Cup Fever: Game One

"Now peel back his skin dear, peel back his skin
And he'll just smile....
But he's only smiling to deny the pain
And he's only smiling
And I bet you love this, don't you?"
Fear Before the March of Flames: "On the Bright Side, She Could Choke..."

I'm fast coming to despise Darren Helm with every fibre and sinew of my being, because the Red Wing currently filling the role of "young player who becomes a star from nowhere in the playoffs" this season is terrifying. Not because he's a league superstar who can win games by himself (well, yet) but because he's just so good at his assigned role.

But my hatred for him is nothing compared to the hatred I now have for inanimate objects in Detroit-or one set of them in particular. You may be wondering whether I'm in full control of my mind at this point, but bear with me.

It's the boards at the Joe Louis.

The Red Wings won game 1 3-1 last night, and two of the three were a direct result of strange bounces off the boards behind Marc-Andre Fleury's net...including the opening one of the finals. Brad Stuart's shot went wide by several feet, but bounced back harder than a well-aimed pass, and the back of Fleury's thigh did the rest. Franzen's second...that wasn't a shot so much as an instinctive hack at a puck which had again rebounded strangely...it went in off Fleury again, while Abdelkader's winner also had a slight element of luck in the way the puck rebounds straight up off Fleury's pads from the initial shot. Nicely pulled down and finished, though, I'll give him that.

Saying that, the good luck in Detroit must all have gone to the Wings...I mean, this is a typical street scene in Red Wings Nation...

This means, then, that we go into game 2 today with the Finals already at a crossroads. The Penguins win, and it's back where we were going back to the Mellon Arena. The Wings win, and suddenly there's a big, big problem...

But I shall quote my facebook status in saying that winning one from seven is a lot easier than three in six, especially when you're a) having to win at least one of them away from home unless you want to go all the way to the lottery that is Game Seven, and b) you won't have the friendly boards of the Joe for at least two of them. If the Pens can win game two, then it's simply a case of holding serve at home-something which they've done pretty damn well in the playoffs up to now, losing only twice at the Igloo.

Oh yeah...and the reason Crosby is the face of the NHL? It may have something to do with the fact that he's the best in the NHL, plus, for a combination of reasons, he's considered media gold by the league, at least in terms of selling the game to your average suburban American family...
Plus, he probably makes better chili than Chris Chelios does.

Quick thought...Brooks Orpik, we need more of this side of you. Preferably on Marian Hossa, if at all possible. However, if you could arrange a few to be on Henrik Zetterberg (who has more ice-time than Crosby but scores less despite most of Michigan wanting to have his firstborn, still. Yes, even the men. Maybe it's the playoff beard) then that would be nice...

Nicklas Kronwall...continue as you are. None of your famous big hits, and leaving Feds wide open to score the Pens solitary goal. Keep going, superstar...

With 14.2857142 percent of the Finals gone (yes, I looked it up), the Red Wings have the advantage. But the Pens nick one tonight, and suddenly things look very different.

The March of the Penguins has suffered a slight detour. But there is little, as yet, to worry about...whatever those in Detroit would have you think.

Cup Fever: Random Thoughts...

I tried to keep quiet until game time. I really, really did. Then Red Wings Nation (or at least the British blog representatives of it) put their reasons why the Wings will win the Cup. And in doing so perpetrated the falsehood that every non-Pen uses as their foundation argument to why the Steel City ain't getting a visit from Lord Stanley this year.

The "you've only got two players" argument...

Which on numbers of goals alone, is just about arguable (although I fail to see how a team which ices its top forward and best player, Henrik Zetterberg, even more than the Pens ice Sid the Kid and its second-and-third best players, Franzen and Datsyuk, for round about the same time as Malkin can complain about double-shifting superstars-especially when they ice Nick Lidstrom longer than the Pens ice Sergei Gonchar). However, given that the Red Wings would give their eye-teeth to have one, never mind both, that smacks of sheer jealousy. After all, this is a team relying on a starting goalie who let Fedor Tyutin (Fedor Tyutin!) do this earlier in the season...But hey, if you want to forget Sykora, Satan, Guerin, Fedotenko, Staal and company and focus all your efforts on stopping two players, then fair enough. After all...what's the worst that could happen? It's not like Feds has ever scored an important goal or anything...

Oh, wait...

It can't be denied that the Wings are a damn good hockey team with a huge amount of depth. But the Pens, this time out, are younger, hungrier and (Darren Helm excepted) as fast if not faster, player-for-player. But can you really see a 39-year-old who's just come off an injury as the ideal counter for Crosby, even if he's won six Norris Trophies?

Nick Lidstrom will play game one after finally recovering from an injury which saw him miss most of the Conference Finals...and Chris Kunitz, hopefully, will duly give him the same treatment he gave Kimmo Timonen. Certainly this would seem to make sense...last season it was the Wings who put the hits in early in the Finals, and we all know what happened there...

There's also been a claim over "the other side" that Crosby and Malkin have something of a "bromance" going on. I see your Crosby and Malkin, Matt, and raise you Draper and Osgood. Is that what they mean when they say he's got a "quick glove-hand?"

The clock is ticking...next post after Game One...

A Declaration of War...

"So pick your friends out
I'll take my place and you'll take yours
Load your guns up...
Cause now I'm ready for your war..."
Hadouken!: "Declaration of War"

For the latest from the EIHL, have a gander at the post below this one (Arrivals and Departures)...this one is all NHL.

As for the somewhat antagonistic lyrics opening...don't worry, I'm not going all Dubya on you...let me explain...

