Halfway House

Given that the number of times this post has been re-written precludes any meaningful discussion of Tuesday's action in the EIHL, we'll simply consider the good and bad of each team's season up until the halfway point, see if any predictions have changed from the pre-season preview, and do it in the time-honoured Breakaway fashion of assigning either a song lyric or a quote to each team to sum their season, past and future, up based on the evidence thus far...and when you're done here why not have a look at the Angry Budgie, the Pyre and, given that it's that time of year, see what Becky over at Five Minute Major has assigned as resolutions for each team going into the new season. This would have been up much earlier but for my computer deciding it would start the New Year early by refusing to turn itself on...after digging out a machine that appears to be the prototype that was rejected back when Charles Babbage was around (look him up on Wikipedia) here we go...

Basingstoke Bison:
"Life is a bad quarter of an hour, populated by exquisite moments" (Oscar Wilde)

There have been a few truly great moments in Bisonland so far this season, mostly to do with Kevin Reiter. His 66-shot, 65-save performance at the Skydome will live long in the memory, and when he's on form, helped by the little ball of energy known as Brent Hughes, the silky skill
of Danny Stewart and the goal-potting ability of Greg Chambers, the Bison can beat any team. Trouble is, the books haven't been balancing again, and with players going in and out quicker than a rabbit in a carrot patch, the season has lurched from one crisis or blow to another so far down south, with the Bison's league position reflecting this. However, a semi-final place in the KO Cup means, amazingly, that silverware is still very much within reach.

Most Valuable Player: Danny Stewart. Kevin Reiter is the obvious choice, Brent Hughes may have scored more points, but the speedy Prince Edward Islander (amazingly for such a small place, there are two natives of Charlottetown in the EIHL, Evan Cheverie being the other) is the heartbeat of the Bison offence. Lose him, and the goals suddenly become a lot harder to come by...

Belfast Giants:
"Just leave it all in the past..
It's gonna happen so fast
You won't even feel it"

Damone: "Get Up and Go"

The Giants were everyone's pick for the title this season, but so far they just haven't quite hit the devastating form opponents feared they would-players like Bobby Robins, Andrew Martin and Paul Deniset can be lethal but injuries have niggled at the Northern Irish side just enough so that they've never really settled into a groove. Trouble is, when they do hit it, they're virtually unstoppable going forward, and pretty exciting to watch while doing so with honest, hard-working players like Malcolm MacMillan and George Awada providing the steel behind the high-profile top-line of Robins, Deniset and Martin. However, there are major defensive niggles which are masked as long as the goals are going in (they haven't been as often recently) and unless these get sorted and the team tighten up, particularly against their nearest rivals, they could equally fade into the mid-table pack. On the positive side, the top line are slowly beginning to fire again, and despite tonight's loss to Sheffield, the lyrics are apt-if and when the Giants finally hit top gear and hold it, very few teams in the league, if any, are going to be able to keep up with their charge back up to the top...

Team MVP: Bobby Robins: The ex-Binghampton Senator is simply awesome when he gets going-he can hit, fight and will use his last dying twitch to provide a pass to a team-mate in space to shoot and score if necessary-plus, his blog, the Robins Nest, is superb...

Cardiff Devils
"Made a spark that
Lit the dark
Let me SHINE!
Machinehead: "From This Day"

The Devils have started to show their good side recently after all the negative, Steeler-driven publicity at the start of it, with a suffocating defence unfortunately being let down by a combination of injuries to forwards and lack of quality in front of goal from those remaining (Jason Silverthorn excepted). Mike Prpich is a huge loss at the moment-he's been by far the Devils standout player this season and wins Most Valuable Player, with only the franchise player Brad Voth running him close. The Devils need their injuries to clear up, fast-if they do, then they could start making rapid progress back into the upper reaches-if their luck continues as it has done, then a mid-table finish may be the best they can hope for.

Most Valuable Player: Mike Prpich: Hard to spell, easy to spot-he's the one scoring most of the Devils goals and generally being the heart of anything good when he's on the ice. Unfortunately for the Welsh fans, this has been an all too rare sight...

Coventry Blaze:

"I never knew you (don't give up on me),
I never knew you (don't give up on me)
I never knew you (don't give up on me)
I never knew you threw so hard!"

Hellogoodbye: Touch Down, Turn Around (Don't Give Up on Me)

Something isn't right in Coventry this season. Maybe it's the defece, maybe it's the fact that three of the most valuable players in last season's team (Koenig, Cloutier and Martin) are gone, maybe it's the fact that someone there underestimated just how much the other teams would improve, but the Blaze look a shadow of their former selves. Personnel issues, defensive lapses and some performances that have stunk worse than the most rancid meat in the Fish Market bins just down the road have all combined to puncture the aura of invincibility Blaze fans had grown so comfortable with. Constant niggling whispers that the Blaze are desperate to squeeze every penny they can as the coffers empty faster than they can be filled haven't helped the atmosphere at the Dome...maybe the blissful trophy-filled days of the past two seassons are finally disappearing into the haze over the Ring Road. Certainly, the recent placing of the much-hyped (for his skating at least) Corey Leclair on notice and the struggles of Scott Kelman are causing whispers of discontent in some quarters of the Blaze fanbase. Even so, the arrival on Jon Coleman and the fact that despite all the above, Blaze are still up there with the title challengers, still means that the New Year won't be as bleak-looking in Coventry as elsewhere...

Most Valuable Player: Sylvain Deschatelets: The cog that makes the offence tick now that teams seek to shut down Dan Carlson and Adam Calder. Some have criticised his workrate but the Quebecer can thread a pass through the eye of a needle. He's not bad in front of the net himself, either.

Edinburgh Capitals
"All I've got is what I bare in these arms,
The saddest part is that is not enough"

Youmeatsix: "Call That A Comeback?"

The Capitals are the team everyone likes. The plucky losers who always guarantee they'll try hard but, for some reason, always lack that missing piece. Another team who are suffering thanks to the credit cruccb, the Scots have some gems in Mark Hurtubise and Taylor Christie, but just never seem to get themselves close to anything approaching a threat to anything other than the bottom three places. Eigth for them, like Hull, is considered a success...although a comeback win against fellow strugglers Basingstoke in front of a big crowd by Caps standards (1500 people) means that, at least, hope still burns

Most Valuable Player: Mark Hurtubise: By far the best player on the roster, the Canadian centre just needs a scorer to feed to really show his worth to the team...something which he hasn't exactly managed to avoid doing already this season...

Hull Stingrays
"Is it worth it, can you even hear me?"
The Used: "The Taste of Ink"

The Stingrays are an irrelevance. That's not my view-in fact I happen to believe that there may be better times ahead for the Humbersiders (but they need to get rid of the dead weight known as Rick Strachan on the bench for these to happen), but if you're a fan of another Elite League team, just think for a second-can you honestly say you look forward to Hull coming to town at the moment, or is it just something to be endured rather than enjoyed (however well the game goes). It's a shame, as the Stingrays are a good coach away from having hockey return to the glory days on Humberside-Hull is a hockey town of long standing and needs a successful Elite team...
Please, Pack family, for the sake of hockey in Hull, put aside personal friendships and move Rick Strachan to another role. Let someone with a bit of flair get their hands on the team, and things might well start to look up...

Most Valuable Player: Matt Reynolds: At times he and Steve Slonina have been the only flashes of colour in the wash of beige that is the Stingrays roster with their scoring and playmaking skills...surely he'll be off to greener pastures next season?

Manchester Phoenix:

"Can't you hear us coming?
The fight has only just begun
Can't you see us coming?"
Creed: "Freedom Fighter"

The Phoenix haven't faded away. They haven't collapsed when David Beauregard has been off form. And in Josh Garbutt and Kenton Smith, they have two of the best d-men in the league that still, no-one talks about. On top of that, they have one of the most lethal snipers ever to play in modern British hockey, who has scored over thirty goals already and, in his own words, hasn't warmed up yet, fed by a veteran who is arguably still the best creative player currently playing in British hockey.

Ye gods.

No wonder everyone's still too scared to talk about the Phoenix as title challengers. But I stand by my prediction in the pre-season preview back in September...there will be a trophy in Manchester by the end of this season.

Most Valuable Player: Any one of four could have won this award. But it's hard to argue with the top points scorer in the league, even though it is predictable. Take a bow, David Beauregard.

Newcastle Vipers:
"This is a mother..... invitation
The only one you could ever need
This is a mother...... invitation
Come try me!"
Lamb of God: "Redneck"

We know what we're getting with the Vipers by now, and they haven't disappointed. Apart from Ed Courtenay and David Longstaff, and the cat-like reflexes of Andrew Verner in net, the Vipers have continued to crash and bang their way around the rinks of the Elite League. However, it seems that all that crashing and banging, as always, is so much sound and fury...they're still sat in mid-table, Tyler Willis was one of the disappointments of the season, and the Vipers desperately need a shift from brawn to brains if they're going to get anywhere near the top three...

