Polemic Hockey

Ask a fan of any soccer team if winning the MLS championship means any less because the team won the U.S. Open Cup, or if the CONCACAF Club Championship means any less because the team won the MLS Cup.  It doesn't.  Every piece of hardware is a victory.

In a sport as great as hockey, there really should be more to winning the Presidents Trophy, which would be the equivalent of the Premiership in England.  The Stanley Cup will always be the top prize, just like the Champions League in club soccer, but there needs to be more.

Now we have it: the Victoria Cup.

This aptly named championship will be granted to the winner of a game between the European Club Champion and "an NHL team" according to the Globe and Mail.  The first series is proposed for September 2008.

Because the Stanley Cup champion already has a short summer, I propose the prior year's Cup winner should be that representative.  (If they repeat, they go.)  

That would make the Ducks the first representative.

Idea: The Victoria Cup is a 4 team mini-tournament between the Stanley Cup champion, the highest finishing Canadian team if a Canadian team doesn't win the Cup (then the highest finishing US team) and two Euro representatives.