lor@ucla-cs.UUCP (02/21/85)
A columnist in the recent Hockey Digest (March 1985) said the Soviets should compete in the Stanley Cup. He proposed two 21-game trips to North America for the Soviets each season, and if they have a .500+ record, let them compete in the StanleyCup playoffs. The idea is good but not realistic. He also underestimated the superiority of the Soviets. Do you think the Soviets would, or should, compete with sub-.500 teams like the Rangers, the Red Wings, or the North Stars for the Stanley Cup? Even our Stanley Cup champions may not be able to beat the Russians. I think a better idea is to have a series between the Stanley Cup winners and the Soviet club champions. This would be the genuine World Series for the real world champions (forget the Swedes and the Czechs, the Russians are ALWAYS the best in Europe.) With Gretzky, Kurri, and Coffey, or Potvin, Bossy, and Trottier VS the best hockey players in the world, I can't imagine how exciting the series would be. The Canadian fans have already had such a treat (Canada vs USSR in 1984 Canada Cup), but that's once in a decade. Shouldn't these games be played at a more regular basis? I am sure a series like this would create a hype as big as the Super Bowl, the world series, and the NBA championship series. -- Eddy Lor ...!ucbvax!ucla-cs!lor lor@ucla-locus.arpa
per@druxg.UUCP (GyllstromPO) (02/27/85)
> I think a better idea is to have a series between the > Stanley Cup winners and the Soviet club champions. This would be > the genuine World Series for the real world champions (forget > the Swedes and the Czechs, the Russians are ALWAYS the best in > Europe.) Yet another "world series"? The "american world" against the "russian world". Let's just forget the other nobodies. After all they must be on another planet. Anyway, I'm positive that the russians would refuse to play in the Stanley Cup. I would prefer to see an NHL conference established in Europe. This way the drain of good european hockey players to North America could slow down. I think a lot of the imports playing in the NHL today (Kurri, Naslund, Lindbergh, Nilsson, etc.) would prefer to play over in Europe if economically feasible. There would certainly be enough good players around to create several good teams. And maybe some north american players would mind to play in Europe. Per Gyllstrom [ihnp4!drutx!druxg!per]