Russian Hockey League’s success impossible for NHL to ignore

Star players, modern arenas, TV contracts prove Russians’ love of the game

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 was also a collapse of sorts for the sport of ice hockey in Russia, as former Soviet hockey players began leaving the country in search of better pay and ice time. But as Russia has re-emerged over the last decade as a vigorous, growing economy, Russian hockey has also re-emerged to produce some of the world’s best players and now one of the world’s best hockey leagues.

Over the last three years, with the birth and success of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and a growing middle class that is hungry for quality entertainment, Russian hockey stars are playing world-class hockey back on their home ice. As journalist Denis Gibbons wrote in the Toronto Star last month, the KHL is now second only to the National Hockey League in quality of play and quality of entertainment. And the NHL has taken notice. KHL President Alexander Medvedev has largely achieved his goal of professionalizing the young league with new arenas, big name players drawing big-time salaries, corporate sponsors and broadcast deals.

As Gibbons suggested, the gap between the NHL and the KHL has also closed. “The skill level here is pretty good,” he said, quoting Sergei Brylin, who earned two Stanley Cup rings with the New Jersey Devils, and now plays for SKA St. Petersburg. “The top four or five teams could easily play in the NHL.”

The current season will conclude this week as Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Atlant Mytishchi fight it out in a best-of-seven series to determine who gets to be named league champion and hoist the Gagarin Cup.  The series can be viewed in the US on www.espn3.com.