Thursday Thoughts and IceTunes...

And so on we go this Thursday evening with another skate around the British hockey world...and in the spirit of IceTunes we begin...with a song (or two).

"Just for tonight...just maybe we've made it..."
One Night Only: "Just For Tonight"
or...
"I...I can be king. And you...you can be queen. We can be heroes...just for one day"
David Bowie: "Heroes"

Both songs are, of course, dedicated to the Basingstoke Bison, who did what no-one (perhaps even their own fans) expected them to do last night and outplayed the recently-crowned league champions (sorry-had to get that in there. :)) Coventry Blaze to take a two-goal lead into the second leg of the BKO Cup final. When you bear in mind that their starting goalie (Curtis Cruickshank) and several of the nine outskaters who did ice were carrying injuries, that achievement becomes even more impressive. The final score was 4-2 to Basingstoke, but that doesn't give the full story of a game which the Blaze apparently dominated, but were held out by a rear-guard action worthy of Spartan legend. More serious from the Blaze perspective than the score (two goals is a difficult, but still just-about-surmountable deficit if luck goes their way at the Skydome) is the news that top defenceman (and possibly best-in-the-league) Neal Martin is finished for the season after injuring his shoulder taking a massive (but by all accounts perfectly legal) hit from Derek Campbell...could make the Blaze a slightly more attractive proposition in the playoff campaign for the teams fighting it out for eighth...

Order of humble pie, table two: Adding to the gloss of the victory for Bison fans was the presence of Dave Simms in his capacity as Sky commentator, only a few days after his comments in Powerplay magazine about the Bison "cheating" other teams by only turning up with half a roster. To his credit, Simmsy has said he is willing to discuss his opinion with any Bison (or indeed any other) fan who wishes to-but you can't deny that allowing the Bison Nine to see his comments before the game would have been one hell of a way to produce the epic performance that resulted-particularly if told the man himself was in the building...

Another EPL team...in Oxford?!: Rumours floating around the Internet say that there could be a new team playing out of Oxford (joining the ENL Stars, the women and university teams, and several armed-services and other recreational teams) in the EPL shortly-the rumour has all sourced from a post on the Stars ENL forum. Trouble is, this would make for an odd number of teams in the league, and we all know what havoc that plays with fixtures. However, with many students (some who aren't exactly strapped for cash) in the city and an established tradition of ice-hockey, it could work if someone is willing to lose a fair bit of money in start-up costs...and would certainly be good for the sport...

Crank up the carousel...: It's the time of the year when re-signings start to happen, and two big ones have been announced today with Dave Matsos returning as Sheffield coach for two more years and Brad Cruikshank committing to play in Basingstoke for the same period. Both are good signings-Matsos is improving all the time as a coach in Sheffield, and appears to have found his feet and settled into the role, while down in Hampshire, Cruikshank is the embodiment of everything which has seen the Bison through this season, as well as being a huge part of their success himself as captain-he's a hard-working, hard-hitting, hard-as-nails player who fits the Bison style of play perfectly and has led by example since being given the "C"...Expect to see more of these in the near future as the transfer merry-go-round shakes off the dust and prepares to turn as wildly as ever in the off-season...

And ending as we began...it's IceTunes! The weekly list of recommendations of songs to turn up loud whenrocking your ears on the way to hockey returns...with a few more gems...

The Slip: Even Rats: This is an modern American prog-rock stomper, so good it was judged good enough to be a hidden song on Guitar Hero. At six minutes long it's perhaps a little lengthy..but will do for a pre-game song just to set the tone for the rest of the evening (or as a warning of heavier stuff to come...

Silbermond: Verschwende deine Zeit (Throw Your Time Away): Don't let the fact it's in German put you off-this is a fast-paced pump-up song par excellence...

Plain White T's: Hate: It's a penalty song for the...shall we say...more colourful opposition players when they come to the Skydome. And there are few that fit better when the crowd are jeering and there's a frank exchange of views flying back and forth between the benches and the crowd...

Arch Enemy: Revolution Begins: Possibly too heavy for most tastes, but if you're in a bad mood, stick this on. It works..:)

Pantera: Cowboys From Hell: Just because.

Strata: Cocaine (We're All Going to Hell): It rollicks along nicely in a kind of emo-metal-electronic crossover-this tale of a drug-fuelled hook-up which ends badly (read-very badly) is dark and angry. Perfect for hockey, really...

She Wants Revenge: Tear You Apart: Not quite as bloodthirsty as it sounds, but still as dark in its own way as the one above...

Girls Aloud: Teenage Dirtbag: With all the heaviness going on above, you need a bit of lighter stuff just to cheer people up-and the five popstrel's cover of the Wheatus classic will do nicely. It sounds so wrong...until you actually hear it...

And there you go-there's your Thursday Thoughts. Check back tomorrow for the last-but-two Round the Rinks of the season, and, as always, keep keeping your eye on the puck...