Double Overtime, 24th November

Hi all…apologies that there was no Round the Rinks on Friday-this was due to real-life getting in the way yet again this weekend. We’re back now though, and so come with me as we take the plunge into a weekend filled with success, failiure and even the odd bit of controversy home and abroad…

Isn’t it nice when things just….work?: There are a few things in life that give me pure, unadulterated pleasure. These include the company of a beautiful, intelligent girl (she knows who she is), autumn sunshine, the music of Sigur Ros and Arcade Fire (particularly the four minute slices of musical perfection that are “Hoppipolla” and “Wake Up” respectively) and the work of culinary genius that is Kendal Mint Cake. Another one, and the most relevant to this post, is seeing a result which sticks a finger right in the eye of the established truths of British hockey. We saw such a result on Saturday as Basingstoke came back from 3-0 down to beat Nottingham-in the process sending the Panthers out of the Challenge Cup and ensuring that we wouldn’t have to suffer either them or Sheffield in the semis. Why is this a good thing? Because it means that there may well be a different name on British ice-hockey’s premier cup competition this time round-further proof that, contrary to the line we’re fed year after year by some that there are some teams who just “don’t belong in the Elite League”, anyone can beat anyone-a situation which we are also beginning to see in the EPL after a few years of dominance from the M4 corridor of Guildford, Bracknell and Slough. And this, in turn, can only make the leagues more interesting.

And, let’s be honest: It’s always fun to see the Panthers brought down a peg or two, just for the overblown reactions on the Cage…

Well, no-one ever said MOM’s were objective:…Which would you pick as MOM, a goalie who lets in four goals on thirty shots, or a player who gets 3+1 and almost single-handedly carries his team to victory against a former club, despite his opposite centre also getting a hat-trick?

Well, you’re wrong, because, on Sunday night in Edinburgh, Stephen Murphy earned himself MoM over Tony Hand. Strangely, though, this lack of vision on the MoM only applied to the away side, as Andrei Rajcak was deservedly given MoM for his hat-trick, as he did his best but still couldn’t prevent his Capitals losing 6-4 to Manchester…

Those dirty foreigners-can’t trust ‘em: In the obligatory Continental Cup reference, we salute, in true British sporting fashion, yet another glorious British failure in European competition. Coventry had the chance to go into rarified territory of the Continental Cup Super Final after wins against Maribor and Dunaujvaros left them needing to beat the hosts, Bolzano (in their own rink) last night to qualify. With the Italians 1-0 up, Jonathan Weaver fired a shot from the blue-line which appeared to hit the back-bar of the net-the goal was given, despite no goal-light, and then, ten seconds later, washed out by the referee. Cue immediate yells of “cheat” from the Blaze fans. This would have made sense had any of the officials been Italian…however, none of them were-and the referee who made and then reversed his decision was, in fact, Danish. That’s not to say it wasn’t a bad decision, but more down to incompetence then maliciousness…

This paranoia appears to have even spread to the club-Geoff Foster, on the BBC commentary, was heard to mention that the slight delay in face-off caused by confetti being fired onto the ice could have been a premeditated attempt by the Italians to put the Blaze, who had started fast in their two previous games, off their rhythm. When Andy Buxton was asked about this, his reply was, and I quote “well, you never know with these foreign teams”.

Honestly, these foreigners would probably even stoop as low as flooding the away dressing room before a big game in order to put the opposition off. Oh, wait, that was the Blaze when they played Fife in a big playoff game, wasn’t it? Silly of me. But, as they said, you never know…

I can’t help thinking that on some level it’s karma for this-the Blaze have got away with a couple of dubious goals recently, most notably this one, which I wrote about at length, and typically, the hockey gods decide to even up the dodgy decisions at just about the worst possible time.

Then, of course, there’s the small matter of Blaze failing to convert powerplay after powerplay when given the chance…it can be argued that the true villains here aren’t the referees (after all, this was one shot) but the Blaze forwards, who despite playing superbly well in setting up chances, simply couldn’t take them when it mattered on this occasion…



If you're going to use pictorial evidence, pick one that works: Continuing on the "goal that never was-the Blaze have produced two articles on this. The pic in this one is Weaver's shot just before it hits the net (heading for the crossbar/top corner). This one is supposedly the puck hitting the net.



Except it shows a water bottle. The same one you can see on the left-hand-side of the net in the first picture. There's absolutely no puck in evidence there.



Now, the puck may well have hit the net. I wasn't there. But zooming in on one corner of the same picture and trying to assume that your fans won't know the difference in shape between a water bottle and a blurred puck is...well, a bit desperate, really.

Giants Players Do It The Hard Way: Possibly not the new bumper-sticker slogan for Belfast, but it’s undeniable fact-the Giants needed penalties to beat Sheffield at the Odyssey on Friday, in what was by all accounts a fine game to watch. They seem to be making a habit of winning ugly as well as skilfully in Northern Ireland, which is a deadly combination when it comes to championship ambitions…

Tell That Mick He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today: Mick Holland, the much-maligned NEP Panthers correspondent (yes, he has a somewhat “individual” view of Panthers games but at least the man knows about the sport he watches, which is more than can be said for some of his readers) has managed to annoy just about everyone by saying that a Challenge Cup knockout stage lacking both Sheffield and Nottingham will mean there are no “well-supported teams” in the final stages. That’ll be apart from Coventry (2,000 average crowd, current EIHL champions, known for large away crowds), Belfast (average home crowd 4,000) or Manchester (known for having some of the most passionate and knowledgeable fans in the league) then.

It’s generally accepted that neither the Steelers or the Panthers consider any other club in their league half as passionate or well-followed as theirs, but this is a bit ridiculous. Financially, it may make sense to say this isn’t the best outcome, but in terms of actually making people interested in what goes on, it makes a huge difference.

If you want to know what happens when the same “big” clubs contesting most trophies year after year does for the profile of a league, then I have two words for you. Scottish Football. Do we honestly want the EIHL to become the hockey equivalent of the SPL? I think not.

Obligatory Hull Stingrays Mention: They’re still losing (although, after taking Nottingham to penalties, they’re at least putting up a fight now). And Rick Strachan is still the most boring coach in the Elite League.

What Goes Up…: Saturday, as mentioned above, Basingstoke pull off another shock result against Nottingham…

…must come down:…before Cardiff dispose of them efficiently on Sunday…

And by the way…Cardiff are quietly putting something of a run of decent results together, aren’t they?

The Eagle Has Landed: Ed Courtenay is now in Newcastle. Just in time to come back to his spiritual home, the Coventry Skydome, this weekend. Where he will no doubt rise above the heckling. And be Newcastle’s main offensive threat.

One of those above predictions is true. You can work out which but I’ll give you a clue-it isn’t the first one.

Dave Simms Proverb of the Week: Those who can, play hockey. Those who can’t, write bad PR’s misquoting those who can. Ryan Finnerty, you have been warned. To avoid making yourself look like a complete muppet, just shut up and play now. Please.

Final Thought for Blaze Fans: The Continental Cup may be a nice foreign jolly, but it’s the winning the domestic competition which gets you there. Remember that before you dwell on the “goal that never was”.

And there you go…keep keeping your eye on the puck…