The NHL lockout is a disaster for North American hockey. The NHL is the worlds top league, no matter what the KHL thinks about it, and quite frankly, a season without it does the world of hockey more harm than good. The top players are forced into Europe, which is great for European hockey, but sadly it's not the same high level as the NHL. A few players might come to the Elite League in the UK though. But is it a blessing for the EIHL to have such talent grace its ranks, or could it do more harm than good for the British game? It requires a bit of thinking this one...
So far (as of the 15/10/2012), Braehead, Coventry, Sheffield and Nottingham have signed NHL regulars as a result of the lockout, but I'm sure should the lockout affect the whole season we could expect to see some players down at Cardiff and Belfast. I suppose as a hockey fan it's all good news - it's rare in the UK that we get to see players of that quality play here and to have half a dozen in the league adds something we've not had since...the 2004-2005 season. I imagine being a young British hockey player for Fife or Hull and coming up against Anthony Stewart will raise your game, but coming up against players like that every week will no doubt improve players much more than they would have without a lockout. It's great for the fans too, hockey of that calibre is rare in the UK so hopefully it'll boost attendances, something Elite League clubs sorely need and deserve.
But as I said earlier, only Braehead, Coventry and Nottingham have made lockout signings. Sheffield and Belfast probably will, but would Hull? Would Fife? Would Dundee? Yes, the league has been closer than ever this season and the new conference system helps with that, but I can't see NHL players signing for Edinburgh when they could go to Nottingham. In a league where the gap between top and bottom is pretty wide, would it affect the gap even more? Possibly. I want British hockey to be successful, and the only way I can see that happening is a competitive league, not one where the same teams win week in, week out. Would Nottingham and Coventry and the like having the NHL players make it even more so? Perhaps. The conference system might limit it, but you have to admit, that Northern conference would look much weaker as a result.
High profile signings are great, they're great for the fans, they give the kids something to aspire too, but in the EIHL, an NHLer is practically guaranteed game time, he's not going to have to fight for his place, unlike the young British players coming through. I'm not sure about the import rules the EIHL will put in place for the lockout, if they'll increase the number of foreign players allowed, but having an NHLer in the team could squeeze out that promising young British player and give him less game time. I'm optimistic that Britain can get promoted from Division 1A in the world championships some point soon, but I don't think the NHL lockout helps build our future. The young British players need to be playing top level games all the time, and having NHL players in the ranks might squeeze them out slightly.
Finally, I'm going to pose this question - do the public care? I care, I'm a hockey fan, and I'm sure you're a hockey fan too, given that you're reading this, but ask yourself this...have you heard anything about the lockout from a non-hockey source? Like the news, or the newspapers? And also, I know the players in the NHL, they're familiar to me, but does your average man in the street know who Matt Beleskey is? Probably not, and that's where the problem lies - the general public don't know this is happening. Most of them will have heard of the NHL, and if you said there were some NHL players signing for our clubs I bet a few of them would be down to watch, but the press don't seem to care. It's all about footballers cheating and that, and it saddens me, because potentially a great thing is happening to British hockey. It's our chance to see top players and go, 'wow, why can't they be here every week?'. It's a chance to get more people interested in hockey. So go out to your clubs, watch a game, let people know - the NHL is here, in the UK. Get out and see it.
No comments:
Post a Comment