Something I have been wondering, is we know the KHL must be sitting over there rubbing their hands together and cackling with glee....so do you think, in the long term picture, this helps them?
I know they like to sign the aging NHL stars to come home and finish off their careers there, but think about it. It looks like the NHL will NEVER be a stable work environment for players, and the KHL owners seem to have more change lost in their sofa cushions than most NHL owners have in the bank, so I have been thinking, do they start going after not just Russian stars, but all potential stars offering big contracts? At what point do they feel they can actually challenge the NHL for the honor of best league in the world?
Can you imagine if all of Europe and some of North America's up and coming stars decided to start taking their skills overseas? It wouldn't be long before the NHL was a league of 3rd and 4th liners.
I don't think this can happen in the near future, but I read recently the KHL has very big, long term plans...which is something the NHL seems to lack. It is obvious that at some point the players will have to cave and sign a deal here, but the heated emotions towards the league and the owners just don't evaporate over night. I expect there will be a lot of long held resentment.
I'm just hypothesising here, have no real grounds to base this on. Not sure it would be such a bad thing either, for the NHL to have a league actually challenge it. They seem to have a total lack of long term vision for the league and the game overall and I am not sure you can say the same about the KHL....it may take 20 years to get to this point (and 2 or 3 more labour disputes over here) but I could actually see it happening.
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12 team keeper league. 8 keepers/team.
Skater Pts: goal = 2, assist =1, +/-, PIM = .5
Goalie Pts: win = 5, SO = 3, Sv = .1, GA = -.9
FORWARDS:
C. Giroux, I. Kovalchuk, E. Malkin, D. Clarkson, D. Perron, J. Pominville, J. Tootoo, R. Mason, R. Nash, J. Iginla, S. Gagner, R. O'Reilly, T. Bozak
DEFENSE:
C. Letang, Mike Green, A. Edler, N. Kronwall, D. Engelland, K. Yandle, B. Dillon, P. Martin
GOALIES:
R. Miller, J. Quick J. Hiller, C. Nilstorp
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