Double Overtime, Feb 2nd...

Yes, I know it's a little late. Blame the snow...:) Let's just jump straight in...

Erm, lads...this is not a good habit to be forming...: After the late, late show in Coventry last weekend, Manchester have once again been doing fairly well in games only to throw things away in the later stages-of the seven goals they conceded to Nottingham this weekend, six were scored in the last ten minutes of the game, including four in ten minutes in Altrincham last night to wipe out a two-nil lead. It seems that at the moment the Phoenix are a team who are fine for fifty minutes, and then, somehow, go off the boil.

Which means, obviously, that there's going to be some serious nerves jangling if they go into the final few minutes against Coventry next week with a narrow lead...

Meanwhile, back in the basement: Edinburgh win the battle of the beleaguered, beating Basingstoke four to three in the "who's slightly less likely to finish bottom" contest. Although, saying that, even despite the additions of Corey Leclair and Czech forward Ivo Mocek, the Bison look dead and buried. Also, anyone who's seen Leclair play will no doubt have something of a smile at the Bison press release announcing his signing-the finest work of fiction since War and Peace. You know your team are a little stuck when you consider a "skilful" import scoring 6+12 playing on two of the best offensive teams in the league on the PP and PK "impressive"..."average" is probably the best you can get...

One hand on the trophy: Another two wins for Sheffield, including a game effectively won in the first five minutes at the Skydome last night (Sheffield were 2-0 up after four minutes and then Jody Lehman in the Steelers net took over with a superb performance, only allowing one goal on 41 shots) saw the Steelers take a step closer to the title despite Nottingham doing their best to keep up with a double over Manchester. Many Blaze fans will blame referee Tom Darnell, but he was equally cruel to both sides as he appeared to miss calls all over the place. You can't really fault the Blaze on this performance, apart from a comedy first four minutes-they were simply beaten by the better team.

And, winner of the second annual "F..., that was a bad idea" Award: Sylvain Deschatelets, who finally allowed his frustration at some rough treatment from the Steelers to boil over, dropping the gloves with Steve Munn at the final buzzer on Sunday night. This is one of those scraps that seemed even right up until the first punch, as Munn just unloaded hammering left hands on the French-Canadian. Despite the Blaze man trying to reply, he barely landed a telling punch as both swung and missed-however, the Steelers defender connected with several beauties which will no doubt leave "Des" with a sore head this morning...You can see the highlights by searching "Blaze TV" on youtube...

If you could sum up the weekend in two words, it'd be "late goals": Looking at the scores from the weekend, it's amazing how many goals were scored in the final ten minutes to win close games (empty netters aside). Perhaps the most important was that scored by Pavel Gomenyuk for Hull, in Cardiff, at 59:30, which saw the Stingrays squeak out a surprising two-one win. Jay Latulippe will not be the most popular man on the Devils bench this morning after taking a slashing penalty with 90 seconds to go-Gomenyuk duly took advantage on the ensuing powerplay, having brought the teams level just four minutes earlier after the Devils had held a slender one-goal lead from Wes Jarvis' marker in the fifth minute, in a game which only saw a total of 43 shots...

It was all so different from the night before: When Cardiff disposed of Basingstoke in the second-leg of their KO Cup semi with a thumping 9-1 win, making the final score 17-1 on aggregate. Ouch. If anyone has seen Basingstoke's dignity, which went missing in about late December, could they please hand it back? It's very sadly missed in Hampshire...

Fight night!: Belfast v Newcastle has always had the potential for a flashpoint or two this season, and on Friday night it duly delivered, especially if you enjoy a scrap or two between Jason Rushton and Andre Payette-if you don't believe me, here are the highlights of Friday, courtesy of Giants TV-it all gets a bit tasty...By all accounts, it got a little tasty on Saturday, too.
The Giants, for the record, win both games...

There you go-that's your weekend reviewed. Tomorrow, sometime, we'll have a reaction to Andy French's interview about rivalries with Neil Chiplen over at Elite Hockey Today (read it here, as well as a fine report on the Devils/Stingrays game here) as well as a look at Wednesday's Challenge Cup semi second-leg...

Another fine review of the same game can be found at the F Block Blog here... nice title too...:)

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...