Posted by Håkan Ljung on 14th February 2004 at 19:17 GMT
Posted from 212.105.10.213 (md4690ad5.utfors.se)
Hello Boena,
I agree that the differences between the 6th best leagues in Europe are decreasing. It´s not fair not to not mention SM-Liga at same instant as Elitserien, since the difference of level is very slim and has been so for 6-7 years. Finns have a much better junior development program than Sweden have. You have to excuse me, but Elitserien has been ranked number 1 in Europe from late 80ies to
all over the 90ies. Maybe the times is changing now...
Still, Russian league are very uneven league, therefore ranked lower. Is it the best Russian teams we see playing? I dont know. The ranking is made by expertise, dont blame me. I have not seen any new rankinglist yet, have you?
Well, I dont think we lose as much as you say. Färjestad winns many games during various pre-season tournaments before each season. Djurgården have lost quite a few times against Swissteam Kloten Flyers years before in pre season games. DIF whin many games as well. Eisbären Berlin won the game against Malmö IF Red Hawks here in August, but lost one against our second division team Rögle the following week after. Hamburg Freezers beat HV 71 the same month.
Yes, I was a bit surprised of the result. But I was even more surprised to see German teams here in the third week of August! I thought they had AHL style training camps in DEL, not pre season as we have. They normaly dont have so much matchplaying in a minor pro training camp. Mainly psyical training off and on ice. Just the last two weeks before league start or so...
The German improvements has probably to do with it´s now quite impressive infrastructure they have invested in the last 3-4 years. There are more oportunitys now, more alternative ways to go if you want to reach DEL. That´s great to see. Germany have now more rinks than Czech Republic have. I am quite impressed.
I think national leagues should have relegation system, even in Finland. They talked about it in Elitserien too, but realized the under league would stop doing their best, if the chance going up was taken away from them. I think they should find a solution where the second league gain more, or similar status as the top league.
One is building new larger arenas, wich they are doing right now in both Allsvenskan and Elitserien. They are about to enlarge Elitserien from 12 to 14 teams and reduce Allsvenskan to 14 teams. Then we will have 28 teams who play hockey as their fulltime job. They are not allowed to work beside their hockey and they have no time for either.
Finns have also decreased the with of the rink from 32 to 28 meters. The olympic siezed rink we all use in Europe has 32 meters with. The Canada siezed rink are 26 meters.
Yes, I would very much like to see game competion in Europe on a yearly basis. The Super 6 is next season or the next year after that.
I wonder if it´s unnecesary to have league winners in European competion. I think we need to start to get to know each other. To have the same teams playing for some years to come. If we have some kind of tradition of seeing each other both the fanbase, clubs and coaches, then we feel more for each other. I have the impression we need a sence of belonging together. I know clubs here wants to see playing against other teams as a kind of investment in knowledge, experience and comercial interests.
Eisbären have right now no meaning here and I guess Djurgården probably have no meaning in Berlin. I doubt anyone wants to see Eisbären in Stockholms Globe Arena. But if the level of German teams have improved as You and Flofloflo and results say, it maybe is a matter of games before they learn...
Håkan