You may have noticed, or at least formed the opinion, that I'm something of a Pittsburgh Penguins fan. This, in recent hockey terms, was the equivalent of being a six-stone-weakling in a maximum-security prison for the first year or two of my hockey-watching life, right up to the point where one of the greatest talents ever to strap on a pair of skates fell into the Steel City's lap, thanks to a bit of luck in the 2004 and 2005 entry drafts...the seasons were grim but with first Evgeni Malkin and then Sidney Crosby arriving, things have got better and better...and us Pens fans have enjoyed every minute of it (and if you don't know who Crosby and Malkin are, then let me show you)...

Evgeni Malkin...

Sidney Crosby

Anyway...this presents me with something of a quandary, as my good friends Matt and Becky, over at Five Minute Major, are (and don't hold this against them) fans of the Detroit Red Wings, who beat the Pens to the Stanley Cup last year, and are the only obstacle in the way of my team's charge to the Cup again this year, with the finals starting this Saturday, May 30th.

Well, at least Matt is. Becky is first and foremost an Edmonton fan, and thus is well-prepared for being the experience of being on the losing side in a 21st-century Stanley Cup Final...to Carolina, no less...although given the history of the Oilers, not too-well prepared...

And so, naturally, war has been declared-in true hockey tradition, the Breakaway and Five Minute Major, while being good friends away from the ice, will now engage in verbal combat throughout the Stanley Cup Finals, with Matt and Becky cheering for the Red Wings, and me advancing the cause of the Pens. There will be taunting, there will be jokes, there will be below-the-belt pop-culture references, and at the end, one blog will earn the right to claim their team are the better...

And naturally, you lot out there can follow every sledge, every dig and every obscure joke for your own entertainment...

And it starts now...the gloves, from this point, are off...I shall preface every post relating to the duel with an appropriate catchy title, as soon as I or FMJ (or even you lot out there) think of it, but for now...let's consider just why the Pens will emerge victorious...

"Heads I win, tails you lose
out of my way I'm coming through
roll the dice don't think twice...
and we crush...crush 'em"
Megadeth: "Crush 'Em"

Chris Kunitz, Sidney Crosby, Bill Guerin, Sergei Gonchar, Brooks Orpik, Marc-Andre Fleury. That's the starting line of the 2008/09 Pittsburgh Penguins. Two of the best power forwards in the NHL, one of the best goalies to come out of Quebec since some bloke named Patrick Roy, a lethal offensive defenseman, and a stay-at-home d-man who, some say, can cause an opposition forward to wet himself just by a raised eyebrow. Oh, and the best player to strap on a pair of skates since Wayne Gretzky, too. You can talk about the likes of Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Lidstrom all you like, but they aren't Sidney Crosby. And thus, they pale in comparison.

And then we have the rest of the roster. Evgeni Malkin, who, by the way, is like Alex Ovechkin, only even better. Jordan Staal-the best young forward in the NHL who isn't Crosby, Ovechkin or Malkin (Hang on-did someone say "Darren Helm"? Who's he?...). And a supporting cast including Petr Sykora and Ruslan Fedotenko, both Cup winners already...it's a murderer's row of forwards. Including two of the top five scorers in the NHL this season.

On defence-Kris Letang and the monster that is Hal Gill. This is a team that has a third line that can (and has) beaten many first lines...mainly because it has Miroslav Satan (a career NHL top-liner with over 350 goals) on it...simply because there was no space for him anywhere else.

Sure, you will say that the Red Wings and their loaded team came out on top last season. But that was last season. Even many Pens fans thought that team was a year too early.

This time round, though...there's a firm belief that the March of the Penguins will not be stopped. Especially not by a team whose best d-men are 47, 39, and 35, has the league's third-best Russian as their superstar, and is growing old faster and becoming more boring and over-praised than Susan Boyle (if you're not British, look her up)...

I predict Pens in six. Or more likely seven...

And no superstition about touching a conference trophy, never mind Chris Osgood and friends, can change that result...

Let's go Pens!

Arrivals and Departures

"tick, tick, tick, tick, on the watch, and life's too short for it to stop
Oh baby, your time is running out..."
La Roux: "Bulletproof"

I know...it's been a bit of a while...but then again, just rounding up the signings is a bit mundane, so I thought I'd wait until we actually had a decent amount of news. And after ten days since the last round up, we do...

Bracknell survive, Telford die...: Well, technically the Tigers are still alive, with the new owners taking a year out to consolidate, but the EPL still loses its westernmost team while one of the marquee names hangs on by the skin of its teeth. No one said a summer in British hockey was easy...

On to the signings, now...we've said far too much about the negative aspects of British hockey this summer...

Mike Berry and Todd Griffith to Newcastle: The Vipers signings so far this off-season have been a statement of intent-they're moving away from the big bruisers to those who can stick up for themselves but also use speed and brains as well as muscle to put the puck in the net. Todd Griffith is known to the EIHL after his stint in Newcastle last season as a useful (and skilful) forward, equal parts sniper and pest, and Berry looks much the same judging by his size (5'11, 180lbs) and scoring record (15+24 in the ECHL last season for 39 points). With Andre Payette returning to handle the glove-dropping duties also, the Vipers are clearly building a team of human sandpaper aimed at grinding teams down through constant pressure and no mean amount of skill-which, if blended properly, is a very strong brew for this league indeed...


Jeff Legue and Jason Hewitt to Sheffield: Meanwhile, the Steelers continue their philosophy of evolution over revolution-indeed no player who didn't play for the Steelers last season is confirmed as signing for them yet, although the goalie at least may well be new to these shores after Jody Lehman's departure for Denmark. Hewitt is a very good defensive forward (and British to boot) while Legue is one of the quickest and most dangerous forwards in the league-he and Joey Talbot head the Steelers attack once again, although there could still be a new star import forward to come...

Pavel Gomenyuk back to Hull: These re-signings, while not the most exciting, have all been very good ones up until now, and the Stingrays' returning d-man is no exception. He's not the most skilful in the league, but deceptively good in this league...rarely noticed by the fans but a key part of his team nevertheless, as he has been throughout his time at Hull and Newcastle...

