I'm heading over seas to play hockey during the lockout

[Spec7ral]

How does one choose a team?


If I am Craig Smith, how do I end up on KalPa Kuopio, which seems to be comprised of all Finnish born players, and holds no real affiliations to Wisconsin, where Smith is from?

Never gave much thought. I notice Stepan has joined the same team, which, to me and my uneducated guess, seems to make more sense, as at least there's another NHL player on the roster in Smith.

Guys like Jagr and Plekanec are playing in their home town, guys like Briere and Giroux head off to join a team together. But how does Smith end up in Finland?

Just curious.

[angus]

Agents would do most of the work - location is a big thing, as is insurance costs being covered. Finally, these teams have to actually have room for the players.

[Maaaasquito]

That's what I would be thinking... most of the NHL players are "rental players" so a lot of it will come down to whether a team is wanting to disrupt their lineup to have these rental players pick up some cheap wins for them.

A lot of it might also be salary... Some teams don't have big budgets so some of them might not be able to offer more than others. Also insurance costs as Angus stated, also language barriers, cost/standard of living...

[Spec7ral]

Are there any other guys that stick out as weird ones to any forum members?

I thought that the three Danes - Boedker, Nielsen, Larsen - on a Finnish team was also an interesting situation.

Do you think playing together gives a pair like Briere/Giroux an edge during the lockout as they can work on their personal/professional relationship?

I'd hazard a guess that there's more value in that than quality of competition? Most on the boards seem to be of the "well it's not the NHL so the numbers don't matter", but what if you're hanging with a team, or better yet line, mate for an entire season?

I know I wish Jagr and Plekanec were playing together once they get back to NA.