Maybe they'll play some decent music at the House of Steel now...Jody Lehman was missing from the roster as Sheffield took on Nottingham in the Challenge Cup last night, thanks to being required for a more pressing engagement elsewhere-at the hospital as his wife Raquel was adding to the Steeler "family" by giving birth to a 8lb 11oz baby girl with the pleasingly alliterative name of Layla Lea Lehman. Rumours that the Sheffield playlist will be changed for the first time in six years or so in order to include a musical tribute to the new arrival are, however, hopelessly optimistic...
Congratulations to the Lehman family from your friendly Breakaway editor-should she become a goalie, hopefully she'll have far better taste in pad colour than her illustrious father...
Meanwhile, back on the ice....Nottingham took a vital lead in the Challenge Cup as they took advantage of Jody's absence (which also meant all bets were off as regards to my prediction of a close game) to stick 6 past Davey Lawrence while only conceding three...Ryan Shmyr being kicked out of the game for "incitement" after winding up the bench following the sixth goal was just one of the many talking points. The game is live on Sky this Friday for those who want to see the amazingly rare event of Panthers winning a big cup final in regulation time...
Fifteen imports? Fifteen?!: The South Wales Echo has released news this evening of major changes to EIHL rules being considered by the ruling body. Here they are, along with my reaction...
15 ITC cards per club.
People on forums have taken this as clubs effectively being given the go-ahead to sign 15 imports if they wish, which makes last night's non-event game at the Skydome (see below) even more silly-looking. At the moment the rules are that 15 ITC (ie import) cards can be used in one season, with ten icing at any one time. However, there's no mention of an import restriction in the new rules, which effectively means that we could see a return to the ISL days of import-only rosters, with a few British players thrown in to make up the numbers or used as injury cover. It will be interesting to see where the debate goes on this one...
The Elite League wage caps to rise from £5,700 to £6,000 net per club per week.
Hm. Are we seriously expected to believe that most clubs aren't paying at least the "new" limit in wages already, despite the lower cap?
The wage cap must be strictly adhered to – and tough penalties, including a potential loss of points, will be imposed on those who break it.
Unless, of course, they can appeal. Or pay most of the wages to "fitness coach"/player X rather than player X, which is what happens at the moment. Like most British hockey fans, I'll believe that when it starts happening consistently.
The extra ITC cards could affect the current crucial importance of British players.
Now that statement, to me, implies that the 15 ITC card rule is "at one time" as opposed to "a season". Which means that all the lip-service paid to development of British players in the top league has just gone right down the pan...
Clubs can only sign ONE import player from another British team. With 10 clubs that would ensure only 10 players currently with Elite League clubs could move to a rival between seasons.
This is the most interesting one, because it effectively scuppers the "sign a player released by another team" tactic if it's true. It would also have made several rosters this season look very different, notably that of Nottingham-as it would have meant one of Johan Molin or Mark Richardson wouldn't have been allowed to sign for the Panthers under league rules...It will be interesting to see just how this rule works out.
Let's just say it wasn't a moneyspinner...Clearly a lot of people, at least those whose loyalties lie with the teams involved, are as scornful of the merits of the "Best of British" competition as I am-or saw it as the window-dressing it was...only (at my estimate) 300 people turned up at the Skydome last night to see a four-import game between Coventry and Newcastle. The actual hockey wasn't that bad, but it was far, far below Elite League and even EPL standard nevertheless, with the imports in particular seeming almost embarrassed to be playing in such an artificial and meaningless "competition". As a "showcase of British talent", it didn't work because few fans cared enough to turn up (I actually did just in order that I could at least claim to have seen the product before arguing against it)-and the proposed changes to the EIHL import rules make it even less likely that there will be opportunities for these players to progress, thereby wounding the whole "it's an important phase of their development" argument. A bit of a cock-up all round, really.
I would, however, be interested to hear the views of others on this and similar games, and indeed the proposed EIHL rule changes...will they lead to better standards or just a mass exodus/dying-off of teams unable to afford to keep up?
On that downbeat note, that's the end of the update...Round the Rinks will appear early afternoon tomorrow, so check back for your weekly guide to the weekend's fixtures, and keep keeping your eye on the puck...
