KHL on ESPN2 (10/09)

For anyone interested, ESPN2 has a KHL game on today at noon central. LEV from Prague (Chara, Skoula) against Dynamo Moscow (Ovechkin).

What time?

12:00 ct

Sick!

Keep posting updates of this on here!

What a boring game, real slow and no emotion from either team. Looks like a minor league preseason game.

Yeah, it was nice to see some NHL guys on ice, but man the league is like a professional mens league.

I would love to catch more KHL games especially on ESPN, whether the NHL is locked out or not. I watched the full game the same way I would watch the NHL... And i enjoyed it. No it was not the most exciting game, in fact the first period was boring but after the 1st intermission the game picked up excitement. More shots were taken, more blocked shots occurred, more hits were given and the tempo increased. I believe many people did not enjoy the game for 2 reasons.

1) They already had it in their mind the league was a bush league... they said, it was not the NHL and therefore made it a negative environment, hard for anyone to find anything good.

2) ESPN made the game into a joke. They brought in their only 2 hockey personnel and they proved they did LITTLE to no preperation for the game. The jokes were at times funny, but then demeaning... They knew nothing about the modern KHL, the modern European game... heck they didnt even know why Ovechkin was wearing 32! In 5 seconds of a google search I found it. HES ALWAYS WORE IT.

Never base an entire league off one game. There are a few NHL games i have come to watch and i have come to ignoring because the game was boring. If i was an outsider looking in, and those games were my first... I would have given up.


Lets remember one thing... MANY, MANY current NHL players are Russian guys or other players who started or had some time in the KHL. One of the best countries in the world ranked is Russia, in fact they were #1 last year, and most players were KHL players.

Pound for pound the NHL is a better league, but there is no doubt that after the NHL it is the KHL. And as the years continue and the KHL (which is in its 5th year) will grow and soon the NHL will have to start fending off European clubs to see which one is stronger.

The Lions, European champions 3 years ago, beat the Chicago Blackhawks one week prior to opening night of the NHL which started in Europe. Do not tell me the Blackhawks were not trying... the Victoria Cup gave 10,000 extra to every player on the winning team and any prospect that played on that team played hard to make roster cuts. Granted they came back and won the Stanley Cup that year

Rangers almost lost the year before, but came back and tied the metallburg Russian club.

I think their are a handful of European teams that could take on some NHL teams.

Watched another KHL game tonight and it was just as bad as the first one i watched.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mlisica19

I would love to catch more KHL games especially on ESPN, whether the NHL is locked out or not. I watched the full game the same way I would watch the NHL... And i enjoyed it. No it was not the most exciting game, in fact the first period was boring but after the 1st intermission the game picked up excitement. More shots were taken, more blocked shots occurred, more hits were given and the tempo increased. I believe many people did not enjoy the game for 2 reasons.

1) They already had it in their mind the league was a bush league... they said, it was not the NHL and therefore made it a negative environment, hard for anyone to find anything good.

2) ESPN made the game into a joke. They brought in their only 2 hockey personnel and they proved they did LITTLE to no preperation for the game. The jokes were at times funny, but then demeaning... They knew nothing about the modern KHL, the modern European game... heck they didnt even know why Ovechkin was wearing 32! In 5 seconds of a google search I found it. HES ALWAYS WORE IT.

Never base an entire league off one game. There are a few NHL games i have come to watch and i have come to ignoring because the game was boring. If i was an outsider looking in, and those games were my first... I would have given up.


Lets remember one thing... MANY, MANY current NHL players are Russian guys or other players who started or had some time in the KHL. One of the best countries in the world ranked is Russia, in fact they were #1 last year, and most players were KHL players.

Pound for pound the NHL is a better league, but there is no doubt that after the NHL it is the KHL. And as the years continue and the KHL (which is in its 5th year) will grow and soon the NHL will have to start fending off European clubs to see which one is stronger.

