Tuesday Thoughts: Crank Up the Rumour Mill...

Nice try...Sheffield and Manchester both posted press releases on their official sites this morning about Tony Hand signing as an emergency replacement for the Steelers which were just plausible enough that the hockey world was bracing itself in anticipation of a Panther-led forum meltdown...however, it was of course one of the many spoof stories which tend to float around round about April 1st. However, doesn't it say something about the way British hockey is run that even such a made-up rule as "if a player in the GB squad gets injured before the playoffs, they can be replaced by another GB player" seems like something the league would come up with?

And carrying the pride of Great Britain are...at least three Canadians, including one who's said he'll play for his club instead of GB if they make the playoff finals. But at least there are more young players-here's the final squad and a bit of analysis...

Goalies
Stevie Lyle
Stephen Murphy
Steve Fone

Personally, I'd have taken Mark Lee rather than Fone as the third goalie, given that the third-goalie spot in itself is essentially giving someone a free holiday in Austria with the national squad and meant purely to gain experience....and yes, that's even allowing for Fone's performances up in Manchester recently, mainly because the ex-Viper has actually been playing regularly rather than warming the bench, and a 92% save percentage in the EPL isn't anything to be sniffed at...after all, Joe Watkins is still mentioned as among the best British goalies despite disappearing off Elite teams radar. Lee has also actually played in (as opposed to dressed for) more EIHL games in his career, for a save percentage of 91.2. But there we are.

Defencemen

Kyle Horne
Leigh Jamieson
Shane Johnson
James Pease
Dave Phillips
Graeme Walton
Tom Watkins
Jonathan Weaver

Another crop that makes sense-with the possible exception of a player benched by his coach (who also happens to be the GB coach) in the past few weeks-that player being James Pease-particularly when you've got players like Leigh Jamieson and Ben O'Connor missing out. However, we know Pease can play-it just seems that his coach hasn't thought he has been doing so sufficiently well recently.

Forwards

Greg Chambers
David Clarke
Gary Clarke
Russell Cowley
David Longstaff
Matt Myers
Greg Owen
Jonathan Phillips
Nathan Rempel
Colin Shields
Ashley Tait
Matt Towe

Are these the best 12 Brit-eligible forwards currently playing? I think so-with the possible exception of Nathan Rempel. Not because of his skill-level, which is undeniable, but because his commitment seems questionable, given that he's reportedly said he'll play for Peterborough if they make the EPL finals, which start at exactly the same time as the Worlds begin. If this is the case, is he really going to play in the warm-up game against Sweden and risk injury-would his place not be better going to one of the players who narrowly missed out but are fully committed to the cause, such as Bison's Greg Wood?

Verdict: It's a safe squad, full of safe, steady picks, which I suppose is what we should have expected. It'll need a fair few lucky bounces for the team to do more than finish mid-table and actually make the world championship, but hey, it's April Fool's day, so anything is possible, right?

Rumour time!: The silly season has begun, with rumours of teams rising, falling, players travelling left right and centre and all sorts...here are the best thus far:

Tyson Teplitsky to Coventry: Yes, please. As a replacement for Neal Martin you can't get better in this league-the Devil is a superb offensive defenseman. Whether it'll actually happen is questionable, though-Teplitsky reportedly loves playing in Cardiff. However, the Blaze would be foolish if they didn't at least enquire about the Canadian's availability...

Joe Tallari to Sheffield/Nottingham/Coventry: After a 50-goal season it's perhaps inevitable that the Ontarian will be linked with every team going. No-one can deny he's lit up the league this season and would be a great capture for any side...however, any bid will have to fight a Manchester bid which won't be as far off in terms of cash now that the new wage-cap regulations have arrived.

Jake Riddle to Newcastle: Finesse is not Riddle's strong point and he does like to have a ruck....oh, wait, perfect fit...:) Plus, he has managed to pot 22 goals on a frankly awful Hull side, along with 247 penalty minutes-he'd make a good replacement for Andre Payette or Derek Campbell if either of them were to leave. Coincidentally...

Derek Campbell to Coventry: Please. The Viper is very much a Marmite figure in Coventry-but 65 points isn't a bad return for an agitator, and there's no question he could do a job and add a few teeth to the lineup. His EIHL stats, believe it or not, are comparable to Curtis Huppe until this season despite spending more time in the penalty box this season (232 minutes) than Huppe has done in his four seasons here (216 cumulative minutes), so he's not bad at putting goals away in this league either...

Goalie wise, there's not much occurring yet aside from Trevor Koenig supposedly heading for Japan and Wade Flaherty (long-time NHL backup) joining the Giants next season-although at the age of 40 he would seem to be a little advanced in years...

At least Askey's pics are real people...After the Frankengoalie debate yesterday, Peter Budaj's mask was mentioned as another cracker worthy of being used if we extended the mask criteria beyond the EIHL. All I can say is...okilie-dokilie...

That's your Tuesday Thoughts...we'll have more tomorrow...

Until then, keep keeping your eye on the puck...