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Six Teams Head To Europe Next Season
by Paul on 02/09/10 at 12:56 PM ET
Comments (9)
from Dan Rosen of NHL.com,
A record six teams will be opening next season in three different European cities.
The Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild will play two regular-season games against each other at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland, on Thursday, Oct. 7 and Friday, Oct. 8.
The Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks will square off for two games at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, on Friday, Oct. 8 and Saturday, Oct. 9.
The Boston Bruins and Phoenix Coyotes will play each other at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, on Saturday, Oct. 9 and Sunday, Oct. 10.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
Really…totally random. What did they do, draw them out of a hat?
Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 02/09/10 at 01:30 PM ET
The NHL is a joke. Playing games in Europe, shutting down for the Olympics, what a crock of shit. How’d you like to be a season ticket holder and have your team open in freaking Finland? I can’t wait until someone gets hurt in the Olympics and it submarines his team’s Stanley Cup chances. The NHL is a dog and pony show. The Winter Classic has been great but literally EVERY OTHER ASPECT of the Bettman Era has been FAILURE. The cheap shootouts, some games being worth 2 points, some being worth 3, the Mickey Mouse ownership groups, the stupid Eurotrips. Bettman’s a clown.
Posted by Eric on 02/09/10 at 01:37 PM ET
Posted by Eric on 02/09/10 at 01:37 PM ET
Your venom aside, along with the fact that I really enjoy Olympic hockey, I can’t disagree with a single thing you said.
Posted by Incognetis from Delaware... Hi... I'm in... Delaware on 02/09/10 at 02:16 PM ET
Olympic hockey undermines the regular season. How can you develop good nasty rivalries when you go out at Olympic time and team up with the enemy? Furthermore it really irks me that it’s patently obvious that you’ve got a guy like Johan Franzen scurrying back early from a torn ACL so he can showcase himself and try to be a last second addition to the Swedish roster. If anyone thinks otherwise re: Franzen I’ve got some sick oceanfront property in Iowa for you. On top of that, you’re not even playing on the Olympic ice sheet, you’re playing in an NHL barn in Vancouver. Olympic hockey was cool when you had contrasting styles and a bunch of guys playing against each other who never saw each other except during international play. Now there is nothing unique about cuz all these guys play with and against each other night after night after night.
The Stanley Cup is the greatest prize in sports but it seems like it’s secondary now. Secondary to Eurotrips and shootouts and Winter Classics and the Olympics… I’m sorry if I sound negative but if you want to be a pro and get paid, your loyalty should lie with your pro team and the owner paying you the $$. The Olympics are for junior kids and post-college players to spend a year representing their country before starting their pro career or going to work in the real world.
Posted by Eric on 02/09/10 at 02:30 PM ET
So a olympic tournament every four years undermines rivalries? What a load of nonsense. Most people, or so I presume, prefers to see the best players participate at the olympics. The NHL has granted that request, primarily to promote the game around the world. Similar reasoning lies behind the season opening in Europe. The actual financial or promotional gain is more difficult to estimate, but isolation in the North American market is surely a mistake in an increasing globalised world.
As for the article itself, the matchups may appear a little strange. Yet there’s some sense in the match between the teams playing and the country selected. The Finns gets to see some of their national NHL heroes, and the same goes for Swedes and Czechs. A reasonable match given the requirement not to recycle teams.
Posted by Moq from Denmark on 02/09/10 at 05:08 PM ET
Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 02/09/10 at 01:30 PM ET
You give the NHL way too much credit.
Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 02/09/10 at 08:40 PM ET
My condolences to fans of those teams. Although I understand the reason to go to Europe, teams that go out there usually have trouble getting out of the starting gate at the beginning of the year.
Posted by UMFan from Denver, Colorado on 02/09/10 at 09:15 PM ET
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Those are some weird match ups. I wonder who came up with those Genuis
Posted by Toronto fan on 02/09/10 at 01:27 PM ET