Most Valuable player: Ed Courtenay: Yes, he came late, but he's added something more of an end product to a team who don't really have any out-and-out goalscorers. Or didn't, anyway. He shares this award with Andrew Verner, who is the only reason the Viper's lack of discipline hasn't cost them more dearly...

Nottingham Panthers

"You see us comin', and you all together run for cover
We're taking over this town"
Pantera: "Cowboys from Hell"

Finally, the Panthers are showing signs of being the team they promise to be every season, helped by the modern-day miracle of the Michel Robinson Redemption in net and the stellar play of Johan Molin up front, complimented by the steady Nick Toneys behind himand the ever-improving Jade Galbraith. Another comfortable win against Newcastle tonight shows that the Panthers are, thus far, avoiding the Christmas slump they always seem to suffer. With Coventry stuttering, they'll be hard on the heels of the Blaze and, further ahead, Sheffield as they try to come from way back in the second half of the season. Consistency, as ever, is the big question-mark at the NIC...

Most Valuable Player: Johan Molin: Just count the number of MOM's he's won this season. Pure, pint-sized class. It almost makes those ridiculous skates of his justifiable...

Sheffield Steelers:

"Hypnotizing power, crushing all that cower..."
Metallica: "Battery"

Finally, the Steelers. Despite a hiccup against Belfast, they still stand proud at the top, and appear to have the means to stay there thans to the best offensive d-man in the league (Rod Sarich) combined with the talismanic Steve Munn to give Jody Lehman the protection he needs, and an equal mix of flair and muscle up front. Plus, they have the league's premier agitator by far in Ryan Finnerty. The destiny of the title will be decided by how consistent the Steelers are for the remainder of the season. If 2009 starts the way 2008 finished, then the Sheffield faithful can begin to dream of yet another league-winning party at the Hallam...

Most Valuable Player: Jody Lehman: Back to his imperious best, reminding everyone of his pinnacle in Coventry during 2004/05 and providing the Steelers with the confidence to play their hard-charging, forward-looking brand of hockey to the full, Lehman is possibly the best at his position in the country right now...

And there you go...one half term report, just in time for the end of the year. Naturally, I shall be out this evening, and I wish every reader, my fellow fans, (and fellow blog writers) and everyone else in the Briotish hockey universe a happy new year...let's hope 2009 brings more great hockey...

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...

Tuesday Quickie

The review of the first half of the year is on the way...it's already been re-written twice due to me being too harsh on some teams and not harsh enough on others...check back around half-six/seven this evening and I should have it done then...

Meanwhile, don't forget the Belfast/Sheffield webcast tonight-should be a storming game-you can find all you need to know at www.giantslive.tv...

Double Overtime, Christmas Hangover Edition

That was a rip-roaring rivalry weekend, with Saturday's game in Coventry in particular being one that will keep people talking for some time-as much due to the incompetence of Tom Darnell in letting a few minor skirmishes spiral out of control into a game that ended with more bad blood in it than a TB-ridden slaughterhouse...Oh, and there was a little matter of two Steelers/Panthers games as well. Naturally, let's kick off a busy few days on the Breakaway with a look back at the weekend in our usual stream-of-consciousness fashion:

If there's one thing this weekend proved, it's "nothing motivates a team like revenge":...unless you're the Newcastle Vipers, who were disposed of by Manchester in both their games over the weekend. They made the Phoenix work hard to do it, though, particularly up on Tyneside...

As far as the other double-headers went, they were shared with each team winning on home-ice in both of them-clearly losing stings...

When asked to sum up the games this weekend, the phrase that comes to mind is "tighter than a duck's arse": Five of the nine games were decided by one goal, two of them went to overtime, and of the others, at least one (Coventry v Cardiff) could have gone either way rigght up to the crucial third goal.

However, when it comes to Tom Darnell's control of a game, "loose" is a compliment: In Coventry on Sunday, the game opened in niggly fashion-Sylvain Deschatelets and Doug MacIver in particular were looking for trouble, with Deschatelets asking Jay Latulippe to drop 'em on three consecutive faceoffs in the first five minutes (all of which were declined), MacIver squaring up to Carlyle Lewis, and all manner of digs, jabs and shoving (including Peter Aubry somehow getting away with a warning after a blocker punch, which legend has it is an automatic game pen in this league) after the whistle. The atmosphere clearly got to those notorious tough-guys Jason Silverthorn and Dan Carlson, too, as they dropped 'em after a nothing incident (a slash by Silverthorn on Adam Calder which was called on a delayed penalty and saw Carlson put a hit in just as the whistle went. Things seemingly reached a peak at the end of the second period, as Calder was nudged off his feet by Wes Jarvis while shooting just as the buzzer went, slid hard into the boards and immediately became the cause, unwittingly, of a ten-man melée as the teams had a full and frank exchange of views.

Now, at this point, as a referee, it seems you can do two things:

a) Be strong, hand out penalties, maybe chuck out the main combatants and send a message to the teams to just get on with the bloody game rather than digging at each other after every ruddy whistle without punishment. And I should state that both teams were equally guilty of this.
b) Call a few minor pens, tell the teams they're naughty boys and should be nicer to each other, and hope it all works it out.

Our friend picked option B, and thus everything went to hell in the third period, building up and up before an explosion which meant the last eight seconds of play took fifteen minutes, mainly due to the officials seemingly being unsure how they'd sort out all hell breaking loose after Brad Voth crashed the net in his usual highly effective fashion, and Jon Weaver decided to show him the error of his ways, at the same time as JF Perras finally snapped. Cue a minute or two of anarchy on the ice (in which Weaver regretted his decision) before ten minutes of inactivity as the referees tried to work out just where they'd lost control so spectacularly...after all...just count the roughing and fighting pens...

I know it's a tough job, and I'm not claiming I could do it week in week out, but surely, if everyone in the rink can see a game is going to turn very nasty unless a firm hand is taken, why can't the stripeys in the middle of it?

Doubtless, Ryan, you'll be taking him on to seek revenge next time they come to Sheffield: Ryan Finnerty and Bruce Richardson went for it in Sheffield on Saturday, but it appears that the Steeler is unsure of himself away from home this season-despite being offered out by Danny Meyers three seconds into the game in Nottingham the following night, the invitation was declined. I've heard of home-ice advantage, but never applied to fights before...clearly Mr Finnerty is much more of a deep thinker than we give him credit for. Either that, or the Hallam Arena has some nice nurses he prefers to visit at every opportunity, and no other rink medical staff can compare.

Giants back on track...just: After earning themselves a confident two points against Edinburgh on Saturday. Belfast just squeezed past Hull away from home tonight-winning in overtime. The Stingrays seem to be something of a bogey side for the Giants this season...which just goes to show that even the best teams have an Achilles heel in the strangest places.

Seriously, Stingrays. The hockey gods hate you. Sacrifice a chicken or something...: While we're on the subject of the Stingrays-two more one-goal losses, to Basingstoke and Belfast? Who in the Great Ice-Rink in the Sky has Rick Strachan annoyed this time?

Obligatory Capitals Mention: They lost. With the Great Capital Skate coming up tomorrow, there still needs to be something special happen in the frozen north if they're to make the playoffs...

Two games for "injuring a goalie" bur what about the suspended ban?: BISteve Thonton will miss two games after being found guilty of an "attempt to injure" Curtis Cruickshank in Belfast's last game against Hull at the Odyssey. And here it is. I have to be careful here, being an outskater who has been known to have a dig at goalies on more than one occasion if a puck is loose or they're playing it) but the strangest thing to me about this whole thing is not that there's an offence judged (it's a trip, and the way Cruickshank falls means that there's potential for injury) but that none of the Hull players go after Thornton after it happens-you'd have thought that someone may have had a word. Certainly, had it been my goalie I'd have been over there with at least a shove...there is a definite line in the sand as to how "fair game" goalies are, and a triop behind the net crosses it. The suspension is strange but possibly due more to the injury than the offence itself (Cruickshank was concussed). Strangely, though, there's no mention of the suspended sentence hanging over Thronton after his stick-swing at Andre Payette's head earlier in the season. Why not, Elite League?

Well, you were all thinking it....: Unrest at the Blaze seems possible, at least in Paul Thompson's mind, as he's now finally come out and said what most Blaze fans have been thinking since about mid-October..."we're not going to win the league with this team" (see interview here).
Rumours are rife that Corey Leclair is one of the players set for the chop (which appears to be given weight by the fact that he's the only player singled out for criticism by name so far this season) and strangely, some seem to think JF Perras is the other...

Erm...what?

Now, I freely admit that the Blaze have been spoiled when it comes to goalies (Jody Lehman and Trevor Koenig are a pretty impressive duo, and Martin Klempa wasn't bad either) but singling out Perras for the faults of the corps in front of him is somewhat strange unless there's a much better guy stood in the wings. As for Leclair, alarm-bells rang when the Blaze PR machine concentrated almost exclusively on his skating-but even so, he's not been the worst dman on the Blaze by a long way.

