Double Overtime, 5th November.

As fireworks crackle in the sky and the smell of smoke hangs everywhere on this Bonfire Night, we look back at a weekend that saw at least one barn-burner and plenty of explosive games...here we go with another team-by-team review of the weekend...

Basingstoke: One win, one loss for the beleaguered Hampshire side, as they came out on the wrong side of an 8-4 game in Cardiff on Saturday (complete with a spectacular brawl twenty-three seconds from the end-it seems that these two teams just strike sparks off each other after their brawl in Basingstoke last month) before gutting out a 5-4 win in a dead rubber CC game against the Giants on the Sunday. It really is a testament to the heart of the Bison squad that they continue to play hard each week despite not knowing from week to week whether they'll be paid, or even if the team will exist. Once again the Bison are graded on more than just results, as they earn themselves a
Grade: B-

Belfast: With almost as many walking wounded as your average episode of Casualty on their bench, the Northern Irish side could be forgiven for expecting a tanking at the hands of Coventry on Friday. Instead the Giants played well in order to grind out a 1-1 draw which not only puts the Blaze out of the Challenge Cup, but also makes for some bragging rights in the rivalry between the two sets of fans. A loss in Basingstoke on Sunday isn't the greatest way to finish their cup campaign for another season, but despite this the Giants earn a:
Grade: B-

Cardiff: Someone's lit a fire under the Devils. Two more games, two more wins, including an awesome defensive performance away in Nottingham in order to gut out a 2-1 win after scoring eight past the Bison the night before. The Devils are now up to fourth in the league from 9th a few weekends ago, and making their presence felt as they breathe down the necks of the leading pack. For their 10-goal, 4-point weekend, the Devils earn themselves a coveted:
Grade: A

Coventry: My, was this a nervy weekend for the league leaders. Their fingertip grasp of the Challenge Cup slipped away on Friday as they produced an uninspired performance at the Odyssey in Belfast, before the Steelers pushed them all the way in a 3-2 win at the Skydome on Sunday in what was one of the best games at the Skydome (and will certainly be the best game in front of the Sky cameras to date) this season. Only the width of a post prevented the Steelers from taking the game into overtime as Joey Talbot pinged the pipes twice in the closing stages, but thanks to goals from the electric duo of Adam Calder (2) and Dan Carlson, the Blaze stay on top. There'll be a few sighs of relief around the Sky Blue City this morning, and because of this the Blaze only earn...
Grade: C

Edinburgh: Shut out at home by the Vipers in their only game of the weekend, the Caps have hit rock bottom, with only three wins from fourteen league games. Changes surely have to come soon in the Scottish capital, with pressure growing on Doug Christiansen to turn things around. The bright new dawn in Edinburgh has, so far, only produced a long and rainy day, with no break in the clouds in sight. Sadly for the Caps faithful, their team hit rock bottom in the grading this week (barely) with the dreaded...
Grade: F

Hull: And it isn't much better further south on Humberside. The Stingrays suffered a mauling from a rampant Panthers side on Saturday as Nottingham (8 goals) and Patrik Wallenberg (who got himself four of them) ran completely riot at Hull Ice Arena. The Humbersiders did regain some pride by taking Manchester to overtime before losing 2-1 on Sunday, but the PR machine will have to work even harder in order to cover up this grade...
Grade: E

Manchester: The Phoenix lit up the Steelers for five goals at the Hallam Arena on Saturday, but unfortunately their stingy defence seemed to take the day off as they conceded six. On Sunday, however, it was back in full effect as the Altrincham crowd saw their team eventually break down a dogged Stingrays side for a two-one win. Challenge Cup group B is still wide open, and the Phoenix, who are poised to announce the signing of a goalscorer to complement Joe Tallari this week after the release of KC Timmons, are still in the hunt. Thus they earn themselves a...
Grade: B-

Newcastle: One game, one win for the Vipers-a professional performance saw them notch up the first qualifying spotnfor the semi final from Challenge Cup Group B as they took a 4-0 win away from Edinburgh. With a big weekend coming up, the Vipers are poised to move up a gear in the charge for silverware. A professional performance earns them a...
Grade: B

Nottingham: Weekends like this sum up the frustration of being a Panthers fan. The Big Cats destroyed sorry Hull on the Saturday, notching eight goals while conceding two, but then fell to Cardiff at home by two goals to one in another example of them not being able to beat the good teams often enough-something which has dogged the NIC residents for years. Had they won against the Devils, the East Midlanders would easily have earned the best grade for this week, but their continuing inconsistency only earns them a
Grade: C+

Sheffield: The Steelers fans had a rollercoaster ride with their team this weekend, as they outlasted the Phoenix for a 6-5 win at the Hallam on Saturday before giving the Blaze a huge scare (and indeed being unlucky not to take at least a point) at the Skydome on the Sunday,eventually losing 3-2 (but not before Joey Talbot scared the living hell out of me twice in the final five minutes). Keeping in touch with the leading pack and two vital points in their Challenge Cup campaign means the Steelers earn...
Grade: B

There are no midweek games for a change this week, so it'll be a week of off-ice ramblings on here until the weekend preview on Friday. Keep checking back, and remember, as always: Keep your eye on the puck...

Locker Room Chatter: Swings and Roundabouts...

It's been a weekend for player movement, with several players now appearing in a new uniform for next weekend-here are the moves and some rumours, and reactions to them...

Ben O'Connor to Edinburgh: As predicted last week, the young British defenceman, who has been very impressive so far this season playing for the struggling Basingstoke Bison, has moved north of the border to shore up the Caps blue-line. This is a superb move by the Caps, because O'Connor is big, fast and ridiculously polished for an 18-year old at this level. He may not turn the Scots' season around by himself, but he will be able to step in and add some bite to the defence immediately. And boy, do the Caps need it after a 4-0 loss this weekend...

KC Timmons to Coventry: This is...interesting. The Manchester Phoenix released him after yesterday's meeting with the Hull Stingrays, and he immediately (well, as of this morning) ended up on the Blaze blue-line, at the expense of a former teammate in David Vychodil. Given that he's switched back and forth between forward and d regularly in his time in the UK, he's certainly versatile, but he's never really stood out in the numerous times I've seen him on the opposition. As a fourth d-man who tends to just quietly get on with the job and do it competently but not spectacularly, perhaps he'll prove me wrong and prove a much better fit than the big-shooting Czech. To some degree this seems to be more tinkering for tinkering's sake rather than any urgent need on the Blaze's part, however-certainly Vych never did anything wrong in his time at the Skydome...We shall see.

Bison dead in the water?: It gets worse for the situation down south-I've been hearing in chatter round the ice-pads that the Hampshire side will be "lucky to survive two weeks" at the current level of spending, which raises the question of whether the EPL's Bracknell Bees will also be affected, since the two clubs are owned by the same company and thus the same directors. The Basingstoke faithful had something to cheer over the weekend as their team forced out a 5-4 win against the Belfast Giants on Sunday, but this, if true, will certainly put a damper on things...