Wednesday Wanderings: NHL in Europe, Economics

by JesOnce upon a time, I wrote a pretty length post on why I believe the NHL would never work, on a full-time basis, in Europe. Playing an exhibition game or two is one thing, but a full season? It ain't gonna work.This post is a response to news that the NHL is looking at expanding into Europe ... again ...Since I can't find my original post, I'll just have to rehash some of my old arguments. Most of my European hockey knowledge comes from the leagues I follow (Czech and Slovak), so I may not be totally right when it comes to places like Finland and Sweden.1. Ticket PricesThe average ticket price for a European club hockey game translates to about 10-25$ US. Most teams charge very little for their tickets, knowing full well that a. the people simply don't have that much money to spend and b. knowing fans won't spend that much for a hockey game.European clubs make their money almost primarily through sponsorship. You see it on their uniforms, their arenas, and even their team names...