The Sky Blue City is awaiting the next week with bated breath to see what happens...although, to my eyes, that sound you hear in the distance may well be a horse bolting into the distance, a pause, and only then followed by a stable door slamming shut just too late..

That is your weekend review-apologies that it's slightly Blaze centric. Tomorrow, though, we look at the Elite League fixtures scheduled for the next week, and consider the status of the league at the halfway point in time-honoured lyrical fashion..,

Keep keeping your eye on the puck.

Hockey Christmas, Everyone...

...and, naturally, it's time to hand the presents out. And a special big lump of coal for Mr Andrew Sharp. But that's by the by-let's see what the Elite League (should) find in their stockings this Christmas:

Scott Kelman (Coventry): A rocket, and someone to show him where to put it: Failing that, a dummy or a mute button is equally acceptable. One of the most frustrating players in the league (particularly if you're a Blaze fan) the big centre has undoubted talent (you don't become a first round pick for nothing, and early in the season some of his passing and puck possession was a joy to behold) but has shown it all too rarely in Blaze colours, making his public more and more frustrated with each passing week. His effort expended on letting the referees know what he thinks of their performance is, however, unimpeachable, mainly due to the fact that he seems to have an opinion on every bloody whistle. Questions are now being asked, especially with the big build-up he was given by the Blaze PR machine (which appears to be in need of a bit of attitude adjustment itself), and to many it's only a matter of time before he leaves these shores. I really hope that the Christmas Fairy brings him some fire in the belly for the new year, otherwise he'll become a regular in the "greatest letdowns" club with such well-loved Blaze players as Steve Gallace-which is a fate that quite frankly no-one should suffer.

Burt Henderson (Newcastle): A bit of good luck. Poor man. In the best part of a season already at Newcastle, spread over two campaigns, you'd be priveleged if you'd seen him step onto the ice-he's played a total of five games this seasonbefore being injured, after missing large amounts of last season. In all the meetings, home and away, between the Blaze and Newcastle, I've never seen him in a Vipers shirt, due to a combination of injury and (at the beginning of this season) late arrival. Give the man a break, please...in the good way.

The Coventry Blaze: Jon Coleman, or someone of his ilk, on a permanent contract: God knows, it's needed.

Ryan Finnerty (Sheffield): Not really a present, more a good deed. Can someone please nip up to the Hallam Arena and help this guy out-judging by his comments in the press this season so far he seems to have a foot jammed in his mouth. Seemingly this is something of a common complaint across the league after originally breaking out in Sheffield-now Coventry have the same problem just in time for Christmas.

Kevin Reiter (Basingstoke): A defence: Eric Braff has been performing miracles in front of him, but the Bison have been leaking shots quicker than a smashed vodka bottle at the Christmas party. And even after his epic performance in Coventry a few months ago, the man can't stop them all...

Hull Stingrays: A coach: Yes, the random digs at the incompetent (at least when it comes to attacking hockey), stiflingly boring and endlessly-optimistic press releasee-machine that is Rick Strachan return to the Breakaway. Surely, if his presence at the club wasn't inextricably linked to that of owners Mike and Sue Pack, who between them keep the Stingrays afloat, he'd have gone or been forced out a long time ago...

The Elite League All-Star Game: An actual point: Come on, EIHL, you're not fooling anyone at the moment. February's meeting is nothing more than a cash-cow for the owners.. Now, if you make the win worth a point to the teams from the winning region, as has been suggested and already rejected by certain clubs in the league, then it might be worth watching. But who's going to pay fifteen quid for a friendly which technically isn't even what it says-I mean...an All-Star game full of uninterested players, with restrictions on how many players you can pick from each team, and even what nationality they are? For fifteen quid a ticket? Seriously?
That's not an All-Star game-that's just a joke. And a poorly-attended, unfunny one at that.

While we're on about cash-cows...rumours that the Vipers have been trying to raise cash by hiring Andre Payette out to every school nativity play going (well, no child wants to play as a donkey's rear end with their parents in the crowd-did you?) are cruel, vicious and completely untrue. They couldn't get him to every nativity play in the North East due to the high demand, so Andrew Sharp was drafted in as a stand-in, as he has time on his hands until March now....

And on that note, I'm off to prepare for the Yuletide festivities...but before I go...

A Merry Christmas from the Breakaway to everyone involved in British hockey, be it fans, players, or team staff (hell, it's the season of goodwill, so let's even include officials). May you get everything you wish for...

The Breakaway will be back from its Christmas break either on Saturday night or Sunday (or, if you're really lucky, Boxing Day eve if I'm not sleeping off Christmas), as we consider the repercussions of Rivalry Day in the EIHL and assess the league at its halfway point...until then, keep keeping your eye on the puck, and Joyeux Noel a tous...

Round the Rinks Christmas Special, Part 2. Rivalry Weekend

Given that Wednesday and Thursday are days in which I, along with everyone else, may have other priorities thanks to it being Christmas, I thought that we'd get this weekend's Round the Rinks out of the way nice and quickly and preview the games for Boxing Day weekend (i.e 26th, 27th and 28th) now...especially as there are three highly intriguiing double headers, including the Elite League's two premier rivalries, taking place this festive season...but first of all, have a quick gander at the Cats Whiskers attempt at carol-singing as they re-work Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (although Blaze fans may wince a little at it)...

On we go then-let's plunge into the fixtures over the festive period...

We begin, of course, by looking at the Christmas double-headers, all of which hve the potential to cause more conflict than your family struggles over the remote on Christmas Day...Sheffield v Nottingham, Manchester v Newcastle and Cardiff v Coventry

Panthers v Steelers

In what has become something of a tradition, the self-proclaimed "biggest rivalry in British hockey" is renewed as the two teams meet in Sheffield on Boxing Day and Nottingham on Saturday 27th. With the Steelers dropping points over the weekend and the Panthers on a massive high after forcing the Team Hollywood tag back down the Blaze's throats on Sunday. These games are both sure to be played at a furious pace, with no room for those who've over-indulged the day before. Christmas spirit will be well and truly out the window in this one, with the anticipation already building in both cities (well, at least for those who watch hockey). There's so many storylines in this one-Michel Robinson facing the ultimate test-will he hold up? Dan Tessier-will he shine or disappear as he returns to Sheffield again? And can the Panthers do the Blaze a favour? One things for sure-both games will be crackers.

Blaze v Devils

Meanwhile, another long-standing rivalry is renewed as Coventry face Cardiff, with the Blaze making the trip to the Welsh capital on Boxiday Day and the return leg on Saturday. The Blaze badly need to get themselves back on track after Sunday's reult, while the Devils, on the other hand, would love to heap further festive misery on their rivals while at the same time pushin themselves back into the reckoning towards the top of the table. These games may be played in a slightly different atmospher off the ice to those in Yorkshire and the East Midlands (this rivalry is built on a foundation of mutual respect rather than dislike) but on ice the action will be just as intense, and both teams and sets of fans will put their friendships aside for the sixty minutes of each game. If you can't get a ticket for either Steelers-Panthers game, or just don't fancy suffering Dave Simms and friends two nights on the trot, then this one is well worth a watch instead-you won't be disappointed.

Manchester v Newcastle

Lost somewhat in the razzle-dazzle of the big two rivalries, the Phoenix and Vipers will meet twice in a battle of two teams on the up. Since the arrival of Ed Courtenay and Jeff Hutchins, helped by Likit Andersson, the Vipers have looked a different team to the outfit that disappointed so heavily in the first few months of the season. The Phoenix, meanwhile, have consistently impressed thorughout the seasonand will now be viewing games like these as must-wins rather than can-wins as they set their sights on challenging at the top in the New Year. With both teams able to mix it as well as play the skilled stuff, these two games should both be intriguing, close-fought battles, with it being almost impossible to predict a winner.

Leftovers

OK, I accept that using the term "leftovers" may be harsh-but here are the other games taking place on Saturday and Sunday:

Hull and Belfast are both in action twice this weekend, as the Giants take on Edinburgh and Hull face Basingstoke on Saturday, before the two teams meet each other on Sunday in the only game of the day. The Giants will be looking to bounce back and take revenge for Sunday's loss against the Capitals, while the Stingrays will fancy their chances against the Bison. Sunday is a game which could go either way-the Giants have learned not to take the Stingrays lightly after losing to them at the Odyssey earlier in the season, and the Stingrays, injuries or not, may fancy their chances of pulling off another upset...

There you are-that's all your festive fixtures previewed for this weekend-tomorrow the Breakaway finally gives into Yuletide and hands out some Christmas presents to the EIHL-you may even get a few carols (suitably reworded) and a few mince pies too as the blog makes what will likely be the last posting before Christmas...

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...

Double Overtime, 23rd December

Apologies-I did intend to have this up first thing this morning and then at 2pm, but staying in the Windmill for a "quick drink" until 4am chatting with some fellow Blaze fans, and then going to work four hours later will throw anybody's schedule off. :)

On we go, with one (mildly) naughty word contained within, straight into a weekend where mouths wrote cheques, and deeds made them bounce. But first of all...

