Round the Rinks, 7th December

Apologies for the lack of updates this week…real life has intruded in the shape of work, which means the blog has taken something of a back seat briefly. I shall try to incorporate the team news into the previews, however…team-by-team as off we go on another EIHL weekend…

Basingstoke: The Bison only have the one game this weekend, versus Sheffield at the Silverdome. This will be tricky given that the Steelers are on close to top form at the moment-the Hampshire side will be hoping that the Steelers get a workout at the hands of Newcastle the night before so that tiredness will become a factor. Don’t bet against something of a surprise result, however. The Bison seem to have overcome their early-season problems and are more than a match for any team on home ice…

Belfast: Two games in Edinburgh for the Giants this weekend-so four points will definitely be seen as a distinct possibility in Northern Ireland. But the Caps will push hard as they try to overhaul Hull in the battle to avoid the wooden spoon, so even a full-strength Giants side will find that there are no easy points in this league unless you’re playing a certain team from Humberside, it seems…

Cardiff: Just the one outing for the Welsh side, and it should be two points as they face the abject Hull at home on Sunday. With Coventry making up one of their games in hand this weekend, the Devils will want a win to minimise the gain for the Blaze, and with Stingrays in the state they’re in, it would be a huge shock if they didn’t get it…

Coventry: Manchester are the opponents this weekend in the battle of the injury-ridden-Sylvain Cloutier and Curtis Huppe are the two missing for the Blaze as well as Michael Tasker, with the Phoenix missing two d-men in Scott Basiuk and Jeff MacMillan. The Blaze will be hoping not to lose any points in the chase for the title, but the Phoenix are always tough opponents, and Sunday’s away leg in particular will be a game that will require the Blaze to dig deep if they want to come away with the points…

Edinburgh: The Caps spend the weekend at home, facing Belfast after scaring the heck out of Coventry last weekend, and looking to build on a good performance against the league leaders. I can see them at least getting one result to please their fans, but the Giants will ask some very tough questions which the Capitals defence will need to answer convincingly in order to have any chance of moving closer to Hull in the table…

Hull: The Stingrays face Cardiff away in a game which the supporters will be dreading, particularly with Paul Cabana (their second top scorer and one of the few bright spots of this season) jumping ship this week after becoming disillusioned with living in a nightmare season. I’m sorry, but I really can’t see anything other than a convincing Devils win and yet more misery for the Humbersiders-if the Hull season were a horse, they’d have been shot by now…

Manchester: Home and away against Coventry is a tough weekend by anyone’s standards, and when you’re missing two of your top d-men, it’s even more so. However, with their opponents suffering their own injury epidemic, the Phoenix may be hopeful of nicking at least two points and doing Cardiff a favour, as well as helping their own chances of making the playoffs. A win at the Skydome on Saturday would be a major boost to this team-and set things up nicely for the return leg…

Newcastle: Out of the Challenge Cup, with Petr Kratky released (a casualty of his recent poor form) and Todd Jackson doubtful for their games against Sheffield and Nottingham, this is the time the remaining Vipers need to find their form and dig out some points, particularly after their recent and continuing slump has left some questioning whether the early season was a false dawn, and this appears to have spread to the players, with their workrate suffering as a result. A win this weekend would go some way to helping them turn the corner, however…

Nottingham: After knocking the Vipers out of the Challenge Cup thanks to a 5-1 away win, the Panthers return up north to Newcastle in their only game of the weekend to try to do the same in the league. And with a new optimism coming in with new goalie Tom Askey last week, you wouldn’t bet against them doing it…

Sheffield: The Steelers are on fire, and through to the Challenge Cup final thanks to winning 2-0 against Cardiff on Wednesday. They face Newcastle at home tomorrow looking to rack up another two valuable points as they strive to catch Coventry and Cardiff, and Basingstoke on Sunday in possibly the trickier game of the weekend. Four points is a definite possibility, but with both the Bison and the Vipers needing wins desperately, obtaining them will be a struggle and a half…

So, the games, then…

Saturday:
Edinburgh v Belfast

Sheffield v Newcastle

Coventry v Manchester

Sunday
Manchester v Coventry

Newcastle v Nottingham

Edinburgh v Belfast

Cardiff v Hull

Basingstoke v Sheffield

Let’s play hockey…