Catch Up If You Can

"This town rips your bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap..."
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: "Born To Run"

Yes, I know it's been two weeks or more since the last post...everyone's allowed something of a summer holiday...:)

For this one, let's just have a quick look at the signings taking place around the EIHL...there have been a few, but we're now well and truly into the doldrums of summer where hockey is at its farthest point from the light of consciousness...as you prepare to laze in front of diamond-shining seas and on soft white sands, it's hard to believe the first game of the new season is a mere 54 days away...although I'll freely admit that while my body is roasting in the unaccustomed heat of an English summer, the leaves are already falling off the trees in my soul and the nights are lengthening again as hockey returns to British shores...the British summer is heat, greenflies and no hockey, and thus is welcome to end itself as soon as possible as far as I'm concerned...

Belfast: Brandon Benedict and Tim Cook are the latest new additions to the roster in Northern Ireland, with the former being a chippy, slightly undersized but useful centre who appears to be from the same cloth as Bruce Richardson, and the latter being...well, not. Cook is a big defenceman who will presumably be expected to take care of business in his own end way before charging forward...both played for the same team in Denmark last season, so will have to help ease each other into a new locker room. The Giants are excited about their team this year, but it'll be interesting to see just how important these two end up being...

Cardiff: Not content with simply signing Mark Smith, the Devils have also gone and ensured the return of his partner-in-crime Max Birbraer for his second spell in South Wales, as well as completing their blue-line with the services of two-way d-man Scott Romfo from the ECHL. The Devils are quietly building a pretty damn scary roster down in South Wales this time around...

Coventry: Two signings which have caused much debate to report in Coventry since the last round-up...the return of the one of the prototypical EIHL pests in Danny Stewart, returning for his fourth season, and the capture of Derek Campbell from the Vipers. Now, some are underwhelmed by these two signings, but they please me...we've had the silk in the Blaze forward line already, and now we need the sandpaper to balance it. With Stewart and Campbell, who have crossed swords more than once already during their respective tenures in the league, on the same side other teams will really not look forward to facing the Blaze-particularly those with players of a slightly...well, fiery disposition. Campbell and Stewie are both players who can put up the points as well as the penalty-minutes, though, and should add some a surprising touch of speed and guile as well as their, shall we say, "own particular appeal"....

Edinburgh: It's still slow up north, although we have seen the return of possibly the ugliest man currently playing in British hockey...Kyle Horne is a fine British defenceman but...well, I would imagine that those puck-bunnies driven by looks over personality and skill don't exactly beat a path to his door during the season...

Hull: James Hutchison steps up from the EPL to join a promising-looking Stingrays side in their only signing since the last round up, as the Humbersiders continue their rebuilding under Sylvain Cloutier...after several good seasons with Peterborough, including winning every possible EPL trophy last season, it will be interesting to see how the Tynesider develops...

Newcastle: More new blood on Tyneside, although new signing Matej Kralj will be familiar to at least a small proportion of Blaze fans after facing Coventry with his former club, Maribor, last season. The bigger news is who isn't signing for the Vipers-with Kralj being the final import forward, Andre Payette and Jeff Hutchins will need to find a new club if they want to stay in the UK...

Nottingham: The Panthers' final import forward is CHLer Marty Gascon...perhaps not quite the "superstar" East Midlands fans were hoping for, but as a playmaker, he's clearly planned as a foil to the likes of Sean McAslan and Jade Galbraith at the NIC-14+54 in the CHL last season, with three teams, appears to bear the "playmaker" tag out. We'll see if he can step into the role filled with some aplomb by Dan Tessier last season...
Meanwhile, Matt Myers has made the trip across the pond, joining Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL...an interesting move both for him and the team. British ice hockey will be watching with great interest to see if he can emulate Colin Shields and Jon Weaver and hold down a regular ECHL spot...

Sheffield: The song remains the same in Steelerland, as the roster still has no new faces on it, with the Jody Lehman replacement still eagerly awaited in net. However, Ashley Tait will leave a big hole as he follows GB team-mates Greg Owen and David Clarke and tries his luck in Europe with Ritten Renon in Italy, after being signed by his former team-mate in Nottingham, Paul Adey.

It's still too close to call in the Elite League with rosters still to complete...but at least now, both you and the Breakaway are all up to date...