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KHL youth branch eyes to go global one day
Published: 24 October, 2009, 16:02
KHL’s brand new feeder league has existed less than a year but, as RT found out, they have extensive plans for the future.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, its state supported hockey system, once considered indivisible from the country's international success, also ceased to exist.
But as the nation got used to new economic realities, hockey development also readjusted, reviving old traditions combined with a freshly-acquired Western market sense.
In 2008, the KHL replaced the Russian Superleague. Only a year later, same organization opened a reserves branch – the Youth Hockey League or YHL.
The league was created on a solely domestic basis, but there are plans for it to go beyond Russia soon.
”We put in an enormous effort on publicity, on working with newspapers, magazines, TV and radio. We want to make a big deal out of this league. We want these young guys to become famous in Russia and even beyond Russia,” says Dmitry Efimov, CEO of Youth Hockey League.
Before the creation of the YHL, teenagers’ options in order to get noticed were to make it to one of the bigger Russian club’s farm teams, or fly over the Atlantic and try their luck in one of the North American leagues.
And many have done just that.
“There are so many leagues in North America that you never know where you will end up. Some great players fade out after playing there for a while. The Youth Hockey League, on the other hand, can be a direct ticket to the Kontinetal Hockey League,” says Anton Todykov, CSKA youth team goaltender.
The trends are shifting and the wind of change is now blowing in the opposite direction.
Successful or not, young Russian hockey talents understand that their potential can be fulfilled in their native country, close to family and Russian fans.
“I averaged about 30 minutes per game and got a lot of points when I played in the United States. But I returned to Russia because I want to play for CSKA Moscow in the KHL. The Youth Hockey League is very competitive and it's a perfect gateway to top tier hockey,” says Georgy Gurianov, a CSKA youth team forward.
Low attendance is one of the YHL's biggest problems at the moment, as its commercial nature is directly affected by this aspect. Making the league attractive to everyday hockey fans is one of the core marketing objectives.
However, Russian hockey fans claim this is not a problem for them.
”The YHL is very interesting, dynamic and fast. It's always more fun to watch younger players,” a YHL fan says.
So the brand new league has every chance of soon becoming a preferable destination for young ice hockey talents from all around Europe.
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