Faceoff Factor

Professional Problems segment 4 – NHL vs. KHL

Mike Wilson | National Hockey League

Aug 19, 11:27 AM | Hype this story!

For references to rules or information regarding the National Hockey League, click here.

Kontinental Hockey League

History: The Soviet League was formed in 1946 and thrived on success throughout the Cold War. When the U.S.S.R. fell, the league underwent various name changes. The name was settled on the Russian Super League in 1996. Up until last year the name remained as the RSL but underwent a change to Kontinental Hockey League with the incorporation of teams from other nations.

Expansion and number of teams: No record from the RSL. 2008, 2009 (projected). There are currently 24 teams.

Major problems: International competition…that’s it.

Commissioner: Alexander Medvedev (president)

Trophy/Game: Gagarin Cup/ KHL playoffs

Manner of division: 4 divisions – Bobrov, Tarasov, Kharlamov, and Chernyshev, six teams a piece.

Regular season games: 56

Game pace: fast

Common Ground

History: KHL-0 NHL-x

The NHL is an older league that is the closest to the roots of hockey than any other league in the world. Throughout the years, the NHL has also been the elite league of the world due to its attraction from players all over the world who have proven to be the best of the best from their countries.

Expansion: KHL-x NHL-0

Let’s face it, the NHL has not been stellar in providing teams to some of the continent’s finest hockey cities. The KHL, however, especially last year, made great forward strides to increase league size by expanding outside of Russia, thus also raising the level of play. KHL team-housing countries include Russia (obviously), Latvia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. Even still, teams that have either expressed interest in joining or have been invited for 2009-10 reside in Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, and more from Belarus.

The KHL is looking to make a league spanning throughout Europe and northern Asia and, if the teams expected to join in 2009 do just that, will have nearly accomplished half of that in only two years.

Major Problems: KHL-x NHL-0

Aside from all the other problems the NHL is having, most notably trouble increasing fan base, one of the big ones is international competition. This is also really the only problem faced by the KHL, which is run by various wealthy European businessmen and is based around a sport that is one of the most popular on the continent (soccer is probably close in popularity).

Thus, the KHL proves more of a threat to the NHL than the NHL proves a threat to the KHL. Why you might ask? Well, there are certainly more European players in the NHL than there are North Americans in the KHL. If these players feel compelled to come home due to growing popularity, the NHL would lose more stars than the KHL.

Another problem not shared by the KHL is inflated salaries and rising caps. In the NHL, the cap has been raised after every year since the lock out. The KHL, however, provides a much more useful solution. This from eurohockey.net:

“The [KHL] will also set rules for contracts. Like the past two years the league will have a salary cap system, but in the next season it will be different. Every team will have to spend a maximum of 562.500.000 roubles (roughly $23.5 mln), split in this way: 400.000.000 ($16.7 mln) for twenty-one players, 162.500.000 ($6.8 mln) for four “star” players. The teams must register for the competition not more than twenty-five players, and among these twenty-five every club has the right to register four “star” players. Three can be choosen freely by the club, plus another one who satisfies these requirements:

- has played not less than 40 matches (20 matches for goalkeepers) in the last NHL season

- is a junior player of Canadian or American nationality, but younger than 20 and selected in the first three rounds of the NHL entry draft

- is a player coming from European leagues that has played in the last World Championships or in the last Olympic tournament.

KHL will also use a new contract system, and three different types will be used:

- Standard “First team” contract – one-way

- Contract “First team plus farm team” – two-way

- Junior contract (agreement for studying in sport school)”

Sounds like things are pretty well in order in the KHL.

Commissioner: KHL-0 NHL-x

Now before we get too into this, I decided it was unfair to judge Medvedev’s commissioning abilities due to the fact that he is yet to run the league for an entire year. So, instead, I decided to look at both men’s qualifications.

Alexander Medvedev has spent most of his career as a businessman and oil tycoon. Medvedev is also the vice-president of Gazprom, a Russian energy company. Really having no association with hockey (or sports of any kind) throughout his life, there is no logical explanation as to why he decided to jump in the RSL and make some changes.

One thing everyone can agree on about Gary Bettman is that he has an undying passion for hockey. Before his career as NHL commissioner, Bettman was senior vice-president and general counsel to the NBA. Without looking at what the man has done in his tenure with the NHL, Bettman does seem like a better man to run a league.

Trophy/Game: KHL-0 NHL-x

The Stanley Cup goes undefeated…and with good reason. The Holy Grail of the sporting world stood up to all other sports and certainly claims the top honors in its own. Hockey’s highest honor, regardless of popularity, will always be the Lord Stanley’s Cup.

But I can’t award it without at least mentioning its opponent. The Gagarin Cup is named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, famous Russian and first man in space. Why name it after Gagarin? The last possible day for the final game of the inaugural season is April 12. This date is the anniversary of that infamous flight into space.

Manner of division: KHL-x NHL-x

Both teams get points due to how incredibly similar and effective their season structures are. In the KHL, a team will play each other team in its division four times and everyone else two times. Though this isn’t an exact replica of the NHL, it is closer since they adopted the rule where everyone plays everyone else at least once…not to mention less divisional games will be played than the season prior.

As for playoffs, the KHL has the same format. A total of 16 teams will advance to the KHL playoffs, with the top four spots reserved for the divisional champions…again, not an exact replica but the same idea. So, in turn, the KHL could also have “Southeast” problem where one division is horrible, but their division leader still gets a top-four finish (yes I’m talking about you, Kharlamov Division…I’ll have my eye on you!).

Regular season games: KHL-x NHL-x

So again, both leagues receive a point. This is also due to an indirect relation between the leagues. In the KHL playoffs, there aren’t two sides to the bracket; it’s simply the top 16 teams. Therefore, it’s more logical to play every other team at least twice and divisional teams only four times. In the NHL, the playoffs are divided by conference and stresses the importance of more inner-conference and divisional play during the regular season.

Another simple, but more mathematical way to look at it is the ratio of 24 teams to 56 games is very similar to 30 teams to 82 games.

Game pace: KHL-0 NHL-x

This was a tough one. Both leagues are centered around one of the fastest games on the planet. Finally, I came to the conclusion that the smaller rinks in North American hockey actually benefit game pace. The NHL is a more physical brand of hockey that has less room for more action, which just makes for a better game.

The final tally

The battle of hockey ends with the score KHL-4, NHL-6.

This was the most difficult of leagues to judge due to its age. Although its predecessors have been around since the 1940s, the KHL is surrounded by mystery. Perhaps in a few years, the league will be much more of a threat to the NHL than now (which it is currently a threat).

Due to that youngness of the KHL I tried to gauge the two leagues on the simplest of terms, and from that emerged the NHL.

The final ranking:

1 NFL
2 NHL
2 NBA
4 KHL
5 MLB

I hope all have enjoyed this little segment and assure you that, through these dog days of summer, everyone is looking forward to the start of the season.