Mathias Soderstrom to Coventry:...and continuing on such a theme, the Swedish d-man and one of the Blaze's best-loved players ever returns to the Skydome for another season. Like Gomenyuk, his impact on the team is rarely noticed, with many in the Blaze fan-base picking him out as the weak spot of the Blaze defence thus far. Unfairly. He'll never light up the scoring charts but "Matty" will once again be a welcome presence on the blue-line in the West Midlands.

Mark Garside returns to Edinburgh:...and with it, earns himself some serious pluses in the "loyalty" column...the young Glaswegian has developed into one of the top British forwards in the league over the past season or two, and can be expected to continue his meteoric rise next season...

Dominic D'Amour to Nottingham: A new-to-the-UK signing, finally! Linked with the Blaze last season, the 6'2, 221lb Quebecer is the player the Panthers hope will be their Steve Munn-an intimidating physical force who can chip in at the offensive end where needed, but will always take care of his own end. And make it an extremely unfriendly place for opposition forwards to visit...Well, that's the theory...

There you go...that's the EIHL news...check above if you haven't already for a declaration of war (of words)...and keep keeping your eye on the puck...

Still Alive...

Hey all...

I know I've been quiet for a week now, but at some point tonight there should be a posting summing up the past weeks' happenings in British hockey...just been busy with work etc...

Tuesdays with Peter-In Conversation with Peter Hirsch

"There's talk on the street; it sounds so familiar
Great expectations, everybody's watching you"
The Eagles: "New Kid In Town"

Tuesday evening was a big night in Coventry, as Danish international Peter Hirsch, arguably one of the biggest new signings of this season's EIHL, met the fans at a packed Crosby's Sports Bar, the new Blaze venture at the Skydome. The Breakaway was of course there in the crowd, and was lucky enough to be given some quality time in conversation with the Blaze's new starting goalie, on topics ranging from what attracted him to Coventry to what it feels like to face Sidney Crosby. Here's what transpired-italics are quotes, non-italics are my additions:

First of all, I asked Peter what had attracted him to Coventry. It appears that an ex-Blaze favourite was key in influencing his decision:

"I was looking to come over here at Christmas (Hirsch was rumoured to be coming in as a replacement for JF Perras) but my club stopped that. But I'd spoken a lot to Neal Martin (ex-Coventry and Hirsch's team-mate at Aalborg last season) about coming to the EIHL and he'd told me about the organisation, Paul Thompson and the fans, and said nothing but good things about them...the more he spoke to me about it, the more I thought "let's do this". And so here I am"

I then asked the quietly-spoken Hirsch if he was surprised by his welcome, and knew about the excitement his signing had caused..."I didn't know what to expect-I'm surprised by how many people are here, but in a good way...the fans really seem to care about their club and it's nice to see so many people come to welcome me."

The welcome may have surprised him, but it didn't show-during our conversation there was a constant stream of fans coming up to him to wish him well, say hello or just have a few words-he took the time to speak to all of them equally and left every fan with a smile on their face at the end of the conversation, however brief.

The next question covered his hopes for the season, and also asked if the high expectations and excitement of Blaze fans left him feeling under any pressure. His answer was unequivocal: "I hope to have as good a season as I can in goal and help the team in any way I can-I want to win, just like the fans do."

As for his outlook on bad games? It appears that the man himself is far more critical of himself then even the most rabid fan:

"Oh, I hate them. If I have a bad game then I spend a long time thinking about it-it's a long night in my house if we lose! But I try my best to avoid that."

Goalies are being known for being the most superstitious among hockey-players, and with many, their number is of crucial importance. Hirsch will wear eighty-four on his back this season after wearing 31 throughout his career, so what's the story behind the number change-to such a "non-goalie" number too?

"There isn't any reason for picking 84-I'd worn 31 since I was about 15, but last season I had quite a bad year, and so when they asked me what number I wanted this season, I just picked the first one that came into my head-it was like I was having a new start in a new country, so the number-change came out of that, and 84 just seemed nice and far away from 31. Plus, I should be the only player in the league wearing 84, I think!"

There you go...that's simple enough. No conspiracy theories here...

Given that Hirsch has been on the other side against Blaze before, and there are several players remaining from that Continental Cup team in 2007/08, I asked him what his impressions were of British hockey thus far:

"In Denmark, we know nothing about British hockey-but the Blaze were much better than we expected-they were fast, good shots, and we had to play very hard to beat them."

Encouragingly for Blaze fans, Hirsch is not a goalie who likes an easy life...

"One thing I notice from looking at the game reports-most games you face 30, 40 shots. I'm not a guy who likes to spend 17 minutes waiting for his first shot-I like to always be in the action, making saves."

This led to another question-are you the kind of goalie who likes to play the puck or will you freeze it whenever you can?

"I do whatever the defence tells me-if they say put it in the corner, I put it in the corner, if they say freeze it, I freeze it...I just do whatever has to be done to stop the other team scoring."

That's not to say he's a passive goalie who lets his defence dictate his play, though..."If I think they're not doing stuff that'll help me, then I'll let them know very quickly."

The topic then moved on to British fans...Hirsch is complimentary about his new home rink:

"It (the Skydome) is a nice place-it's not like Aalborg, but that was a brand new arena so nowhere is-it's going to be a fun place to play hockey"

One of the Skydome's foibles, due to the seating arrangements, is that it's the only rink where the home goalie spends two periods in front of the away fans. Given that he's played in some pretty passionate atmospheres, and the EIHL rinks often get noisy with fans baiting the opposition goalies, how does he deal with the crowd?

"The worst thing is when you hear your own fans shouting bad stuff at you-that gets into your head sometimes. Away fans, though...I love it. The more shouting, the better-I just play harder."

