OK, so another person had written a blog regarding NHL expansion & it got me thinking about what kind of an effect it would have on the league as a whole. I think that the talent pool is enough to support the amount of teams in the league right now at this time, & adding any new teams at this point would only dilute the level of play that we’ve come to expect.


As far as when the next expansion does eventually happen, I would love to see a couple of new Canadian teams added….maybe Hamilton & bringing back Winnipeg. If they add any in the US, I’d love to see a team in Vegas & maybe a team in a city like Kansas City would pique the interst of an otherwise non-hockey area.


But I just have a sneaking suspicion that Bettman & Co. are looking at expansion a little farther away, like adding some European teams to the NHL fold. I heard rumors about this nearly a decade ago & I know it is still in the minds of some of the league’s power brokers. Personally I don’t like the idea, but if it has a chance to be a reality that we have to deal with at some point, why not examine the issues?


Russia’s revamping of their pro league & making their intentions known that they will throw major bucks at their better talent to keep them playing in Russia, evidenced by the rumor last week that they would offer Evgeni Malkin $15 million to play there next year, creates a potential rival league. Who knows, maybe this will lead the NHL heirarchy to eliminate the competition like they did with the absorbing of WHA teams into the NHL in the late-70s.


Think about this…if they trimmed the amount of existing teams to 20 in the North American Conference, in maybe four divisions of five teams…& added an equal amount of teams in the European Conference, you could still continue with the same playoff format as the existing Eastern & Western Conferences.


A Few Potential Upsides:


1) The teams coming out of the North American & European Conferences would be playing for the title of “World Champion”. This would be the first truly global professional sports league.


2) There would be a tremendous amount of new revenue for the NHL, something that would collectively get the attention of the NHL ownership immediately.


3) As evidenced by the number of Euro fans of the NHL on these boards, there is obviously already a certain amount of popularity for the league in Europe. But with actually having their own “local” teams to follow, there is an entire continent of potential NHL fanatics, all having their own levels of personal spending that could possibly go towards NHL tickets, NHL licensed merchandise, etc.


A Few Potential Downsides: *


1)* Obviously the first would be the nightmare of travel. But if you could run the regular season schedule like the old baseball formatting, with each of the conferences playing each other only & no regular season inter-league play, this could be a possibility. The Finals would be the only time that the teams would be traveling to play each other. But with that, there is also the downside of not seeing the other NHL stars in the other conference for the entire season. With the schedule being the way it has been over the past couple of seasons, we already know what this is like.


2) The fate of Lord Stanley. Stanley is the most coveted & identifiable championship trophy in all of sports, but would it hold the same meaning for the cities in Europe if their team won? Or would you make Stanley the North American Conference’s equivilent of the current Conference Champion’s trophies, the Clarence Campbell Bowl in the West & the Prince of Wales Trophy in the East? I HATE this idea, as the Stanley Cup has been the absolute pinnacle of the NHL since 1917. My vote would be to keep Stanley as the World Champion’s trophy. PERIOD.


3) The costs of revamping existing arenas. Either the North American Conference would have to enlarge their existing ice surfaces to the international size or the European Conference would have to downsize the ice surfaces to meet the NHL size. I would bet the latter would be the case, as the North American arenas would pretty much remain the same, & the European arenas would be able to add hundreds or even possibly thousands of more seats (i.e. MORE potential NHL revenue) with the shrinking ice surface.


4) The interest of the hardcore NHL fan. This setup would possibly have a detrimental effect on the NHL’s core fan-base & traditionalists. Not that the NHL would allow this be a determining factor in their decision, but they would be running the risk that the people who love their NHL hockey “as is” already would lose interest, & the league’s brand of play wouldn’t be as popular in Europe. Dare I say it would be the league’s version of a game of Russian roulette? [[[[Sorry, I had to!]]]]


Whether it’s something that you would love to see come to fruition or something you’re not interested in at all, it’s something that may someday be a reality. If the owners are looking for a new infusion of large amounts of cash this might just be the face of what will again be called “the New NHL”.