How the NFHL and the game went international.

0 0 0

by tonychizzle

by tonychizzle

When the NFHL formed in 1953, it was a small regional floor hockey league in Western Canada for players who no longer were attending university and therefore could no longer play on their teams.

The league started with 8 teams, 4 in Alberta, 2 in British Columbia, and 2 in Saskatchewan. Until 1957 the played for the 'Challenge Cup'.
To celebrate the visit of newly coronated Queen Elizabeth to Canada and the US for the first time, the league which by now had rapidly expanded into Manitoba, and Ontario, designed a brand new chalice dubbed 'The Queens Cup'. Though the Queen never attended a game, the spreading popularity of the sport in the country and the unveiling of the trophy named in her honour amused her when asked about it.

By 1963 the league had absorbed teams within the failing Quebec Floor Hockey League and they had begun expanding into the US with two teams in the East (Boston Crabs, and New York Empires) and two teams in the West (Seattle Kings, and San Francisco Mariners). For the next 10 years, the league would form new teams almost every year until there was 24 teams.

While this was happening, interest in the game moved overseas into Europe. National leagues and teams began sprouting into Russia, Germany, Sweden, England, France, and more. In 1979, the NFHL held the first ever world championships, where they invited teams formed from league champions from all over Europe to compete against the best of Canada and the US. The Soviet Union won in 1984, and the following year West Germany hosted the tournament to adoring crowds of fans. In the late 80's the NFHL, made a push to market the NFHL in Mexico, and games started being televised on the brand new Azteca 7 network.

The big draw to the sport, was a young superstar by the name of Pierre Sevigny. The 'Ahuntsic Kid' captivated fans with not only his speed and scoring ability, but also his charisma and accessibility. He was the Michael Jordan of floor hockey, and extremely marketable.

Taking a page from the NBA, the NFHL which was still moderately popular in North America but still well behind the NFL, MLB, NBA, and it's big brother the NHL. So they decided to market the game in as many countries as they could. They sold TV rights in countries like Lebanon, South Africa, Brazil, India, China. But one country in particular really caught on to the sport... Australia.

Seen as a quicker, and more accessible summer alternative to Cricket, Australians, especially young Australians, latched on to the sport and onto Sevigny. Catching on to how popular the sport was getting down under, in 1993 the NFHL began investing in the development of young talent in the country. With the NFHL's help, the Aussie governing body for floor hockey amalgamated some of the regional and state leagues, and formed a national league. Within 5 years, owners from the National Rugby League and the Australian Football League began to see floor hockey and the AFHL as a way to cross promote during their off season. Now the league and the game was beginning to have some legitimacy around the world.

Meanwhile back in North America, with the leagues focus in so many different directions, the quality and as a result interest in the league and the game began to suffer. Sevigny was still drawing crowds, but the talent around him was nowhere near the same level. By the time he retired in 2000 after 18 seasons, the NFHL was being overtaken by the MLS to be sixth in popularity. They were in desperate need of new talent. So the league took a year and restructured their drafting format allowing for more international selecting, they encouraged scouts to scour the globe for talent to bring to the league. The result was over the next 3?years the league went from 10% international representation to over 35%. Then in 2004, the league got a huge gift dropped on it lap. Brian Merritt in the junior league in Calgary Alberta was being touted as the new Pierre Sevigny, and could be their next mega star.

When he was drafted by his hometown Red's, he made an immediate splash. The league and advertisers poured money into marketing Merritt as a once in a generation talent. Unfortunately in an exhibition game in Australia, he tore his MCL, and had to miss almost the entirety of what would have been his Rookie season. He played in only 4 games prior to the playoffs. In his first official game in the NFHL, he scored 4 goals and 4 assists, in the best debut performance in league history. He would play in 2 in playoff games before being awkwardly pushed into his net post, suffering a broken hand and wrist, and couldn't continue. In spite of the rocky start to his professional career, in the 6 games he played, he not only amassed big scoring numbers, but exceeded the hype that followed him, and exceeded the leagues wildest dreams. Fans everywhere loved not only his flashy play on the court, but his cool persona off the court. He was well spoken, and approachable, and fans and casual observers ate it up.

The next two seasons, Merritt lead the Reds to back-to-back Queens cups further building his legend. Then the following season in a move that seemed to baffle everyone including Merritt himself, he was traded at the deadline to the New York Generals. The Generals who were in dire need of a household name, now had the games biggest star, on the biggest stage, Maddison Square Garden. The NFHL and floor hockey now became the biggest ticket in town. In the 20 regular season games he played for the Generals, viewership in the US went up 60% and around the world, people were talking about Brian Merritt and most importantly watching the game.

Over the next 10 years, the popularity of the NFHL soared. They secured a major television deal with ESPN, the league expanded into further into Mexico, the Champions Cup was formed of the best teams from the Premier Leagues around the world, and floor hockey, after decades of lobbying became an official Olympic Sport at the 2016 Games in Rio.

Pierre Sevigny has been credited for bringing the game to an international status. Brian Merritt however is credited for bringing the game to Pop Culture status. While Brian's legacy is still being written. Without these two once in a lifetime players and ambassadors for the game, floor hockey would not be anywhere near what it is today, and as the conversation around the Queens Cups cup and how to honour Pierre Sevigny picks up traction, we hope that no matter what the league decides to do, they give the respect he deserves.