NHL in Sochi, women’s hockey viability, dominate discussions at World Hockey Summit.
For four days, many of the most important names in hockey descended upon Toronto to engage in open discussion on various facets of the sport, from transfer agreements, to youth player safety, to international junior development.
With NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and IIHF President Rene Fasel among the attendees of the World Hockey Summit, the most spirited dialogue was reserved for a pair of hot-button topics: NHL participation at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and the long-term future of women’s hockey.
Bettman frequently referred to the NHL’s participation on the world’s biggest stage as a “mixed bag”, acknowledging the benefits of the success of the Vancouver Games, while also citing broadcast scheduling from Sochi – eight hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone – as an obstacle.
“We simply haven’t made a decision yet,” said Bettman, “and I don’t think the fact that we haven’t made a decision yet is that big a deal. We are not under any time pressure to make a decision.”
Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, who was an overtime goal away from managing Team USA to Olympic gold in 2010, was quite vocal in refusing to allow the proceedings to turn into a sentimental post-Olympic love-fest without paying attention to the issues at hand.
“I get paid to think about the problems,” shouted Burke. “It’s not that simple to get everyone on a goddamn plane and go over and play the games. I want to go. And I think we should go. But for people to say, ‘It’s priceless, we’ve got to go’ – it’s not that simple. We have teams that are losing $30-million a year.”
A small portion of the post-Vancouver evaluation was dedicated to a relatively minor yet awkward issue that Fasel vowed to resolve, namely proper access for high ranking executives. Last February, Detroit owner Mike Illitch, whose Red Wings roster had nine players participating at the 2010 games, was left to stand among ticketholders instead of being afforded the VIP accessibility to which he was more than entitled.
“It’s a communication problem, and we’re going to improve that,” said Fasel.
Both Bettman and Team Canada Associate Director Ken Holland entertained the possibility of flying NHL players back to North America from Sochi after their teams are eliminated from Olympic play; four teams after the quarterfinals on Wednesday and two teams after the semifinals on the Friday before the gold medal game two days later.
“If it takes 18 hours to get back from Russia, and then expect these guys to put on their uniforms and play games on Tuesday, and run the risk of injury, it’s tough,” said Holland, the Red Wings general manager.
“I’d love to go to the Olympics. But I work for Mr. and Mrs. Illitch and we sign players to long-term contracts that aren’t fully insured. From a business side, there are issues. You have to sit down and figure out solutions that make everybody happy.” Holland said.
Despite all the challenges, the prevailing sense among the attendees – measured by a nearly unanimous show of hands among the myriad of delegates – is that hockey fans won’t be denied the chance of seeing players like Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin win an Olympic gold medal on home soil, just like their predecessors such as Jonathan Toews, and of course, Sidney Crosby.
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On the women’s side, Team Canada captain Hayley Wickenheiser delivered an impassioned keynote address outlining the discrepancies between North America and the rest of the world.
One alarming note pointed to a $0 development budget allocated for Russia for women’s hockey, in addition of the availability of just six rinks for females to play, in the nation that will host the next Winter Olympics.
“The most glaring thing is how good hockey countries like Russia, Germany, Switzerland, have relatively little or no investment in their women’s national teams,” said Wickenheiser, a three-time gold medalist and six-time World Championship winner.
In her eloquent presentation aimed at bridging the chasm between the top two teams – Canada and the U.S.A. – and their opponents, Wickenheiser proposed a process by which European players are brought into North America to hone their skills. “We invest in them, we help them learn what it’s like to play at the most elite level, and they take that experience back to their own countries.” The Team Canada veteran also provided insight into a meeting that was held with NHL representatives to discuss the framework for an NHL-assisted women’s league. “They won’t jump into anything that is not a viable business opportunity, but I said look at it more from the sponsorship and investment view for the first few years.”
American defenceman Angela Ruggiero stressed the need for women to have an available outlet for females to continually play, such as the Western Women’s Hockey League which houses her club team in Minnesota. “You need have the right pieces in place where you can continue to train, and you’re in the gym all the time. In order to be a good hockey player you have to play hockey. If we don’t have those opportunities, I don’t think that the game can continue to grow.”
The leaders of the women’s game have used Jacques Rogge’s proclamation that women’s hockey ‘cannot continue without improvement’ as a catalyst for their cause.
“Despite what Rogge says, I think women’s hockey is here to stay,” said Wickenheiser.
“But we need to take action now.”
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca
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