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When Rasmus Dahlin put pen to paper on his first NHL contract Leo Komarov Jersey Womens , the reverberations carried to Gothenburg and Lidkoping in his native Sweden.The No. 1 overall pick signing with the Buffalo Sabres earned Sweden more than $250,000 to put back into development.“It’s unreal,” Dahlin said. “We need all the money we can get.”Last year alone, the NHL paid more than $35 million in transfer fees as teams signed European players. There are agreements in place with all the major hockey-producing countries except Russia and Switzerland that allow the free flow of players to the best league in the world.“The purpose I suppose is to help prime the pump for hockey development,” deputy NHL Commissioner Bill Daly said. “The pool of players who can play in the National Hockey League continues to increase on a regular basis. … There’s more better players than ever before.”When the world junior championship begins Wednesday in Canada, it will be a showcase of that emerging talent spurred along in Europe and North America by this money. The NHL also sends junior leagues in Canada and the United States over $12 million annually and provides financial support for USA Hockey.That feeder system is partially responsible for the game’s explosion of young talent in recent years. Nowhere is that more evident than Sweden, which received roughly $8 million last year for Dahlin and more than 30 other players signing NHL contracts.“That money is obviously huge,” said Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall, who is Swedish. “It doesn’t just go to the pro teams. I think it funnels down to your first team and the teams that are developing you and have been taking you on this ride. And that money is doing the same for the next generation of players: setting up with the right facilities and the right coaches and just try to surround them with the best circumstances that they can so they can succeed. That’s one of the reasons why Sweden’s been able to keep producing players.”The investment makes sense for the NHL, which currently has players from 16 different countries. The 31 — soon to be 32 — teams split the costs equally each year.It’s beneficial for national federations and European leagues and teams, too, even if Swedish Hockey Association vice president Peter Forsberg had to convince those in charge it was better to make a deal with the NHL than lose players for nothing.“I told them that I think it’s better you have an agreement because then we have impact in the kind of discussions,” said Forsberg, who shares the same name with the retired NHL star. “All the players who sign a contract with Swedish club or European club or whatever Womens Kyle Palmieri Jersey , they have always an out clause that they can go to the NHL. We can’t ever keep them in our league if you want to keep them in our league. We cannot sign the long contract that they do in soccer in Europe. We don’t have that kind of possibilities.”The trick is making sure the money goes to what it’s designed for. Daly, who has been in charge of transfer fees since the end of the 2004-05 lockout, said federations are responsible for reporting where the funds go because the goal is to keep churning out players who one day could make it to the NHL.The federations distribute the money to various levels as they see fit. Forsberg said 95 percent of fees go back into programs that grow the sport in Sweden.“We ensure that the money goes back to the development,” Forsberg said. “You can see that on the result that we have around 10 percent of Swedish players are today in NHL (and) that 10 percent of players in NHL are Swedes. We can see that we have a high production line.”That’s also the case in Finland, which has the league’s leading scorer in Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen and produced Winnipeg’s 43-goal scorer Patrik Laine, young Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen and a whole generation of emerging star players.“They take care of the players, they help players to develop them to get ready to come over,” Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen said. “Like you’ve seen the last few years, Finnish players are really stepping up, so it’s a credit to every team back home.”Government contributions and smart leadership have also helped hockey blossom across Europe. Kronwall credited longtime coach-turned-general manager Tommy Boustedt for setting up position-specific camps in Sweden that specifically allowed for the development of Dahlin and more modern defensemen.The NHL money paved the way for that.