37 replies to this topic

[FireCaptain]

Various threads got me thinking.. if I were a locked out NHL player, where would I play?

Assume your country of origin is still your country of origin. If you're from the US, you're still from the US, etc..

Would you go overseas and try and cash in?

Would you play closer to home to be near family?

Would you choose a third option just to live in that place for awhile?

Personally, I think I would use the time to go somewhere I've never been. Choose a bit of a lower league overseas and try to tear it up.

[VM1138]

Honestly, I'm not sure how the other leagues are, quality wise. I know there are talent disparities, but I would probably just stay in the US if I could play in the AHL. Seems like a pretty decent league relative to the world. I wouldn't go KHL, they strike me as too mafia-run and wouldn't be trustworthy. I'd play for some of the more respected leagues, like the Swedish elite league, but if all things (income, benefits, etc.) were similar, I'd just stay here. It'd be hard to play on a team where you don't speak the same language as your coach or teammates.

[The Axe]

Id go where the $$$ is

[Seraph]

I would use the opportunity to leave the country and get out of my comfort zone for a while. It could help me develop into a better player if I played a different style on a different sized rink. I could develop skills that might be less emphasized in the NHL and try to apply them when I got back. Definitely try to put a positive spin on it. My worst nightmare would be to Keith Tkachuk it through the lockout and come back completely out of shape.

[esteef]

It really depends on where you're from, I'm from the U.S. so I'd go on Dancing with the Stars!

esteef

[GMRwings1983]

This may sound like an uninformed answer, but if I was already a millionaire set for life, I wouldn't care that much that I was unemployed for a while. Hell, I've had long unemployment periods in my youth already, and I'm not a millionaire. I'd ride the lockout out and see what happens next year, when I'm assuming the new deal will break through.

Now if I was a young player trying to prove himself and start making money (assume I'm not rich yet), I'd likely play in the Czech or Swedish league (heard their girls are hot)



Oh, and if Arsenal needed a true striker, I'd consider that option as well.

Edited by GMRwings1983, 30 October 2012 - 09:41 PM.

[rrasco]

Keep in mind hockey players already travel a lot and have been a lot of different places. They spend most of the year away from their families as they don't have a normal life as we know it. I think a lot of them would want to stay close to their family. We've seen that with a lot of Europeans going overseas. Dats went to Russia. Fil went to Finland. Ericsson went to Sweden. Z went kind of to Sweden. Quincy went to Denver.

[martinezsvsu]

ahl team, gotta speak english

[miksteri]

I would choose between swiss,finnish or swedish leagues, there is just no fkin way im crossing the russian border.

btw, Ive never heard of north american players ever complain about a language barrier in finland since most people understand and communicate in english quite well.
Some have complained about the lack of nightlife in smaller cities...

[frankgrimes]

I would go play in my home country for my hometown team, for a lot of reasons:

- seeing all my friends in person again not just via skype
- being around my family
- getting back into "comfort-zone"
- giving something back to the club who started and helped me to develop into an NHL player

There is no way I'd consider Russia at all. What if some of the Mafia owners decides I can't leave? Then what, what if they don't pay me? No that is too much of a risk and not worth it if you are not from Russia.

[Hell Toupee]

Keep in mind hockey players already travel a lot and have been a lot of different places. They spend most of the year away from their families as they don't have a normal life as we know it. I think a lot of them would want to stay close to their family. We've seen that with a lot of Europeans going overseas. Dats went to Russia. Fil went to Finland. Ericsson went to Sweden. Z went kind of to Sweden. Quincy went to Denver.

So Z kind of went to Sweden?
Like a US citizen moving to Mexico is kind of staying at home?

[cusimano_brothers]

There is a fourth option being overlooked: I wouldn't play at all. I wouldn't feel right taking someone else's job, no matter how "temporary" it is.

[55fan]

I'd rent a rink and get as many of my teammates as I could together and practice as a group. If there weren't enough to have games, we could practice PP and PK. We could be our own player-coaches.

Then at the end of the lockout, we'd be ready to go, even if it was the next year.

[rrasco]

So Z kind of went to Sweden?
Like a US citizen moving to Mexico is kind of staying at home?

Yep. Heck, using that analogy, I bet I'm close to Mexico than I am to you.

In all honesty, I wasn't sure how close Switzerland was to Sweden. Now I see they are not neighboring in much regard at all. It's been years since Geography.

[VM1138]

There is a fourth option being overlooked: I wouldn't play at all. I wouldn't feel right taking someone else's job, no matter how "temporary" it is.

This is a good point. If you have job security (like a Datsyuk or a Zetterberg) that person would benefit more from that spot than you would.

[Kira]

I can see both alternatives...wanting to stay close to family, and yet expanding your horizons by going to a different place.

I kinda envy Drew Miller playing in Scotland...I've always wanted to go there, it's a beautiful country, English speaking (if you can get past the brogue), great pubs, wonderful music, history up the ying yang...what more could you ask for?

[luvmnger]

New Zealand.

they have an ice hockey league.

stay in shape,be a star, help grow the popularity, make a little side cash, spend some time in a beautiful country, and continue to speak engrish.

take the family on a year vacation!

now...all i need is the hockey skills to do so.

aw hell...train and play with the lacrosse and rugby teams too.

Edited by luvmnger, 31 October 2012 - 10:39 AM.

[Hell Toupee]

Yep. Heck, using that analogy, I bet I'm close to Mexico than I am to you.

In all honesty, I wasn't sure how close Switzerland was to Sweden. Now I see they are not neighboring in much regard at all. It's been years since Geography.

Probably, since I'm in Sweden.

[rrasco]

Probably, since I'm in Sweden.

And I'm in Switzerland. LOL. I'm lying through my teeth of course.

[luvmnger]

im in New Mexico....and you couldn't pay me enough to play in Mexico.

fooorghettabouutiit.