Missing in Action...

Hey all,

Sorry there's been two weeks of inactivity. What with the lead-up to Christmas, losing my job and also writing for the Blaze website now too (click on coventryblaze.co.uk and have a look for Wheeler's Words on there) the Breakaway has been neglected a little. Come the end of this week/New Year it should be building back up once the seasonal madness is over and done-there should be a post up here on New Year's Day previewing the coming weekend.

Until then, a belated Happy Christmas and keep keeping your eye on the puck...

Double Overtime, December 15th

And so, off we go for another skate round the rinks...

And yet, somehow...: It really wasn't fun being a Newcastle fan on Friday, as Belfast went straight through the Vipers defence like a hot knife through butter on Friday, winning eleven-three. Only two players failed to get a point, and Evan Cheverie got six by himself...however, of those eleven goals and after I've been talking him up recently, Jeff Szwez merely finished the scoring off...but then, when you win eleven-three, it doesn't matter who scores...

The score is almost incidental, really:...All hell broke loose on Saturday in Cardiff as Derek Campbell and Brad Voth exchanged punches in a vicious scrap after Voth collided with Coventry goalie Peter Hirsch-the highlights are now available on the Devils' website for you to draw your own conclusions on who won, but the game itself was a stormer:

...but, in case you're curious: Blaze won 4-3 with the game-winner coming from Greg Chambers, who is slowly becoming something of a talisman himself for the Blaze just as he was for Basingstoke-his strike for the winner saw him travel half the length of the ice before firing past Stevie Lyle...Oh, and Hirsch had the last laugh, stopping 42 of 45 shots in the victory compared to Lyle's 18 from 22

It's a bit early in the season, but it's still a four-pointer: Saturday saw Edinburgh beat Sheffield 4-2 up in Murrayfield despite both teams having the exact same number of shots (28)-which probably gave Kevin Reiter some consolation over in Newcastle after his replacement, Andrew Verner, continued to suffer the odd wobble in net. Notably, Neil Hay scored the Caps' third...a Hay goal is a rare event but couldn't have been timed better in this case as it made sure the Caps kept their lead and ahead of the Steelers in the league table to boot, at least for 24 hours...

Not a redemption, but at least a regaining of pride: Newcastle, meanwhile, returned to the North-East to take on Nottingham at Whitley Bay, and went some way to regaining pride with a 3-2 loss to high-flying Nottingham, Kevin Reiter stopping 35 shots...

It's not a win, but any point will do: Hull, in their only game of the weekend, once again failed to win away from home as they travelled to Nottingham, but at least they pushed the Panthers all the way to penalties, with the game ending 3-3 before Johan Molin netted the winning penalty for the home side with the only goal in the shootout:

After feast, comes famine: Well, relatively speaking, anyway, as Belfast found Edinburgh much harder to break down before winning 3-1 on Sunday night in Murrayfield...more proof that, while the Giants may be offensive powerhouses, they, like any other team, will struggle against a determined defensive effort...something which they know a lot about in Scotland...

Three for Legue:...and six for the Steelers as they took advantage of a tiring Coventry at the Skydome on Sunday night in clinical fashion, refusing to panic when falling behind and never really looking troubled after coming back from 1-0 down to 3-1 up in the second, finally winning six-four. Star of the night was Jeff Legue with a hat-trick, although Peter Hirsch still managed to produce one of those "Oh my God!" moments even in defeat with an amazing last-ditch glove-save from Doug Sheppard-the Steelers forward had earlier shown his skills weren't too shabby either with a beautiful stop-and-go move on a breakaway which would have resulted in a goal but for a last-ditch desparation dive from Hirsch across his crease. Something for everyone in Coventry, then, and all in front of Sky, too...

That's your weekend reviewed-sorry it's a little late...

Round the Rinks, November 20th

And so, we're off for another weekend in the EIHL. I know there have been signings, but they'll be mentioned in the course of the preview...

FRIDAY:

Belfast v Newcastle: With Sean McMorrow hopefully well and truly recovered from his encounter with a Renault Twingo, the Giants take on the Vipers in a tricky tie for them which will, naturally, be available on www.giantslive.tv for those who wish to watch. With Jeff Szwez chomping at the bit to continue his scoring exploits, the Giants look more and more dangerous-although if any team can stifle high-powered offence, the Vipers could be that team judging on recent form, particularly with Sheffield's on-loan Kevin Reiter looking to prove a point in net...

SATURDAY

Cardiff v Coventry: Ryan Finnerty is the Devils' latest signing, but it's unclear whether he'll be in the country to make his debut alongside his great friend* Jay Latulippe at the weekend. This top-four clash is one to make the mouth water a little though, particularly with both teams on form.