He pauses, and then smiles wickedly, before adding...

...and if I make a great save, I'll let them know about it."

Hirsch's pedigree is unquestionable-in his international career he's played against some of the top players and teams in the world, beating the US and drawing with Canada-what's it like facing superstars like Sidney Crosby?

"There are three parts to it-before the game, during the game and after the game. Before the game you're like "wow, Dany Heatley..." or "wow, Sidney Crosby" and it's always in your head. During the game, you don't think about it-you're just trying to stop the puck, or (and here we see the man's sense of humour as he makes a rueful stick-sweeping motion) pull it out of your net"

But surely you notice these superstars during the game?

"You can't. One time, when Denmark played Canada, Sidney Crosby was playing for them, and he scored a hat-trick past me. After the game I was sat in the locker room and said "That Crosby guy didn't do much". My team-mates looked at me amazed and said "Peter, he scored a hat-trick!" I didn't even know..."

What about beating the US and drawing with Canada-surely that must have been a great night:

"The US game was good, but that game against Canada I was angry because I thought I had a bad game and we should have won (at this point, my eyebrows are raised very high indeed in surprise) ...I was sat in the changing room being angry with myself even though everyone else was happy..."

With standards that are that high, Hirsch will doubtless become a favourite with the demanding Skydome faithful...

For my last question, I asked the Dane what his thoughts were about playing in the coming season, and for his first impressions of the team-mates he'll be playing with. His response was instant...

"I can't wait. I'm really excited-the team looks really good-the guys I've met so far are really friendly, the fans seem like a great crowd. I can't wait to skate out on the ice in front of them in September...".

Hirsch may be excited, but you can almost guarantee the people he'll be playing front of come September are even more so...with a pedigree from the top Scandinavian leagues and the highest level of international competition, there's no denying the friendly Dane will be one of, if not the best goalie in the EIHL next season. I came away from my chat with him convinced that the league has found a new star goalie to rank with the likes of Christian Bronsard, Jody Lehman and Andrew Verner-and the man himself will quickly become a huge Blaze fan favourite...as well as a focus of envy for those of other teams...

That's your interview, with many thanks to Peter and the Blaze for their time in both setting it up and answering the questions...we'll be back in a few days for another look at off-season happenings in the EIHL, as well as the latest updates on the Bracknell Bees' fight for survival...

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...

Star-Struck...

Hi all,

Just to let you all know, last night the Breakaway was lucky enough to get an interview with Peter Hirsch, Coventry Blaze's new goalie, on his first visit to the Skydome. That interview should, all being well, appear round about 6pm this evening.

Feel free to tell your friends...and keep keeping your eye on the puck...

Bought and Paid For Tuesday Thoughts...

"We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending"
Avril Lavigne: "My Happy Ending"

It's been nearly a week...I did warn you that the Breakaway was off on HBST (that's Hockey Blog Summer Time, for those of you unfamiliar with it)...but it's been a fairly interesting few days...with, as everywhere else, money and/or the lack of itbeing a dominant topic in the British hockey world.

In the funding race, the clock is everyone's opponent: Remember I've been hinting over the past week or two about problems in the EPL? Bracknell are still in negotiations, although there has been (as is usual when teams are in danger of going under) a massive response to funding appeals, with 20k being raised...There is better news in Romford, meanwhile, as it appears that there will now be a team of some description on the ice next season in Essex.

However, it amazes me that every off-season sees teams (at both EPL and EIHL level) circling the drain and appealing for help, yet there's still a chase towards more and more spending, seemingly...and on that topic.

Talk is cheap. Success? That means chucking money...and not getting told off for it: Remember the "brave new world" of the EIHL? I'm sure you do, given that it was barely a month ago that we were all being told that from now on, there'd be heavily-policed wage-caps. Looking at the signings so far, one would find that slightly hard to believe. Speaking of which-let's look at them...

Hull sign the Mitchells: Young winger Lee returns for another season at Hull after cementing his place as one of the best young British prospects last season, while his brother Craig joins from Edinburgh to strengthen the Stingrays d after a fairly impressive debut season for the Caps...

Panthers re-sign the Lion...: Sean McAslan has returned to Nottingham from Denmark, to much rejoicing in the Lace City. As one of the best forwards in the league last time out, he's going to be a key part of their goalscoring force, if not the leader. Especially with both Johan Molin and Brendan Cook departing to Sweden and the CHL respectively...

...the Witch...: Danny Meyers also returns to Nottingham-although many Panthers fans think he must have cast some sort of spell on Corey Neilson in order to do so...

...and the Wardrobe: Nottingham have now signed their starting goalie to complete their announcements thus far-and at 6'3 and 220lbs, Kevin St.Pierre ain't exactly small...however, according to Blaze's Danny Stewart, who played with him at Fort Wayne Komets of the UHL before coming to the UK, he's a very good goalie at this level, and surprisingly mobile for his size. However, I would counter that with this: he was dropped last season in favour of none other than Davis Parley. Those of you who saw Parley play for Nottingham may sense that this is not exactly a recommendation-however, we shall see. Certainly, he's not one who will let the defencemen protect him when he can do it himself.
It does seem, though, that he can throw himself around in a good way when required too...

Fun with Pronunciation, EIHL style: The first "oh God, how do we say that" signing of the season has gone to Newcastle, with Jason Tejchma joining Newcastle...judging by his stats, it appears the Vipers may actually be signing someone who puts scoring ahead of the odd scrap...

And now on to the rumours...

Derek Campbell (Vipers variety) to Coventry: Is it just me who thinks that the player every Blaze fan loves to hate would be a perfect foil for Carlson and Calder-his reputation may have been unjustly damaged by the style of play in Newcastle, where he was a plain irritant-but in Manchester the Ontarian earned himself 67 points as well as 190 PiM's...Blaze fans, ignore what you've seen in Newcastle, cause you may have just found a diamond in the rough...