Huppe Christmas: The Fire and Ice Blaze Forum (you have to register to view, but it's worth it) has been following ex-Blaze captain Sylvain Cloutier's exploits in Corpus Christi this season, and have recently passed on the news that ex-Blaze and Belfast Giant Curtis Huppe has come out of retirement to sign with his former captain, joining the team on Christmas Day. This is good news for them-it seems that Huppe couldn't keep away from the game after all...

OK, I admit being wrong on this occasion. Sort of: The Blaze Christmas shirts slated so violently on this blog were, in fact, red and not pink, so maybe the pictures didn't do the colour justice-certainly they did look much better in the flesh than in the pictures, however easy that was. However, they were still generally viewed as, well, a bit ugly. Some wag behind me replaced his traditional post-face-off yell of "Come on, Blaze!" with "Come on, Devils!" to general amusement...but quite frankly, on Sunday night a bit of visual miscalculation was the worst of Blaze's problems-we'll get to that now....

Pull a Panther's tail, and you get mauled: Maybe this is a lesson the Blaze will have learned this morning-after much back-and-forth in the press, and instructions from the Blaze hierarchy to push the "Team Hollywood" angle as much as possible in an attempt to wind them up...

Panthers win 4-0, and quite honestly it was at a bit of a canter for the most part-half the Blaze team appeared either not to turn up or just be a bit flat. But saying that, though, there really was only one team going to win last night, and that was Nottingham-they were first to every loose puck, won one fight convincingly (Richardson v Stewart) and didn't really lose the other (Lewis v Bergin). Naturally there is much gloating going on on the Panthers forums at the moment-however Corey Neilson made the best point in his post-match Sky interview, simply saying "we came here to prove a point, and we think we've done that".

Certainly, judging by JF Perras attempting to dismantle the Skydome with his stick on the way down the tunnel at the end of the game, leaving a lovely hole in the ceiling, the point was well and truly taken, too.


Now if only the Cage Forum could learn from their coach too: Speaking of Corey Neilson, fair play to the man-while the Panthers fans were dancing back and forth and firing postings all over the place prediciting physical violence from the Blaze fans in their usual fashion on the Cage, the man himself responded to some good-natured mickey-taking from the North End by skating up to them at the end of the game and touching gloves with the fans there-Panthers fans may find this hard to believe, but he actually got a "well played" from more than one of them too.

Winning with class-you couldn't have blamed him for getting a bit cocky, but he didn't. And respect to the man for doing so.

Speaking of class: Can we put the whole "let's snipe at Nottingham through the press" thing to bed now, please, Blaze? You look a bit stupid, the fans feel very stupid and more than one mentioned afterwards that the whole PR circus was just a bit...well, seedy. You're one of the best-supported clubs in the league anyway, don't stoop to petty insults just to get people through the door-it just looks stupid when you get found out. If I were a very succesful and well-respected coach who'd just been made to look a bit silly thanks to the club pushing a throwaway remark in an attempt to create a rivalrlry purely in pursuit of the almighty dollar, then perhaps I'd have had a few words with people after the said game behind closed doors. But then, that's just me...

Hot n' Cold: Sheffield pulled out another hard-fought win in Manchester on Sunday night-read about it more in depth on the Angry Budgie...however, after a home loss to Newcastle the night before they had to, really...could a certain Midlands coach comments about the "pressure" have got to them, even briefly?

Sometimes, you just have to concede that the hockey gods just plain don't like you: Hull Stingrays score seven against Coventry on Saturday-a game which would have most team's fans turning somersaults with delight. However, as always on Humberside there's a sting in the tail...they let in nine, with Sylvain Deschatelets scoring five by himself. Merry Christmas, Messrs Cruickshank and Jaszczyk...

Miracle on Princes Street: Edinburgh seem to pull out one shock at Murrayfield every year (yes, I know it's nowhere near Princes Street, but the reference was too good to miss), and this time it's Belfast who were the victims of a Christmas miracle, losing on penalties after going three-up. Hockey may be suffering at Murrayfield thanks to the credit crunch, but it seems the spark of hope still burns brightly in Doug Christiansen and his men.

Meanwhile, on Tyneside, something awakes: The Vipers beat Sheffield 4-1 away from home on Saturday off the back of a fine performance from Andrew Verner, and then calmly take Hull to the cleaners at home on Sunday for a total of ten goals scored, two conceded. Now, one weekend does not make a season, but could there finally be a bit of life on Tyneside yet?

Mandatory Basingstoke Reference: 4-1 losers to Cardiff away from home on Sunday-there is work to do over the festive period down south, either on the signing front or on making the best of what they have...

Calamity Goalie to Celebrated Stopper in just two weeks!: Thanks to the Nottingham Panthers diet! I'm not sure exactly what they've been feeding Michel Robinson at the NIC, but he's certainly been proving his doubters wrong (and winding up fans in Edinburgh) with solid displays a world apart from his shakiness in a Caps shirt. Last night, however, he seemed to take his game to another level as he stopped 40 shots-thus giving rise to the brilliant theory that he didn't actually fancy Scotland after all and just got his brother to travel in his place-now we're actually seeing the CHL All-Star the Caps thought they were getting. Pull out a decent performance on the 26th/27th, Michel, and suddenly you'll have gone from zero to hero...

And finally...: Be warned. A slight rant coming up-if you're not interested in off-ice stuff to do with the British leagues, or something which is occasionally in danger of getting a bit preachy, then skip this bit...

During the course of a conversation in the pub last night with some fellow hockey fans, the topic of the Elite Forum and its removal came up. The whisper being passed around was that "certain Elite League figures" had asked for it to be removed, mainly due to the fact that players and teams were being criticized on there. What really amuses me is that myself and some of the other blogs on t'Internet were apparently mentioned by name as being some of the worst offenders, mainly due to the fact that sometimes we put negative stuff about our teams, other teams, the marketing or anything else on there, and apparently do our best to destroy rather than support stuff.

I find this hilarious for several reasons...

a) I've never set myself up as some sort of hockey expert, and nor do most other blogs-indeed, if you look back through the postings here there have been many occasionts where I've been called on something I said wrong or believed to be true that wasn't-and thus, things were duly corrected if I could. There's an example of such at the top of this very posting with the Blaze Christmas shirts.

b) I've never claimed that this blog is anything other than my personal view on British hockey-and indeed fully expect people to come on here and probably think "this guy knows nothing-he's spouting rubbish". I'm still amazed that as many people read it as do, in fact...To claim that I or any other blog has an agenda against a team, league or even some bloke who once sharpened the skates for Edinburgh is, quite frankly, bollocks of the biggest, hairiest kind.

c) The Elite League is a business, and those running and playing in it are, for want of a better word, the "celebrities" of the league. And, for this reason, people will have an opinion on their efforts. And, sports being the way it is and everyone wanting success, there may be grumbling if people think there's something wrong...and if myself, other bloggers or some hockey-watching kid with a keyboard has an opinion, they'll write about it. By setting up a forum or choosing to read what people are saying about a team, you're going to have to accept there are negative views as well as positive-to try and filter them or take your ball away because someone says something you don't like is neither professional or, really, adult. But then, given the history of British hockey and some of the infighting that has gone on, is going on and will continue to go on, are you surprised? There is some extremely good work going on at all clubs in the league, and some people putting their heart and soul into it. However, I try hard and crafting postings for this and put some serious hard work in keeping up to date with gossip etc through the Internet, and so do the other bloggers. Doesn't mean that we expect everyone to agree with everything we write...

Perhaps it's time for some of the egos in the Elite League to rein themselves in a little, grow a pair and realise that fans will talk, read and devour anything they can about our sport, take any opportunity to discuss it, and those in power won't like everything that gets said. After all, otherwise we'd be living in a world where those in power in British hockey could run the game like their own personal police state without worrying about the lifeblood of their sport-i.e the people who come through the doors each week. At the moment, it seems that this is slowly becoming the case...luckily there are a growing number of people on the forums/blogs or God knows where else who are willing to try and spread the word about this great sport of ours. And if that means that a few egos become slightly less important and thus bruised in the grand scheme of things, then so be it.

*removes himself from Che Guevara impression*
There you go-that's your weekend reviewed. Tomorrow morning will see Round the Rinks part two as we preview all the post-Christmas/pre New-Year action...and maybe have a bit of festive fun too.

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...

Monday Quickie II

Just to keep y'all updated, Double Overtime should be up around 2pm today...it was an interesting weekend so should be well worth reading...

Round the Rinks Christmas Special, Part One:

On we go-given that next week has Chrismas looming rather large in the middle of it but there are also a program of games spread over the 26th, 27th, and 28th, Round the Rinks will be in two parts-the weekend games, and the ones afterward, a preview of which will appear on either Tuesday morning or Christmas Eve morning depending on when I get Double Overtime done. I'm not going to comment any more about either the Christmas shirts (I've said my bit about the Blaze ones, they appear to be almost universally unpopular (clearly there's at least one resident of Oldham who likes them), but let's see how they look on Sunday. As for Andrew Sharp...see the post below this one...many thanks to Jono from the Cat's Whiskers for his comments also...you may want to nip over there using the link at right for more examples of parody (oh, and an opposing view of this weekend's big clash at the Skydome on Sunday, too :)). I've also finally added the Angry Budgie to the links section-I was a bit slow on that one...