*(irony may or may not being used here)

Newcastle v Nottingham: Aristocrats vs upwardly-mobile in the North East, as the Panthers look to get back to winning ways after their derby loss last Sunday undid all the good work from Saturday. Newcastle, meanwhile, are coming off a road trip from hell in the trip to Belfast, so tiredness could be a factor in the Panthers' win. So could Johan Molin, who returns in a brief cameo this weekend deputising once again for Kevin Bergin. However, in the Vipers' favour they are playing in Whitley Bay, the fine old North East barn which they've turned into something of a fortress this season...

Edinburgh v Sheffield: Both teams will fancy their chances in this one-the Capitals playing the first of a double-header home weekend at a rink which they, too, have turned into something of an intimidating place to visit this season after a few seasons of troubles, while the Steelers need this win in order to claw back some ground on the teams above them, of whom, coincidentally, the Caps are the nearest, above them only on whatever arcane system the EIHL is using this season to seperate teams on equal points.

SUNDAY

Edinburgh v Belfast: Scotland plays Northern Ireland in the second game of the weekend at Murrayfield, and the second game to be covered live on the Caps Webcast, accessible via www.edinburgh-capitals.com for the princely sum of £6 for both games. The last meeting between these two saw a crushing victory for the Giants, but over the Scottish border, the rules are a bit different. If the Caps can conquer their own self-doubt and grab an early lead, then things could be interesting here...

Coventry v Sheffield: This is not a match in which you can expect to see any quarter given or asked, nor is it one that traditionally would be described as involving a "struggling" team. But as we know, that's still, technically, what the Steelers are, while the Blaze are, at least as the weekend begins, top of the EIHL. You can smell the burning from the Steelers' wounded pride from here...they will be up for this one. Unfortunately, so will the home side, backed by a big crowd...this may not reach the heights of last Sunday's game, but it could be another warm winter Sunday at the Skydome nevertheless.

Nottingham v Hull: The Panthers return home with arguably the easiest game on paper of the weekend, against a Stingrays side who are struggling heroically to win away and have just released James Sanford from their defence. If the Stingrays pull off a shock here, then not only will there be joy in the rest of the league but howls of anger from the NIC stands. This is not a game Corey Neilson's men will entertain any fear of losing-anything less then a win is simply not an option if you're of a black-and-gold persuasion...

There you go-there's your weekend previewed...

Double Overtime, December 7th

On we go...straight into another look back at the weekend...

Even though you know it's acting, you get the feeling you won't see Sean McMorrow run over often: The Belfast Giants were on Top Gear yesterday...watch from 52:30 here for the segment, which, as well as containing proof that hockey players are not born actors, does contain the sight of Sean McMorrow doing the worst "oh my God, I'm been flattened" fall known to man. The sport looks good though, and I surely can't have been the only one hoping, just for comedy purposes, for the Belfast hard-man to stand up and over the not-inconsiderable-in-stature Jeremy Clarkson with a killing stare on him, just to see the face on the Top Gear legend...

Speaking of the Giants...

Player of the Season already has a front-runner:...and it's Belfast's Jeff Szwez. Despite having a nearly-unpronounceable name, the big Ontarian forward has been in phenomenal form recently, continuing his goalscoring run over the weekend with a contribution of three goals in Friday's 8-2 win against Edinburgh to take his total to 16 in 15 games. For comparison, the league's top scorer, his linemate Colin Shields, has 21 in 29.

It's obviously far too early to predict such things, and I'm sure Belfast fans wouldn't want me to jinx him-but surely David Beauregard's scoring record from last season couldn't be under threat already...could it? If I were a betting man, I'd probably stick a few quid on it being so...after all, what are the odds?

Yorkshire pride seems to be a decent motivator: Sheffield, meanwhile, did their chances of salvaging the season no harm at all with a four-point weekend despite the absence of their coach Dave Matsos, who was at the bedside of his seriously-ill son, beating Hull 5-1 on Saturday with a hat-trick from Brad Cruikshank, and outlasting Newcastle 5-4 on Sunday after penalty shots.

And, in further good news for South Yorkshire hockey families both real and imaginary...: George Matsos, too, is showing strong signs of recovery according to the latest reports in the Star today...which is a wonderful bit of news...

Three games, two points:...for the Edinburgh Capitals is seemingly not a great return, until you bear in mind that two of those games were trips to a seemingly-unstoppable-at-the-moment Belfast at Fortress Odyssey, followed by a similarly tricky trip to Fortress-by-the-Bay in Cardiff on Saturday. After those two, playing a Hull side who'd not won away in ten tries back at Murrayfield must have been something of a relief...

"We're gonna need a bigger bag of press releases": Hull, meanwhile, are fast running out of things to say during the week after their eleventh loss on the trot away from home...

Just to prove they can be beaten: Belfast played an uncharacteristically quiet offensive game against the stifling systems of Newcastle at Whitley Bay on Saturday, and grit beat flair as the Vipers left with a 2-1 win before losing to Sheffield the following night...

