NHL und andere ausländische Ligen » Battle of Hockey Gladiators

Battle of Hockey Gladiators

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Die früheren NHL-Haudegen Kurt Walker und Tony Twist waren die ersten, die sich angemeldet haben und Veranstalter Darryl Wolski sagt, dass noch vielefolgen werden:"Diese Sache wird ein Selbstläufer." Diese Sache: Das ist die Battle of Hockey Gladiators"
Die Idee ist denkbar simpel: Ein Eishockey-Spiel, nur ohne Eishockey-Spiel. Was bleibt da übrig ? Jawoll: Die Schlägereien. Wolski plant Raufereien auf dem Eis, mit 64 Raufbolden und einem Preisgeld von 50.000 Dollar für den Sieger, vor zehn-oder 20.000 Fans in einer großen Halle und vor Millionen vor den TV Geräten. Ein riesen Erfolg wird das, freut sich Wolski: "Sogar der landesweite Sender FOX hat interesse."

Nur Tie Domi der harte Mann der Maple Leafs, hat leider keine interesse, der hält die sache für ausgemachten Unsinn und auch der Präsident des kanadischen Hockey-Verband Bob Nicholson hält nichts davon: "Das ist sicher nichts, was wir unterstützen würden", sagt er, aber das stört Wolski nicht weiter: "Nicholson macht sicher einen guten Job im Amateur-Hockey, aber das hier ist für Erwachsene."Und außerdem: "Wir haben in vier Tagen mehr Medien-Präsenz gehabt als die NHL in zehn Jahren. Das ist etwas was man entweder hasst oder liebt. Aber kalt lässt das keinen."
Und deshalb wird das eine wirklich heiße sache werden und zwar vorraussichtlich am 1. Februar. Nur das "wo" ist noch ungeklärt, aber auch das stört Wolski nicht weiter: "Wir sind mit einigen Arenen im Gespräch, in Toronto, Halifax und anderen. Da gibt es mindestens 100 Orte, die in Frage kommen. "Mitmachen sollen nur Leute dürfen, die selbst aktiv Eishockey gespielt haben oder noch spielen. "Irgendwelche Schläger von der Straße kommen für uns nicht in Frage", sagte Wolski, weil er entschlossen ist, auf das Niveau zu achten. Tony Twist, 35, zum Beispiel bringt als Empfehlung 1121 Strafminuten aus 382 NHL-Spielen für die Quebec Nordiques und die St. Louis Blues mit, Kurt Walker hat immerhin 142 Strafminuten in 71 Spielen für die Philadelphia Fleyers gesammelt. "Die sind total begeistert von der Idee", sagt Wolski und man denkt, dass es ein großartiges Gefühl sein muss, wenn man Entdecker einer echten Marktlücke ist.
Und das Tie Domi das alles für Unsinn hält: So what ? "Mit dem rechnen wir sowieso nicht", meint Wolski, "der verdient zwei Millionen Dollar jährlich, was soll der für 50.000 kämpfen."

Hier noch der englische Artikel:

Twist, Walker join goon PPV

Canadian Press

12/18/2003

(CP) - Former NHL players Tony Twist and Kurt Walker are the first two to be accepted for The Battle of the Hockey Gladiators.

``More players will be announced in the near future,'' says promoter Darryl Wolski. ``This thing has taken on a life of its own.''

How about a women's division?

``I can't rule that out,'' says Wolski. ``Is it a possibility? Sure it is. Maybe a goalie's division. These things are popping up on a daily basis.''

First things first.

Wolski says 64 men will be selected from an anticipated pile of entries. Players will be dressed in hockey uniforms and they'll punch it out on ice in a made-for-TV tournament during the Labour Day 2004 weekend.

The last gladiator standing will pocket $50,000 US.

More than 20 applications had been received as of Thursday afternoon by the Brandon, Man., promoter. There is an entry fee of $250.