“We’re a hard-working country,” Dahlin said. “We’re humble. We don’t have a lot of players, but some of the guys come to the NHL and for me, a younger guy, I know that a Swedish guy can make it http://www.officialbluejackets.com/authentic-adidas-david-savard-jersey , too.” NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Colorado squandered a chance at victory on the start of its East Coast swing, and Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog wasn’t about to let it happen a second time.Landeskog scored three goals, the last of which put Colorado ahead with 3:22 remaining, and the Avalanche beat the previously unbeaten New Jersey Devils 5-3 on Thursday night.Landeskog completed his third career hat trick with a one-timer off a pass by Mikko Rantanen from behind the net. He also scored earlier in the third period on a deflection of a shot by Ian Cole.“We were starting a road trip and wanted to get off well,” Landeskog said of the Avalanche’s 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers. “We got the point at MSG (Madison Square Garden). I said, ‘Just give me the puck and I hope I can bang it in for you.’ No, seriously, you can’t over think it too much. It’s good for our team bonding.”Landeskog has five goals in the young season.“No question, we obviously felt confident playing anyone, but this is a very tough team,” Landeskog said. “They’re a good defensive team and we scored five goals on them.”Cole praised his captain.“He’s very strong and very capable to accept contact and stay with the play,” Cole said. “You can see how well he can carry a team. They’re a very good hockey team. They’re very well coached. They play hard. They’re good defensively. You could see they were pushed hard by us and then they pushed back. Luckily, we kept coming back. We were able to stick to our game plan and get the win. It’s a great sign for us. This was as complete as we’ve been this season.”Mikko Rantanen had an empty net goal with 12.1 seconds left and added three assists Anthony Mantha Jersey , giving him 11 for the season, good for the lead in the NHL.“When Mikko’s skating that well, he’s a lot to handle,” Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said. “He was holding guys off. He’ll eventually find you open. He made some nice plays and that’s what he can do.”Philipp Grubauer stopped 27 shots for his first win of the season, including a glove save on Kyle Palmieri with just 44 seconds left to preserve the win.“I think the guys made it easy for me,” Grubauer said. “I felt good about getting the start. It’s always different when you step out onto the ice. They really didn’t have too many chances or odd man rushes on me. Everything was pretty much in front of me.”Bednar was impressed with his goalie’s performance.“He made some really big saves when we needed them,” Bednar said. “He hadn’t been on the ice in a while, but he was sharp.”Keith Kinkaid made 30 saves in net for the Devils.The Devils got on the board first in the first period, when Nico Hischier scored his first goal of the season with 2:18 remaining in the period. While on the power play, Hischier received a great pass from Travis Zajac and fired a wrist shot past Grubauer for a 1-0 lead.The Avalanche scored twice to start the second period.The first goal, scored by Sven Andrighetto, came just two minutes into the second. It appeared that Devils goalie Kinkaid made a spectacular glove save, but after league replay review, it was determined that Kinkaid’s glove was over the goal line Darren Helm Jersey , so Andrighetto, playing in his first game of the season, tied the game at 1-1.The Avalanche then took a 2-1 lead when Landeskog made a brilliant burst of speed past the Devils’ defense and lifted a wrist shot past Kinkaid.The Devils then tied the game at 2-2 on Taylor Hall’s first goal of the season. On a delayed penalty, Hall took a fine pass from Andy Greene and fired a shot past Grubauer. Hischier got the second assist on the goal.The Devils took a 3-2 lead when Brian Boyle was credited with his second goal of the season, when Palmieri’s shot went off Boyle’s leg with 13:38 left.Less than two minutes left, when Landeskog scored his second goal of the game off a deflection of a Cole shot with 11:52 remaining.“They had a game plan and went out and executed it,” said Palmieri, who saw his goals streak snap at four games. “We weren’t ready to push it back.”“We weren’t clean enough in our plays tonight,” said Devils captain Andy Greene. “We don’t give up or quit. We didn’t back down.”NOTES: Avalanche goalie Grubauer made only his second appearance of the young season. . Andrighetto was not expected to play and was on the injured reserve list to start the season, but was activated in time for Thursday’s game. . The game ended a five-game home streak to start the season for New Jersey, although the first game was technically played in Bern, Switzerland. . G Cory Schneider is still rehabbing after hip surgery, but has begun skating with the team. His return date is not known. . Kinkaid had a scoreless streak of 105 minutes snapped by Andrighetto’s goal. . Devils C Travis Zajac suffered a left leg injury and was helped off the ice in the second period and did not return. Devils coach John Hynes did not comment after the game about Zajac’s injury.UP NEXTColorado: At Carolina on Saturday afternoon.New Jersey: At Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.