But firstly...the two midweek games:

Told you it'd be close: Nottingham just edged Basingstoke on Heroes Night in the Silverdome, despite arguably not performing at their best, winning a hotly-contested game three-two thanks to this season's star player, Johan Molin, scoring the winner.

"Close", however, isn't the word for events in Belfast: The Giants returned to winning ways with a vengeance, hammering Hull 8-2 and giving a rare start to Nathan Craze in goal. Worryingly for the Stingrays, Curtis Cruickshank left the game injured after only eleven minutes-leaving him a doubt for at least Saturday's game against Coventry...

On we go to the first part of the Christmas Special...with a Yuletide journey Round the Rinks...

Saturday: Our Friends in the North

Going from South to North on our Saturday trip, we start probably the furthest north we will this season on a Round the Rinks jolly, in Nottingham, where the Panthers take on Cardiff. This should be a classically close game between two teams who are at their best when dictating a game from the off-expect some frenetic early action as both look to stamp their authority on the contest early.

Next comes Sheffield, where there will be little Christmas spirit in evidence as the Steelers take on Newcastle. With accomplished irritators on both teams and Ed Courtenay returning to the scene of his best years in Britain, there will be a mix of nostalgia and pure aggro in the air which should make for an intriguing battle.

We stop in the shadow of the Humber Bridge next for Hull v Coventry, not traditionally a high-scoring game, although with the Stingrays suffering injury after injury and the Blaze slowly getting back into their stride after the Conti Cup blip of a few weeks ago, it could be a depressing night for the Hull faithful.

Finally, the first of a double-header as Edinburgh face Belfast in Murrayfield for the first of two in two days-games of opposites both in team fortunes and (arguably) the size of crowds. With Edinburgh teeming with pre-Christmas attractions, watching the Caps struggle against an intimidating Giants line-up could look fairly unappealing...but this time of year is one for the unexpected-or so Doug Christiansen and team, buoyed by new signing Sean Perkins on D, will hope.

Sunday: Hollywood Glitz

Travelling back down the country, and with Edinburgh v Belfast already dealt with above, we stop off first at Newcastle v Hull, a Christmas turkey of a game if ever there was one. Certainly not the type of game you'd want in an attempt to part your home crowd from their precious pounds. Still, the points count just the same, so both teams will be going all out for this one...

Next is one of the two Christmas crackers taking place tonight-Manchester v Sheffield. Now this is more like it-a fiery crowd, a War of the Roses derby and two of the top teams in the league doing battle in a traditional rivalry which has always produced classic games. Well worth travelling to if you're in that neck of the woods...

..but if you're further south, then the Coventry Skydome is the place to be as Team Hollywood Nottingham Panthers face Coventry. This game has already spiked the odd jibe in the press from Coventry coach Paul Thompson, and from 6pm onwards on Sunday you can be sure there'll be plenty more events worthy of filling the pages of the pre-Christmas papers in both cities...

Finally, Cardiff take on Basingstoke on the Bay, in a meeting full of Christmas cheer-the two clubs have a cordial relationship off the ice and the mulled wine glasses will be clinking up until face-off time. But then, as we've seen, the Devils give presents to nobody in their own rink, whoever they may be...

And there you go-that's your weekend preview...

Sharpielujah: the Hockey Christmas Number One...

Yes, I know this is going to be a bit thrown together, but taking inspiration from the Cat's Whiskers, who have produced parodies left, right, and centre, and inspired by the bloody-awful attempt to cover Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" which is likely going to make it to Christmas number one courtesy of the X-Factor, here's a reworked version paying tribute to everyone's favourite Northern team and its favourite son, Andrew Sharp...I make no apologies for its naffness, but hopefully it will give you a (brief) smile. Plus, it's got to be better than reading all the fire and brimstone appearing in threads all over the British Internet...

So, I give you-the Breakaway's entry for British Hockey's Christmas number one. With a rude word or two, and apologies to Cohen, Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright....

Sharpielujah
(Words: Paul Wheeler, music: Leonard Cohen)

(Introduction)

There was a man, named Andrew Sharp
About whom fans would moan and carp
But you don't really care for goons, now, do you?
He couldn't skate, or fight, or hit
In fact he was completely sh*t
For first Romford and now the Steelers too, yeah...

Sing Sharpielujah, Sharpielujah
Sharpielujah, Sharpielujah..

The hype was rich, coach's faith was poor
In the skills of number sixty-four
He watches from the bench, just feelin' blue, yeah ...
Til the night he jumped the boards in Hull
And livened up a game so dull
By bringing pain to Paul Moran's debut, yeah

(Chorus)

They tell me on the forums, true
That Moran's shoulder broke in two
As Sharpie drew blood and then licked it too, yeah
The Stingrays raged, the league reviewed
But Kozak trangressed next week too,
So Sharpie was lost in hullaballoo, yeah....

(Chorus)

The season passed, and his friends did say
"Look, he scored a point on the powerplay"
But still the rumbles came that he was poo, yeah...
Then Steelers went to Cardiff Town
And Finnerty, he played the clown
And Andrew knew his time was coming soon, yeah...

(Chorus)

And so we came, to that fateful day
A cold and wintry Welsh Sunday
When everyone knew things would go askew, yeah...
While Jody swears, and the Welsh fans roar
Sharpie waits for the Matsos call
And with two seconds to go he gets it, too, yeah

(Chorus)

So as MacIver skates away
From Jody's wrath, it's clear as day
Sharp swings his stick, with aim he thinks is true, yeah
Alas, his aim, it went awry
And caught a linesman near the eye
So Hicks and Jarvis tag-teamed poor Andrew, yeah...

(Chorus)

And now it seems, his time is done
For Andrew Sharp, the hired gun
The league and fans will throw the book at you, yeah
But maybe, maybe, time will tell...
You'll find a home in the EPL
As Scimitars or Raiders will sign you, yeah...

And if you should lace up no more
You'll live forever in folklore
As the mental one who played for Steelers, ooh, yeah
You may have been completely sh*te
But thanks for livening many a night
And wherever you go we hope you're happy too, yeah

(Chorus)...repeat to fade....

I know it's about three verses too long, but I hope it brings you a chuckle...
Round The Rinks Christmas Special to come tomorrow...

Midweek Musings...

In we go...faster and harder than an Andrew Sharp stick to the head...

A Swift Correction: As pointed out by Matt, Bruce Mulherin didn't play four games in five nights, but, due to barely being back from injury himself, was restricted to just three in five...these are the things you miss when ih-update doesn't have lists of who is actually appearing for the teams on each game-night, like the NHL. However, this does not lessen the sheer awesomeness of his goal against the Blaze, nor the fineness of the Phoenix performance on Saturday. If anything, the fact that they were missing Lucas Burnett and Kyle Bruce as well as having Mulherin playing hurt enhances it somewhat...

The good...: It's the Christmas weekend this weekend, or at least the closest approximation to it the teams will have, and so the cash-cows are once again being milked for all their worth with the Xmas shirts. Basingstoke, however, are at least doing something laudable with theirs, dedicating their special shirt to the Armed Forces with this nifty little camouflage number...which will be worn this evening against Nottingham.

The very good: Newcastle, meanwhile, have produced possibly the best effort thus far with this. Yes, the snow is probably a little...well, clichéd, but the Angel of the North motif under what looks like a lowering winter sky (but is in fact just the colours of the jersey) just looks somehow right, and is a nice unique touch. Shame, then, that they'll be wearing these on...erm...the 27th. They could probably have left the "Merry Christmas" bit off though without doing serious harm and just called it a "midwinter/Xmas jersey"...

...and the plain-bloody-ugly: And then we have this atrocity, which has just about made anyone with any aesthetic appreciation qualities bleed profusely from the eyes, and should probably come with a health warning. Not only do the Blaze have to suffer what appears to be a vomiting dragon (people take the mick out of the Angry Budgie logo in Manchester but, at least that's a decent fanzine name)...but it's now wearing a Santa hat on a jersey which appears to have already had the colour run in the wash and be covered in crusted bird-excrement on the shoulders. The previous Blaze Christmas efforts have been just about bearable (mainly for the amusement of seeing people pay wildly-inflated prices for what was essentially a normal Blaze jersey with some snow tacked on the numbers) but this one just looks bad. Can you seriously see people paying a stupid amount of money for a shirt which they can wear, at best, three times a year without looking a bit stupid? At least the Viper one has some link to the region and looks cool (and, without the Merry Christmas bit, is almost an any-time jersey) this one just looks like a way to extract cash from wallets in the quickest, cheapest way possible. When fervent Blaze-supporting friends of mine are using the term "hideous" to describe it, you know you've erred.

