Jump to content

Flames to play 2 peaseason games in China


JTech780

Recommended Posts

https://www.nhl.com/flames/news/flames-to-play-in-org-nhl-china-games/c-298394294

 

Calgary will play Boston on September 15th and 19th in China. It is a great way to grow the sport and gain wealthy investors. As Flames fan I think this sucks, with a new coach coming and possibly a handful of new players this cuts into so very valuable practice and evaluation time. About the only positive I can gleam for Calgary is that it might give the team a chance to gel early before the season even starts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 78
  • Created
  • Last Reply
1 hour ago, JTech780 said:

https://www.nhl.com/flames/news/flames-to-play-in-org-nhl-china-games/c-298394294

 

Calgary will play Boston on September 15th and 19th in China. It is a great way to grow the sport and gain wealthy investors. As Flames fan I think this sucks, with a new coach coming and possibly a handful of new players this cuts into so very valuable practice and evaluation time. About the only positive I can gleam for Calgary is that it might give the team a chance to gel early before the season even starts.

Usually teams that do these things get off to bad starts because it is a real disruption.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beijing yes obviously.  Hosting the next winter Olympics and a cold climate in the winter months.  I recall visiting Beijing in winter 2009 in -10C (felt like -20 due to humidity).  I saw people playing pond hockey in skates.  No full gear but skate, stick, puck, and a legit net.  No goalie though.  My first thought was if those people were ex-pat Canadians but maybe not.  Anyways, I think their appetite for hockey can be organic and it's a great idea to sell the NHL there. I believe they still have a KHL team there too.  And obviously, Chinese are becoming affluent and we know hockey is an expensive sport to put kids through.

 

But Shenzhen... I dunno, it's interesting.  At first, I was wondering why because it's so hot there and there is no hockey culture, well not even skating or winter sport culture whatsoever.  Literally a low of +15 degrees C throughout winter.  It's also best known for being a sleazy massage parlour place for Hong Kong weekenders for the longest time.

 

Shenzhen lacks a long history in general.  In 1979, the population of both Calgary and Shenzhen was roughly 300,000.  China named Shenzhen as the first experimental free-market economic zone due to it's proximity to British controlled Hong Kong.  Most of China's best businessmen flooded there to cash in on equality of opportunity.  Fast forward 39-years, Calgary is now a city of 1.1-million while Shenzhen is a metropolis of 23.3-million.  Crazy eh.  If you think Calgary has grown a lot in 4 decades, Shenzhen has been on steroids.  

 

So that said, while it's an odd choice of a location, it's kind of a genius choice as well.  Shenzhen is 45-min train ride from downtown Hong Kong which is home to hundreds of thousands of expats, dual Canadian citizens, and they will easily go fill the arena for that game.  Shenzhen is home to Qualcomm and other major electronics manufacturing facilities.  Money is everywhere in that place with a new millionaire minted weekly.

 

Shenzhen is also a one hour train ride from Guangzhou which is the historical capital city of the region.  For a somewhat interesting sporting event like the NHL, many will be drawn to check out the game.  Just Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong alone within a one hour train ride produces half of Canada's GDP.  I guess in the end, while Shenzhen wouldn't have been my first or second choice, I fully believe they will sell out that one game and help make it a media success. 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Kunlun Red Star team is a KHL team in China no? Are am I confused?

 

I hope this doesn't lead to a slow beginning of season and over-played end of season.

I'm a firm believer in heavy start of season schedules. I'm sure the Bruins are feeling that way right now too.

Always feel bad for teams at the 60 game mark that have 6 games in hand on the average team. Those make-ups are when everyone is starting to play their critical games, making it even harder.

I believe that was Florida and Boston this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Playing in China I feel is a positive step for the league. The game is getting smaller and faster and wow what a TV audience it would garner with a Chinese player on a NHL team.

Mind you these 2 games could be an embarrassment to the league if the Boston Coach Cassidy can't handle his "licker".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/3/2018 at 1:05 AM, Heartbreaker said:

 

not_aware_waynes_world.gif

 

Cool informative post! I'd've liked it for sure if I could. 

 

Love. 

 

So from the wiki page, it appears Shenzhen is HQ of Huawei, one of NHL's biggest sponsors.  It makes even more sense now.

 

On 5/3/2018 at 6:36 PM, conundrumed said:

The Kunlun Red Star team is a KHL team in China no? Are am I confused?

