I'm guessing either Georges Laraque has no interest in adding to his air miles or just doesn't have much of an interest in Scandinavia.
Apparently Laraque lives by the theory that if someone asks a question, you answer without biting your lip, no matter how much it may piss off the powers that be in the process.
So, when someone stuck a microphone in his face and asked how he felt about his Pittsburgh Penguins travelling across the Atlantic to open the NHL season in Sweden against the Ottawa Senators next autumn, Laraque made the sportswriter's job pretty easy with a rather blunt answer.
"Spending money to go play in Europe is not doing anything for the NHL in the United States," Laraque said. "We're talking about wanting a bigger market for hockey in the U.S. What are we going to accomplish by going to Europe? What are we doing? The league needs to do better work to make the game popular in the U.S."
"Is the NHL going to expand into Europe? No. We need to work to make hockey bigger in the U.S. I don't understand this goal."
Big George isn't alone.
Of course, his views didn't stop him from signing a contract in Sweden during the NHL work stoppage, but let's not split hairs.
Of course, Laraque is right. As much as the league wants to toot its own horn when discussing league revenues and parity, the fact still remains there are more than a few markets in the U.S. that could use a little of the attention sure to be afforded Europe eight months from now.
One could make an argument, however flimsy it may be, that the NFL has no issue setting up shop across the pond for international games and hockey may want to follow suit. Then again, the NFL is a license to print money. Wherever that league goes, they will be welcomed.
The NHL isn't afforded that luxury, to state the obvious.
There is little doubt that the NHL will make front page news in both Sweden and Prague, where hockey is as popular as it is in Canada and hotbed U.S. markets.
The problem is it does absolutely nothing for the America markets that need a little TLC themselves.
And the NHL might be wise to take care of a few issues in their own backyard before taking their puck to play in someone else's.