[blackngold]

Not to take sides, but in every ranking I've seen, the Czech Extraliga is rater as higher caliber hockey than Switzerland's National League A.

The reason I bet more NHL players are playing in Switzerland during the lockout than in the Czech Republic is, no offense to V12, that the culture in Switzerland is more "Western" than it is in the Czech Republic, and North American players probably feel more comfortable and at home there.

For example, the KHL is widely recognized as the 2nd best hockey league in the world. But other than players that hail from there, it hasn't attracted any big name North American players this season. That doesn't mean that the caliber of hockey in Russia sucks, it just means that players would rather play elsewhere for different reasons.