Hockey's Back...and more...

Yee-HAH, cowboy!

Lock the doggie in the barn, pack the kids off to your mothers and settle in for a rollercoaster from now until April, cause it's wetter outside than a horny dolphin's undercarriage, and the sweet winter sound of a well-struck slapshot is back in the rinks of the UK. As Lemmy says before every Skydome face-off, it's time to play the GAAAAAAAMMMME!

Sorry. I was temporarily taken over by the malevolent spirit of an American commentator then...I do apologise. However, he (let's call him Bubba Ray) will likely be making regular appearances in this column from now on when nothing but the rantings of an over-excited Texan will do. Call it releasing my inner Dave Simms. Only without the naffness.

The point made above is a good one, though...here in Coventry, hockey is officially back with the ENL team's first warm-up game yesterday-which saw a good crowd of people, mainly there to see the brand-new Blaze shirts for the first time. The hockey wasn't bad though, with a nice goal from Tom Ledgard being the highlight of the night, and gave a nice appetite-wetter for when the big boys hit the ice in, believe it or not, nine days.

Which (swift plug here) must mean that it'll shortly be time for the all-singing, all-dancing PW's Season Preview, which is currently being worked on with me scouring the Internet for clues on past form of players and my record collection for song-lyrics to fit to teams, and should hopefully appear on Saturday. I am fully aware that I've not been on here for a week, though, and there is much to cover, so let's begin.

Anyone know a good first-line centre?: Sorry, Panthers blog friends, but few things have amused me more this week than Chris Richards deciding he'd rather stay in the US. Given that it's not Bruce Richardson, who I see as far more crucial to the Panthers' success this season, I'm not sure hugely why this is such an issue, especially with Matt Myers, Molin, Dave Clarke et al, especially with Dan Tessier still on the market. After all, as I said earlier on this off-season, the lad can sure play...And it could be worse...

Steelers sign Andrew Sharp: No, stop laughing. Seriously. The team who claim that they "were as tough as anyone and would win games on the PP while others gooned it up" (paraphrasing Dave Matsos) have signed...erm...a player who is known for firing the pucks at others in warm-up, fighting and...that's about it.

Oh, all right then...have a giggle. But don't push it, Panthers fans...you're the ones who'll have to suffer the laughter of the rest of the league should he score past you and there be a 15-page thread on the Cage about him...

I would write more about the fact that Sharpy's entire Coventry career consisted of one shift, one fight against Jeremy Cornish (which he lost) and the fact that he has actually stuck his own fights on Youtube...but quite frankly, I don't want to get on the wrong side of him because fighting, and throwing punches, is one thing he clearly can do...this'll be why the Romford fans loved him...

Off-Ice Innovation: Coventry are launching an online ticketing service through their own website. Now this is a superb idea, and the rest of the league, have they not already done so, would do well to follow suit...

Random Hockey Video: Just to get you in the mood...awesome soundtrack too...

That's all for now-mammoth season preview to come on Saturday...