 

Yups.  The Red Stars are based in Beijing and Shanghai.  They appear to sport former NHLers in Chipchura, Brule, Kostitsyn, and Yip.

 

Again, having been to China several times, there's definitely potential to grow the game in the Northern regions because people there skate as a past-time but anything Mid-to-South China is pretty tough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/6/2018 at 10:22 PM, redfire11 said:

Playing in China I feel is a positive step for the league. The game is getting smaller and faster and wow what a TV audience it would garner with a Chinese player on a NHL team.

Mind you these 2 games could be an embarrassment to the league if the Boston Coach Cassidy can't handle his "licker".

 

Ya definitely have to break into new markets.  Not like it requires a pipeline to be built to get product there or anything... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

https://www.nhl.com/news/zdeno-chara-torey-krug-wont-join-bruins-in-china/c-299935226

 

Bruins are a veteran team that has largely been there and done that, so I'm sure they'll be fine missing some key leaders in Chara and Bergeron on this trip.

 

Us on the other hand it sounds like we have all our regulars going as everyone appears to be healthy. With a new coach and bunch of new faces this could be a perfect opportunity for everyone to get familiarized with one another. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Thebrewcrew said:

https://www.nhl.com/news/zdeno-chara-torey-krug-wont-join-bruins-in-china/c-299935226

 

Bruins are a veteran team that has largely been there and done that, so I'm sure they'll be fine missing some key leaders in Chara and Bergeron on this trip.

 

Us on the other hand it sounds like we have all our regulars going as everyone appears to be healthy. With a new coach and bunch of new faces this could be a perfect opportunity for everyone to get familiarized with one another. 

 

Some of the guys not going are at the tail end of injury rehab, so they are not going to China.  

Here's what was said...

 

The B's 41-year-old captain Zdeno Chara will stay behind in Boston along with Patrice Bergeron, Torey Krug, Anders Bjork and Noel Acciari, who will stay behind with the Bruins training staff to rehab injuries. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, travel_dude said:

 

Some of the guys not going are at the tail end of injury rehab, so they are not going to China.  

Here's what was said...

 

The B's 41-year-old captain Zdeno Chara will stay behind in Boston along with Patrice Bergeron, Torey Krug, Anders Bjork and Noel Acciari, who will stay behind with the Bruins training staff to rehab injuries. 

Yes.. I'm glad we have all our guys healthy so everyone is together to bond as we have a new staff and a bunch of new faces.

 

What I meant to say is BOS is better built to deal with it as they have a very similar group so it's not a huge deal.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Thebrewcrew said:

Yes.. I'm glad we have all our guys healthy so everyone is together to bond as we have a new staff and a bunch of new faces.

 

What I meant to say is BOS is better built to deal with it as they have a very similar group so it's not a huge deal.

 

 

 

They also have a set leadership group who demands high expectations and a way to play. It’s easier to gel that way.

 

If our younger core can set precedent then eventually they can get there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, robrob74 said:

 

They also have a set leadership group who demands high expectations and a way to play. It’s easier to gel that way.

 

If our younger core can set precedent then eventually they can get there.

Pretty soon our "younger core" will not be that young anymore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This tells me a few things

-Peluso will almost certainly crack the lineup as a 14th F

-The organization doesn't view Schneider as much of a prospect and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't see any action. One would think they'd want him here playing games if they felt otherwise

-Golden opportunity here for Gillies to earn a backup role

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Thebrewcrew said:

This tells me a few things

-Peluso will almost certainly crack the lineup as a 14th F

-The organization doesn't view Schneider as much of a prospect and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't see any action. One would think they'd want him here playing games if they felt otherwise

-Golden opportunity here for Gillies to earn a backup role

I'll take Steinberg on.

I agree with Peluso.

But it gives Gillies no chance. If they sent Rittich, that would be Gillies' better chance imho.

They're giving Rittich game reps here through camp that he won't get in China. I would deduce he's the back up from that.

Czarnick vs Hathaway vs Lazar. Guessing Hathaway comes away with it on experience, Czarnik a 13th fwd.

Klimchuk vs Klimchuk. Peluso isn't a challenger, just the 14th spot.

I love that Klimchuk is going. Which relates directly to I love that Huska is now an assistant with the big club

I can only imagine how revved up he must be to get a real shot, as opposed to a GG shot.

I'm hyped up, I'd love him as a 4 LW to get him started as an NHLer.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...