Double Overtime, Christmas Hangover Edition

That was a rip-roaring rivalry weekend, with Saturday's game in Coventry in particular being one that will keep people talking for some time-as much due to the incompetence of Tom Darnell in letting a few minor skirmishes spiral out of control into a game that ended with more bad blood in it than a TB-ridden slaughterhouse...Oh, and there was a little matter of two Steelers/Panthers games as well. Naturally, let's kick off a busy few days on the Breakaway with a look back at the weekend in our usual stream-of-consciousness fashion:

If there's one thing this weekend proved, it's "nothing motivates a team like revenge":...unless you're the Newcastle Vipers, who were disposed of by Manchester in both their games over the weekend. They made the Phoenix work hard to do it, though, particularly up on Tyneside...

As far as the other double-headers went, they were shared with each team winning on home-ice in both of them-clearly losing stings...

When asked to sum up the games this weekend, the phrase that comes to mind is "tighter than a duck's arse": Five of the nine games were decided by one goal, two of them went to overtime, and of the others, at least one (Coventry v Cardiff) could have gone either way rigght up to the crucial third goal.

However, when it comes to Tom Darnell's control of a game, "loose" is a compliment: In Coventry on Sunday, the game opened in niggly fashion-Sylvain Deschatelets and Doug MacIver in particular were looking for trouble, with Deschatelets asking Jay Latulippe to drop 'em on three consecutive faceoffs in the first five minutes (all of which were declined), MacIver squaring up to Carlyle Lewis, and all manner of digs, jabs and shoving (including Peter Aubry somehow getting away with a warning after a blocker punch, which legend has it is an automatic game pen in this league) after the whistle. The atmosphere clearly got to those notorious tough-guys Jason Silverthorn and Dan Carlson, too, as they dropped 'em after a nothing incident (a slash by Silverthorn on Adam Calder which was called on a delayed penalty and saw Carlson put a hit in just as the whistle went. Things seemingly reached a peak at the end of the second period, as Calder was nudged off his feet by Wes Jarvis while shooting just as the buzzer went, slid hard into the boards and immediately became the cause, unwittingly, of a ten-man melée as the teams had a full and frank exchange of views.

Now, at this point, as a referee, it seems you can do two things:

a) Be strong, hand out penalties, maybe chuck out the main combatants and send a message to the teams to just get on with the bloody game rather than digging at each other after every ruddy whistle without punishment. And I should state that both teams were equally guilty of this.
b) Call a few minor pens, tell the teams they're naughty boys and should be nicer to each other, and hope it all works it out.

Our friend picked option B, and thus everything went to hell in the third period, building up and up before an explosion which meant the last eight seconds of play took fifteen minutes, mainly due to the officials seemingly being unsure how they'd sort out all hell breaking loose after Brad Voth crashed the net in his usual highly effective fashion, and Jon Weaver decided to show him the error of his ways, at the same time as JF Perras finally snapped. Cue a minute or two of anarchy on the ice (in which Weaver regretted his decision) before ten minutes of inactivity as the referees tried to work out just where they'd lost control so spectacularly...after all...just count the roughing and fighting pens...

I know it's a tough job, and I'm not claiming I could do it week in week out, but surely, if everyone in the rink can see a game is going to turn very nasty unless a firm hand is taken, why can't the stripeys in the middle of it?

Doubtless, Ryan, you'll be taking him on to seek revenge next time they come to Sheffield: Ryan Finnerty and Bruce Richardson went for it in Sheffield on Saturday, but it appears that the Steeler is unsure of himself away from home this season-despite being offered out by Danny Meyers three seconds into the game in Nottingham the following night, the invitation was declined. I've heard of home-ice advantage, but never applied to fights before...clearly Mr Finnerty is much more of a deep thinker than we give him credit for. Either that, or the Hallam Arena has some nice nurses he prefers to visit at every opportunity, and no other rink medical staff can compare.

Giants back on track...just: After earning themselves a confident two points against Edinburgh on Saturday. Belfast just squeezed past Hull away from home tonight-winning in overtime. The Stingrays seem to be something of a bogey side for the Giants this season...which just goes to show that even the best teams have an Achilles heel in the strangest places.

Seriously, Stingrays. The hockey gods hate you. Sacrifice a chicken or something...: While we're on the subject of the Stingrays-two more one-goal losses, to Basingstoke and Belfast? Who in the Great Ice-Rink in the Sky has Rick Strachan annoyed this time?

Obligatory Capitals Mention: They lost. With the Great Capital Skate coming up tomorrow, there still needs to be something special happen in the frozen north if they're to make the playoffs...

Two games for "injuring a goalie" bur what about the suspended ban?: BISteve Thonton will miss two games after being found guilty of an "attempt to injure" Curtis Cruickshank in Belfast's last game against Hull at the Odyssey. And here it is. I have to be careful here, being an outskater who has been known to have a dig at goalies on more than one occasion if a puck is loose or they're playing it) but the strangest thing to me about this whole thing is not that there's an offence judged (it's a trip, and the way Cruickshank falls means that there's potential for injury) but that none of the Hull players go after Thornton after it happens-you'd have thought that someone may have had a word. Certainly, had it been my goalie I'd have been over there with at least a shove...there is a definite line in the sand as to how "fair game" goalies are, and a triop behind the net crosses it. The suspension is strange but possibly due more to the injury than the offence itself (Cruickshank was concussed). Strangely, though, there's no mention of the suspended sentence hanging over Thronton after his stick-swing at Andre Payette's head earlier in the season. Why not, Elite League?

Well, you were all thinking it....: Unrest at the Blaze seems possible, at least in Paul Thompson's mind, as he's now finally come out and said what most Blaze fans have been thinking since about mid-October..."we're not going to win the league with this team" (see interview here).
Rumours are rife that Corey Leclair is one of the players set for the chop (which appears to be given weight by the fact that he's the only player singled out for criticism by name so far this season) and strangely, some seem to think JF Perras is the other...

Erm...what?

Now, I freely admit that the Blaze have been spoiled when it comes to goalies (Jody Lehman and Trevor Koenig are a pretty impressive duo, and Martin Klempa wasn't bad either) but singling out Perras for the faults of the corps in front of him is somewhat strange unless there's a much better guy stood in the wings. As for Leclair, alarm-bells rang when the Blaze PR machine concentrated almost exclusively on his skating-but even so, he's not been the worst dman on the Blaze by a long way.

The Sky Blue City is awaiting the next week with bated breath to see what happens...although, to my eyes, that sound you hear in the distance may well be a horse bolting into the distance, a pause, and only then followed by a stable door slamming shut just too late..

That is your weekend review-apologies that it's slightly Blaze centric. Tomorrow, though, we look at the Elite League fixtures scheduled for the next week, and consider the status of the league at the halfway point in time-honoured lyrical fashion..,

Keep keeping your eye on the puck.