Thursday Catch-up...

Once again we go with the regular daily update-apologies there haven't been many longer posts this week but job-search-related events in my own life mean I've been somewhat busy for the majority of it...Anyway...

"On a knife-edge" just about covers it: The Steelers and Devils battled out a tense eight-goal draw in the Big Blue Tent last night in the first leg of their Challenge Cup semi, scoring four each in a see-saw tie which also saw Ashley Tait score his 800th point in British hockey with the Steelers' third goal, which came just eight minutes in (the game saw five goals scored in the first ten minutes before the scoring slowed down a little). The only certainty in this tie is that the second leg is going to be an absolute humdinger as the two sides battle for the right to meet Nottingham or Newcastle in the final (that semi will be decided tomorrow night).

Stingrays add muscle: Hull have beefed up their roster today with the signing of Marlon Joseph, a 22-year old Canadian who, lets just say, isn't the goalscorer the Stingrays need but is more of a replacement for injured enforcer Cole Byers-the press release, as appearing in the Hull Daily Mail, is here. Mean-looking, isn't he?

Rumours that the same person was offering two CD's of unknown origin for sale are, however, unfounded: The Government have involved themselves in the use of hockey forums-specifically The Cage (Nottingham Panthers, which is one of the most respected forums on the net related to British hockey), after it was revealed that a poster (who ironically is a Sheffield Steelers fan and has posted the same information on the Steeltalk forum) was posting the names of new signings before they were released after obtaining them from work-permit applications to the Department of Work and Pensions, which are strictly confidential. The article covering this, and appearing in the Nottingham Evening Post today, is in full here.
Must admit this worried me for a few minutes, as I'd also posted this information on the blog after reading it from the original forum. However, after asking a few people on the Cage, it appears that posting information after it's already appeared in public, whatever the source, is OK...so there'll be no interruptions in posting due to your good writer meeting the gentlemen of the law...:)

That's your lot for now...check back tomorrow afternoon for the traditional weekend preview, and keep keeping your eye on the puck...