Chubby returns to the Herd: Bison follow up their recent announcement of Brad Cruikshank committing for two years by announcing another key player has committed himself to the Basingstoke cause in top scorer Greg Chambers. There was some speculation over the 24-year-old's future, with Coventry and Sheffield rumoured to be in the market, but by returning to the Bison the winger has already ensured that the Bison have a solid foundation to build upon for next season having signed their two most important players and kept their coach...
Winning isn't everything...possibly: The latest feed of a topic from THF to appear on here involves junior development, after a post on there asked whether it was right that some junior teams, even at U12 and U14 level, give the talented players far more ice-time than others in order to pretty much guarantee winning. Certainly if you keep an eye on the junior results you can't help noticing that there are a lot of scores along the lines of 12-0, 9-1 and even, on one occasion at the Skydome I remember a score of something like 31-0 being announced. I'm not really up on junior hockey, given that I'm not young enough to play in it and not old enough to have kids involved in it, but I do remember just how some people reacted when the policy of "playing to win" was brought in on my rec team-the better players loved it because they got a ton of ice-time but some of the newer players were miffed at paying the same and getting far less ice-time in games-I assume this problem is far worse when it comes to juniors, particularly as you also come into the problems of favouritism and parental pressure. Given that the whole point of junior hockey is to get as many young players developed as possible, surely the concept of "playing to win" is a bit alien in most junior hockey. I accept that by the time you get to U16 or U18 the better players need to be given more chance as they're going to need to get used to the higher levels of competition if they're to progress, but at U10, 12 and 14 it seems a little silly...after all, people play for fun first and foremost..
IceTunes: Now That's What I Call Playoff Hockey!: Given that, if you're anything like me, you'll be off to the playoffs this weekend, and travelling by car, you'll be wanting something to fire you up for a weekend of top-class hockey action on the way there. So, naturally, here we are-the ultimate modern-hockey mix CD-no "hockey standards" allowed...which means no "Hockey Song", no "I Wanna Drive the Zamboni" and definitely no "Chelsea-bloody-Dagger"...some of them will have reasons, and some won't. But they're all great songs...
- Hans Zimmer: Captain Jack's Theme (from Pirates of the Caribbean): Just because it's an awesome piece of music to wake you up in the morning...
- ACDC: Thunderstruck: One of the greatest intros of all time...and..well, that's all you need as a reason, really.
- Led Zeppelin: Immigrant Song
- Priestess: Talk To Her: They're Canadian, they make great songs, and they like hockey. Job done...
- Finger Eleven: Paralyzer: See above. :)
- Heart: Barracuda: I said there wouldn't be any "hockey standards". I didn't say there wouldn't be any classic rock...
- Saliva: Ladies and Gentlemen: If you've been to Manchester, you've heard this. It's a perfect hockey song...
- Fightstar: Deathcar: Just because.
- Senses Fail: Bite To Break Skin
- New Year's Day: Sunrise/Sunset
- Incubus: A Certain Shade of Green
- Bullet For My Valentine: Hearts Burst Into Fire
- Avenged Sevenfold: Beast and the Harlot
- Dragonforce: Valley of the Damned
- Arch Enemy: Revolution Begins
- Pantera: Walk
- Rage Against the Machine: Killing in the Name Of
- Drowning Pool: Bodies
- Paramore: Emergency
- Blink 182: Dammit
There you go...proper hockey music. :)
That's your Thursday Thoughts...tomorrow is all Nottingham, all the time as we preview the biggest weekend of the season...it's EIHL playoff finals time...
Keep keeping your eye on the puck...
