Victoria Cup tournament to start in September 2008

[betterREDthandead 58]

Link 1

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The IIHF will be holding the Victoria Cup tournament starting in September 2008. The trophy is named for the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal where the first recognized hockey game took place. 24 European clubs will play in a Champions League similar to that in soccer, for the right to play for the Victoria Cup. The NHL team will not necessarily be the Stanley Cup winner. 1 million Swiss francs is the prize for the winner, which is roughly $820,000.

[Motown 0]

i really hope detroit can go to this. it would be sweet to see how they can do against European clubs

[Turretin 0]

This smacks of exhibition hockey, which is almost always more boring than you think. No NHL team wants their players hurt for that amount of money. Do they?

[FireCaptain 563]

At first glance I thought - neat.

But, now that I think about it longer, I'm not so sure.

Pro:

1) I have kinda wondered how an NHL club would do against the "SuperLeagues".

2) Anything to bring attention to hockey and the NHL, besides Ed Belfour's drunken antics, is a good thing.

Con:

1) Ice size. Play the NHL way, it's constricted for the Euros. Play the Euro way and it's odd for NHLers who haven't been to the Olympics or other International tourneys.

2) Rule variations, e.g. no touch icing, etc.

I would think an All Star type team that pulls good players from all 30 teams would be a better NHL representative. Otherwise, the SuperLeaguers could potentially end up playing the 'Yotes or Flyers and take this cup for years on end.

[eva unit zero 271]

At first glance I thought - neat.

But, now that I think about it longer, I'm not so sure.

Pro:

1) I have kinda wondered how an NHL club would do against the "SuperLeagues".

2) Anything to bring attention to hockey and the NHL, besides Ed Belfour's drunken antics, is a good thing.

Con:

1) Ice size. Play the NHL way, it's constricted for the Euros. Play the Euro way and it's odd for NHLers who haven't been to the Olympics or other International tourneys.

2) Rule variations, e.g. no touch icing, etc.

I would think an All Star type team that pulls good players from all 30 teams would be a better NHL representative. Otherwise, the SuperLeaguers could potentially end up playing the 'Yotes or Flyers and take this cup for years on end.

So an NHL all-star team that includes Swedes, Russians, Finns, and Czechs as well as Canadians and Americans would play against the champion of the national league from one of those nations? That's like an NHL all-star team playing against the Calder Cup winners--all the best available players from the AHL (read: Swedish league, Russian league, etc.) are NHLers.

It should be the Stanley Cup winner vs the Euro Cup winner to determine the tru champions.

Alternate the series between North America and Europe each year. The precedent for situations like you laid out with the rules is the World Series, in which the home team's league rule variations are used.

SO one year, they'd play in Europe and use European rinks and rules. The next year, they'd use North American rules in a North American rink.

[FireCaptain 563]

Makes sense. Thanks, I did not think of that.

Alternate the series between North America and Europe each year. The precedent for situations like you laid out with the rules is the World Series, in which the home team's league rule variations are used.

SO one year, they'd play in Europe and use European rinks and rules. The next year, they'd use North American rules in a North American rink.

[vangvace 12]

So an NHL all-star team that includes Swedes, Russians, Finns, and Czechs as well as Canadians and Americans would play against the champion of the national league from one of those nations? That's like an NHL all-star team playing against the Calder Cup winners--all the best available players from the AHL (read: Swedish league, Russian league, etc.) are NHLers.

It should be the Stanley Cup winner vs the Euro Cup winner to determine the tru champions.

Alternate the series between North America and Europe each year. The precedent for situations like you laid out with the rules is the World Series, in which the home team's league rule variations are used.

SO one year, they'd play in Europe and use European rinks and rules. The next year, they'd use North American rules in a North American rink.

From how I read the article linked, the two teams from the NHL would be the Stanley Cup finalists.

With how long the current NHL season is and they want to add another tourney to it? Could be an interesting alternative to preseason hockey though.

I might be biased but I don't know if I like the idea of a cup higher that Stanley

[eva unit zero 271]

From how I read the article linked, the two teams from the NHL would be the Stanley Cup finalists.

With how long the current NHL season is and they want to add another tourney to it? Could be an interesting alternative to preseason hockey though.

I might be biased but I don't know if I like the idea of a cup higher that Stanley

My response was to the suggestion made by FireCaptain that it should be the Euro champions vs an NHL-All-Star team.

[/font]

The Stanley Cup may be the most prestigious trophy in professional hockey, but it is not a global championship trophy.

A 'global' championship trophy would prove once and for all that the NHL is the top league.

[Guest jaytan]

Heh, somehow I don't really think some "SuperLeague" team would fare very well against an NHL conference champion even with the wider ice and less physical play. Of course, they'll probably be playing a lot harder than our guys, though, since they'll be playing for a chance to win a spot on an NHL lineup and the other guys obviously already have that. Plus, I don't think NHL players will all of a sudden start thinking, "Oh, screw the Stanley Cup, let's win some silly summer tournament against a team of minor leaguers from Europe!"

Let's hope nobody gets hurt in this thing.

It would be a better idea to include the Memorial Cup finalists.

[SweWings 45]

The Swedish Elite League and the Russian ditto are great leagues and the best in Europe but they can't really compare to the NHL. Exhibition for now definitely. Why should a Stanley Cup winner/finalist give a damn about some crap like this? Europe needs to build up a proper big-time league first...

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

It wont be the Stanley cup champions , It'll be like teh Jackets or Blackhawks.

The champs will be to tired to start playing competetive hockey again in last august early september

[Guest jaytan]

Especially for less than a million bucks!

I just thought of a solution, if they insist on using NHL teams. They could put the 9th-place finishers from each conference in the tourney, since those teams will have ended the regular season with a bad taste in their mouths and might actually be hungry for some kind of victory before the fall. This year we'd get to laugh at Colorado having to go off to Sweden or something to play against some Swiss squad.