Double Overtime, 20th January

Sorry this one's so late...I do love a laptop that won't bloody work half the time...anyway. On with the review of a weekend which saw Cardiff hammered, Belfast march on and an epic comeback for ten-man Bison...

Basingstoke: This team just will not lose. At least not without a monumental fight. You get the feeling you'd have to remove limbs from the remaining skaters to dampen their effort, no matter how many injuries hit down south. Saturday saw the Terrific Ten push the Panthers all the way and even look like winning with three minutes left on the clock, before Ryan Shmyr scored a rare goal to squeak the Panthers through. Then came Sunday. Hull away isn't the hardest fixture in the league, but when you're two goals down with a minute to play, most teams could be forgiven for taking the loss, even on Humberside. Not the Herd. Two goals in 85 seconds and a win on penalty shots followed to make the trip back to Hampshire a euphoric one. The Terrific Ten earn themselves full marks despite only gaining two points...
Grade: A

Belfast: Whisper it, but Coventry, the Giants are coming for you. Two more wins this weekend, both by the score of 6-2, including a demolition of the Panthers in Nottingham after a professional performance against Manchester, are clear statements that the Giants just will not give up on regaining the league title. The game at the Skydome in March now looks like a potential title decider, particularly if the Northern Irish side can beat the Blaze at home on the second of February. With Coventry having to play five more games in that time, fatigue could become a factor, and if it does, there is no team better placed to take advantage than Belfast, particularly if they continue this fine run of form...
Grade: A

Cardiff: Sorry, Devils. The league title is gone, thanks to the injury fairy having a real grudge against South Wales. Joe Myers suffered a torrid weekend this weekend against Coventry, being shelled for thirteen goals on 64 shots, including 7 in eighteen minutes on Sunday as the table-toppers cut loose. The one positive I can see is the emergence of Ben Davies, who looks scarily quick and a very good prospect indeed from the two games I saw...Building for the playoffs must be the Devils priority now...
Grade: E

Coventry: Two games, thirteen goals. And it could have been far more. The Blaze dispatched the injury-hit Devils with the minimum of fuss in both games this weekend, including a truly devastating seven-goal burst in the second period on Sunday, to keep their advantage at the top. With the Giants roaring up behind them, however, those three games in hand now look less of a cushion and more important than ever-the gap may look big but a few losses will make things tighten up at the top very quickly indeed. No complaints from the Midlands this time out, though...
Grade: B+

Edinburgh: Two losses to the Steelers, however close, have dealt a heavy blow to the Caps' playoff chase. The EIHL site says it best in stating that the lack of remaining games is the real enemy for the Scots right now. Points for effort will gain them a decent grade from me, but unfortunately for them, they don't count where the Caps need them most-in the standings.
Grade: C

Hull: When you outshoot a team of ten skaters 21-4 in the first period and score six goals in a game, you should really expect a win, shouldn't you? Not if you're the Stingrays, and not if the Bison are the opposition. If the Hampshire side seem to find new ways to win every week, the Stingrays are still finding new ways to lose-and this weekend was yet another that the Humbersiders will want to forget as soon as possible...
Grade: F

Manchester: As you may have noticed by the tone of my postings, I have something of a soft spot for the Phoenix. Unfortunately, it's kind of hard to be upbeat for them when the team's one game of the weekend was a 6-2 loss in Belfast in what was, by all accounts, a very chippy encounter,. Thanks to the Belfast web team, here are the best bits. 7th place is good enough for a playoff spot, with sixth attainable thanks to Cardiff's slump and even fifth if there's a winning streak in Altrincham, but the Phoenix need to be vigilant with the Terrific Ten of Basingstoke now just four points behind them. Sadly, though, the loss this weekend means I have to give one of my favourite opposition teams a...
Grade: E

Newcastle: The Vipers had a weekend off this time out, so for this reason are exempt from grading.

Nottingham: Barely beating Edinburgh followed by a home whipping at the hands of Belfast? That new player had better come in quickly or the Panthers' regular season could be in danger of fizzling out, especially if Dan Tessier influences Wednesday's Challenge Cup Final first leg in the way Sheffield hopes he will. The Panthers can still influence the league title (although it would take a miracle to win it themselves), with Belfast and Coventry both having to face them twice between now and the end of the season, and with two trophies still in the Panthers' sights, all is not yet lost. Not by a long shot. But a few more weekends like the one just gone, and it could be...
Grade: C-

Sheffield: The Steelers are hanging around like a bad smell in third place, ten points off the lead and only one game behind the Blaze after this weekend. One win and a loss to the team immediately above them isn't perfect, but it still just about keeps them in scrabbling distance of the summit with three months to go, and Dan Tessier will win them games they may otherwise have lost in the three months between now and April 16th. Then, of course, there's the small matter of the Challenge Cup...Steelers fans may not be dancing with joy right now (that's unrealistic after oh-so-nearly being beaten by Edinburgh on both nights) but they certainly shouldn't be complaining too much...
Grade: C+

This week sees the first leg of the CC Final between Nottingham and Sheffield, and also a game so important it isn't even advertised on the EIHL site, as Coventry take on Newcastle in the so-called "Best of British" money-making fr....sorry, Cup...

Tomorrow evening, there will definitely be the Tuesday roundup, as well as a ramble about enforcers and their slow disappearance from the British game...check back around 7pm, and keep keeping your eye on the puck...