A DIFFERENT ACH I frequently give lectures in the corporate world and one of my mottos is: If you always do the same thing, you will always get the same results. Put differently: If you want to change things, then you really have to take a different approach. That is exactly what the EHL has done. They wanted to be innovative, to improve the game of hockey, and to attract spectators and TV-viewers. In the beginning many people said that all those rule changes were ridiculous and unnecessary. But, the resistance has been overcome and now those same people are very enthusiastic. In this sense the EHL is a magnifi cent example of successful innovation. The self pass, shoot-outs In stead of penalty strokes, the video-referee – all of these have been tested by the EHL and then adapted by the World Hockey Federation. As far as I am concerned the renewal could have even gone further. In stead of shoot-outs in the case of a tie, I would rather see the teams continue playing until they drop. But, in that case, I would prefer nine against nine rather than eleven against eleven. If after two minutes the score is still a tie it should be seven against seven. After two minutes more, it should be fi ve against fi ve. At a certain point the players’ stamina will be decisive and the team that really is strongest, will win. MARC LAMMERS COACH OF THE DUTCH WOMEN’S TEAM THAT BECAME WORLD CHAMPION IN 2006 AND WON OLYMPIC GOLD IN 2008. 57 The last two years I was involved with EHL as an analyst for NET5. I was able to experience up close how beautiful hockey can be if you use several cameras to broadcast it. You can tell from the viewer ratings – for television as well as the internet – that the innovation of hockey is succeeding. But there is still more to be achieved and profi t to be made. If the EHL is planned differently, I believe that even more viewers and spectators could be attracted. Right now, the fi nal rounds should concentrate less on live broadcasts of matches and concentrate more on summaries of about twenty minutes in length. These should be broadcast on Saturdays at about fi ve or six in the evening: the German football time, when people are not playing hockey themselves anymore and they have fi nished their Saturday chores. It would be great if that time slot became a set moment for hockey in general, even apart from the EHL. Just like the Dutch Eredivisie football can be There is still more to be achieved and profi t to be made take place during Easter and Whitsun – precisely on the days that many hockey players and their fans already have a tournament or a match planned. Or, they decide to hit the road for an outing with the family. I think it would be better to hold the EHL on four weekends spread over the year. When there are no vacations or public holidays there is much less competition from other activities. Furthermore, you need to fi nd a set time for TV. Personally, I feel that the EHL seen on TV at seven p.m. every Sunday, there should be a regular time every week you can watch hockey on television. This sort of thing would need to be built up and no tournament is better suited for this than the EHL. • 20 07 20 12 FOTO: SCS/BEN HAECK Advertentie studiorvg*
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