Is it time for a Canadian only professional hockey league?

[HTFN]

You mean selfish middle aged men who want to chase a childhood fantasy at the well being of his children and his marriage, to make no financial gain?



You made that up, you need to sober up if I for a moment suggested a guy is play for $40,000.

$2 million a year is already something the current london nights could do. You being an expert and all on "baby cities" would know this.



You realize there's NHL players currently in the league with multi million dollar properties in London already? Whos wives don't even automatic move to their husbands current nhl city?

Because it turn out inlaw parents and parents are better supports for the children than a husband who spends half his time on the road.

When you have kids major cities can have zero of the appeal that they did before you have kids.

Are you okay? You're coming completely unglued today

 

[rypper]

No, this is a dumb idea that would never work.

 

[CTHabsfan]

A 34 year old playing in Toronto is told by his wife she doesn't want to move to St Louis for 3 years just so her husband can make 2 million a year to play on the 4th line? Versus same money with only 30 road games, many of which are in driving distance.

I'm not sure how you expect someone to get paid $2 million/season to play in a minor league with a 60 game schedule, but let's assume that is possible. Will the league also ban trades, or will players quit if they are traded? I can't imagine the wife in Ontario will be happy if her husband gets sent to a team in Alberta.

 

[Pierre Larouche]

Yes. Absolutely. Do it. Call it the CHL and see what happens. Good luck.

Yes. Absolutely!!! Genius! - also see if Don Cherry is available as commissioner.

 

[edog37]

Could we please stop with this absurd & nonsense. This fantasy isn’t going to happen for one simple reason…money. You won’t find owners who will give up or pass up NHL millions to get sub-AHL thousands. That’s exponentially ridiculous on any level.

They don’t care about Canadian pride, poutine, or maple syrup. They care about money. You know who else cares about money? Players. The top talent will go to the US-based NHL because salaries, prestige, & sponsorship deals are more lucrative. The NHL might source a majority of its talent from Canada, but no realistic pro league exists without US money.

If you have any doubt about it, remember none of the other Canadian owners lifted so much a finger to help out Quebec & Winnipeg when they were losing their teams. They just saw it as a bigger slice of Canadian TV revenue for their teams, so off to Phoenix & Denver they went.

 

[MattMartin]

CFL>>>>>>NFL, Am I right?

 

[BostonBruins11]

It would destroy CHL... bad idea IMO.

 

[The Panther]

At that point, it was solving a major problem, cross-border travel. That doesn’t exist anymore. Now it’s just an unnecessary inconvenience. There would be push back today. And who actually cares enough to fight for this?

Oh no... push-back..!!! (gasp!)

We'd better bow down and do exactly what the superior and deservedly-League dominant clubs in the Eastern time zone want because... they're in the Eastern time zone!!

As to "who actually cares", I'd say... millions of people? It's quite obviously a natural consideration -- when 22% of clubs are in one nation, and 78% are in another -- that all the clubs in one nation would form their own division. This is actually the logical way that 90% of non-hockey fans would assume it is, before they found out otherwise.

 

[HF007]

A Canadian division might be the solution, that way a Canadian team gets a final 4 playoff spot

 

[tucker3434]

Oh no... push-back..!!! (gasp!)

We'd better bow down and do exactly what the superior and deservedly-League dominant clubs in the Eastern time zone want because... they're in the Eastern time zone!!

As to "who actually cares", I'd say... millions of people? It's quite obviously a natural consideration -- when 22% of clubs are in one nation, and 78% are in another -- that all the clubs in one nation would form their own division. This is actually the logical way that 90% of non-hockey fans would assume it is, before they found out otherwise.

Again, it solves a problem that doesn’t exist. Millions of people aren’t altering their spending habits over this, at least, not in a positive way.

Personally, I don’t care if Ottawa is in the same division as Vancouver. But it’s not happening without a legitimate reason for it. And there isn’t one.

 

[WarriorofTime]

It's quite obviously a natural consideration -- when 22% of clubs are in one nation, and 78% are in another -- that all the clubs in one nation would form their own division. This is actually the logical way that 90% of non-hockey fans would assume it is, before they found out otherwise.

I bet if you explained how it actually works most people would agree that the current system makes more sense.

