Champions Hockey League

[SoundAndFury]

This was the last true Champions hockey league. I remember interest was really high, arenas were packed. You cant have "Champions league" and not having KHL teams. It's like having Uefa CL without Premiership or without Real and Barcelona.

I do like watching CHL, good hockey, but you have that feeling something is missing...

Well that's what happens when one country wants to act like they can take over hockey in the entire continent, have every expansion project collapse, start a war because money for the soft power adventures that don't yield any results is running out and they are left playing in their own sandbox with half of the team struggling to even keep up the appearances of their glorified Superleague.

 

[vorky]

Champions Hockey League (2008–09) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This was the last true Champions hockey league. I remember interest was really high, arenas were packed. You cant have "Champions league" and not having KHL teams. It's like having Uefa CL without Premiership or without Real and Barcelona.

I do like watching CHL, good hockey, but you have that feeling something is missing...

Agree.

It is more complicated with CHL 2008 .... there is too much dishonest from some guys who are bashing the KHL / original sponsors for its cancelation. Not all truth has been circulating in media. There were multiple reasons for CHL cancelation. Financial crisis, but this issue was not crutial. Original sponsors were not satisfied with marketing partner, therefore the agreement of original sponsors with IIHF about one-year postponement with preferential right of original sponsors in case of re-starting. Later the NHL came to the scene demading the majority ownership in CHL, original sponsors wanted 50/50 share, which was refused by NHL. If you are interested in this history case, try to google. Basically, what is happening now in CHL / European hockey started in these days. Some people running European hockey wanted more power than they ever had. Hoping they will find out in their retirement what bad disservice they did to European hockey. Finally, you can not organise such a tournament without resources. They tried & failed as we can see now, in CHL 2024.

 

[Old Man Jags]

The Sparta Prague coach said after Sparta just won the CHL 2024 quarter finals that absolutely nobody is interested in the CHL. And that’s what teams say who actually are successful in the competition

 

[Albatros]

Just so happens that no Czech team has ever won it. Surely only because they don't want to, and not because their league is weak.

 

[Old Man Jags]

Just so happens that no Czech team has ever won it. Surely only because they don't want to, and not because their league is weak.

This is a rather pointless comment. It is a fact that nobody watches the CHL until the final. And before you make silly assumptions, you should perhaps know what you are talking about. The coach said that he personally likes the CHL because it is a great opportunity to play against good teams from other countries and different playing systems. He likes it from a sporting perspective but says that nobody wants to watch it. Which is true. The quarterfinal Sparta just played in Sweden was played in front of a pretty empty stadium. The CHL is badly organized, fans don’t watch it for some reason and it is loss-making EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Czech club owners don’t particularly like it because they make no money with it. Nothing to do with the league being weak - a Czech club probably won’t win it but quarterfinals or semifinals are no surprise.

In contrast, a Czech football club will probably never play a football CL semifinal again because the league is far too weak for it. Yet Czech football clubs love the CL. Why? Because it makes a huge amount of money, is very prestigious and fans watch it.

 

[Albatros]

Sure it's not the premier competition that the Champions League in soccer is, but which domestic league is doing much better? The latest SHL weekday game in Växjö also had similar attendance.

If Sparta makes more money against Mountfield then good for them. They can always leave the CHL and do a longer domestic schedule instead if that's what the fans there want. Improving the CHL would rather mean more CHL games. But soccer money there's never going to be in any part of European hockey, not domestic and not continental.

 

[vorky]

This is a rather pointless comment. It is a fact that nobody watches the CHL until the final. And before you make silly assumptions, you should perhaps know what you are talking about. The coach said that he personally likes the CHL because it is a great opportunity to play against good teams from other countries and different playing systems. He likes it from a sporting perspective but says that nobody wants to watch it. Which is true. The quarterfinal Sparta just played in Sweden was played in front of a pretty empty stadium. The CHL is badly organized, fans don’t watch it for some reason and it is loss-making EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Czech club owners don’t particularly like it because they make no money with it. Nothing to do with the league being weak - a Czech club probably won’t win it but quarterfinals or semifinals are no surprise.

In contrast, a Czech football club will probably never play a football CL semifinal again because the league is far too weak for it. Yet Czech football clubs love the CL. Why? Because it makes a huge amount of money, is very prestigious and fans watch it.

Agree.

I will again repeat my words. How is it possible that the CHL management allows Eisbären/Frölunda (others?) to play their CHL games at back-up arena instead of their main venue (Uber Arena/Scandinavium). By this decision they are degrading the competition, showing how much they value it. And yes, I know, people would not fill 12000+ arena for that matches. But you can not do what they have been doing ....

 

[Albatros]

"Degrading the competition"

 

[Goodman68]

Just so happens that no Czech team has ever won it. Surely only because they don't want to, and not because their league is weak.

A weak league would be one whose participants would regularly be eliminated in the group stage, or at the very beginning of the knockout stage. But not one whose participants played in the final several times.

 

[Albatros]

Two 2nd places in 9 years and 5th place in the ranking isn't exactly stellar given that the serious competition is really just between 5 leagues.

 

[Goodman68]

Considering that some teams outright sabotaged the league (at one time even the later finalist from Hradec Králové), it is certainly not a bad result
And Czech teams have more final or semi-final appearances than Germans or Swiss (if I'm not mistaken, I don't want to look for it).