Bad idea. The NHL should really worry about creating a near perfect system that would allow them to take FULL CONTROL of the North American market before dipping into the European market. While there are people in Europe, there are many factors to consider.
The first is the EURO! By 2018, the Euro will easily be the strongest currency in the world and will definately be bigger than the American dollar. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if by 2012 there isn't an Americo that sees all of North America using the same currency but it still wouldn't be as strong as the Euro. By European teams having the Euro, who can pay the most to their players? What currency is used? How can teams like Nashville compete with a team in Sweden that takes all of it's revenue in Euro?
What about soccer? Soccer is EASILY the biggest sport in Europe and would take up A LOT of attention if teams were to conflict dates of events. Also, while there is interest in Europe for hockey, how big is that interest? Will people pay 400 or 500 dollars per ticket like they do in Montreal or Toronto and how many of them will?
Another problem is talent. As it stands now, we have 30 teams and they aren't good teams. People have been indoctrinated into drinking the Kool-Aid on "parity" but it's bullcrap. All parity means is that the teams are crappier. Twenty years ago, there were no Dominic Moores or Boyd Devereauxs. Today, the league is FILLED with them. How could the league possibly have enough talent to run teams all over North America and in Europe? Also, how would trades work? The NHLPA would be ALL OVER this issue as North American players WOULD NOT want to be moved to Europe and visa versa.
What about the weak Southern teams? What happens to them? If the NHL can't support these struggling franchises and has great markets untapped in Canada and a few in the Northern States how can they think to take over Europe? What about the KSL? If they have a strong first few years, how can the NHL possibly create enough interest with established teams already in place? It'd be like the WHA Vs. the NHL. How well did the Toronto Toros do again?
There is only one way this works out in my mind and that is for the NHL to SOLIDIFY the North American game. Tap into the Canadian markets like Winnipeg, Quebec and Hamilton. Then, tap into the Northern State markets like Wisconsin and Hartford. Then you worry about solidifying the game in the Southern States. Once the North American game is strong, you begin to create A SEPARATE LEAGUE in Europe much like the NFL did with NFL Euro. If that league is a success, and grows, you then incorporate them into the NHL system by having the Champions of each league play for the Stanley Cup. This way, the NHL ENSURES that it can not fail BOTH in Europe AND in North America.
Now this is all hypothetical but I'll take a stab at it.
The new divisions look like this:
Northwest Division: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Minnesota
Central Division: Chicago, Buffalo, Detroit, St. Louis, Wisconsin
Pacific Division: Los Angeles, Dallas, San Jose, Phoenix, Anaheim
Canadian Division: Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Hamilton, Quebec City
Atlantic Division: Carolina, Pittsburgh, Hartford, Colorado, Columbus
American: New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Boston
Southeast Division: Atlanta, Florida, Tampa Bay, Washington, Nashville
That would bring the league up to 35 teams. At this point, you take the markets that can't survive and move them to Europe. My guess is that there are at least five that don't make it in 20 years or less; Florida, Nashville, Atlanta, Anaheim and Phoenix. These five teams get moved to Europe and three additional teams get added bringing the league total to 38 teams with 30 in the NHL and 8 in the NEHL (National European Hockey League). The eight teams in Europe would probably be Helsinki, Stockholm, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Berlin, Prague, Zurich and Bratislava by country capital and population. Additionally, teams would be added every so often until the league could achieve a level of stability and have enough teams and talent to be able to compete for the Stanley Cup. I think at least 24 teams would have to be in the NEHL before they could compete for the Stanley Cup.
If there was an NHL divided into regional territories and an NEHL divided into regional territories, both having at least 24 teams with four divisions of six in each, one could see the leagues handing out division championships to eight teams every year, one league championship to each league every year and one overall World championship each year. This would ensure that there would be eight teams winning SOMETHING, two teams winning their leagues and one team being the undisputed World Champion.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUENorthwest Division: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Minnesota, Colorado
Central Division: Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, St. Louis, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh
Pacific Division: Los Angeles, Dallas, San Jose, Washington, Tampa Bay, Carolina
Northeast Division: Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Hamilton, Quebec City, Buffalo
American Division: New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Boston, Hartford
NATIONAL EUROPEAN HOCKEY LEAGUESwedish Division: Frolunda, MODO, Timra, Brynäs, Linköpings, Djurgårdens
Finnish Division: Jokerit, TPS, HIFK, Ilves, Tappara, Blues
Russian Division: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Magnitogorsk, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Omsk, Lada Togliatti
European Division: Berlin, Prague, Bratislava, Zurich, HC Dinamo Minsk, Ak Bars Kazan
Every year, much like European soccer, teams in the former Czech Extraliga, Slovak Extraliga, Nationaliga A, SEL, SM-Liiga, and RSL would play their season and the last place team in each division would get relegated while the top team in each league would get promoted.
