You always see guys that NHL teams dont really want anymore (Irbe, Yashin, Belfour, ect) but does the NHL miss out on young players that would rather play for their nation in Europe?
2007-08-20 09:01:52 · 6 answers · asked by Ben 6 in Sports ➔ Hockey
The answer is no. There are ALOT of scouts in european countries, and if guys are good, they get seen, bottom line. Alot of the guys over there in Europe are americans also. Alot of americans get contracts to go over there and play, since they wouldn't make an AHL team, or get the playing time they want. If a player or goalie is good, they will get scouted. That doesn't mean that the NHL teams haven't missed out on guys that would have been good, because just scouting a player doesn't give you 100% knowledge of the player. For example, all these players get drafted, and they might get picked in the last round, and turn out to be a superstar. That means that everyteam in the league passed on a guy a few times, they don't know who is going to be big, they can only guess. Some guys who go in the first round never get to the level they need to, and the later round guys might get alot better then anybody thought. Scouting teams are alot better nowadays, but they still have to rely on a little bit of luck when it comes to picking those late round guys.
2007-08-20 09:21:39 · answer #1 · answered by rockstar44 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes and No.
Yes we miss out on some good young Europeans because they would rather stay close to home and I'm sure they are making all right money over there to keep playing.
No because most of old and so-so NHLers go over there for the last leg of the career or to get a little better. The minor leagues here are good but the pro hockey teams are better because they can become a star over there.
2007-08-20 22:08:15 · answer #2 · answered by mellanbyrat 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i think 10 years ago, or even 15, the answer would have been no. every single russian kid who could stand up got an nhl tryout in the early to mid 90s. and a lot of those players didn't work out, and a lot had a hard time adapting to life in north america. there are a lot of prominent nhlers going back to europe/russia this season, which i think will be a major trend over the next few years, and eventually lead to expansion of the league to europe/russia.
2007-08-21 04:24:21 · answer #3 · answered by rive_sud 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The only players this would miss out on are ones who do not want to play overseas and are making a great living playing for a pro league in or near where they live. Most players would want to play in the best league in the world, but there remains viable options a notch or two below that quality.
2007-08-20 09:10:26 · answer #4 · answered by Zombie Birdhouse 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Definitely.
There are many players who would rather play in their homeland than come to North America.
For the most part, American dollars can lure most Eastern Europeans. The other draw is that everybody wants to play in the best league in the world and currently, that title belongs to the National Hockey League.
2007-08-20 13:25:36 · answer #5 · answered by Like I'm Telling You Who I A 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The NHL is too watered down with bad talent bc there are too many teams
2007-08-20 10:23:24 · answer #6 · answered by b d 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