The National Hockey League hasn't had a real threat to rival their supremacy as the top hockey league in the world since the World Hockey Association folded in 1979. Suddenly, though, there is a league that is garnering steam and looking as though they might be the next team that could challenge the NHL as the top notch hockey league and that is the Kontinental Hockey League.
The first time the NHL was ever challenged was by the World Hockey Association which was formed in 1972. They looked to capitalize on the markets where there weren't already teams playing in the NHL and at the beginning of the formation of the league they did very well at this.
They were able to attract many NHL players, including Bobby Hull by offering them higher paying contracts than the NHL. While they enjoyed minor success eventually the league was forced to fold in 1979 after too many teams could not support themselves financially.
The one positive that came out of the WHA was the NHL realized they had to start scouting overseas in Europe and elsewhere. At the time the NHL recruited mostly in Canada and ignored overseas players for the most part but after see ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Ryan Pickard
Is the Kontinental Hockey League a Serious Threat to the NHL?
November 30th, 2009 by Ryan Pickard Leave a reply »
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