Hate to Say...

"I told you so"...Cole Byers is now done for the season, according to Hull media sources. Hardly a surprise, really-going on the ice with a quarter of your knee missing is possibly not the best idea, as I said at the time...my comment on his decision was...

"Brave, brave man...especially as, if he gets another whack on that knee, his career could be over at the frighteningly young age of 24. And all this in an attempt to save the Stingrays from finishing bottom? Many will be asking themselves "is it worth it?" Cole Byers, the Breakaway salutes you...and hopes that you don't live to regret that decision..."

It appears that he will do, at least for the time it takes to rehab that knee...

Meanwhile, back in the league...How about those KO Cup results? There's potential at the moment for three out of four semi-finalists to be from the bottom half of the EIHL. Basingstoke are definitely through after tanking Cardiff-who have now lost Gerard Adams on top of all their other injuries. Edinburgh are also through after beating Newcastle...the Vipers must really be wondering where the light at the end of the tunnel is, or whether, when it comes, it'll just be an oncoming train.
Hull vs Manchester will guarantee a bottom-halfer in the draw..so the only real question is whether it'll be Coventry or Sheffield who go forward to play in the semis of the league's least-loved competition. Judging by the performance on Sunday night, it'll be Sheffield-don't be fooled by the 2-1 scoreline in favour of Coventry. The Blaze were simply awful at times-while Sheffield were little more than workmanlike.

New Year Blues: It appears that the New Year has affected us all differently..I got the address right for the Belfast webcast but not the game. You'd think such an experienced hockey journalist as me would have remembered to double-check the fixture list, now, wouldn't you? Two minutes for stupidity for Mr Wheeler...In the words of Slapshot's Denis Lemieux "I go to the penalty box and I feel SHAME!".

Mi Cabana es su Cabana: Paul Cabana could be making a quick return to the UK after leaving Hull, apparently-with Sheffield the destination after the Steelers were all put on two weeks' notice. Things clearly need to change in Steelerville, what with them reaching the lowly heights of second in the league and the Challenge Cup Final with the current corps of players........



....OK, I can't see the reason for it either. But maybe that's why I don't own an EIHL team. Unless this is a cunning way for Bob Phillips to ship players from one of his teams to the other (Cardiff) while getting around the whole "conflict of interest" problem...Still-at least Cabana will find out what it's like to have other goalscorers around him...and no, Hull fans, Jeff Glowa doesn't count.

Meanwhile...Hull have moved quickly to pick up their goalscoring problems with the capture of Troy Neumeier, that well-known...stay-at-home d-man. I don't even have a joke here. Although the Stingrays have been electroshocked into some sort of life recently. Now, if they could just do the same with their coach...

That's your lot for now...I apologise for the disjointedness of the blog recently, but the trouble with real life is that it isn't as simple as hockey...

More to come tomorrow as we return to the twin themes of arrogance and money...