2008 NHL Season to start in Stockholm

Well, this is interesting, if you happen to live in Stockholm, Sweden - which I do. For the rest of you this is this year's matches in London again. The only difference is that next year the season will start with Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh playing two games at Stockholms Globe Arena (more commonly known as Globen).

The source for this bit of information is not NHL.com, but rather Eurosport's Swedish website so one will have to take it with a grain of salt. However they cite a "reliable source" for giving them the heads up. A spokesperson for the arena merely said that they cannot confirm the event.

NHL exhibition games have been played in Stockholm before, most notably when hometown hero Mats Sundin and the Maple Leafs played here a few years ago. These would be the first official matches ever played in Sweden.

If you ask me this all seems a bit too good to be true, I mean Ottawa vs Pittsburgh? That is just a little too close to, "What is the best possible matchup we could see?" Not that I'd complain if this turns out to be the case, but I wouldn't put any money down on this or mark it my calendar for next October quite yet.

BUT, what if it did happen? Well, it certainly would be a major help to Swedish hockey, especially in Stockholm where things are none too good. Of the three teams here only one is in the Elite League, the other two are tier 2, one in the middle of the pack the other dead last and very much in danger of bankruptcy and worse.

The odd thing is that hockey is just not big in Sweden's capital and largest city. (Soccer, football, by comparison is mammoth. )Attendance at games is paltry at best, with the Elite League games topping out at less than about 5,000 and other games getting as few as 500 on some nights. They've moved games from the fore mentioned Globe Arena to a smaller venue because the atmosphere is hardly conducive when 80% of the seats are empty.

The chance to turn the focus once again towards hockey in the media, even if it is for two games, would be a much needed kick start to what was once a thriving hockey town. Crosby, Malkin and Alfredsson coming to town would be huge. (All we've got right now is Ed Belfour.)

Hopefully this does come to pass, because if anywhere needed this kind of hockey savior it is Stockholm.

The article on Eurosport (in Swedish) can be found here.

A brief, and somewhat questionably, translated English version can be found here.