And it's pink. Which is a fine and laudable colour for hockey jerseys when used to promote breast cancer awareness, as the MK Lightning and EIHL teams have done in the past, but at any other time, especially when it's that colour because you've skimped on the red dye? Just...no.

Still...as the defenders will no doubt say, I don't have to buy one. To which I reply...true-but I still have to suffer the sight of the ruddy things for sixty minutes on Sunday...

And you'd done so well with the jersey design up until now this year, too...even sticking a bunch of flags on the back the same design and then re-packaging it as a "unique Conti Cup jersey" (as opposed to a quick tweak) was forgivable because the originals looked damn good...but this? Ew.

Rant over...

Obligatory Andrew Sharp Mention: Four games? That's a start...I am reliably informed that some of the footage of the events in Cardiff on Sunday has not been released yet just in case charges get pressed, and also that, despite all the talking on the site about "team solidarity" etc, Sharp has already gone from the Steelers roster. Which shows that, perhaps, there's someone in Sheffield who can see when things go too far besides the good folk sat in the Hallam Arena stands.


One Minute Preview: Basingstoke v Nottingham

I can't see the Panthers losing this one, Heroes night or no Heroes night in Basingstoke. Mainly because the Panthers are coming off a tonking of the Giants which may have quieted a few jitters, and the Bison are coming off being tonked by the Phoenix in Manchester, and still not anywhere near full strength. Much depends, though, on whether Kevin Reiter decides to perform a Christmas miracle or simply be a mortal like everyone else. Even so, the Panthers simply have too much offensive talent (now that Jade Galbraith has begun to find his form) and much as I dislike the East Midlanders, the head says they'll win this one. Eventually.

And that, very quickly, is your Midweek Musings...

Double Overtime, December 15th

On we go into another weekend review. And be warned, this could get quite...well, if not heated, then at least a little controversial. Let's start with the simple stuff...

Just call him the Natural (hat-trick): Bruce Mulherin had something of a good weekend for Manchester, socring against Coventry in the Skydome and then following that with a natural hat-trick in his second game of the weekend against Basingstoke on Sunday. Not bad for someone who's played four games in five nights, that.

And while we're considering the Phoenix...Saturday's match against the Blaze more than lived up to the somewhat overblown billing I gave it on Friday...a storming game saw the momentum swing first one way and then the other, including two goals for the away side in the space of thirty seconds to bring it back from 3-1 to 3-3. Pick of the goals was that man Mulherin, with an absolute beauty of a wrister over Perras's left shoulder for the Phoenix's second. However (thankfully) the Blaze just about prevailed, mainly thanks to a pretty special goal in its own right from Sylvain Deschatelets, drifting round the back of Murphy's net before threading the puck through a gap roughly the width of a gnat's wing bigger than the puck which Murphy had left at his near post. And not a single bit of fisticuffs in sight. We'll get to that later.

Come on-surely X Factor wasn't that good?: Incidentally, there were a ton of empty seats in the Skydome on Saturday. Which is a bit sad, really...although at least now no-one can kid themselves that the credit crunch is biting in Coventry as much as everywhere else...

Little Giants: Meanwhile, in the battle of the pre-season favourites, Nottingham came out on top. Convincingly. I'm not entirely sure what was wrong with the Northern Irish side, but they looked lacklustre both in a game they won 4-3 on Friday (mainly thanks to the Panthers throwing away a 3-1 lead they looked pretty comfortable with) and on Satuday when the Nottingham side seemingly responded to a rocket up the rear end in beating them 7-2.
A team of talented individuals the Giants definitely are. Whether they are a talented team, however, is still something of which I'm not convinced.

At least this season they're "heroic" losers: Hull lost 3-2 in Edinburgh-not a bad scoreline considered they travelled up with two d-men and a player who'd barely even practiced with them as a third (new signing Richie Thornton). The Capitals, meanwhile, can finally give themselves some Christmas cheer, a little early, but well-earned nevertheless...after all, it's not exactly been the best of times for them recently...

The whole "heroes" thing, meanwhile, is wearing a bit thin down in Basingstoke:
Three goals scored over the weekend, shut out on home ice, and eight goals conceded in Manchester on Sunday. It seems the magic of the Bison Ten, whatever they've been using in the water bottles down there in Hampshire, may be starting to run a little low...

Win the battle, lose the war: Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Vipers finally managed to get their hands on Sylvain Deschatelets after the bad-tempered last meeting of these two teams at the Skydome, and duly took revenge. Well, sort of, anyway-there However, the Blaze took the two points with a 4-2 victory,
which, generally, is what people care about...

And now...

Somehow, somewhere, it's Brad Voth's fault: Cardiff and Sheffield met on Sunday in South Wales for the first time since Ryan Finnerty gave us his unique interpretation of stand-up comedy in the Sheffield Star, topped off by forgetting that this game actually existed. Of course, Steeler fans said that this was pure PR and not likely to stoke things up to an unacceptable level next time the two teams met. It was just a bit of harmless hype, after all.

Somewhere, that memo got lost in the post, because, on Sunday, this happened.

I accept that the footage is not of the best quality, so, the sequence of events runs something like this...

Doug MacIver (Cardiff) lines up opposite Jody Lehman, which rings alarm-bells straight away because a) there's two seconds to go, b) Lehman had apparently been winding up the Devils crowd and players all game, c) the Devils #64 is known for throwing a punch or two when the need arises, and d) he normally plays on D, not on the wing. As the puck drops, he goes after Brad Cruikshank, who turns away. As this is broken up and MacIver is being skated off the ice, having made a move towards Lehman as the Sheffield goalie leaves the ice (the game having ended) Andrew Sharp leaps the Steelers bench and attempts to slash MacIver across the throat.(35 seconds in) He misses and hits the linesman, and all hell then breaks loose.

Interestingly, throughout this melée, Finnerty is nowhere to be seen-it's Joey Talbot who eventually pairs off with Jay Latulippe. Strange, as you'd have thought a bench clearance is the perfect time for settling scores...

Silence is golden: So, having seen that, how would you react to one of your team doing something clearly dangerous and setting that off-as either a fan or a player?

I'm guessing, at best, you'd opt for silence, at least in public.

Well, not in Sheffield...

Dave Matsos: ""The whole night was heated... we were told to leave the building through a rear exit, once the game is over it's over but some folk just wish to carry things on."

Excuse me? This from a coach who's just had a player jump the bench and stick an opposition player in the neck after the final hooter? And you're complaining about it being a bit heated? It's hardly going to be a friendly tea-party, is it?

Ryan Finnerty: "The boys love Sharpy, he is a good kid and he is trying to play his part with the team, what happened at the end last night was unfortunate."

Well, you could have just taken on Latulippe like you said you were going to...then maybe Sharpy may have thought twice about playing this particular part...

Unfortunate? What would you have called it if the slash had connected with its target instead of a lino's visor?

"Sharpy loves being a part of the club and every guy on the team enjoys having him around, as a group of guys we are 100% behind him"

I bet you do-it means you aren't against him. That way, you don't have to worry about sucker-punches, swung sticks and the like.

Jody Lehman: "We are a tight group and Sharpy is one of us, he is a young guy who saw his team mates in trouble and jumped in to help"

Ever heard the phrase "pick your battles"?

"things got a little out of hand"

Or, as the refs called it, 2+2+2+5+game+game+game+match+match, for 121 total PIM's for one player, in one incident.

I'd love to see Lehman's definition of "out of control" then...presumably he also believes in the phrase "it's all fun until someone loses a limb"

The upshot of all this is that Sharp has, at minimum, a four game ban. That, presumably, means Sheffield will have to find someone else to fill the gaping hole of...oh, about a minute of ice-time that will result. And one can only wonder at the press-releases to come.

Anyone who thought there was a lot of ink wasted on Brad Voth v Randy Dagenais earlier in the season will not have seen anything yet...

There we go...there's the weekend (sort of) reviewed. And only an hour later than I thought it would be. This one, however, will run, and run, and run.

Monday Quickie...

Hey all...

Just to let you all know, Double Overtime will be appearing some time this evening...after the wonderful events down in Cardiff, a storming game at the Skydome on Saturday and more controversy than the X-Factor Final, it's taking a while to write the entry what with work as well.

I would suggest you check back around 7pm this evening-it should be up by then...

Round the Rinks, 12th December

It's been a busy week for me. Apart from anything else, I've been trying to get all copies of this Mark Tredgold photo destroyed, not because I have an aversion to the sadly-underachieving (except in the mouthiness department) Scott Kelman, but mainly because I'm pulling my best Kenneth Williams impression in the background. Well, either that or I can't believe what's just happened in front of me...a smiling Kelman!

But enough of that..on to a round-up or two...

Clearly, the amazing amount of logical thought on there couldn't be allowed to continue:..or, more likely, the Elite League have just given up trying with the official Elite Forum, which, on the Blaze section anyway, was hardly a shining example of rational debate. It's now dead, and the link has been removed from the front page...Hardly a loss, really-although there were a fair few decent people on there from various teams.