The Lions, European champions 3 years ago, beat the Chicago Blackhawks one week prior to opening night of the NHL which started in Europe. Do not tell me the Blackhawks were not trying... the Victoria Cup gave 10,000 extra to every player on the winning team and any prospect that played on that team played hard to make roster cuts. Granted they came back and won the Stanley Cup that year

Rangers almost lost the year before, but came back and tied the metallburg Russian club.

I think their are a handful of European teams that could take on some NHL teams.

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Youve never made a post that doesnt take up my entire window

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kmo429

Youve never made a post that doesnt take up my entire window

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Awesome... i write with passion and detail. I could care less if you like it or not, i could care less if it took up two screens.

Anyway, I have no issue with the KHL. I think most of you already have a negative perception of the league so you have no room for any positive thoughts.

Its like the announcers, they talk about how the league is less hitting and no blocked shots. Except when the game actually started to pick up with block shots and hits they played it off as a joke. A lot of blocked shots occured in that first game with Moscow and Lev and whenever it occured the announcers called it lucky or on accident.

When a few hits started to occur, they made jokes about it.

Ive watched some KHL games and I have nothing wrong with that European style. Ive watched some NHL games that were dreadful. There two different styles... We forget that many superstars in the game today and in the past including Wayne Gretzky played like that. Gretzky wasnt a regular Canadian style player, he has even admitted to being more like the Europeans. East west skating, make short but quick passes. Many French Canadians play like that style.

I think NHL gets caught up in all the hoopla that is the NHL and its marketing. We go crazy for fights! No fights means not a real hockey game. We go crazy for hitting occuring every 2 seconds... when you move the puck as quick as Europeans do, theres no time to hit everything in sight.

Yet lets not act like hitting is not part of international hockey. I just watched a highlight of the "lackadaisical" russian Alex Semin legally DESTROY Dan Boyle in the 2010 Olympics.

Dont watch it then if you dont like the style...

I have no issue with it though. Its not as simple as the NHL. Shoot! Shoot! Crash the net! jump in a pile and wack at it. Dump and chase... Dump and Chasee...

I prefer hockey when the puck is moved equally among 3-4 if not all 5 guys throughout the game. Thats the beauty of the game. The Cycle, the weave, the 5 man rush... this was all brought in by the teachings of Soviet Hockey coaches and the father of Soviet Hockey Tarasov. His style and his teachings allowed Soviet hockey to start from nothing and end with over a dozen of Olympic medals, World Champion Trophies and a handful of victories against the NHL teams (both by the national team and club teams).

How elite the Soviet style was... how confusing it was for defenses and how tiresome it was on the forwards, this is what made the NHL start adopting the same techniques.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mlisica19

Dont watch it then if you dont like the style...

I have no issue with it though. Its not as simple as the NHL. Shoot! Shoot! Crash the net! jump in a pile and wack at it. Dump and chase... Dump and Chasee...

I prefer hockey when the puck is moved equally among 3-4 if not all 5 guys throughout the game. Thats the beauty of the game. The Cycle, the weave, the 5 man rush... this was all brought in by the teachings of Soviet Hockey coaches and the father of Soviet Hockey Tarasov. His style and his teachings allowed Soviet hockey to start from nothing and end with over a dozen of Olympic medals, World Champion Trophies and a handful of victories against the NHL teams (both by the national team and club teams).

How elite the Soviet style was... how confusing it was for defenses and how tiresome it was on the forwards, this is what made the NHL start adopting the same techniques.

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it might of been elite in the past but wouldn't work in todays hockey
the defensive style of hockey doesn't allow it many chances to score
a lot of us were taught that way as youths
you need a spread out offense, use long passes & try to get behind the defense
dump & chase, let the defenders recover the puck so you can take it from them leaving your linemates open
crash the net for rebounds, take every open shot, things like that
you might not like it but its the most effective way to play hockey against a defensive system

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trccg1TvU2o
Bryzgalov is still working on his game

ESPN2 is showing KHL
Oct 18 10:45 am CT
Oct 22 11:30 am CT
Oct 29 10:30 am CT