Honours even. Or, at least, hostilities in stalemate for now...: The derby double-header between Coventry and Nottingham, meanwhile, saw both teams thrill their home crowds by winning, Nottingham with a clinical 6-2 performance at the NIC on Saturday (with three of the goals in the last four minutes) and Coventry with a not-so-clinical-but-hugely-thrilling 6-4 win at the Skydome on Sunday, which included a contender for scrap-of-the-year between Derek Campbell and Dominic D'Amour...have a watch of Sky on Friday if you missed it, and look out for an absolute hammer-blow of a Campbell uppercut too-the fight ended in a draw but only thanks to D'Amour seemingly being able to take punches as well as he throws them...

They're two assists he won't be claiming: Lost in the sound and fury, maybe, was the fact that the Panthers went to the box twice in quick succession after the Panthers' opener, and both times Greg Chambers profited...the first goal seeing Chambers feed off the energy created by the Campbell-D'Amour fight to dangle his way beautifully past Dave Clarke and shoot high-glove past St.Pierre, and the second, after Clarke had petulantly slashed the Canadian, a crisp finish from between the circles...both times you could argue the Panthers sniper was most culpable...

And just in case no-one has noticed: The Devils are still quietly amassing point after point...both Cardiff and their style-twins, Newcastle are still lurking just behind the top three, waiting for a slip to capitalise on...

And there you go...that, in a nutshell, is your weekend.

Round the Rinks, December 4th

And so we're back from Finland, having not actually seen any live hockey thanks to being in Estonia on the day HIFK played at home (well, unless you count a barn-burner of a game between Leksands and Boras in the Allsvenskan, which was showing on the satellite of the sports bar we frequented on Sunday night, and for which I annoyed the rest of my group who were watching the Arsenal-Chelsea game)-and we return to the sobering news that Dave Matsos' son George has been taken into hospital with pneumonia. Obviously, the Breakaway sends its best wishes to both George himself and the Sheffield coach, and hopes that the little one pulls through with no ill-effects...

But, there is still a weekend of hockey to get through...and here's what's coming up in the Elite League...

FRIDAY

Belfast v Edinburgh: The first of three games in three nights for the Capitals sees them travel to Northern Ireland in the very real hope of being one of the few teams to take points from the Odyssey...the game is of course available on www.giantslive.tv for those of you who wish to watch-and it'll be worth a look with the offensive talent on show on both sides...

DOUBLE HEADERS

Coventry v Nottingham: Outside of a few loud-voiced PR men in South Yorkshire, and perhaps despite the protestations of Panthers fans desperate to keep tradition alive, this East v West Midlands meeting is now viewed as the biggest derby game in EIHL hockey (and, by Simms and Moran logic, thus the biggest derby in the universe). There has fast evolved a sense of genuine hatred between the Blaze and Panthers over the past few seasons, and the atmosphere is always, shall we say, "heated" when these two teams meet. As the Blaze PR for this weekend puts it..."we don't like them, and they don't like us". Certainly, for fans of either team, making a trip to the other's rink, or even the other's city, is no longer just a simple away day. Now, more than anything else, it's a trip behind enemy lines...

And this weekend, it's a double-header. That means twice the aggravation, twice the dislike, and twice the opportunity for controversy.

Bring it on. And may the best team win. As long as that team is from the West Midlands. :)

SATURDAY

Hull v Sheffield: The Yorkshire derby, meanwhile, sees two teams near the bottom of the league fighting it out for bragging rights. With Hull slowly getting back on track, this result is by no means a foregone conclusion either way...

Newcastle v Belfast: Two more teams who share a healthy dislike for each other meet in Whitley Bay, with the Giants hoping to take advantage of the Vipers' unfamiliar nettie in Kevin Reiter, and the Vipers hoping he'll pull off some of the same magic which got him noticed in Basingstoke last season. This game will see speed meet grit, and we'll see which comes out on top...

Cardiff v Edinburgh: Two of the surprise teams battle again, with the Devils hoping to keep up the pressure at the top and the Caps to give themselves another two out of a possible six points they can earn this weekend. It won't be easy in the Tent By the Bay, though...

SUNDAY

Edinburgh v Hull: Finally, the Caps return home to finish off a marathon weekend, with arguably the easiest of their three games-the Stingrays, however, coming off a Yorkshire battle the night before, will be well-placed to take advantage of any tired legs, and for that reason alone are worth taking seriously...

Sheffield v Newcastle: Final game of the weekend to be previewed, this battle at the Hallam sees the two teams in the reverse of their positions last season-and a win for the Vipers will not be well received by the South Yorkshire faithful. However, it'll widen the gap between Newcastle and the bottom three-and make for yet more optimism up north...

There's your weekend preview...keep keeping your eye on the puck...