly show the attitude of the stronger teams towards this tournament. This farce by Mr.Fasel will change or will be over soon.

You do realize that Fasel has nothing to do with this tournament? And that since the founding members have guaranteed entry for 3-4 years, that also means the league will last at least that long since they paid for that share?

 

[scud9]

Yes. I was at the ET final tournament in Berlin last year. Was really worth it seeing the other European top teams. I honestly think most fans no barely anything about neighbouring leagues. That really should be changed soon! I mean imagine football fans in Spain not knowing who plays for Manchester United or Chelsea and fans from Italy not knowing anything about Real Madrid or FC Barcelona from Spain. That's the situation we have right now in ice hockey.

Could be great if fans from allover Europe connect and help spread the love for hockey. Especially the guys coming to Italy, France and the UK should give a very good impression of what a nice fan culture hockey can offer.

I see you are from Cologne and I shall come there to celebrate the greatest game on earth: IceHockey! And all the way from Oulu North of Finland. International games can bring us together and give us something new. I had great time in St.Petersburg 2005, my friends have great memories of Krefeld fans from early 2000 (we stole few songs from them), there has been some Davos(?) fans visiting in Oulu. No to hooliganism, just more beer and let's joy together

 

[Babula]

I see you are from Cologne and I shall come there to celebrate the greatest game on earth: IceHockey! And all the way from Oulu North of Finland. International games can bring us together and give us something new. I had great time in St.Petersburg 2005, my friends have great memories of Krefeld fans from early 2000 (we stole few songs from them), there has been some Davos(?) fans visiting in Oulu. No to hooliganism, just more beer and let's joy together

thanks for this point of view. Hockey is not football anymore.

 

[Jonimaus]

i see yesterday good Games, Vienna play nice against swedisch top Team Färjestads BK.

No one considers Färjestad a top team in Sweden. In fact, we don't even know which teams will be good. It's been a crazy off-season.

 

[Exarz]

No one considers Färjestad a top team in Sweden. In fact, we don't even know which teams will be good. It's been a crazy off-season.

I'd say Växjö is the only "safe to say" top team right now

 

[MMANumminen]

I like this format, although I'd like to have KHL teams in as well. My team Kärpät takes this very serious and they want to win it all.

Yesterday's game vs Liberec was pretty good hockey, at least considering the season is just about to start

 

[Vicente]

It's not an IIHF tournament. CHL is governed by a separate company. The driving force of this tournament are the 26 founding clubs themselves and the 6 country leagues of these founding teams,
How can the founding teams not take this championship seriously when they are the ones that set it up and are financing it?

Exactly. Plus the teams from UK, Denmark, Norway, France or Italy (although HC Bolzano plays in Austrian league of course) have the unique chance to represent their local leagues and hockey programs europe wide. This is a lot of extra motivation when they play against so called top teams from SHL etc. The teams from the stronger leagues also dont want to lose against outsiders and ruin their reputation.

To give an example of a team that refused to become a founding member - because we didn't like the idea of not qualifying but playing in a European championship - Kölner Haie who qualified as vice champions, take the tournament very seriously. There are a lot of ads for the tournament, players and coaching staff are very professional about it and they all want fans to participate as much as possible. You don't really have the feel that they are just doing some pre-season stuff. The league, DEL, and local tv stations and media are also covering the tournament as something way bigger than normal pre-season and we actually see the teams as ambassadors of German hockey so fans also root for other German teams despite not liking them in the league.

But you all know probably how crazy German sports fans are about interntional competitions. Just look at the impressive fans that show up against unknown teams from small countries during football, basketball or handball championships.

 

[Jussi]

Finnish media had comments by Tappara boss about the attendance in their first game (2600), he said it's the first season and first game, so it's expected. They're hoping that in 3-5 years fans will fill the stands more eagerly. So that also indicates how much patience they have with this product. As much as the whole founding member concept might not be sporting, it really does give them a safety net.

 

[S E P H]

It's weird that the Finnish and Swedish teams are the teams with the worst attendance. German and Suiss teams are looking very good except perhaps Hamburg. Didn't see enough of the Czech teams, but as Tappara boss said, just needs to grow.

In the future I would like to see more qualifying rounds if this tournament gets successful with teams from Latvia, Poland, more Slovakian, Slovenia, Italy, Hungary, and others get a chance to get into this tournament like Legia Warsaw was able to do before getting suspended for breaking the rules.