Round the Rinks, February 27th

Before we charge into the weekend preview, let's have a few stream of consciousness thoughts on last night's action...with a bit of a lyric first...

"A little gambling is fun when you're with me...
Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun
And baby, when it's love, if its not rough it isn't fun"
Lady Gaga: "Poker Face"

Granted, the title may have only been slightly delayed in being awarded to Sheffield by Coventry's win last night, but it seems there may be a way to get to the Steelers early...involve them in a scrap. The first period of last night's game reportedly saw Rod Sarich get called for sticking a Blaze player in the mouth, JF Perras get away with trying to remove Jeff Legue's head with a blocker, and all manner of more humdrum nastiness (slashing, hooking and the like) that appeared to throw the Steelers off their game sufficiently for the Blaze to eke out a three-two win. Highlights, by the way, are here...

With the varying standards of refereeing in the EIHL, and the fact that a lot seems to get let go in this league, surely it's worth teams trying to beat the Steelers in the trenches more, rather than trying to hold off their powerful attack and hope to get one through Lehman-a tactic which has seen the Steelers victorious on all but four occasions in regulation time this season...and, when employed, has won them at least a point on all but those same four occasions-had a few more of those OT losses been regulation losses, then the title race would be a hell of a lot closer...
Anyway, enough of my half-baked tactical reflections-on to last night's games and thence, the preview...

Granted, it's a lump of silver and not one of America's greatest poets, but even so...:...if the Elite League title were Mark Twain, right now would doubtless be the point where it said (with apologies to Huck Finn's creator) "The reports of my being won...have been greatly exaggerated".

They're not going without at least the pretence of a fight. We'll give them that: Basingstoke, meanwhile, scored five against Belfast last night. Unfortunately, even with Kevin Reiter in goal, they allowed the rampant Giants to score eight...

The prediction still holds...: Manchester, meanwhile, are now in their first final as the Phoenix (yes, I know they were at the finals weekend, but that doesn't count unless they played on the Sunday) after beating Newcastle in the KO Cup semi. Which means my prediction of "the Phoenix will win a trophy this season, way back in late August, is still looking good...

And now on to the weekend preview...

Double-headers:

Cardiff v Newcastle: Expect nothing less than a dogfight both by the Bay and on the banks of the Tyne. Points are more important to both teams than entertaining the crowds at the moment, and with neither team setting the scoring charts on fire (both as teams are little more than above-average, which isn't bad but by no means a threat to Sheffield's stellar attack, and due to concentrating most of their goalscoring eggs in a few players' baskets) grit and ugly goals will be the order of the day...

Friday

Belfast v Basingstoke: Live on the webcast at www.giantslive.tv for those of you who wish to watch it, this game has already produced thirteen goals this week back at the Silverdome. There will likely not be as many tonight, and Belfast will be expecting a fairly handsome win to capitalise on Sheffield slipping up last night, but you can always hope...whether you hope simply for a good game and a Belfast win or a good game and a Basingstoke shock depends on whether you support Sheffield or not...

Saturday:

Manchester v Coventry: Could be a cracker. Now the Phoenix have finally shaken the monkey off their back when it comes to beating Coventry with their last win in Altrincham, they will fancy another two points, not least because it could take them above Cardiff if results go their way, and in theory give them a chance of an easier playoff game...

Belfast v Hull: Someone wants to give the Giants every chance of taking maximum points from a gruelling four games in four nights schedule-they face each one of the bottom three, with Basingstoke twice...This one is arguably the toughest game of the four, and with one to come in Edinburgh on Sunday, the Giants will be hoping their opponents have an off-night...

Nottingham v Basingstoke: Poor Bison. Three of the top four in four nights? It's like the problems Belfast will face with fatigue, only a thousand times worse...Panthers will need to not switch off, and this game is theirs.

Sunday:

Coventry v Sheffield: What's that smell? A barn-burner on the horizon, perhaps? The Skydome will be packed as the Blaze and Steelers renew hostilities, and as mentioned earlier, there may be a bit of animosity still simmering from Thursday's slugfest. This one should be even better than the usual, if Blaze can stop Steelers scoring as early as they have on their last two visits to the West Midlands...

Hull v Nottingham: Panthers beware...the Stingrays have teeth now-and will not make a trip to the North East easy...the cats need a win to set them up for the visit of Sheffield next weekend, but will have to fight hard for it.

Edinburgh v Belfast: The tired Belfast d-men are probably wincing even now at the thought of having to face Adam Stefishen bearing down on them at the end of a four-game stretch, but you can bet the Edinburgh hardman and his pals are licking their lips in anticipation of the Giants' visit this time round. However, they should bear in mind that most animals fight hardest when they are tired and have no other option...

There you go...that's your weekend previewed...