Inside Krasnodar | 2008

On December 11th, I wrote a blog post called “Bettman’s Bluff” where I discussed the possibility that the NHL may opt-out of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. I further suggested that the NHL look to expand its brand internationally by creating opportunities for the top NHL teams to compete against the top Russian/European teams.

Well, it seems like “great minds think alike.” In the past couple days, during the festivities of the NHL’s All-Star weekend the NHL announced the creation of a new event to be called the Victoria Cup. Apparently, there are tentative plans for an exhibition game to be played on October 1st, 2008 between Metallurg Magnitogorsk and the New York Rangers in Switzerland.

Kudos to the NHL for such fast action and to the Russian owners for putting the excitement of the game and the interests of hockey fans first. While there may be some details to be ironed out with the NHL’s Players Association, the concept of inter-league play is fantastic!!

Here is a link to an article in Russia Today and another link in The Canadian Press.com and another in Newsday.com.

Here’s a link for a summary of all the games played between NHL teams and the European/Russian champions by Jeff Klein in the NYTimes blog Slapshot.

So kudos to Commissioner Bettman. As a lapsed fan of ice hockey, I am really looking forward to seeing these inter-league games!