Toronto and Buffalo are so close to each other, why group them in separate divisions?

 

[Scomerica]

I bet if you explained how it actually works most people would agree that the current system makes more sense.

Toronto and Buffalo are so close to each other, why group them in separate divisions?

Or Seattle and Vancouver

 

[ijuka]

I bet if you explained how it actually works most people would agree that the current system makes more sense.

Toronto and Buffalo are so close to each other, why group them in separate divisions?

Maybe some people just want to stay in their own country. Also, Canada has so many professional quality players, it seems like such a waste to only have NHL as an option for them. A lower tier professional league would make quite a bit of sense to me, so players' careers don't end after they finish with CHL.

 

[snag]

If you have any doubt about it, remember none of the other Canadian owners lifted so much a finger to help out Quebec & Winnipeg when they were losing their teams. They just saw it as a bigger slice of Canadian TV revenue for their teams, so off to Phoenix & Denver they went.

Without the cap and revenue sharing, etc...were there actually any mechanisms that would have actually enabled them to do so?

 

[WarriorofTime]

Maybe some people just want to stay in their own country. Also, Canada has so many professional quality players, it seems like such a waste to only have NHL as an option for them. A lower tier professional league would make quite a bit of sense to me, so players' careers don't end after they finish with CHL.

There are multiple other professional leagues.

USA and Canada have a very soft border. Outside of Quebec, they speak the same language and Americans/Canadians don't feel like fish out of water in the other country. Maybe Europeans have a tougher time understanding this because there are greater cultural and linguistic differences across borders, but there isn't some strong national pull to keep the countries apart outside of a few ultra-nationalists.

 

[snag]

A Canadian division might be the solution, that way a Canadian team gets a final 4 playoff spot

And how would you balance out the 2,300 mile (3,700km) cross-country back and forths between Montreal and Vancouver in the travel schedules for the rest of the league?

 

[bert]

You'd rather watch sub AHL-tier Canadian hockey than get over your Canadian sense of entitlement. Hockey is a global game. The US has the best financial demographics, get over it.

Rich from where this is coming from. Its a ridiculous idea but pot kettle.

 

[JMCx4]

... I couldn't give a rat's ass about the NHL BTW, I'm a Leafs fan before I'm an NHL fan. I'd follow them wherever they took their product and if a few Canadian teams actually did this, it would instantly legitimize whatever this new league might be.

Interesting scenario. But what legal & monetary obligations do current NHL member teams have to the League? Those terms could have been established to ensure any departure to a WHA-like league would be VERY painful.

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

Without the cap and revenue sharing, etc...were there actually any mechanisms that would have actually enabled them to do so?

When the Canadian dollar was struggling they had the Canadian currency-assistance program which helped send funds to the Canadian teams that needed it at the time. I think some of the owners also helped out some of the Canadian teams in the early/mid 90's when the Canadian economy hit a recession.

Weird that some on here paint it as a one way street that Canadian teams are subsidizing the league, when they've needed help in the past themselves. Assistance has gone both ways over the years.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

CFL>>>>>>NFL, Am I right?

CFL is ass , eastern Canadians barely watch

 

[Empoleon8771]

I find the juxtaposition of takes between "Bettman is ruining the NHL by expanding to the southern USA" and "It's time for a Canadian only division/league so that Canadian teams can win again" to be hilarious

 

[SjMilhouse]

Why the hell does it matter if any team but your own wins a cup? Pretty sure no one in the US is like "hell yeah brother, Boston won another cup...USA USA USA USA"

 

[BiolaRunner]

30 years without a Canadian team winning, 7 Canadian teams.

It's going to be at least 210 years before every Canadian team will win a Stanley cup.

We just want something to cheer for

12 American teams haven't won a Cup in that same span

 

[VivaLasVegas]

This thread is so sad.

If anything at all is to be done, create a North Division of the 7 Canadian teams plus one far north US team, to give the Canadian teams a better chance of making it to a conference final. They could also play each other much more often, which would presumably make the Canadian fans happier during the regular season.

 

[BlackFrancis]

12 American teams haven't won a Cup in that same span

Those teams are totally lucky Bettman hasn't stacked the deck against them like he has the proud, uber-competent Canadian franchises.