We are talking about the North American KHL, the Canadian Hockey League, which unites the youth leagues of Quebec, Ontario and the West. What is its fundamental difference from our KHL other than the age limit? Of course, in disparate salaries. We play for millions from the bottomless pocket of the state, there, roughly speaking, for food and, of course, for the future. Fat contract in the NHL.
That’s the whole problem: most of the Russian guys, and the most talented ones, dream of the same thing – to play in the NHL. Not for money. In the KHL they pay like nowhere else in Europe. Prestige. professional peak. Complete self-realization. What could be more important in life? Because it is in the NHL that all the cream from around the world is collected. Only there you can check yourself according to the Hamburg story and prove that you are not a trembling creature, but you are right.
Vyacheslav Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Sergey Fedorov, Pavel Bure, Sergey Zubov, Valery Kamensky, Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk, Vladimir Tarasenko, Nikita Kucherov, Andrey Vasilevsky, Valery Nichushkin – this series of all proven domestic blocks may be continue. It is from them that today’s children take an example, putting on hockey ammunition for the first time.
From this I draw the obvious conclusion: the goal of the Russian KHL is, in general, exactly the same as that of the KHL abroad – to train players for the NHL. Read, the current Bolshoi Theater ice world. The kind of players who, ideally, could immediately join NHL clubs. As it happened, in particular, with Kaprizov and Sorokin, Panarin and Shesterkin.
Photo Source: HC Minnesota Wild
Hence the following conclusion: in order for our youth to be able to fully grow and develop, the Russian KHL teams simply need the same immigrant limit that has long existed in Canada and the United States – in the North American KHL there are franchises of both countries. Didn’t you know that the quota of Europeans is two and a half times less than what we have now, two foreigners instead of five? A few years ago, a total ban was introduced for old world goalies – they couldn’t even be drafted!
So there is no need to sing nonsense about free competition, which supposedly interferes with all kinds of limits. If that’s the case, why don’t restrictions like this prevent the Maple Leafs from winning consistently at the youth level? What, it would seem, is simpler – to open all the doors for Europeans in their KHL – let the natives show that they are stronger. That they, and not the visitors, deserve a place at the base. And along the way, it looks like the level of competition will increase as well.
But no, crazy suicides are not visible there. This is where we can force young greens to compete with experienced guest workers with million-dollar fees, guaranteeing them an unshakable position on the list. It is obvious to any sane observer that the son of the established foreign master is a priori incapable of winning the struggle for existence. Unless, of course, it’s Malkin or Ovechkin. Remember at least how Datsyuk made his way. Wouldn’t it be lucky for Pavel that such a thoughtful and sincere teacher like Vladimir Krikunov was on his way, who knows, would the world have heard about the Ural magician in principle?
Photo Source: Detroit Red Wings
In the Canadian Hockey League, the local juniors are developing, essentially unopposed. Well, what is a pair of Europeans? You can’t even form an attack link. Consequently, they are the ones who will really decide the outcome of the matches. There is simply no one else! And not the notorious Finns, as practiced at Salavat Yulaev in past seasons. All sorts of Manninens and Hartikainens cut off all oxygen to the promising young animals there. Kadeikin himself. But Alexander is already 29 years old. However, he had just advanced in Ufa and across the league in starring roles. In the 2022 First Channel Cup team, he was even named captain, but the silver Olympics in Beijing flew by: he never exceeded the reserve.
Until the USSR collapsed, we tore Canadians to pieces at every level. We have our own standard, the most advanced! – there was a school and foreigners in the Union – what players, what coaches! – no one needed a gift.
From 1977 to 1992, we won nine of the 16 junior world championships and were runners-up three times. Canada has five gold and two silver medals in this segment.
After the collapse of the USSR, everything changed radically, but for us – dramatically! We ourselves destroyed all domestic traditions, and Klenovy continued to systematically improve hockey from him, extracting from the world all the best and most progressive. At the same time, they retained all of Trump’s national characteristics.
As a result, from 1993 to 2023, Canada has 15 MFM wins and Russia only four? And without gold, we are already 12 years old! It was in 2011 that the KHL, showered with billions of state rubles, together with mediocre legionnaires, reached its full potential. And what have we achieved with this wandering through the alien pacts? Lost leader at all levels! To say the least, they have lost their national identity. Which they are now trying to find with SKA and Torpedo.
The Junior World Championship (under 18s) was last won 16 years ago; in 2007, the Continental League was only in the plans. The adult extreme victory at the World Championships in Minsk will soon be ten years old. It’s good that the Olympics retired after 26 years. But here you have to thank old Bettman for refusing to let his servants go to Korea-2018. With a stellar team in the person of Datsyuk, Kovalchuk, Kaprizov, Voinov, Gusev, we were doomed to gold.
Photo source: FHR
Well, in the homeland of hockey, meanwhile, it is calm and calm. As Vitsin said in Gaidai and Zoshchenko: “And everything is so decorous, noble. The old way”. At the 2023 Youth World Cup in Halifax, 18 representatives from the KHL, three from the NHL and one from the University of Michigan played for the hosts. And there, just on the eve of the home tournament, the revolutionary rearrangements at the top of the federation managed to calm public opinion after two high-profile sex scandals about the quarry from the previous calls that came to light in the press Five women were elected to the eight-person board of directors at the same time! Led by a retired black judge with nearly 30 years of experience, Hugh Fraser. He was born in Jamaica. He ran the 200m at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. His son Mark works at the Toronto venue.
The assets of the new leadership are already two pieces of gold. The youth team was supported yesterday in Sweden at the Junior World Championship (under 18 years) by Canadian girls: in the final they defeated the hostesses – 10:0.
In a word, Klenov remains in his obstinacy and fidelity to ideals – on the one hand, and the ability to quickly reorganize – on the other, only to envy. It’s great that in the Russian KHL clubs of the coming season there will be no more than three Vikings. Here the recent brilliant speech of the Professor was especially pleased. The head coach of “Torpedo” supported the long-standing position of “Soviet Sport”: foreign garbage brings our hockey to the bottom.
“We are not a business. If you pay 150 million for Mbappé and he sells four million shirts in two months, returning the money is one thing,” said Igor Larionov reasonably. We don’t have that.
I don’t want to name the names of the KHL legionnaires, but this is a super super average level. For me, this is a painful topic. We spend money on people who, of course, score their own goals, but to say that they will do it better than someone … That’s why we get mid-level players who are trained by such KHL legionnaires.
We are only diluting the league with the middle peasants. Which, on the second day after the end of the season, take tickets and fly back to their place. And we take a place from our Russian child. For those guys who can improve…
Well done, teacher! Golden words, Igor Nikolaevich.
