Double Overtime, December 1st

Hello all-as is usual on a Monday we’re off again on the review of another EIHL weekend in that stream-of-consciousness style you’ve come to know and love…now with an added geography lesson…

To us southerners, it’s all “the frozen wastes” anyway…: Many thanks to GS, the writer of the excellent F Block Blog, for correcting my geography in Friday’s post…Hull is, of course, in East Yorkshire and not North, and thus remains just this side of the Arctic Circle as far as us Southerners are concerned…:)

Contrary to what some people may tell you, he was on the ice for all of them. Well, almost all of them: Tony Hand has gone another step ahead of any other British player with his 4000th point in domestic hockey, assisting on Manchester’s first goal in their 7-1 defeat of Hull on Saturday…a mark that will likely never be equalled by a British player. What can you say except “congratulations”?

“To allow one hat-trick is unfortunate. To allow two smacks of carelessness”: If Oscar Wilde had been a Stingrays fan, then this would likely have been his assessment of Saturday’s game, as both David Beauregard and Luke Fulghum help themselves to three goals each in the Phoenix’s 7-1 win in Hull…one of those days when the defensive system appeared not to work too well for Rick Strachan and acquaintances…

“Quick! Plan B! What d’you mean, that WAS Plan B?!: Belfast’s win against Coventry showed several weaknesses in the Blaze which will prevent them winning the championship unless they’re addressed pretty damn quickly. Firstly, a powerplay which can be summed up as “pass, pass, pass, Jon Weaver shoots from the point (repeat ad nauseam until goal is scored or puck is lost)” is hardly a tactic befitting a team supposedly loaded with offensive talent. Secondly, when faced with a well-organised defensive team (or, as seen with the Bison a few weeks ago, one in which every player will risk serious injury for the cause of getting between the puck and their net) the champions struggle. In the Giants’ case, it was the well-organised defence that won them the game-Blaze fans may complain about the referee (and for that, they’re getting almost as bad as sections of the Nottingham crowd) but the deficiencies in their team are there for all to see if they look hard enough and past the wins that appear to come easily (like, for example, last night’s 9-2 win against a self-destructing Newcastle) it’s times like these that Paul Thompson has really earned his money and reputation in the past-he needs to do so again if the EIHL title is to come back to the West Midlands.



"He's cut! The Russian is cut!": The Basingstoke Bison...the EIHL equivalent of Rocky Balboa v Ivan Drago, week after week. The latest team to play the role of the big Russian (and possibly cheesiest movie villain ever) is Sheffield, who followed Nottingham and Coventry to the canvas on Saturday night as the Bison prevailed over them on penalty shots despite being 3-1 down after 39 minutes. With Kevin Reiter taking the best that opposition attacks can throw at him without weakening, the Bison will always remain standing long enough to have a chance of winning. And, like Rocky, they have the annoying knack of earning the respect of the opposition fans no matter how much they've been told "you must break them"


And yes, I make no apologies whatsoever for the multiple references to one of the cheesiest movies of all time in that section...:)

If Kyle Bruce were a Steeler, the lynch mob would already be forming: According to the reports of the Manchester-Cardiff game on Sunday, Brad Voth may have attempted to choke Kyle Bruce during the coming-together the two of them had in the third period. The penalties make interesting reading-Bruce receives a five-plus-game while Voth earns himself 2+5+10+game for various offences...here's the account of Phoenix fan Tambo from THF:

Now to the "incident" Just to clarify for those that need to know where my vantage point was at the time. I was walking across the front entrance area of the rink when Ward was cross checked twice, as he travelled from left to right. The second one was particularly nasty and he reacted. Now Ward not being exactly a heavyweight was then helped by Kyle Bruce and others steaming in. At this time i was literally at the incident, at ground level about 4 feet closer than bjknight who was on the stairs. Voth and Bruce hit the floor with Voth on top, Linos and ref tried to get them separated and Kyle was screaming something, could not hear it because of the baying crowd. I quite clearly saw Voths forearm across Kyke's face then saw Voths outstretched hand on his neck at the front. His fist was not closed round the windpipe at any time that I saw but he was definately using pressure with his hand/thumb. Whether this was a malicious act or in the scheme of things was just trying to keep Bruce on the deck I am not sure. I did look pretty bad from my angle. What I must say if we are going down the steelers route of sending the video, w should be prepared for Kyle to get a suspension as well for the beautiful punch he laid on Voth while Hicks was restraining him after everybody was up on their feet.

Could make future Phoenix-Devils games a bit tasty, that...

When the Vipers play, they're not bad. Trouble is...: With the Blaze not having a game on Saturday, myself and a few others made the short trip to Nottingham to see Michel Robinson make his debut (not bad, but one game does not a goalie make, Panthers fans) and Newcastle. The Vipers, apart from a ten-minute period in which Nottingham scored four goals in the late first and early second period, were well in the game and gave me pause for thought on what would happen when they came to the Skydome the following night...

...and what did happen was the hockey equivalent of not just shooting, but firing a howitzer into your own foot. A complete lack of discipline, various acts of muppetry from Andre Payette, several goals which the Blaze need not have got near had the Viper defending actually tried to play hockey as opposed to just going for the massive crunching hit (and missing) .

Ed Courtenay, Derek Campbell, et al...you're better than that. Try and play the game, next time...

"What a difference, a coach makes...": Rick Strachan coaches the Rays alone...they lose 7-1 to Manchester. Troy Neumeier runs the bench the next night after being out for the season...they win 5-4, against Belfast no less. This result raised more than an eyebrow or two for me-it seems that there may be a bit of life in Hull after all if the coaching staff can actually make best use of the talent they have rather than sticking it in a line across the blue-line...

And there you are...that's all the talking points from the weekend just about covered...

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...