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by Ivo Jaschick | Hockeytalk.biz

OCTOBER 12, 2011 -- BERLIN -- In 1938 the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens became the first NHL teams to open their season with exhibition games in England and France. 29 years later, two other Original Six teams, the Boston Bruins and NY Rangers played nine exhibition games in ten days in Germany.

The first regular season NHL contests outside North America took place on in October 1997 when the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Vancouver Canucks played in Tokyo, Japan. A new tradition was established in October 2007 when the NHL began opening its season with annual, regular season games in Europe when the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings met in London.

One reason for going to Europe is the vastly expanded presence of European NHLers over the past 30 or so years. The NHL’s European initiative gives European fans have the chance to see their country’s stars play in an official NHL game at least once and to exploit the European hockey market.

BERLIN HOSTS FIRST NHL REGULAR SEASON GAME

For the German fans October 8, 2011 was historic – for the first time an NHL game was played in the O2arena in the German capital Berlin.

The games gave German fans a rare opportunity to see countrymen Jochen Hecht and Christian Ehrhoff of the Sabres in action. Roughly 2,000 tickets were sold to Austrians in anticipation of Thomas Vanek’s appearance. The game against Los Angeles drew many Slovenians, who came to Berlin to cheer for Anze Kopitar.

The previous day, in Stockholm, Sweden, the Kings beat the New York Rangers, 3-2, in overtime.

In Germany, tickets sold out in two days despite the expensive prices, which started at €55 ($75) through €300 ($408) (the higher-end ticket packages included food, beverage and more).

Before the Kings game, Luc Robitaille, LA‘s President of Business Operations told Hockeytalk.biz that it is great to promote their game on the other side of the ocean.

“Finishing our Europe trip here in Berlin, the fans back in North America will see here one of the loudest arenas,” said Robitaille.

The Kings played a preseason game in Hamburg, edging the DEL Freezers 5-4, and opened the regular season on Friday, October 7, in Stockholm, Sweden, where they defeated the New York Rangers, 3-2 in overtime.

Robitaille found Hamburg, Stockholm and Berlin all to his liking.

“I´m not playing and so today I had the chance to visit (Berlin) a little bit – just wonderful with a lot of history,” said Robitaille.

“We had a real good day today,” said Robitaille before his club met Buffalo. “Both teams made a lot of moves this summer. Buffalo got new ownership and some very important additions – we too made some big moves this summer. We both played yesterday very successfully and want to send a message. We are both Cup contenders.”

The Kings would go on to lose to the red-hot Sabres, 4-2.

LUKE ADAM JUMP-STARTS CAREER, SEASON:

After the NHL game on German ground Buffalo´s second year forward Luke Adam (left) was the game’s first star. He scored his first two goals of the season after collecting two assists vs. Anaheim the day before.

“I don´t know if I could have expected it but it´s a good start and still a better team start,“ said Adam. “It´s all fun playing with Jason (Pominville) and Thomas (Vanek) who are obviously both great players.

Adam raved about the experience, albeit brief.

“The season start in Europe and here in Berlin is awesome, the whole time here has been great and we had a lot of fun. It´s a great experience although we have not seen a lot of this city but we had been in Mannheim, hometown of Jochen Hecht (an 8-3 exhibition victory over the DEL Eagles) where we tasted German food and saw how life is in Germany. But it´s a pity that we didn´t have the chance to see more of Berlin – but at least we saw a part of the former Berlin Wall.”

For all German and foreign hockey fans this event was a great adventure and experience. Fans there hope that their country will be a regular participant in the League’s early season event. A bigger arena is available in Cologne, home of the DEL Sharks, which holds over 18,500, and would give more fans an opportunity to see a regular season NHL game.

HAPPY IN SABRELAND:

Michael Gilbert, Sabres´VP of Public and Community Relations spoke to Hockeytalk before Buffalo's victory over LA:

“I can´t speak for the NHL but we couldn´t be happier. It´s a great trip and we had the chance to get the team together for a week and our new owner and his family is with us all the time. A few days ago we played in Mannheim and had a successful game yesterday vs. the Ducks in Helsinki (Finland). The facility here is beautiful and the crowds in Germany are much more interactive and louder. The fans in Helsinki obviously were cheering for the Ducks who have their hero Teemu Selanne in their lineup. But we won the game and today I´m not sure what to expect although we have (Germans) Jochen (Hecht) and Christian (Ehrhoff) in our lines. It has been a great experience and a lot of fun here in Europe regardless what´s the result tonight. With Christian Ehrhoff who had a great season in Vancouver last year now in our lineup and with the other additions we hope to win the Stanley Cup this year."

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(Photo, left: German fans enjoyed a rare chance to see star netminder Ryan Miller)