On we go, then....missing out Manchester v Edinburgh, which, after the Phoenix's 4-1 loss to Sheffield last night, is in progress as I write, with the Phoenix leading 3-1. I suggest that for a proper review of that, you have a gander at either Five Minute Major, The Pyre or the Angry Budgie, all of which you can find linked...I'm sure they will serve you far better than a neutral like myself in mentioning these two games...

Friday: Steadying the Ship...

Belfast v Nottingham is this week's treat on http://www.giantslive.tv/, and if last week's loss to Manchester is anything to go by, this is a meeting of two teams who have somewhat lost their way. Michel Robinson faces the high-powered Giants offence hoping that the Panthers can give him better protection than the Capitals did, while the Giants need to bounce back, especially after Sunday's tanking by Sheffield, a game in which Becky of FMM reliably informs me they were "awful". With two teams who can provide a feast of attacking play when they have a mind to, though, it should be a decent warm-up to your Friday night out, and, at five pounds, is likely cheaper than the first drink, too. Or will be shortly...

Saturday: The Sound of Silence

Where have all the games gone? With only two EIHL games taking place, you're faced with a straight choice if you want to watch action from the top league in British hockey tomorrow...

Firstly, down south, is the undercard as Basingstoke face Newcastle, a game which may be worth checking out for the always-entertaining antics of the Vipers Unholy Trinity of Andre Payette, Derek Campbell and Rob Wilson, as well as having a few players worth the entrance fee alone in Danny Stewart, Kevin Reiter and the sharp shooting of Greg Chambers. However (and I may be slightly biased here)....

...the game of the night, and possibly the weekend, is the Battle of the Super Snipers in Coventry. And, for Coventry v Manchester, I might get in touch with my inner movie-trailer voice. Start the music:

"One team are the kings of British hockey. The other are the surprise pretenders to the throne. And both were born out of the flames of their predecessors. From the North comes an army led by a wily general with the cunning of a fox, and his partner, a battle-scarred veteran with a deadly shot who has brought his followers new hope of riches to come. Rising to meet them come a band of men who, for the past few years, have been almost untouchable. Now, though, they are weakened, their leader has left for the plains of Texas, and their most-feared soldier is lagging behind his Phoenix rival. Last time they met, the battle was epic, but the kings survived. This time, the pretenders want revenge.

It's Beauregard v Calder. It's Hand v Thompson. It's Five Minute Major v the Breakaway...

It's Blaze v Phoenix. The Return.

And they say the Steelers have taken hyping a game to an art form...:)

Sunday: Feeding Frenzy:

After Saturday's famine, Sunday sees a feast as all ten Elite teams are in action. Pick of the night is the return leg of Nottingham v Belfast, previewed as above, but there are a few other tasty morsels...

Cardiff v Sheffield: This is where Ryan Finnerty meets Jay Latulippe again for the first time since this..., although given that it's away from home, we shall see if the Steelers pest is actually going to back his words up. Given the amount of friction between these two sides every time they've met this season, it's only a matter of time before this one bursts into flame...

Manchester v Basingstoke: Two under-rated teams battle it out in Altrincham, as best scorer meets arguably the league's best goalie. Beauregard v Reiter is the main attraction, but there should be enough battles all over the ice to make this a fine bill of evening's action...

Newcastle v Coventry: The gloves will be off in this one. No question. These two teams just plain don't like each other. With the Vipers still looking for their first win against the Blaze this season, however, they would probably do better to concentrate on trying to put the puck in the net. After all-best place to make a point is on the scoreboard...

Finally, and tagging along at the rear, Hull travel north to face Edinburgh. This should be a close if unspectacular game, which will stay off the radar of most fans thanks to the bigger attractions mentioned above-however, with the Stingrays only rumouredly taking two fit defencemen with them, it could be a night when the Stingray's mini-revival is brought to something of a screeching halt...

There you are...that's your weekend preview...

Double Overtime, December 8th...

Hi all-it’s time for another review of the weekend…in your usual jumping-around-the-league-like-a-drunken-frog fashion…

MVP award? Hand it over: David Beauregard: 27 games, 31 goals. In early December. Just for comparison, his nearest rival, Coventry’s Adam Calder, is eleven goals adrift in second place, having played one less game. Oh, and he scored a hat-trick in ten minutes on Friday against Belfast to win the Phoenix the game at the Odyssey.
Which means that when the two face each other at the Skydome next Saturday as Beauregard’s Manchester visit Calder’s Coventry, you wouldn’t really consider a shut-out to be on the cards.
Oh yes, and I know we keep mentioning this, and also that the man himself probably doesn’t like much to be made of it, but still:
The man has scored 31 goals and counting WITH ONLY ONE WORKING EYE!

If you’re a Giants fan, look away now: Not the greatest of weekends for the title-chasers from Northern Ireland, was it? Two goals scored as one of the most potent offences in the league failed to turn up (although, in their defence, they are a little bruised and battered at the moment) and ten conceded as Stevie Lyle seemingly decided to take the weekend off, being pulled against Sheffield on Saturday as his team conceded five with no reply. Two losses to their near rivals, including one in their own rink, means that the Odyssey men now need to make up some ground in the next week or two or risk putting a serious dent in their title hopes.

Just call them “the Hot Line”: Yes, the nickname’s corny, but the duo of Adam Calder and Dan Carlson are now old news as far as the offensive group opponents fear the most. The Phoenix trio of David Beauregard, Tony Hand and Luke Fulghum have been tearing opposition defences apart almost for fun this season, with a combined total of 54 goals between them. For the record, Manchester have scored a total of 94 in the league. Even allowing for the Hot Line’s goals also being scored in the CC cup and assuming that they’ve scored four or five each in that competition (the EIHL doesn’t do broken-down stats for goals and assists by competition on its site) that is still 40 goals-almost half of the team total.
Which means, put simply, that if you’re an opposition fan and you see these three line up opposite your players at a face-off, you’d better hope they don’t get down your team’s end too often.

Wanted: the Skydome Sniper: I’m not sure whether this is just Coventry or a problem that exists elsewhere in the league, but in the Skydome against Cardiff last night we had two incidents which almost defied description-the first saw the 6’4, 240lb Doug MacIver nudged into the boards from behind by the 5’11, 195lb Adam Calder-a routine collision, you might think. Well, it was-right up to the point where the bigger MacIver hit the deck in a manner resembling, as the saying goes, a big sack of excrement, before throwing his arms out wide and lying motionless on the ice until Wes Jarvis decided to thump Calder, at which point he got up and skated away as if nothing had happened.
OK…perhaps the hit was harder than it looked-we’ll give MacIver the benefit of the doubt, mainly because he’s a big lad and looks like you wouldn’t want to meet him in a back alley of a dark night. But then, two periods later, things got stranger…

Let’s use logic for a moment-if someone 5’10 and 165lbs (Danny Stewart) hits someone 6’5 and 235lbs (Brad Voth) who do you expect to go spinning through the air like Anna Pavlova performing the Dying Swan? Well-you’re wrong-mainly because Voth, like MacIver, had clearly been hit by a high velocity round fired from the crowd at the moment of impact, judging by the way he perfomed a dive that Tom Daley would have been proud of-the full 3 back somersault with 2.5 twists, although he didn’t quite manage to get into the pike position before hitting the net-a maneuver for which he rightly received two minutes for diving.

Now, clearly someone in the crowd at the Skydome is determined to live up to the reputation unfairly given to them by eschewing the usual streamers, horns et al and smuggling in a Barrett Sniper Rifle under their coat, because that’s the only explanation I can find for such a spectacular spinning fall.

On an unrelated note, Blaze won a pulsating game 4-2. And the best bit is-if you’re not sure what I’m talking about, you can see both Olympian efforts on Sky on Friday…

Supergoalie takes a vacation: Kevin Reiter had a weekend he’d want to forget (and showed his mortality) in Basingstoke’s net, letting in 11 goals against Hull over the weekend (Hull!), although on Sunday at least, his team-mates bailed him out by scoring 8 at the other end. Certainly Sunday night in Hull, with the Bison prevailing by two goals in fourteen, was a game which wasn’t for goalie fans. By all accounts, though, everyone else loved it.

When you soar with the eagles the night before, sometimes you crawl with the insects the day after: Sheffield had the most schizophrenic weekend by far, confidently disposing of high-flying Belfast on Saturday in front of a joyous home crowd. However, they were brought back to earth the following night, in a freezing Murrayfield, as the Capitals doggedly pushed them all the way to penalty shots in a game which they only very narrowly won. If you asked your average hockey coach, though, they’d say that it’s performances like the second one, pulling out a win against a stubborn opponent away from home, that win you the titles-the flamboyant wins are just the cherries on top…

After all (and this is something people always seem to forget) you get the same amount of points whoever you beat, and however many you beat them by…

Must...avoid...innuendo: Newcastle have finally solved their defensive crisis, signing ex Cardiff Devil and Bracknell Bee Likit Andersson, who, according to the Devils doctors, was done for the season. Still, at 35 years young, there's always the bonus that Rob Wilson now has someone else to tell war stories in the changing room...with those two and Ed Courtenay lined up the Vipers may be able to put out a line with the oldest average age ever seen in British hockey. Rumours that their next target is Steve Moria "to provide a bit of youthful energy", however, are unfounded.
There. I managed to mention a player called "Likit" without descending to smut...:)


And on that note...that's your weekend reviewed...