Continuing with Blaze rumours...sources within the club have leaked what would seemingly be the whole team-so here's your Blaze roster (rumoured) for next season...let's see how close it is...

Peter Hirsch
Tom Murdy

Jon Weaver
Kevin Bolibruck (ex-Sheffield)
Samy Nasreddine (or Neal Martin, depending on who you talk to)
Jason Robinson
Ben O'Connor
Matty Soderstrom (possibly)

Derek Campbell
Adam Calder
Dan Carlson

Luke Fulghum
Greg Owen
Greg Chambers

Danny Stewart
Tom Watkins
Russ Cowley

That will do me...

And there's your Tuesday round-up-keep keeping your eye on the puck...

Tuesday Factual Frolics...

"So I guess we're back to us, oh cameraman, swing the focus
In case I lost my train of thought, where was it that we last left off?
(Let's pick up, pick up)"
Panic At The Disco: "Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off"

And back we come to factual matters, after yesterday's excursions off into the realms of nostalgia...let's have a look what's going on the the EIHL so far this week...

Greg Wood from Coventry to Manchester: The Phoenix are very lucky...Wood was almost criminally under-used at times last season in the opinion of many Blaze fans after an excellent breakout season in Basingstoke the year before, and will only get better at EPL level...

Patrick Bateman to Belfast: The Giants continue their policy of signing new imports to the country, bringing in this 27-year-old winger from Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL to replace Bobby Robins, who's apparently disappearing off to Denmark. He's not bad, judging by his stats from last season...

In related news, the Steelers also had the chance to sign Alex Ovechkin, but decided that Brad Cruikshank could fill the role instead: The latest bit of PR coming out of Sheffield has them turning down Andre Payette in favour of Brad Cruikshank. Which makes sense on a hockey level...but you wonder why they're running around telling people "well, here's this guy who we could have had but didn't". It's like me saying "well, I could have had Angelina Jolie as a girlfriend, but for the fact that there's no chance in hell she'd go out with me...". It just seems a completely pointless press release...although it does link Payette with both Hull and Edinburgh...

Speaking of which...perhaps not pointless but more just amusing...the Steelers have joined the Blaze this season in immediately following a signing with several more press releases of current players telling everyone how great the signings are...although they've perhaps released a classic of unintentional comedy with Jon Phillips' reaction to Cruikshank's return. At first glance all is well and makes sense, right up to when Phillips says this...

""Some clubs just look for a big guy who is tough, they forget that over here you have to be able to skate and play as well. That's where we had the advantage on so many teams last year"

Erm...Jon...that makes sense, but your team willingly paid money to Andrew Sharp last year. Was that just a memory lapse on their part?

Trevor Koenig to Nottingham. Or Sheffield: This is fun...depending on who you believe Trevor Koenig is on his way back from Denmark to either Steelers or Panthers...the theory is that the Steelers have leaked that he's a Panthers target in order that they can then gloat when he becomes a Steeler...

Can we not just have Dave Simms and Gary Moran find a spot on the wall of a neutral venue somewhere, take aim and see whose...erm...liquid waste is projected further up the wall at the beginning of the off-season, and just say that the winner's team is better for the duration of that off-season? All this one-upmanship is getting tiring, and it isn't even June yet.

Luke Fulghum and Jason Robinson to Coventry: This is a growing rumour round here-he'd appear to fit perfectly on a line with Adam Calder and Dan Carlson, and after thirty-four goals last season, there's no doubting the 6', 196lb Colorado Springs native would fit in very nicely on the wing...
Meanwhile, Jason Robinson is also linked with the Blaze as they revamp their defence...the ex-Racer, Viper and Steeler has spent this season in the IHL in America, but would seem to be in the mould of "big, stay-at-home and proven in the EIHL" that the Blaze lacked so sorely last season...

Meanwhile, in the EPL: Telford, Romford and Bracknell are, as medical slang has it, "circling the drain"...they're all still in desperate need of funding and May 15th is the deadline for committing to competing in the league-this one is worth keeping an eye on for the rest of this week...

There you go..that's a quick look round the British hockey world for a Tuesday...

Haunted, or Ghosts of Seasons Past

A quick heads-up...if you're looking for factual stuff or rumours, that lot will come tomorrow. Today sees me getting in touch with my inner Jack Falla (if you're a hockey fan and you haven't read "Home Ice" or "Open Ice" yet, then you really should)-although there is a Summer Hockey Watch at the bottom for those who crave on-ice action...

"And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone..."
Evanescence: "My Immortal"

"In a world where you are possible,
my love,
nothing can go wrong for us."
Frank O'Hara: "Taxicab Song"

Ice-rinks, if you look hard enough, are full of ghosts. The banners commemorating past triumphs and (sometimes) dead teams hanging in the rooftops, occasionally stirring when capricious breezes, which the romantics amongst us would say are caused by the spirits of skaters long-gone passing by, swirl around the rafters. Walk into an empty changing room at any time of the day or night, and if you've got an especially sensitive nose you can smell the many, many kitbags that have passed through the door-the sweat seems to soak into the walls, so that if the light catches them right you can almost see the sheen of many layers of steam and sweat on them. If you've got especially sensitive hearing, or you're the last one left in there after your team-mates have departed, the silence seems full of echoes of the joy, sadness and everything-in-between of every other player who's ever shared that bench with you...just occasionally, you can hear them.

And then there's the eerie experience of sitting in an empty rink after the last competitive game you know you'll attend of a season, whichever team it is that shuts the rink down for the summer. This time round, the game was the women's match between Coventry Phoenix and Peterborough Penguins, played in front of about fifteen people (a match report of which will appear later in the column), but still no less a game for the lack of spectators. After the final buzzer, and the players' departures, the Skydome went dark as the lights were turned off for the public disco session following afterwards, and the ice sat, shimmering whitely in the darkness.

