Two test matches in Australia: what is the NHL doing on the other side of the world?

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Two players from the Swiss national team are also present: Kings star forward Kevin Fiala (27) and Coyotes defenseman Janis Jérôme Moser (23). The first game on Saturday went to the Coyotes 5-3. The teams provided a spectacle, including a fist fight. Both Swiss recorded an assist.

“It’s really cool to play where Roger Federer played,” says Moser. “The fans are great. They are really passionate about sports in this city.”

What does the NHL expect from this guest game on the other side of the world? “We think Australia is a sporting nation with a great interest in sport at the highest level – and hopefully in ice hockey,” NHL vice president Billy Daly said on The Athletic’s “Hockey Show.” “We believe we can expand the fan base and also see business opportunities in Australia.” The fact that it is a new market where 26 million people live is “also an important factor”.

Swiss clubs see the NHL as competition

Although the NHL is seen as a league by the Swiss clubs and so far they have only been able to warm up for exhibition games between their own teams against NHL clubs – last year the Nashville Predators with captain Roman Josi in Bern – were the best league in the world the world is played by the minor hockey scene Down Under that is welcomed with open arms.

After all, we can use all the help we can get to boost sport in the southern hemisphere. Ice hockey is a niche product in Australia. There are only 6,150 licensed players (29,360 in Switzerland), only 20 ice rinks (208 here) and the national team, in which ex-NL striker Andreas Camenzind (41), born in Switzerland, also plays, ranks first 35 on the world rankings. Just before Bulgaria and Mexico.

Australia’s only NHL player, Nathan Walker (29) of the St. Louis Blues, is little known in his home country. Had he not moved to Vitkovice, Czech Republic, at the age of 13, the striker would hardly have won the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018.

Hockey was also played

The NHL is running its PR machine Down Under at full speed. The first match in the converted Rod Laver Arena, where Roger Federer won the Australian Open six times, was sold out on Saturday with 13,097 spectators. Still, the NHL is having a hard time in the battle for attention. The sports-mad Australians prefer to concentrate on the Australian Rules Football League, which is in the decisive phase of the season, rugby, cricket or football as we know it in Europe. .

The NHL is also trying to capitalize on the popularity of “Aussie Rules.” So Fiala swapped his jersey with that of Trent Cotchin, the recently retired Richmond Tigers legend, and the Kings attended a game of this extremely physical sport. Also for Fiala, Moser and Co. there was no shortage of fun. They had time to play golf or visit zoos. Things will get serious from October 10.

The guest appearance in the NHL was a dream come true for the local hockey community. But is the mad effort for just two test games on the other side of the world worth it for the NHL? ‘It’s a long-term project. The plan is to help ice hockey and the NHL grow and hopefully capture a significant share of the Australian market in the long term,” David Proper, the NHL’s deputy head of international strategy, explained to “The Age.”