``The only people we're going to accept are people who have played or are playing hockey,'' Wolski said from Brandon. ``We won't take street thugs.''

A panel of judges will determine winners of elimination bouts and former NHL tough guy Stu Grimson has offered to be one of the judges, says Wolski.

Initially seen as a pay-per-view entity, the project is stretching imaginations daily.

``Never in a million years,'' Wolski responds when asked if he could have foreseen the reaction to the idea. ``We might even go mainstream TV with it because Fox has shown some interest.''

Not everybody thinks it's a good idea.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Tie Domi dismissed the idea when he was asked about it, and Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson gave it a thumbs down. But there is little the national governing body of youth and amateur hockey can do about a project promoted by a private entrepreneur, Nicholson said while at a function in Halifax on Thursday.

``It certainly isn't something amateur hockey's governing body wants to promote,'' he added.

Wolski says Nicholson ``has to say that'' because of his job function.

``He does a good job of promoting amateur hockey but this is only for those 18 and older,'' says Wolski. ``Will it have a black eye on amateur hockey? Not in a million years.''

Wolski, who operates a recreational hockey league in Brandon, stressed that he's been a minor hockey volunteer.

``I've put my two cents back into hockey,'' he says.

Will it have a black eye on the NHL? If it does, that's not his worry.

``The NHL is at a standstill'' with many clubs losing money, he said.

``We've got more press in four days than the NHL has got in 10 years. This is a novel idea and people are running with it. People love it or hate it. There's zero middle ground.''

The media, including CNN, has deluged Wolski with interview requests.

The 11,500-seat Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., was his original staging choice but ``the North Dakota attorney general's office is steering us away.''

``I'm not concerned about that. There are 100 other places we could do it. We've talked to the Ricoh (Coliseum) people in Toronto, we've talked to Halifax'' and to operators of a Connecticut casino.

``They'd be next on our hit list to go to. This type of event has never happened before so (facility managers) don't know how to gauge it. We'll find a spot. I'm not too fussy where it's going to be.''

Everything should be in place by Feb. 1.

``That'll give us sufficient time to market the event,'' says Wolski.

Twist, 35, a native of Sherwood Park, Alta., and a former WHL star with the Saskatoon Blades, played 382 NHL games with the Quebec Nordiques and the St. Louis Blues. The six-foot-one, 220-pound left-winger scored eight goals and rang up 972 penalty minutes, most of them as the Blues' enforcer, before his last big-league game in 1998.

Walker, 49, from Weymouth, Mass., got his chance to play in the NHL when the Leafs opted to add muscle for a 1976 playoff series with the Philadelphia Flyers, who were known at the time as the Broad Street Bullies. The six-foot-three, 200-pound defenceman appeared in 71 regular-season games, scored four goals and was assessed 142 minutes in penalties.

``These guys are absolutely blown away with the idea,'' says Wolski.

Former NHLer Enrico Ciccone and players from Quebec's minor-pro league also have expressed interest, he says.

``We're not expecting guys like Tie Domi to enter,'' says Wolski. ``He's making $2 million a year so this would be chump change to guys like that.''

Wolski imagines Las Vegas betting parlours will start to take odds when the entry list firms up.

``Anything is possible now,'' he says.

Quelle: Lions-Board

Nit das die Amys langsam total am Rad drehen... Mal schaun was daraus kommt.

EDIT: Vielleicht sollte Kassel ein paar Scouts hinschicken...

Magro

***Mitglied des WSVdkgMvJCV ***

(Weltschutzverband der kleinen grünen Männchen vor den großen Jimmy-Cola-Vernichtern)

***Alexander Serikow, zieh das Trikot aus! (...das Bayern Trikot)***
***Zak McKracken Nedved Eishockeygott***
***3. A7 Ted und Josh DeWolf Crew Jünger!!!***

Stolzer Vorrunden-ohneBonus-Meister der Tipprunde