In the real world, current chart hits began pumping out of the speakers at far too loud a volume, and the ice was quiet for only a few seconds before the first of the Saturday night crowd stepped on and the disco lights began tracing their patterns...

But for me, packing away the music box in the stands, in that few seconds and for several more beyond, the ghosts performed again, as they do every season.

The sounds coming through the air were not the vocal stylings of some American teenager, but the roar of hundreds of hockey fans, with the bass note of a goal horn. On the ice, championships were won and lost, goals were scored, players laughed, yelled and cried, and history repeated itself again and again...as those ghosts that inhabit the Skydome raged, raged, once again, against the dying of the hockey season's light.

And then, reality intruded again as Britney (or it may have been Beyoncé) warbled over the speakers with redoubled force. This was it.

See you next season.

There may be sadder combinations of four words in the English language, but few, for those of us who are sometimes called "rink-rats", are laden with such a mixture of sadness and hope...

Sadness because, from the time the first puck drops every year, we know the moment where the ghosts rage is coming, and we're powerless to stop these four words of farewell being uttered once again to friends, team-mates, and acquaintances everywhere, and that there will be several months when part of your life and many familiar faces will simply disappear from view.

But the hope is always there, burning, with the knowledge that these four words aren't a farewell, so much as an "auf Wiedersehen"-when uttered, they're less words of parting, and more a promise that sometime soon, the rink will not be a cold place where hockey is played only by the spirits-and you and the addressee will be there as the ice is once again used for the purpose it's designed for-making dreams come true and memories that will last long after the last goal-light goes out, and even the ghosts cease to play.

And it's this yearly cycle and the moments like this within which give every building in which hockey is played its soul, and contributes to making this sport of ours the greatest one on earth...

Summer Hockey Watch

And now, as promised, a brief report on the game mentioned above...there may be some problems with the orders of the scorers given that I'm having to run off memory thanks to my pen running out...

Coventry Phoenix 5, Peterborough Penguins 0 (English Womens Div 1 (Midlands)

Technically, the Phoenix could still finish second in the division, although given that their winning margin would have to be 51 goals or more in order to do so, the game was played in the manner of a typical dead-rubber end-of-season encounter, but was no less entertaining for that. The home side quickly established the pattern of the game, with the Phoenix forwards setting up camp around Mandy Ferleyko's net despite the best efforts of the Penguins to clear the puck-indeed, the opening period saw the line of Jenny Adams-Hannah-Maurice-Sarah Powell continue right where they'd left off the week before, Powell finding a gap under Ferleyko's pads after three minutes to open the scoring off after her two linemates combined to work her some space. The Phoenix pressure was relentless, with Tam Donoghue enjoying a restful afternoon compared to her Penguins counterpart-she and the Phoenix defensive unit were dealing comfortably with the few Penguins attacks while Ferleyko was channeling Gandalf at the other end in stopping 21 of 23 shots in the period, although she was eventually beaten by Rosie Adey to leave the score 2-0 at the end of the first.

The second period saw more of the same-both Phoenix forward lines, freed somewhat from their defensive responsibilities by the calm play of those behind them, went straight for the jugular, although Ferleyko and her defence put up stern resistance once again. However, a speculative shot from Adams found the smallest of gaps in the wall and crept through almost un-noticed-indeed the puck sat just over the line for a few seconds before Maurice made doubly sure-an action which probably contributed to her being awarded the goal on the game sheet. This was the only goal of the period as the Penguins defended tightly and came close to scoring themselves through Laura Batchelor...

Into the third, and the game seemed to run out of momentum as the season of both teams ended not with a bang, but rather by simply fading away into the ether. That's not to say that the effort wasn't there, or that the two Phoenix goals, scored by Hannah Southam and (I believe-apologies if I'm wrong) Adey again weren't well taken, but the end-of-term-ness of the game was perhaps best summed up by the Phoenix putting all five defenders on the ice as a line for the last ninety seconds in an attempt to get one of them a goal...an attempt which succeeded just too late as Hannah Bridges got the final touch in a scramble just after the clock ran down...

There you go...that's a decent mixture of philosophy and on-ice-action for a Monday afternoon-

Next time (tomorrow or Wednesday) we'll take a look at the latest rumours flying around and react to any signings...keep keeping your eye on the puck...

Friday Snap-Shots...

"The knowledge that seeking the favor of another
Means the murder of self.
This is the resolution
The end of all progress"
Lamb of God: "Ruin"

The news keeps coming...it's been a busy week in the EIHL...Let's deal with the signings announced today first of all.

Greg Owen to Coventry: There is much joy in Coventry, and much envy everywhere else, as one of GB's premier forwards returns from his French excursion to join the Blaze-the ex-Bison centre won a regular-season championship with the Briancon Red Devils, and despite being offered a wage-rise by them, has returned to his home country...with the Blaze now containing six of the GB World Championship roster from this season.

Konstantin Kalmikov back to Hull: Another fan-favourite returns to the Stingrays-Hull now have a top-line to be reckoned with in Kalmikov, Cloutier and Huppe...there appears to be real optimism on Humberside for the first time in a long while.

The one problem I can see, exemplified more by the Owen signing than the Kalmikov one at the moment, is that there appears to be very little evidence that teams are budgeting to stay within a cap of any kind, with the Blaze at the moment perhaps providing the most glaring evidence. I don't claim to know the financial dealings of any team, but let's look at what we do know as hockey fans by having a gander at the current Blaze roster and their pedigree...

A few minutes research into all the players on the roster will make you think "hm, they're not coming cheap"...and with most of the imports still to sign, you wonder just how twenty players are going to fit within a budget when eight or nine of them can reasonably be expected to have already taken up a fair chunk...

