World Hockey Association?
 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1841801

Basically, I had no clue they were recreating this league. Chose a perfect time for it though.

Yeah, but there is only going to be 6-8 teams.. Not really goign to rival the NHL, unless the NHL gets locked out.

Even small hockey can be good hockey. You just need someone to cheer for.

I thought it was interesting Joe Thornton was picked. Didn't he just sign a contract with the Swedish Elite League? How can he be drafted for two leagues at the same time?

just because you're drafted doesn't mean you're going to make the team... he might just choose which camp he wants to go to

All drafted means is that within that league, the team that drafted him has the right to sign him if he should choose to play in the WHL. It has no actual bearings on which league the player does or doesn't play in.

The WHA is having struggles of its own. One of the original teams that had pledged to be operational by the season opening has pulled out of the league. The owner didn't agree with the methods used to adminstrate the league, saying that the last time he had seen an operation run this way, it failed miserably, and he wanted no part of it. 2 other teams are having problems obtaining arena rights, which obviously is a very important piece of the puzzle. And finally, Euro teams are able to offer alot more money to big name NHL players looking for a place to play next season. The WHA salary cap only allows 1 exemption for a franchise player, which allows for a contract up to 5 million/year, which, if I remember correctly, is a third of the total roster budget allowed under the cap.

All of these issues, plus the fact that every ex-NHLer on a WHA roster is going to jump ship if the NHL starts up operations during the season, just doesn't bode well for the association.

I guess if the agents are on top of their game, they'd put an escape clause in the contract, otherwise I can't imagine what kind of legal snafus this would cause.

Regardless, I'd love to see it work, but I seriously doubt that in 20 years or so we'll be reminiscing about the 'original 6'.

No doubt that every NHL player will have an escape clause in their contract. The problem is, when they do "escape", there won't be anyone left worth watching in the WHA.

There won't be anyone left worth watching in the WHA? I take it you've never watched a college/jr/major junior hockey game in your life.

The *best* thing that can happen to the WHA is that no NHL players play for it. You'll get a whole new generation of young guys who arn't used to getting paid millions per year just to play hockey, as well as a much better open style of hockey thats actually *fun* to watch.

Picking Thornton and Kovalchuk is a mistake IMO. There is very little chance most of these guys would play in the WHA. I would have gone after guys who actually might be interested, even if they are 2nd/3rd line NHL players.

Well, all attempts at insulting me aside, you do have a point. I have season tickets to our local junior team, the Saginaw Spirit, and love to go watch them as often as possible. But at no time do I entertain ideas that they are anywhere near as enjoyable as going to see the Wings play. And since the WHA is touting itself as a rival to the NHL, if it turns into yet another junior league, it doesn't stand a chance to compete. Not to mention the talent pool at every level of Hockey is so diluted, that even if they opened the WHA as a strictly junior level league, it would suffer greatly for a lack of skilled players, and probably go the way of the IHL.

And as far as the open style of play, I am assuming you are refering to the lack of a red line, and other rules changes. I watched the olympics, as well as a few other international tournaments, and I found that style of play to be extremely boring. Constant breakaways and odd man rushes with little to no in zone strategy and positioning reminds me of NBA level basketball, which is a sport I refuse to watch anymore. Not to mention the reduction of hits because of the larger ice surface just steals some of the intensity which makes Hockey so excruciatingly enjoyable.

I do agree that the NHL has become less pleasurable to watch in recent years because of the insane amount of hooking, holding, and all around interference aloud, but the answer is not to change the rules over and over again. If you simply enforce the rules that are provided for already, these instances will clear up on their own, creating the open style of play, or teams will spend massive amounts of time killing penalties, which will add to the scoring and creativity in the game.

Sorry didn't mean to insult you, I just get riled up easily. My bad :p

I dunno. I find theres a LOT more team spirit in the junior games, and its fun to watch it. I love the odd-man rushes and breakaways, so to each his own I guess.

My point was just that it will offer a different *style* of hockey, more like the junior style. As a result, I do believe that, if the salarys are kept in check, the WHA can be successful.

well, the salaries have to be kept in check, because they play under a salary cap, which is 15 mil I believe.

The irony that a reporter from ESPN pointed out is that NHL players are going to be signing with teams in a 2nd rate league, which has a hard salary cap, making a fraction of what they make in the NHL, so that they can convince the NHL to continue operating without a salary cap, which would hinder the vast amounts of cash that they already make playing in the top league in the world. The logic of this completely escapes me, but it seems a bit hypocritical and self-destructive to me.