Round the Rinks, 5th December

Now with added random ruminations...it's the weekend preview!



"Before you jump down my throat, I'd like to present you with
Something I call personality"

New Found Glory: "Something I Call Personality".

The rumours coming out of the NHL after the Sean Avery Incident (referred to in Wednesday's post) are that the Pickering, Ontario native and best-known pest on the planet is all but done in the world's top league, with Dallas considering buying out his contract and burying him down in the minors.

Now, call me spectacularly crazy, and I know that it likely won't happen, but how amazing would it be if someone could tempt him over to the EIHL, Theo Fleury style? I will make absolutely no secret of the fact that if the Blaze went for it and said "come and play for us, Sean, and be the most high-profile player ever to play in Britain bar none-as well as the centre of attention for an entire hockey nation", and he accepted (it's not like he needs the money, after all) I think I'd just about combust with the excitement.

Why? Because Sean Avery would well and truly put British hockey on the world map, by himself. In a Britain obsessed with celebrity sportsmen, the news that a genuine media phenomenon (with quotes that are a tabloid reporter's dream) is coming to your town would instantly get a few hundred more people through the door-the man markets himself.

Not only that, but every game with him on the ice would be an event...and that is what British hockey needs, pure and simple.

Oh yes, and with an average of a point every two games in the toughest league in the world, he can play a bit too.

Go on, British hockey. Try it. He may be the NHL's sloppy seconds, but the man is pure media gold...and let's be honest...you can only get so far with free tickets to kids...

On to the weekend preview...

Friday

Belfast take on Manchester at the Odyssey in a game which, of course, will be covered by the Breakaway's friends at the Giants Webcast, over at http://www.giantslive.tv/ for five of your British pounds. Commentary, as usual, is by Nigel Ringland and Wayne Hardman, and they're on air from 7.15pm tonight...register for free through the site to watch.
So why should you?
The game could be a beauty, that's why. With Belfast returning to almost-full-strength (Andrew Martin could still be missing) and the Phoenix one of the most complete teams in the league, there will be goals, and there will be great hockey. There may well be fights too, with the likes of Kyle Bruce and Malcolm MacMillan winding each other up to breaking point...what more could you want?

Double-headers

Basingstoke v Hull: The Stingrays lost 1-0 to Cardiff on Wednesday night, and are facing a Basingstoke who may well be boosted by two new players in the line-up, identity as yet unknown. It's hard to predict which way this one will go, as the Bison have Kevin Reiter, who can win games by himself, while the Stingrays are a team more than capable of winning at least one of these two now that Troy Neumeier is in charge of the coaching duties...

Saturday (North to South):

We begin at the Metro Arena, where Newcastle will hope to arrest their recent slide at the expense of of another struggling team in Edinburgh as the two most northern teams in the EIHL meet. Not one of the glamour ties of the EIHL, this one, but nevertheless, it'll be a game full of passion if somewhat lacking in prettiness. Much like Newcastle itself, really...

Further south, Sheffield take on Belfast in the game of the night. The Giants must have annoyed someone in the fixture department to have a weekend this tricky-the Steelers, meanwhile, will be hoping their Lancashire rivals from Manchester have done them a favour the night before in wearing down the men from across the water...

Finally, we end in South Wales, where Cardiff take on Manchester for a game which should be particularly spicy after the coming-together between Brad Voth and Kyle Bruce last weekend and the "choking" row that came out of it-these are two teams who are not on the best of terms and building themselves a healthy little rivalry as they chase the leap up to the top table of British hockey (or, indeed, a return to it after both teams have had o rebuild in the past few years...

Sunday (South to North)

We start at the Coventry Skydome as the Blaze take on the Devils. Coventry v Cardiff is one of the biggest rivalries in British hockey, rivalling Sheffield v Nottingham for passion both on and off the ice, along with a fair dose of healthy respect between the fans off the ice to sweeten things a little. With the Blaze having Matty Soderstrom on the treatment table and the win against Newcastle bringing temporary joy to what has been a uncharacteristically jittery month, the Devils will fancy their chances of two points. You wouldn't bet against the Welsh side either.

Travelling back north, we keep going all the way back up to Newcastle for the Vipers' game against the similarly-jittery Nottingham. The Panthers won the last encounter 6-3, but with Michel Robinson still needing to prove himself in the eyes of many people, and the Vipers desperately needing a bit of a pick-up, it could be a nervy night in the North East...

Finally, we return to Murrayfield for Edinburgh v Sheffield. as summit faces basement in a game that the Steelers will not want to slip up in, particularly if they've lost to Belfast the night before. The Capitals, needing to make a good showing, will take heart from the examples of Hull and Basingstoke this season and look to join the list of teams who've taken the scalps of the top four against the odds this season...

Finally, before we go...returning to the promotion angle from the beginning of this post:

Sheffield have now joined the growing number of teams producing their own media, with Steelers TV now going live at http://www.steelerstv.co.uk/. Go and have a watch-it's not a bad effort...

There you go then...that's your weekend previewed to within an inch of its life...keep keeping your eye on the puck...

Midweek Musings

Afternoon all…

Your midweek helping of hockey news and views includes a look at a night of nostalgia as Cardiff play Hull this evening, a brief meditation on the point of All-Star games and, first of all, a deed that even Andre Payette would think twice about…

I don’t think “heads up” is really an adequate response for this. “Run like hell” might be, though: Sean Avery, that friend-to-all-men and all round good guy of the NHL, has got in touch with his inner Newcastle Viper (or possibly put in an audition to write Sheffield’s interviews) by deciding to come out with this masterful bit of wind-up talk before Dallas (his team) face Calgary…

“I love Calgary…but I just want to comment on how players in the NHL always seem to end up dating my sloppy seconds”

The “sloppy seconds” referred to in this case is his ex-girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert (surely, far and away, the best looking puck-bunny alive-although if Coventry is owt to go by that isn't a hard title to win), who is now going out with one of the Calgary players. Or, Rachel Hunter, who is now going out with Edmonton's Jarret Stoll. So far, so trash-talk…until you bear in mind that the Flame in question happens to be Dion Phaneuf, who is well known around the NHL and to hockey fans everywhere for doing stuff like this and this on a regular basis.

The NHL have suspended Avery, supposedly for “conduct detrimental to the game” so he didn’t play that night. Personally, I have a hunch that “for his own safety” might have been a truer reflection of the reason…

Fans in the EIHL may think that Ryan Finnerty or Dave Simms are annoying, but this really is a whole new level…and the stupidity of it makes their recent efforts look like Oscar Wilde in comparison…

One thing’s for sure-the next time Dallas face Calgary, it may be worth watching.



Oh, and if Dallas cut him...Sean Avery to Sheffield, anyone? :D

It’s not an All-Star game if everyone’s included: The EIHL have announced that they will hold the first ever All-Star game in February, at the Coventry Skydome. However, unlike the North American versions, the rosters will be picked by the respective coaches, and they’ll be given quotas of two imports and two Brits from each team in their respective squads, as EIHL North take on EIHL South.

Now, is it me, or is the whole point of an All-Star game that it contains the best players in the league, irrespective of team or nationality? I appreciate the need for the EIHL to attract as many fans as possible to what is essentially a meaningless friendly, but saying that every team must have two Brits and two imports representing them is…well, a bit artificial. Especially as the All-Star teams picked by the fans would likely have a far weightier amount of imports than Brits. Imposing a tariff on it just smacks of protectionism...I'm not saying there aren't good Brits worthy of a place on all the teams, but let them get picked properly...


And so the attack continues: Mark at the Angry Budgie has launched his own refuting of the fast-becoming-infamous "no well-supported clubs apart from Sheffield and Nottingham" article of Mick Holland...have a read here...



One Minute Preview: Cardiff v Hull


With both teams still able to qualify for the CC semis, this Nostalgia Night in Cardiff (basically, a night in which the Devils will look back over their history, wear special commemorative shirts and generally get a bit misty-eyed) should be fairly interesting on the ice as well as off it. Hull and Cardiff are both hard-working, physical teams garnished with a few skill players, and on Cardiff's small ice space will be at a premium with the likes of 6'5 Brad Voth and 6'4 Aaron Wilson jostling for space with 6'4 Doug MacIver in front of the net. Don't expect a pretty game, but do expect a hell of a battle and more than a few moments where the tension may rise slightly above normal...

There you are then-there's your somewhat shortened Midweek Musings for a snowy Wednesday...