So, my hockey team accepted an invitation to join the Russian league

[Pat]

Now, this is a real club with a soul and a history, and not some franchise where the fans have no say. So there will be a vote among the members of the club. If we vote yes, we will leave the Swedish league system and join the KHL. I'm not entirely decided, but I'll probably vote yes. I don't really like it but our economy is crap and we might go bankrupt if nothing is done. Joining the KHL would give us more TV money and create more interest.

And the KHL *is* the next best league in the world after the NHL. I think many Swedish players will be attracted by the idea of living in Stockholm and playing in it.

The travelling to away games sure will be longer. There's a team from Amur in the KHL. Which is in the Russian far east.

[Barrister]

Are there any other foreign teams in the Russian league?

[Pat]

Yep - one from Belarus, one from Latvia and one from Kazakstan. All old Soviet countries, but in the future they want it to be an all-european league and presumably this would be their first step to start including western european teams.

[saskganesh]

those road games in Siberia will be killer. is there a travel subsidy for that?

another thing to keep in mind is that KHL salaries have no relationship to team revenues. many clubs appear to be playthings of Russian oligarchs and not run as businesses. can your team compete against the bigger money?

and what kind of TV money are you talking about?

[Lucidor]

Now all we can hope for is AIK + Aeroflot...

[Pat]

I don't know how much the TV money will be. There was a press conference a few hours ago and that's one of things brought forward as an argument. This came totally out of the blue, so I don't really know anything else than what was said at the press conference.

Someone on an AIK forum said that Gazprom has donated planes to transport the clubs for free but I don't know if that's true.

We most probably can not compete in the KHL. For that we'd need to recruit a lot of new players. AIK is going through a lot of problems. The Swedish league is dominated by teams from the countryside and they've stacked the odds against teams from Stockholm. Hammarby, another Stockholm club with a lot of history and many Swedish championship titles, went bankrupt last year. We'll soon go bankrupt as well if nothing is done soon.

We draw big crowds in football but interst has died off in hockey over the years. Too many games are played that means nothing. That's okay in the country side, where there is very little competition in entertainment. People will go to the games anyway since there's not a lot else to do. But in Stockholm it doesn't work that way. Interest dies when there's too many games.

But we have a large fan base and this will give us a fresh start.

[Razgovory]

Will the FSB drug you before a game?

[Pat]

Ah, apparently there's a Western Conference and an Eastern Conference in the KHL. And we'll most likely not go to the play-offs. So no trips to Siberia.

[Grey Fox]

How will it work with the KHL rules to only have 5 foreign born players for none-russian team (2 for Russian teams, I believe). Will the players have to be Swedish or Russian?

Isn't Khabarovsk (Where Amur plays) a little close to China to be in Siberia?

[Pat]

I have no idea, but I'd assume Swedish; it would be strange if we were forced to recruit almost all our players from Russia

[Pat]

Swede dreams

Stockholm - Moscow, November,19 2009

Here is another proof that professional clubs of the major hockey nations are viewing with intense interest the development of the Championship held under the auspices of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Pros from Sweden — the AIK Hockey Club from Stockholm, established in 1921, — have together with the KHL come to an agreement of the ambition about participation of the club in the league from the season 2010/2011. The sevenfold champion of Sweden, currently playing in the second-level league of the national championship (HockeyAllsvenskan), can be proud of its solid infrastructure facilities, and powerful support from a multitude of fans.

On November, 19 KHL and Stockholm club AIK signed the Letter of Intent to cooperate in development and popularization of hockey. The Protocol announces the invitation from KHL to AIK Hockey Club to become member of the KHL, and join the League's Championship beginning from the 2010-2011 season provided the Club observes all the terms and conditions, and meets all KHL admission criteria.

For AIK Hockey Club the final decision to enter the KHL will be pending a members voting as well as acceptance of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association.

The initiative of a Swedish club joining the KHL is within the Pan-European League project that has been introduced by the KHL at the International Ice Hockey Federation Congress in September. The Kontinental Hockey League confirms its invitation to the IIHF and Swedish Ice hockey Federation to cooperation within this project development.

KHL is ready to provide consultancy support and assistance to the AIK Hockey Club in settling its relations with the Swedish Ice Hockey Association, and also to offer support in attracting partners and elaborating business projects for the Club's participation in the KHL Championship.

Alexander Medvedev, KHL President, says:
"The acceptance of the invitation by AIK Hockey Club to join the KHL is very important for us. It confirms the positive dynamics in the development of hockey and the good chances to take off the ground the project of setting up the Pan-European Championship."

Peter Mellqvist, Chairman of the Board of AIK Hockey Club, says:
"We are thrilled by the invitation of the KHL. It creates new possibilities for AIK Hockey to participate in the KHL. It brings the club to a completely different platform and creates enormous potential for the future. AIK Hockey and its fans and members will have the opportunity to take part of the Worlds best hockey played on big ice."

http://en.khl.ru/news/2009/11/19/23723.html

[Grey Fox]

Will the players name be written in Swedish or Russian?

Lots of questions needs to be answered before voting yes is really an option, for you I mean.

[Pat]

I don't really know much at this point. It was only announced today but the voting will be some time this spring so I assume we'll know more by then.

Since they want to make it an all-european (or rather, I guess, eurasian?) league (and actually changed the name of the league from "Russian Superleague" to "Kontinental Hockey League") I'm assuming it wont be russocentric in it's nature

[The Brain]

LOL @ AIK

[Pat]

Apparently, DIF are also negotiating with the KHL. I guess they'd be happy to flee the Swedish league system as well. And of course Hammarby, the third Stockholm club, is already bankrupt. That's how bad conditions are for hockey in Stockholm.