Finals and Friendlies...

Welcome to the midweek trip round the British hockey world...warning, this post may contain sarcasm...

It's the Cosmetic Cup! Tonight sees the finals of two competitions, one being the most prestigious cup competition in Britain (the playoffs being counted as part of the league in this case, for you pedants) and the other one a friendly dressed up as a cup in order to give it some air of legitimacy. Unfortunately for me, my team are involved in the second. The "Best of British" appears at the moment to be nothing more than a bit of window-dressing-an excuse to claim that there are opportunities for young British players to progress to Elite League level,and justify two-way contracts in a league where imports are brought in to cover a few games rather than risk bringing up a junior for a shift or two-it all seems a bit hypocritical for me. Some claim that the format could be adopted for a united British Cup competition involving Elite League, EPL and even ENL teams, similar to football's FA Cup. I'm thinking this is about as likely to happen as Hull winning the treble given all the politics issues which have thus far stopped the leagues collaborating, but so be it. I shall still nip down in the hope that one day I can claim this to be the first time I saw the next great British player at the Skydome...

Meanwhile, in legitimate competition...The Sheffield Steelers take on the Nottingham Panthers tonight in the first leg of the Challenge Cup Final, and in true Breakaway style, it's time for...

One Minute Preview: Challenge Cup Final
Why Sheffield will win: Dan Tessier. The most creative forward in the EIHL returns-and making his debut against a former club will only add to the already large number of points to prove for the little centre. Add the always-dangerous Joey Talbot and the fact that Jeff Legue now has another player with almost-equal speed to play with, and the forward line looks pretty formidable. Plus, their defence simply looks more resilient than that of the Panthers.
Why Nottingham will win: Being the underdog when chasing trophies always tends to drive the Panthers along a bit-even more so when they're away from home. Tom Askey is a decent foundation to build on and will always keep the score respectable even if Robert Stancok and co decide to disappear. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they'll turn up when there's a trophy on the line. If they do, and Sean McAslan and Johan Molin are firing, this tie could be very interesting indeed.

Verdict: I have a feeling that the winner of the first leg won't necessarily win the tie, so neither side should feel too disheartened if they lose by the odd goal. Home advantage should just about see the Steelers through tonight in what will be a tight and low-scoring game...but all will still be to play for as the teams go back to the NIC.

And that's your lot for tonight...keep keeping your eye on the puck...