After a second straight year of opening the NHL season in Europe, it can be nearly assured that it will become an annual visit for the league. With players like Crosby, Alfredsson, Kopitar, Pronger, Drury, and Lecavalier displaying their talents in London, Prague, and Stockholm, you have to wonder who will be next to jump the pond.
While many, especially those in Russia, would want to see Ovechkin overseas to start next season, it doesn't look to be in the works. From Ted Leonsis;
Hockey is truly a global game and playing in Europe to kick off our season is a big and great idea. For the Washington Capitals, we are rebuilding our fan base and using our new world-class Kettler Capitals Iceplex (two-year old practice facility) is an important pillar to our overall plan to become a great franchise.Our fans come out to support our team. The practice facility is located very close to our Hershey affiliate and we need to continue to build out our plan of leveraging Kettler Capitals Iceplex, our AHL franchise, and the rebuild of our roster to try and win a Stanley Cup.
Hence, I don't foresee us traveling to Europe to play in the short term, but I do see us doing so at some point to support our league's marketing efforts as we continue to become everyone's second favorite team.
In his conversation with ESPN's Pierre LeBrun, Leonsis talks up the Caps' new practice digs, while basically saying the team won't make any big trips until the league tells them to.
You can't really blame Leonsis for not offering his team up to the league. The Kettler Capitals IcePlex has to be one of the nicest practice facilities in the league. It is a public twin rink that also houses Caps offices and their own private locker room.
The Caps are also a heavily youth-oriented team. With the importance they place on rookie camp and training camp, they don't have the luxury of being able to take a week off of training camp and head to Europe. They need all the time they can to give their prospects a taste of the big league, and let them know what to expect.
So while Leonsis wouldn't mind sending his team abroad and widening the fan base, he won't be making any moves until the league tells him otherwise.
