The five outbreaking hockey clubs to have talks with the KHL; the Swedish hockey federation has started preparing for a plan B, and the he seven remaining Elitserien clubs have fired back by signing a new huge tv deal, testifying the market value of the Swedish hockey league. Has the Swedish civil hockey war already reached the point of no return?

As reported yesterday, the five Swedish Nordic Trophy clubs, aka the NT Group (HC Frölunda, Färjestads BK, Linköpings HC, HV71 and Djurgården) are contemplating with the idea of leaving the Swedish Elitserien in favour of a European League. Håkan Loob is on full-time leave from his job as club manager of Färjestad and has been given the assignment by the NT Group to study the options for the future. A full report is expected by the end of this year.

Nothing is yet definitive, but at the moment, the NT clubs seem to favour a Nordic league, at least as a first step. Such as league would comprise 10-12 Swedish and Finnish teams, and in the medium turn the inclusion of one or two Norwegian and Danish clubs. In the longer run, a Nordic league could be expanded with other Western and Central European teams to form a NHL style Western Conference of the KHL. Another option is to keep the Nordic league separate in a three conference system with a Eastern (the current KHL), a Central (team from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia) and a Nordic European league.

Håkan Loob will meet with Medvedev, the president of KHL, in early June. This doesn't imply that the Swedish NT clubs are considering taking the shorter route to the KHL. Explaning the purpose of the meeting, Alexander Medvedev says: "If my memory serves me well, the Nordic Trophy was created as a reaction the KHL. It's better to meet and talk than having a conflict". Medvedev flatly rejecs that the KHL has offered Swedish clubs money if they enter the KHL. In an interview with Swedish Expressen, Medvedev also reveals that he has agreed with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to submit a thorough report on the future of the KHL by November.

Dissent with the NT group: two clubs reject an IIHF-NHL deal
It's still questionable whether the Swedish NT clubs can find a common ground in their new found cooperation. A few days ago, it was revealed that two of the clubs, Linköpings HC and HV71, oppose a renewal of the IIHF-NHL deal that expired in 2007. The two clubs want the European transfer system to apply to the NHL-Europe as well. According to this system, transfer fees are negotiated from case-to-case and on market terms. In the NHL-IIHF agreements, the European clubs received a fixed sum for each player, regardless of whether the players are rare top-talents such as Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin or they are more ordinary prospects. "The transfer terms we have with the KHL are much more fair than the transfer terms we have with the NHL", Hans-Göran Frick, the club manager of HV71 says, "Sure, we also lose players with valid contract to Russia. But the terms of the transfers are always up for negotiations. We want the same system to apply to the transfers from Europe to the NHL".

The other three members of the NT group (Frölunda, Färjestads and Djurgården) are positive for a reopening of the NHL-IIHF negotiations within the existing framework. But they still want the transfer compensation per player to be increased and the deadline for NHL franchises to sign drafted prospects to be increased from two to four years. In this, they are supported by the seven other Elitserien clubs.

Swedish Hockey Federation prepares for Plan B - Non-NT clubs make a huge tv deal
Meanwhile, Expressen reports that the Swedish ice hockey federation has submitted a study group assigned to  prepare a Plan B that would be implemented if the NT clubs abandon Elitserien. This could happen as early as next Summer, and for this reason the remaining seven clubs are anxious to know what the five NT clubs plan to do and how Elitserien could survive should they choose to leave. The non-NT clubs have demanded an answer from Håkan Loob by the end of this Summer.

The seven clubs which have committed themselves to Elitserien-- Brynäs. Luleå, MoDo, Rögle, Skellefteå, Södertälje and Timrå--have little patience waiting  for the NT clubs. Last week, they made a strong statement by signing a new lucrative tv deal with Swedish TV4 and Canal+. The 4 year deal, worth SEK1.2bn., actually reinforces Elitserien's position with the best hockey tv deal in the world. According to the previous deal, each team on average received SEK18 mio. each year. In the new agreement, they will on average receive SEK25 mio., an increase by more than 33 percent. The deal, that has been negotiated during the worst economic crisis since the 1930s and which does not include the five Nordic Trophy teams--the richest and most successful hockey teams in Sweden--is a strong testimony of the market value of Elitserien. With or without the dissenting teams.

The new tv deal also underlines that the NT clubs are making a huge gamble with their future plans. History has shown that European hockey is intrinsically a local sport and that cross-border leagues don't survive in the longer run.

Christer Englund, the spokesman of the Swedish ice hockey federation, is more than skeptic about the plans for a European hockey league. "I don't have the slightest faith in a cross-boarder sports league", Englund says, "[if it was feasible], there would already be a European soccer league. Soccer has much greater market value than hockey".

The point of no return?

The question is whether the point of no return has already been reached in the Swedish civil hockey war? With the effect of the 2010-11 season, the five Swedish NT clubs have legally already left Elitserien. In late April they refused to sign a new five year deal with HockeyLigan, the body that governs Elitserien. At the same time they gave up their shares in this organization in which the Elitserien clubs are represented. The argument of the NT clubs was that they didn't want to be tied up in another long-term deal while they were in the midst of settling their options for the future. The seven other clubs of Elitserien responded immediately to this by signing the new tv deal.

Since then, the relationship between the two groups has reached a freezing point. The group of seven--Brynäs. Luleå, MoDo, Rögle, Skellefteå, Södertälje and Timrå--are not only upset about the NT group's (HC Frölunda, Färjestads BK, Linköpings HC, HV71 and Djurgården) ideas for the future; they are also upset about the whole process. Despite the NT group's promises, they claim that they have neither been consulted by the NT group, nor been  briefed about the discussions which have taken place within this group. The NT group has allegedly repeatedly discussed the issues within the body that governs the Nordic Trophy tournament, and they have also had several secret meetings with representatives of the KHL.

"[Their behavior] is devasting and absurd", Bo Bylund, spokesman of Brynäs says, "I am very upset that they didn't renew their contract with HockeyLigan. They have created a deep breach of confidence". Södertälje SK's club manager, Stefan Jönsson, agrees: "[The NT group] has been totally disloyal. They have created a deep crisis of confidence". "Since Christmas, we have several times been promised to be informed about the discussions [within the NT group]", Rögle's spokesman, Kjell Nilsson says, but all we have heard are excuses".

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