NHL Starts Its Season With Some Rather Important Contests on the European Continent
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↵As the designated hockey guy here at The Sporting Blog, it’s my sacred duty to inform the readership that despite the fact that most of you are quite happily absorbed with the NFL or the start of the MLB playoffs, we’re only five short days away from the start of the NHL season -- in Europe.↵↵Just a year ago, the LA Kings and the Anaheim Ducks started the regular season with a pair of games at London’s O2 Arena. That the O2 was owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group, the company that also owns the Kings and has its eyes trained on luring an NHL franchise -- any NHL franchise will do -- to another arena that they own in Kansas City, was probably a horrible coincidence.↵
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↵But while last year's trip might have seemed like something of a lark, the importance of getting off on the right skate in Europe has increased several fold since then. Since last year's trip, the folks running Russian hockey have gotten serious about the quality of their product, and kicked off their renovation project for the game at home by creating a new league -- the Kontinental Hockey League or KHL. ↵
↵↵Though the league is made up exclusively from teams from Russia and a few former Soviet republics, the people on top have been making plenty of noise about expanding to the rest of Europe. Throw it all into the hopper with the continued fight between the NHL and the Russians over a permanent player transfer agreement, and this year’s trip is looking a hell of a lot more important.↵
↵↵So this time, instead of sending a defending Stanley Cup Champion from a non-traditional market, the league is rolling out a little more firepower. NHL-approved poster boy Sidney Crosby and the Penguins will face Daniel Alfredsson and the Senators in Stockholm while the Tampa Bay Lightning and #1 pick Steve Stamkos will play the New York Rangers in Prague. Both teams will play back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday.↵
↵↵In addition to the games with actual points at stake, each team will play at least one exhibition with a European club, but as it is with most things, some exhibitions are more equal than others. In this case the game that you ought to be paying attention to would be Wednesday’s game for the inaugural Victoria Cup between the Rangers and KHL side Metallurg Magnitogorsk in Bern, Switzerland (MSG/NHL Network). ↵
↵↵It’s the first time in 17 years that a Russian professional club has played an NHL team, and to say that the Russians have this one circled on their calendars would be something of an understatement. And with the Rangers arriving in Europe sporting a 1-5 mark in the preseason with plenty of unanswered questions, the Russians could be in for a nice tidy propaganda victory.↵
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