The answer either involves very creative accounting indeed (not a first for the EIHL) or the simple declarative statement "they won't".

It would take a very naive mind to believe, at the moment at least, that everything is above-board when it comes to the "recommendations" the EIHL supposedly adopted in April.

So far, it looks like we're headed for another financial arms-race...and with less pounds to go round, and British hockey's penchant for spending money it doesn't have, the brave-new-world we were promised back in April appears to be some time in coming yet.

Thursday Thoughts...

"And I just can't see through the evidence
It's evident
It's right fucking there in black and white and red"
Alkaline Trio: "Bloodied Up"

"I don't blame you for walking away
I'd do the same if I saw me"
Alkaline Trio: "This Could Be Love"

Afternoon all...

The past few days have seen a few more signings, but very little good news on the British hockey front. The EIHL is fine (for now) and signings are proceeding apace for now (more on that later) but if you look at British hockey as a whole, there is once again cause for concern as the days warm up...

Down in the EPL, a league whose fans were trumpeting "their" blueprint as superior to that of the EIHL barely six weeks ago during the Six Team League Incident, all is most certainly not well. Wightlink have now confirmed their drop to the ENL after being unable to find sufficient backing to continue running an EPL team, and Romford are all but dead due to their rink management effectively pulling out having seemingly decided that hockey in this country is simply not profitable enough. Meanwhile, Bracknell are still unconfirmed as competing next season after wrangling between rink owner John Nike and the Bees owners reached a stalemate.

Meanwhile, Telford are looking for a new owner after their current ownership decided they could no longer run the team due to personal and professional factors. As for the situation in Scotland-that is one that would takes weeks to surmise.

Which begs the question-how on earth is British hockey going to survive?

Well, there's always the fans to rely on, isn't there? After all, we're such a loyal bunch we'll keep throwing money at our passion endlessly...or so the owners seem to think...

But hold on.

On my tour through British ice hockey sites, I noticed this press-release about playoff shirts on the official EIHL site from a few weeks ago. All very dramatic, isn't it? I'm sure that you're now rushing to the official auction site expecting to only see the last few and thanking God for the benevolence of the EIHL officials in allowing you to get your hands on such a rare piece of hockey memorabilia...

Well, hold on a minute...the EIHL may have been taking lessons from Alistair Campbell, because here's the Ebay shop. It's still open two weeks after it was supposed to have shut...

You know that "limited number" of shirts left? How about (of 50 shirts produced for each team)...

8 left from Basingstoke
8 left from Belfast
4 left from Cardiff
14 left from Coventry
4 left from Edinburgh
16 left from Hull
8 left from Manchester
9 left from Newcastle
8 left from Sheffield

So, of the ten teams, only Nottingham have sold all their shirts, few of the above left have bids on them (not even the minimum price of £65) and of them, there are several which are actually players shirts instead of random blood shirts...

It seems that the days of the EIHL, and indeed British hockey, having fans who will willingly fork out for anything to do with their team are well and truly gone.

This means, to my mind, that this coming season will need to see changes in the way the sport in the UK is sold to people...with the days of economic prosperity which have fed the EIHL up to this point well and truly over, clubs can no longer be run as businesses.

In my years of watching hockey, those running the British game have become noticeably more aware of the need to get people through the door...however, it seems they're becoming less and less aware of the value of keeping them there-the "otherness" of hockey has been lost as rinks around the country have tried to play as safe as possible and appeal to everybody from kids to those who've been watching the sport for many years.

However, in the process, hockey has become just like everything else-the passion has slowly been sucked out of arenas as an emphasis on "family" entertainment has effectively killed any semblance of home advantage-I can't remember walking into a rink in the past few years where, as an away fan, you actually think "wow, we're not at home anymore".

I'm not saying that every away fan should be given a complimentary tarring and feathering, nor am I advocating abuse of any kind...but it occurs to me that in trying to make their rinks as friendly and welcoming as possible, the powers that be in British hockey are actually turning people off the sport...

This is why the Giants signing Sean McMorrow seems to me to show some new thinking...he's made no secret of the fact that he's going to attempt to be a Belfast fan favourite by making the Giants building a nasty place to come and play...if he gets the Giants faithful behind him in doing so it could be a very savvy move indeed...

Anyway...enough of a random bit of ranting that didn't really seem to be going anywhere...on to the news and rumours:

Stevie Lyle to Cardiff: Hm. Interesting one, this...Lyle is a legend in South Wales after his exploits there as a teenager...but whether he's worth a three-year contract..

Russ Cowley to Coventry: Speaking of three-year contracts, last years Blaze coach's and players' player of the year returns to the Skydome for his seventh, eighth, and ninth seasons...to general rejoicing.

Stephen Murphy and Graeme Walton to Belfast: The Giants are into the second year of trying to prove that, contrary to accepted wisdom, you can win the EIHL with a British-trained goalie. Murphy is coming off a superb season in Manchester, but even so, the Northern Irish crowd are notoriously hard on their netminders, so it'll be interesting to see how this one works out. Graeme Walton, meanwhile, is slowly becoming Mr Belfast-the local boy returns for his seventh professional season, all of which have been spent at the Odyssey. Not a player who'll make waves offensively, but arguably one of the most under-rated dmen in the league, the GB international will once again be a key cog in the Giants blueline machine...

Brad Cruikshank back to Sheffield: One of the EIHL's most respected players, the gritty Canadian centre is a key re-signing for the Steelers.

Tommy Sandahl and Curtis Huppe to Hull: The Stingrays have a new starting netminder, as well as one of the most lethal snipers in the EIHL. The Cloutier revolution continues apace on Humberside...

And that's your Thursday Thoughts done...

Tuesday Thoughts...and Summer Hockey Watch...

