Catching up with the EIHL

In the frenzy of yesterday's Aalborg diary (I've now moved them all into one post in order to make it easier to read and the blog more streamlined), I forgot to check the scores back home in the UK-Sheffield Steelers beat the Manchester Phoenix 2-1, in a game that looks a bit tight judging by both IH-Update and the reports of the two teams' forums. Although there is a ridiculous disparity in the shot count-Lehman gets forty-three fired on him for the Steelers, letting in just one, and Fankhouser (he of the slightly dodgy moustache) gets just seventeen! And the two he did let in came early in the game (two and eight minutes, respectively). This begs two questions in my mind...

Does Fankhouser take a bit of time to get into the game, and thus, is it worth peppering him early?
Having not much else to do on a Saturday afternoon, I had a look at the times when Manchester conceded their twenty-seven goals so far this season, and only five were scored in the first fifteen minutes-which makes me think otherwise. However, this fails to take into account the fact that the Phoenix are a very good defensive team and thus don't usually allow many shots early-they didn't against the Blaze and even took the lead before a middle-period explosion by the home side. The fact that when goals against Fank do come, they tend to come in bunches makes me think it can't hurt to pepper him-beat the guy once and there's a chance you could be three or four up very quickly indeed if you keep the pressure on. Sure, this means that there's a slightly increased chance of conceding, but then, you don't win hockey games without scoring goals...

How on earth did Sheffield only get off seventeen shots? Particularly with names like Ash Tait, Legue, Talbot and Sheppard firing them in. Having seen Fankhouser play, and also seen that his rebound control seemed slightly off (it was almost surreal how many times he'd make a save, and have the puck sat a few feet in front of him or sneak JUST past the stick of the Blaze forwards waiting in the slot)-either his defence had an absolutely stellar game, or the much-vaunted Sheffield attack were just trying to pass around before firing the puck into his body, pads, glove-anywhere but the net. I'm prepared to give Fankhouser the credit for now, but at some point it would be interesting to compare the teams goals-to-shots ratio in order to see which team has the most efficient attack (which may not necessarily be the highest scoring).

Anyway-can you feel the excitement for the Steelers-Panthers game tonight yet? :)

I shall be back later on for the running diary of Blaze v Salzburg...it'll either be the greatest night in Blaze's european history or (more likely) a bit of a damp squib. I'll also be keeping an eye on the EIHL scores...

Until then, keep your eye on the puck...
duly edited, after cocking up the shot-count for the Phoenix-Steelers game-see above.