Tuesday Morning Skate...

Welcome to another November day in the hockey world. On we go with the daily round-up, including more NHL dirtyness, a prospective Panther, a potential new arrival in Hull and one more new arena in London...

Panthers looking at another returnee: Brandin Cote, who was a huge hit for the Panthers three seasons ago, is the latest Panthers rumoured target to replace PC Drouin after the Canadian was reported yesterday as leaving SG Cortina in Italy. The gritty centre would be an ideal fit on this years roster, and with Mike Ellis appearing to prefer players who have worn Panthers shirts before over newbies in his recruiting this season, he could be a very likely option if not wishing to return to North America...

Stingrays looking for inspiration: Hull are another team looking to inject some new blood into their lineup, with one likely candidate being ex-London Racer Trevor Baker, who spent last year in the Central Hockey League. Firstly, though, the Stingers need to release an import...

Banzai-Swedish style!: Another week, another controversy in the NHL. This time it's the Vancouver Canucks Mattias Ohlund, who channels his inner samurai in this vicious slash on the Minnesota Wild's Mikko Koivu, which has left the Finn with a broken leg. Ohlund earned himself...four games, or about a week's suspension. Hardly a deterrent, really.

Sixty Second Preview: Challenge Cup Semi Final First Leg (tonight)
Why the Panthers will win: Sean McAslan. If Johan Molin or indeed any other Panthers player can feed him, the Panthers captain will score for fun-particularly as this weekend Ryan MacDonald has finally been shown to be mortal in conceding twelve goals. Vipers are coming into this game while not in the best of form, so if Panthers get at them early and force penalty trouble, the high-powered forward line can win it on the powerplay.

Why the Vipers will win: Nottingham, in the words of Corporal Jones, "don't like it up 'em". And up 'em is just where the Vipers like to play, throwing hits around like confetti, snarling and spitting on the forecheck, and bullying their way into the ascendancy. The Vipers also have a fairly strong back line (when it's on form) so denying the fast-skating Panthers the space to play will also be a priority.

Prediction: I'm absolutely awful at predicting scores, and indeed have made a running joke this season out of just how bad I've been. However, I can see the Panthers nicking this in front of their home crowd, but the tie will still be very much alive either way at the end of the first sixty minutes.

And still on the Vipers...: After my weekend review yesterday, "greenfox" commented "A nightmare for Newcastle who need to turn up for big games against the Blaze. It was a poor show this weekend and we were out played in every aspect of the game. Sunday saw another very sorry looking Vipers team playing the dump and chase style hockey."
This does surprise me-in the times I've seen the Vips this season they've played anything but dump-and-chase, preferring to carry it across the blue-line and then put all sorts of pressure on the nettie with people in front of him. It's interesting also as an indication the different reactions shown by different fan-bases, though-this was a very reasoned criticism, whereas Blaze's weekend last week was met with comments like "what's the point of (insert player here)" or "shocking show-not a single player turned up". This after winning 16 of seventeen? Some people are just never satisfied-maybe those who criticise the Blaze should take a leaf out of the North East's book...

London's new home-in Croydon?: Plans have been announced for a new 12,500-seat arena in Croydon, and as usual there is the wondering whether a new hockey team can be set up to resuscitate the London EIHL franchise. However, with work not even having begun on the site, this is very much a work in progress.

And that's you up to date this Tuesday...more tomorrow, and keep keeping your eye on the puck...