"Here's to new beginnings
For what it's worth"
Walls of Jericho: "Try, Fail, Repeat"

Let's go off on our usual trip through British hockey, and while we're at it, give some attention to the girls for a change as we look back at a top-of-the-table clash at the Skydome last weekend...

Well, at least there's no pretence that he's here to play: Belfast have been making waves this weekend, deciding, it appears, to follow the news of skilled defenceman Tom Walsh with...well, the signing of the not-so-skilled-but-quite-scary Sean McMorrow. As you'll see from his stats, scoring is not exactly his forte (he's got a grand total of twelve goals in his career), but with 2297 penalty minutes in 427 career games, you'd be right in thinking that he's been signed more for this sort of thing...this is his one and only appearance in the NHL-although if he can do that to Chris Neil then he shouldn't have much trouble with the average EIHL enforcer...

There's a proverb about glass houses and not chucking projectiles that comes to mind here: The past few weeks has seen much discussion on the way forward in British hockey, as per usual, with those on the English Premier League side of the fence very vocal about how their level (4 imports, no wage cap) is the most sustainable way forward and much hay being made about the troubles of the EIHL. However, all is not exactly rosy in the EPL, with Romford officially dead due to all hockey being pulled from their Rom Valley Way home, and Bracknell and Wightlink (Isle of Wight) teetering on the edge of extinction at the moment (although Telford at least are moving forward with new season plans after last season's problems).
It appears that, when it comes to picking a place for your team to rest in British hockey, nowhere is truly safe...it will be interesting to see, with all the changes we've already had in British hockey, whether there are more still to come...

Random "things that make you go "hmm" link: This one, in which one of my favourite sports writers discusses the way that players and teams now "manage" every one of their interactions with us mere mortals who watch them...admittedly comparing American superstars like Lebron James (he plays basketball, for those of you not up on your American sports) with, say, Brad Voth or Adam Calder may be a little overblown, but I found it interesting reading, especially when thinking of the way the Blaze organisation interact with their crowd at public events...

And now, on to some on-ice action...feel free to skip this bit if you've got no interest in women's hockey...

Summer Hockey Watch

Phoenix Rising: Coventry Phoenix 7, Telford Wrekin Raiders 1 (English Women Division 1 (Midlands), 2nd May 2008.

The men may have been on their summer holidays for a month or more, but hostilities are still very much alive for those of the so-called "fairer sex" as the women's season comes to a close-this match at the Skydome, as well as marking the fifth anniversary of the first ever match played by a Coventry women's team, was Telford's last and Coventry's penultimate game of the season-in four meetings so far honours were even, with both sides winning their home dates.. With Milton Keynes having secured the title already, this game was a vital one in the race for second-a Phoenix win would see them still having to go level on points with the second-placed Raiders if they won their game in hand the following week, despite the away side's vastly superior amount of goals scored, as well as keeping their unbeaten home record...so while there may have not been any trophies or position on the line, pride was most definitely at stake, particularly with the Raiders having come out on top by 7-1 and 8-4 in the last two meetings.

A cagey start to the game from both teams saw little goal-mouth action in the first minute or two, with the first genuine chance falling to Hannah Southam of the Phoenix, who chased down a loose puck in the Telford zone and flicked a backhand high past Gill Poxon in the Telford net to give the home side the lead in the third minute. This seemed to rattle the away side, as the Phoenix's top line of Sarah Powell, Hannah Maurice and Jenny Adams began to exert some serious pressure on Poxon's net-pressure that was rewarded when Powell scored twice in as many minutes, first flicking home a rebound off a Maurice shot and then being left with an unmissable chance in front of the net thanks to a pinpoint pass from Adams.

Meanwhile, at the other end the Raiders were doing their best to get back into the game, with their top-line of Kat Lester, Jade Poxon and Heather Metcalfe testing Tam Donoghue in the Phoenix net on several occasions, despite resolute Phoenix defending. The game settled down quickly into a steady ebb-and-flow, with the Phoenix having slightly the better of the game thanks to the combined attacking efforts of the Powell-Maurice-Adams trio, who looked likely to find the net on every shift, and some fine positional play from Jayne Buxton, Southam and Rosie Adey on the second line backing them up.

Into the second period, and we saw more of the same, although the Raiders clearly had had something of a talking-to in the first break while some of the home side seemed tempted to rest on their laurels a little...the game went back and forth as in the first period, with Poxon being alert to deny the speedy Maurice on several coast-to-coast rushes. She could do nothing about Phoenix's fourth, though, as a long clearance out of defence was deflected off Powell's skate and left Maurice in the clear to finish beautifully, high on the glove-side. A remarkably clean game nearly saw a moment of magic moments afterward as a laser of a long pass from Phoenix captain Nicky Blower found Buxton in the clear, but Poxon was again equal to the task. The Raiders, too, were finding their attacking legs as Ann Maclean fired a shot just wide with Donoghue stretching to get across after a superb centering pass. The period ended four-nothing, but this game was by no means won.

The third saw the Phoenix lose their rhythm a little as the lines were shifted around-the passing was noticeably less crisp and the Raiders duly took advantage, the Metcalf-Poxon-Lester line finally being rewarded for their hard work as they cut through a static defence with almost arrogant ease before Poxon finished off a sweeping move. The Phoenix bench seemed stung by this and the lines were restored to those which had been working so effectively-Jayne Buxton benefiting as she finally gained reward for her intelligent play by thumping home a close-range effort after good work from Jenny Carter. Hannah Southam's "shoot first, pass later" approach then gained her a second goal, before Rosie Adey finished off the scoring. There was still time for a flurry of shots at either end, but in the end the home side celebrated their fifth anniversary with a fairly comprehensive 7-1 victory...


That's your Tuesday Thoughts for this week...keep keeping your eye on the puck...