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Open season

Bid to begin NHL in Prague next year hinges on cash

By František Bouc
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
October 17th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Rangers captain Jaromír Jágr is one of the Czech NHL stars who could play in Prague.
The New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning.
At first glance, these ice hockey teams don’t have much in common apart from sharing the same competition — the rest of North America’s National Hockey League (NHL). But, as unlikely as it may seem, Prague is the tie that binds these clubs together, as these four are the hottest candidates to begin next year’s NHL season by playing several games in the Czech capital.
“By the end of October, we should know whether the NHL will start in Prague next year or not,” said Vladimír Šafařík, executive director of Česká sportovní, a marketing firm that organizes major sporting events in the country. “There’s a significant chance that the NHL will face off in Prague next season.”
Both Česká sportovní representatives and NHL vice president Ken Yaffe have said that Prague is a strong candidate.
In late September, Šafařík traveled to London to negotiate with NHL management on the possibility of staging the league’s opening game in Prague. The NHL has been open to similar projects, having begun its season three times in Japan, and this year, for the first time ever, by starting the season in Europe when the Anaheim Mighty Ducks took on the Los Angeles Kings Sept. 29 in London.
Soon after, both Czech and American media began speculating which two teams could arrive in Prague next season, with the Hockey News reporting on its Web site that the Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins would open the 2008-09 campaign here.
“I can see how they would like us to go, being a good hockey team, but we haven’t heard anything more than rumors,” said the Senators’ assistant general manager Tim Murray.
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote that multiple sources indicated the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning were the league’s preferred participants for the overseas series. A Lightning official later confirmed that the team had been approached by the league for participation.

Baiting Rangers
Given the New York Rangers’ Czech-studded lineup, led by Jaromír Jágr, Czech representatives are working to bring the Rangers to Prague for the game.
“That’s why negotiations [with NHL management] have been dragging on for so long,” said Česká sportovní’s spokesman Karel Tejkal.
Šafařík spoke in London with the Rangers’ general manager, Glenn Sather, who said that he was interested in the possibility of his team playing in Prague.
“Everything depends on the agreement between the NHL management and the Rangers,” Šafařík said.
Drawing the Rangers would also be the most expensive option for Česká sportovní, he said.
“We’d have to fully cover their traveling and accommodation costs,” he said. “Also, NHL clubs must receive compensation for lost profit that they would have made when playing in America” — a large sum, since the Rangers play in the NHL’s largest market.
While Šafařík refused to elaborate on the budget for bringing the NHL to Prague, Tejkal revealed the event would be as expensive as hosting the Final Four men’s basketball tournament, which brought Europe’s best basketball clubs to Prague’s Sazka Arena in April 2006 and cost 50 million Kč ($2.6 million).
Tejkal said that in addition to the Final Four, the 2004 World Cup hockey games stand out as a reference for organizers.
“The NHL managers know Sazka Arena and they also know what they can expect from us,” Šafařík said.
According to the major news server
canada.com, Sazka Arena, along with arenas in London and Geneva, are the only sites in Europe that can successfully accommodate NHL games.
Šafařík said that in the end money will be the key factor in deciding whether or not the NHL comes to Prague.
“We’re now awaiting the final word from the NHL about their financial conditions,” he said. “It’s obvious that the event must fit into a certain budget. Still, we’re quite optimistic that we’ll be able to bring the NHL to Prague.”

František Bouc can be reached at fbouc@praguepost.com


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