World Hockey Summit Day 3: PM session, audio from KHL Pres. Medvedev

With a star-studded panel, including Brian Burke, GM of both the Maple Leafs and the U.S. Olympic team, scheduled to speak during the afternoon session of Day 3 of the World Hockey Summit, the discussion was bound to be interesting, controversial and contentious and that is exactly what transpired in the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton Centre in Toronto.  Burke yelled at long-time OHL GM and executive Sherry Bassin, a Summit delegate, and also took a verbal shot from Glenn Healy.  The theme that was examined was Establishing a Long-Term Global Event Agenda and it opened with a technical presentation by Ralph Krueger, an associate coach of the Edmonton Oilers, born in Canada, with extensive playing and coaching experience in Switzerland and Germany.

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Krueger used a spider-web on a diagram as an analogy to explain his vision for future international hockey events, implying that nations should find common ground and build a “Global Hockey Web”.  He spoke about how every hockey-playing country can point to certain landmark victories or tournament-hosting opportunities where the citizens, especially kids, became inspired to pursue hockey.  For Sweden, winning the World Championship in 1962 was akin to Canada rallying to beat the Soviets in 1972.  The Americans had their “Miracle on Ice” in 1980 while for Latvia in 2006, the chance to even host an IIHF World Championship represented a great source of pride.  Some of the innovations Krueger proposed were the creation of a new World U-23 Championship and a Victoria Cup Final that would see two NHL teams battle for the right to face the winner of a KHL champion vs. European champion match.

Deputy NHL commissioner Bill Daly agreed fundamentally with most of Krueger’s ideas, but said, “I believe that Olympic participation every four years, World Cup participation every four years and World Championship participation every year is probably too much to ask the best players in the world to do on a regular basis.”  However, he expressed his support for a World U-23 Championship noting, “it’s a great concept.  It’s actually something that’s received some attention in the past [with] discussion and dialogue,” reasoning that splitting the current workload for international representation among different age groups may ease the burden on many stars who presently suit up for their country in every tournament.

ALEXANDER MEDVEDEV 17 mins 04 sec KHL president reviews contract transfers, the Olympics, relations between the KHL and NHL and future growth in Russian hockey. (This writer asks questions at 1:33 about the Evgeni Malkin transfer controversy and at 13:18 on further KHL European expansion).

KHL president Alexander Medvedev then pointedly said, “It’s quite obvious that there’s no need to spend time and money to analyze the effect of international events on hockey.  That’s why I was a little bit surprised to hear Gary Bettman say there still has to be time to decide [NHL participation in the Olympics].”  He then wryly added, “We have a first-class product; NHL is a “triple-A” product and not to send the NHL to Olympic Games, either to Sochi or the next destination is like putting poison or pesticide into the soil that produces this first-class product!  I hope that such a decision will not be taken.”

Next, Burke gave a taste of comments to come when he fidgeted in his seat and joked, “These might be the most uncomfortable stools ever invented.”  He reiterated his stance that he and the Maple Leafs both support NHL involvement in the Olympics but “if and only if some of the concerns that this poses for NHL teams are addressed,” citing Anaheim as an example of a team who suffered off the ice due to a loss in fan interest post-Olympics and on the ice when players lost momentum.  “It’s much more complicated than waving a flag and saying we have to go.  It’s much more complicated than saying we want to see the best players.  If the NHL decides not to go, the Olympics will continue.”

The Toronto GM then discussed resurrecting the World Cup as a best-on-best alternative if NHL Olympic plans fall through with the caveat that proper preparation time is a must.  “The World Cup, the advantage to me, where I think it’s a preferable tournament is in terms of international hockey, the best hockey I ever saw was the ’87 Canada Cup.  Those teams assembled early, had a training camp to work on special teams.  My players, a lot of them, got to Vancouver on Sunday.  We played games in the NHL on Sunday afternoon, 5 o’clock or 3 o’clock at the latest, then had to fly to Vancouver, practice Monday and play Tuesday … it wasn’t ideal, so let’s do it right.  Let’s hold this tournament in August or early September.  Let’s have a training camp; let’s get the team together, work on special teams and put the best product on the ice.”

Subsequently, Paul Romanuk proposed holding a “Global Hockey Week” in February instead of the All-Star Game where every professional league in the world would shut down and come together for a conference much like the World Hockey Summit to exchange ideas.  The “crown jewel” of the week would be an NHL champion vs. European champion exhibition match and a World Players’ Skills Competition.  When broadcaster Healy suggested using that week in February for the World Cup in non-Olympic years, Burke dismissed the idea saying that there was already too much of a burden of in-season events for NHL players.  Immediately, Healy quipped, “Fine, we’ll have [the World Cup] in Toronto in April!” a poke at the moribund Leafs’ annual absence from the playoffs that everyone in the room laughed at, except Burke.

Burke also took loud exception to what he perceived as unfair criticism from Bassin.  Bassin tersely declared to the panellists that people are tired of hearing about the problems and conflicts of getting NHL players into the Olympics and wanted to hear solutions, a comment that received applause from many other delegates.  Burke responded by yelling, “It’s not that simple to get everyone on a goddamn plane and go over and play the games … It’s not that simple and we’re letting it become an emotional issue in this room,” and rebuked Bassin for making an applause-garnering statement without considering all the difficult factors involved in the decision.

Tomorrow, the Summit will come to a close, but not before the imbalance between North America and the rest of the world in women’s hockey is discussed in the morning, followed by the final topic, Growing Participation in Hockey, in the afternoon.