Canadian sportscaster Paul Romanuk was involved in the first edition of the Champions Hockey League as a commentator in 2008/09. From the beginnings in Barcelona to the Draw in Minsk, he has been closely involved in the new one too.

by Derek O'Brien

When it came time for the Champions Hockey League to conduct its first annual Draw on 21 May in Minsk, what better person than Paul Romanuk to emcee the event? After all, he'd been involved since the beginning.

"The birth of it was in Barcelona two years ago," the London-based Canadian sportscaster explained on the day of the big event at Minsk Arena. "I was invited to moderate a European hockey summit and many of the people here at this Draw were there, exchanged ideas and different options for putting together a good-quality European club team competition because they've tried before and it hasn't worked for various reasons. They wanted to make sure to do it right this time and it looks good already."

Romanuk, who became known to a generation of Canadian hockey fans for his NHL and international hockey commentary on TSN before re-locating to Europe in 2005, knows all about the previous attempt at the Champions Hockey League. As an experienced hockey commentator who was well-familiar with the European game from covering numerous World Championships and Spengler Cups, he was called upon to provide play-by-play commentary of CHL games in 2008/09 -- the lone season of the competition's previous incarnation, which was won by ZSC Lions Zurich.

"Nobody expected that," he said of the Swiss team's victory, although he was not surprised to see them compete well against Europe's best clubs. "I'd always thought the Swiss league was pretty good because I'd been covering the Spengler Cup for many years, so I'm familiar with the quality of the players and the teams in that league, so it didn't shock me as much."

The on-ice product was well-received, which made it all the more disappointing that it didn't last more than one season.

"It was outstanding," Romanuk said of the quality of hockey in the first edition of the CHL. "Unfortunately, what killed it was the worldwide economic crash, the league lost its sponsors and there was no money to keep it going. Very simply, that's what happened, but from a hockey point of view, I broadcast the games and it was great hockey."

So many people connected with the league and the teams have expressed opinions that the sport in Europe has been sorely missing a top-level club competition ever since then, and have high hopes for this new edition. Romanuk is one of those people.

"It's a great idea. All you have to do is look at the Champions League in football. That's the greatest club team competition in sports," he said, offering a comparison to the well-known European championship. "Of course hockey isn't football, but there's no reason why this can't be just as big in the hockey world."

As he addressed the audience gathered for the Draw, which was on an off day during the IIHF World Championship, he explained the importance of a league like the CHL, and what it's going to mean to the many fans of the various leagues around Europe.

"It's great to have this event taking place within the World Championship because when you step down from international hockey you get to club-team hockey and the club-team hockey is, I don't have to tell you, oustanding around Europe. It's one of those tournaments that's going to address questions that have never been settled. What's the difference between Czech hockey and Slovak hockey? Are the Swedes better than the Finns? Are the Germans better than the Austrians? You get all these rivalries and all these mixtures and I don't think the questions are ever really answered, but it's sure a lot of fun to ask them if you're a hockey fan and that's what this competition is going to be all about."

Maybe the only unfortunate thing about the new Champions Hockey League is that Romanuk won't be closely involved with it anymore. After nine years in Europe, rumours were swirling around the time of the Draw that he was considering an offer to return to Canada and once again call NHL hockey games.

"There's a possibility I could be going back in September, but it's to be determined yet," he said at the time.

Since that time, it has been determined, and Romanuk will be one of the voices involved in the new television agreement that the NHL has with Canadian broadcasting giant Rogers Communications. However, while his presence at European rinks will be missed, the Champions Hockey League knows it has somebody who will be keeping a close eye on what's happening from overseas.