Basingstoke commence a weekend of three games in four days as they face Belfast at the Odyssey tonight (Thursday), before playing the return leg at the Silverdome on Saturday and Sheffield away on Sunday. The Bison will have been rocked by the loss of their number-one centre and starting goalie, but will no doubt put up a rare old fight, particularly with Ryan Aldridge due to resume playing duties in his usual combative style on the third line.
Belfast, meanwhile, will have new signings Peter Campbell and Stevie Lyle in their line-up against their former team, joined by the returning Shane Johnson. It remains to be seen how Campbell will slot in, although it is likely he will move straight into the number one centre slot with Scott Cameron the latest Giant to be injured, a broken foot ruling him out for four to six weeks. Lyle replaces Phillippe deRouville as mentioned in the "Locker-Room Chatter" threads, although the carousel hasn't stopped moving at the Odyssey with Ryan Smith leaving in order to play in Germany this week, which means the Giants effectively have lost no import slots despite signing two this week (Shane Johnson being the other). With Roman Gavalier and Trevor Johnson also on the sidelines, the Giants look light on d despite S. Johnson's reinforcing of the blue-line corps, but strong on firepower with their seven import forwards (Campbell, Dutiaume, Awada, Courtenay, Cameron, Lewis, Sutter). However, with only one ITC card available from now until the end of the season, the Odyssey crowd will have to pray that this is their injury crisis for the year...
Cardiff face a tough pair of games, facing Sheffield away on the Saturday and Newcastle at home on the Sunday. The Devils will be looking to continue their recent good form against two of the high-flying teams in the league, and will see this weekend as a way to send a message to the rest of the EIHL that they intend to be back challenging for honours very shortly. Beating the second- and third-placed teams in the table consecutively over the weekend will go a long way to showing that...
Coventry come back from Continental Cup action this weekend with two tough games, away against Edinburgh, who are always tricky at Murrayfield, followed by Nottingham at home on the Sunday. With Trevor Koenig having rested after apparently carrying a slight groin injury all season, and Blaze on a high after their exploits against Salzburg, they will be hoping to continue their EIHL winning streak which has seen them only lose a couple of games so far this season. But will the dreaded Conti Cup Curse strike again? Having been victims of it twice in the past three seasons, Nottingham will certainly be hoping so...
Edinburgh, on the other hand, have the opposite problem. After losing the last eight games on the bounce, the Capitals are anchored to the bottom of the league, despite high hopes for the team this season. They only have one game this weekend, against the Blaze, before facing the Vipers away from home on Wednesday. Having run the Blaze close last season and again at the Skydome in this one, they'll certainly be a threat on their own ice this Saturday.
Hull, like Basingstoke and Cardiff, only face the one opponent this weekend in a double-header, but it's tough one in the Manchester Phoenix, with the two teams meeting in Humberside on Saturday and in Altrincham on the Sunday. After their nightmare weekend last weekend, and with new Austrian signing Gerhard Gottfried in the line-up and looking to impress on a four-week contract, the Stingrays will be hoping to rebound from their nightmare last weekend, but the Phoenix, particularly in their current state of full-strength and flying high, will not make it easy. One further question mark on the horizon is the fitness of talismanic goalie Ladislav Kudrna, injured against Belfast last week-every single hockey fan on Humberside will be hoping he's back and ready to go for this tough weekend.
Manchester, meanwhile, have no such injury worries as they prepare for the visit of the Stingrays. With Brian Passmore and evergreen Phoenix player-coach Tony Hand laying chances on a plate almost at will, and Sean Starke and Joe Tallari on the other end putting them away for fun, these are fun times if you're a fan of the Angry Budgies. Their defence will be looking to perform in their usual stingy fashion (restricting Sheffield's high-powered attack to 17 shots in 60 minutes, as they did last weekend, is no mean feat), and will relish the physical battle with Hull's abrasive forwards, Jake Riddle and Brad Patterson chief among them.
Newcastle, as mentioned above, face the Devils at the MRA on the Sunday, but will not be looking forward to it after what will be a testing game away at Nottingham on the Saturday. This will truly be a meeting of two opposing styles as the Vipers' physical and gritty approach meets the free-flowing and speedy game preferred by the Panthers-with the Geordies hoping that their style will throw the Panthers fast-skating and skilful forwards off their game long enough to perfect a smash-and-grab raid on the NIC. Sunday will be more of a clash of equals, as both Cardiff and Newcastle will look to win the physical battles and wear the other side down. It'll certainly be interesting for the Vipers fans to watch on both nights as Newcastle look to consolidate second place...
Nottingham are something of an enigma. Firepower to burn hasn't really been matched by defensive efforts this season, as once again the Panthers have underachieved up until now. This weekend will really test their mettle as they face the first and second-placed teams in the league in the same weekend, with a hard physical battle (as mentioned above) in prospect against the Vipers on the Saturday followed by the EIHL's game of the weekend on the Sunday, as they meet Coventry at the Skydome in a game I've been looking forward to for weeks. There is no question that there will be goals in this game with the offensive talent on show, and the "purists" among us will be salivating at the prospect of a fast-moving, open hockey game dominated by skill and fast passing. The question is, which offence will come out on top in the battle of the Elite League sharpshooters?
Sheffield: Last but not least, the Steelers, who face Cardiff in South Wales on Saturday before playing Basingstoke at home on Sunday. The Steelers will no doubt be hoping to take advantage of a tiring Bison side for two points on Sunday, but will be a little nervous at the prospect of an improving Devils side in their own rink on the Saturday, in a game which could bring their winning run to a screeching halt. With confidence high in the Sheffield camp and the team at full strength for only the second weekend since the beginning of the season, coupled with confidence from the hard-fought derby win at Nottingham last weekend, however, it would take a Herculean effort from the Devils to stop the winning run continuing...
So, the fixtures, then (Elite League fixtures unless stated)
Thursday
Belfast v Basingstoke
Saturday
Nottingham v Newcastle
Hull v Manchester
Edinburgh v Coventry
Basingstoke v Belfast
Cardiff v Sheffield
Sunday
Manchester v Hull (Challenge Cup)
Newcastle v Cardiff
Sheffield v Basingstoke
Coventry v Nottingham
Let's play hockey...:D
And remember, don't forget to read about more Bison news below, and keep your eye on the puck....
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