Josh Samanski is spending his summer in Germany before returning to the Edmonton Oilers for training camp next month, and while he’s preparing for the season, he’s also looking for love
Video Transcript
I mean, hockey in Germany has been sort of improving over the last, I’d say, 10 to 15 years
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I mean, I think one of the things is they have star talent
They have Draisaitl and Seider and Tim Sttzle
But And, and, and now to a lesser extent, JJ Peterka, who’s a 30-goal scorer
I think they, you know, they need to fill out their roster to be more competitive internationally, but you- th- it’s going in that direction
You see more German players getting drafted in, in NHL drafts
Now, you know, the NHL, they played, regular season games in Sweden and Finland, in Czechia, in Germany
I could see them going to Switzerland because the Swiss hockey, program and their league there i- is, is top-notch
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And I think a dark horse in terms of, where they may play down the road could be Norway, ’cause a lot more Norwegian players Now, they’re playing mostly in the SHL, but I think, you know, you, you could see, you know, with, with more Norwegian players getting drafted that the, the NHL recognizes that this is a, another Scandina
Yeah, definitely
You, you mentioned Czechia
I think that’s a big one as well
We’ve seen the Global Series games in, in Prague already
Frank, what are your thoughts on the growth of hockey in, in Germany?
I mean, obviously the players Mike mentioned already in the NHL, but thoughts on, you know, growing that, that crop of talent, and then where you think the NHL might be headed next
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If the h- game of hockey in Germany was growing this well without the NHL’s partnership, I can’t wait to see what they do with it
I mean, you look at the German league, they have arguably, in, in my opinion, the best European league outside the KHL, and we’re talking top to bottom
Because if you look at Sw- if you look at Sweden, yes, the SHL is a fantastic league, but outside of the SHL, they don’t really have a pipeline to success
Look at what Germany’s done
They’ve got the Oberliga at the third tier
They got the DEL2 and then the DEL
And they have constantly guys going over there either starting their career, finishing their career, looking for a change of scenery
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I mean, Germany is thriving when it comes to hockey
You see guys from the <a href="https://todaytrendnews7.com/must-haves-for-college-move/” title=”Must haves for college move”>college ranks go over there to play in the third league
They get a game in the DEL2
They go back up and down
It, it, it is the closest thing to the North American professional model in Europe that there is, Germany
And I, I’m really in- excited to see this, Global Series games in ’27, ’28 with Marco Sturm and JJ Peterka
The Boston Bruins, it was announced today that they’re gonna be playing a few games over in Germany next season
So that’s gonna grow the game
Add into the fact the continued success of Leon Draisaitl, Germany is in a fabulous place for hockey
