Xenophobia in the Elite League...

In what is becoming something of a tradition, Becky has written another insightful comment (well, mini-essay would be nearer the mark :)) in response to this post last Thursday regarding the rumours about the EIHL. She and I appear to be of similar minds as regards the wage-cap...however, she does make this point, which set me thinking...

My feeling is that there was some merit to that rumour that some of the smaller teams wanted to break away from the EIHL and this is what the league are doing to try and keep them around. Merely speculation, but something must have made them realise they should be paying attention to the smaller clubs! :P

Now I did see mention of this rumour on THF-however, given that the posting at the time seemed to be from a few of the "look at the big bad EIHL ruining itself-the EPL is the way to go"-type posters who can be found willing to air their views at the drop of a hat whenever the issue of British development is brought up, I didn't give it much attention beyond a raised eyebrow. It seems that this reaction from the Elite League may give this rumour more credit than I did at first glance...

I do wonder, however, how raising the import limit will play with clubs in the EIHL who can't afford to give their players plum jobs with sponsors in order to work their way around it-as Becky points out, there's a possibility that far from bringing the league closer together, lifting the import restrictions will lead to some teams front-loading-signing 13 or 14 at the start of the season while others can only go with eight or nine. The only way I can see this being counteracted is by the better Brits refusing to take reduced roles and thus being open to offers from teams they wouldn't have considered under the current climate.

The make-up of the rosters is certainly looking like it could change massively over the summer-however, the transfer activity is not over yet with the transfer deadline three days away...tomorrow we'll look at some of the last-minute rumours floating around as well as the regular mix of opinion and possibly the odd bit of comedy as well...

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...