Midweek Musings...

Rather than the long introduction, we'll just go straight in today...

The first section of the post today has been changed slightly in response to the comment on the post-as it read that I was belittling the efforts of the Blaze players on the night rather than referring to the financial situation that made it possible to sign players of their ability in the first place...



In real life, the underdog never wins...Unfortunately for excitement in British hockey, as well as the rabid Basingstoke faithful, there was no Cinderella story last night as Coventry finally won themselves the KO Cup by simply overwhelming the Bison on Skydome ice. It's the first time a title victory has actually left me faintly depressed...sure, the Blaze fan side of me is pleased, but the UK hockey fan side of me saw more evidence of a sport in which money, more than anything, is becoming the dominating factor in winning trophies. Now, people will no doubt turn round to me and say "no it isn't, Sheffield haven't won anything, and they're one of the biggest budgets in the league". But the whole point is that they're always in the race. And the reason that so many (non-Coventry) fans wanted Bison to win was that, just once, it would prove that heart, desire and hard work is more important to success in British hockey than how many people you get through the door (and thus dictates just how good a roster you can sign), just like we're always told. Unfortunately for the sport in the UK, last night's result can be seen as just more proof that it isn't.



And now for a short musical interlude to introduce the next item:



"I didn't wanna know the things I knew...

It wasn't till I looked into the mirror...

Denial"

Sugababes: Denial



With the Sky TV coverage this season, once again the hope is flying around that hockey can become a mainstream sport in the UK-there's widespread optimism everywhere, hard work being done behind the scenes and some people are even claiming that hockey could one day become as mainstream as rugby or football, surpassing its media heyday in the mid-and-late 90's...



Sorry, but, with the sport the way it is in this country and following the trends it currently is, it won't. In fact, unless there's changes in the way things are done, it could go back the other way...just like the "new dawn" that was the Superleague.



I want to believe things are improving. I look at the Sky TV coverage and think "yes...", I look at the strides made at clubs like Basingstoke, Manchester, and Edinburgh in the EIHL and Slough in the EPL and think "yes...". And then I look at some of the actions of the league, and dig a little deeper, and think "no"....



Let me explain. Firstly we have the KO Cup-a competition originally brought in to fill time left open thanks to the unexpected demise of London Racers in the 05/06 season. A competition which two teams don't even enter thanks to ice-time issues. And yet this is pushed by the EIHL as important as the other three competitions. It's a waste of time-and I say that as someone whose team won it. Yes, this season there was some interest brought into it thanks to the Bison's run and some fine performances, but as a competition? Scrap it-or it'll just be a blight on the hockey landscape when trying to explain just why one of the "elite" trophies on offer is a KO competition which two teams have to stay out of in order to actually make it work...If you want a KO Cup competition, forget the Challenge Cup group stage and turn it into a straight knockout starting at Christmas, with the last two teams in the league by a set deadline being eliminated and the other eight going into a series of 1st v 8th, 2nd v 7th etc. The key, however, is that this deadline is at, say, the end of November. That means you don't have the pointless situation of playing the same team twice in a weekend but the points counting for different competitions, and also means that the KO rounds aren't decided based on who happens to win the first six games of the season, but who is more consistent over two months. And no-one is guaranteed participation. Certainly it would make those early-season games a LOT more interesting than just "finding their stride" as teams have to perform right off the bat.

But wait...that chops three home games from the schedule...which means less money coming into the big clubs. That's that idea vetoed then...

Secondly, we have the issue of two different governing bodies, and two competing leagues (not to mention the confusion of the "lower" leagues) all with different rules and regulations, and their own competitions. You could drop a plate from a third-floor window and it would end up less fragmented than the organisation of British hockey.

Thirdly-how do you sell a sport to the media when there are two leagues claiming to be the "real" top division in British hockey, or where rules are made up by the owners of the teams themselves in order to suit a particular situation? Or where some clubs say one thing and do another? Where there are some owners actively holding the sport back, or seemingly lying to their customers (ref: the Taylors at Basingstoke).

I know I'm beginning to sound just like every other disaffected columnist out there, and it's probably boring to those of you who've read this all before.

But to me, the facts are simple. Unless those running British hockey stop treating their leagues like their own personal playthings and actually see the people who come through the rink doors as fans rather than walking wallets, and find a way to stop the ever-escalating abuse of the wage-cap (EIHL) and seeming incompetence and double-standards when it comes to the rules (both leagues) people will start to think their hard-earned money may be better spent elsewhere, particularly, in the current economic climate, if ticket prices rise much over the £15 level (a level already reached by Manchester and now Coventry) without a noticeable improvement in league standards from where we are now, both on and off the ice...

And on that sobering thought, we end.

Keep keeping your eye in the puck..