The little fat guy is at it again. Sticking his dirty little fingers where they don't belong. Now, Håkan Loob has appeared in Umeå, the home of Björklöven, to investigate the possibility of them joining him and his clan of retards in the 'Nordic Trophy' investigation. This is supposedly a future league with teams from Sweden and Finland, a kind of permanent extension of the current Nordic Trophy, possibly [read 'most likely'] as a nordic conference of KHL - oh yes, we must not forget the token teams from Norway and Denmark.
So what has this got to do with the struggling Swedish second tier outfit from Umeå?
Well, apparently they might be thinking about building a new stadium - or 'events facility' as the man from the council proudly said.
Ok, but surely a new arena does not mean you qualify for this league. There are more than 20 teams in Sweden who are better at the moment.
Ok, here's where the Loob-logic comes in; they want a team from northern Sweden in this league.
Fine, but surely Skellefteå, MoDo, Timrå or Luleå would be the more obvious contenders - they are at least in the top league in Sweden.
Yeah, you would think so, but according to the Loob-logic, this is irrelevant. It's all depending on the size of the town, its infrastructure and the fact that Umeå has a 'different economic climate' than the rest of the region.
Aha...
That's hockey the Loob way; it doesn't fucking matter what goes on on the ice, all that matters is that they can have fat prawn sandwiches with beluga caviare and a 1972 Chateau Lafite Rothschild to swallow it all down with in the board room. And, of course, an infrastructured heli-pad so they can get home in time for CSI.
Good game!
Are people really so blind that can't see what this man and his cronies are up to? Personally, I am shitting myself.
Don't take me wrong, I am not against some kind of Nordic Trophy. Sweden and Finland has a long standing rivalry in sports and this could be an idea. However, when Loob claims the TV money will be around SEK 60.000.000 (compared to 29.000.000 currently in Elitserien and a meagre 1.500.000 in Allsvenskan), he has clearly not understood the market. Sweden is by far the biggest market for hockey out of the four nations considered. In Norway and Denmark, hockey is a marginal sport at the best. Finland has a market, but economically it is much smaller than it's western neighbour. To double the money I think is a very optimistic calculation - at least if he gets his wish through for a closed league without relegation etc.
But that won't matter for most of us. We either won't have the 'economic climate' or 'infrastructure' to be part of the chosen ones. No one has informed us that putting the puck in the back of the net no longer matters. Maybe I'm just a bit conservative, but I say we continue with this old way of doing sports for the time being.
In the case of my beloved Leksand, I don't think we have the 'economic climate' suitable for the new league. The infrastructure is most certainly below the worthiness of the big shots, not to mention the size of the town (has anyone told Loob size doesn't matter - it is what you do with it that counts...He, if anyone, should know that...). And it seems we're not the only ones with these problems - apparently any team outside a big city is not qualified for having a decent ice hockey team. But in Europe we have this weird tradition, a team belongs where it is, not that franchise crap that NHL has established. Now, can't we all stand up and hold hands and sing... We Shall Not Be Moved.
But seriously, can someone please stop this man before he causes any permanent damage?
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