World Hockey Summit comes to a close
The World Hockey Summit held in Toronto over the past week came to a close on Friday. Over 400 delegates from around the world poured into Toronto to participate in events around the city.
The Summit was based on a similar meeting that occurred in Canada after the 1998 Nagano Olympics when both the Men and Women’s Hockey Teams failed to capture a gold medal.
The Summit featured several ‘hot stove’ events in which high-profile members of the hockey community took part in both discussion and question-and-answer sessions in front of delegates and the general public.
The Summit was seen as a way in which to get all the greatest hockey minds together for an extended period of time. The idea was to help build relationships between the different hockey factions around the globe. The most well represented organizations were the National Hockey League, the International Ice Hockey Federation, and Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. In addition, delegates from other hockey nations joined panel discussions with a significant number hailing from Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Although no firm decisions were made at the Summit, a great deal was discussed and a better understanding of the issues surrounding the game worldwide was achieved.
Hockey Canada President Bob Nicholson said of the Summit, “When we started to build the agenda, it was like herding cats with everybody. The Sessions have been good, but more importantly, what’s happened in the hall, in the discussions and in the networking that’s gone on has just been fantastic.”
Among the most talked about issues at the Summit were the NHL’s participation in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi Russia, and the development of European players.
The NHL’s involvement in the 2014 Olympics continues to be a hot button issue. The vast majority of European delegates were adamant that the NHL commit to Sochi as soon as possible. However, the NHL remains on the fence.
NHL commission Gary Bettman has maintained that the League’s involvement in Vancouver 2010 was a ‘mixed bag’. Although Bettman has stated that the fans were split on the topic, it is clear that the protection of the owners is at the top of the NHL’s list. With teams losing buckets of cash each year it is difficult to shut down for two weeks straight.
The proponents of the NHL’s involvement sighted the obvious arguments, making note of the general excitement and overall high level of play in the 2010 Olympic tournament.
The issue of European players particularly those from Slovakia and Czech Republic being coaxed over to North America through the Canadian Hockey League import draft was also a major concern.
The Slovakian and Czech Republic delegations along with the IIHF believe that players heading over to North America at young ages do not receive the proper development, and therefore Eastern Bloc countries are seeing an overall decline in their prospect, sighting the inability of their countries to perform well in a Major Junior Championship, as well as the lack of NHL players who have participated in 1,000 games over the past 10 years.
The supporters of the CHL draft believe that playing against better players will help those countries develop more successful prospects. Using Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara as recent examples of successful Slovaks to have gone through the major junior system in Canada.
Regardless of the outcome the Summit can be looked upon as a step in the right direction. IIHF president Rene Fasel said of the event, “I’m happy that, now, we know where the issues are. I would say a lot of them are easy to solve, very easy to solve and I’m happy about that.”
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