Serious Playtime...

"My knuckles have turned to white
There's no turning back tonight
(so hold on tight)"
Underoath: "It's a Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door"

Pre-season is done. The teams are back on the ice, the imports are arriving, and the acquaintances have been made and re-made in the stands. With Hull winning the P+O Cup up on Humberside, beating Nottingham and Tilburg to do so, Coventry coming through their pre-season unbeaten and looking very impressive indeed (particularly new signings Peter Hirsch, Luke Fulghum and, believe it or not, Derek Campbell, looking more like the skilled power-forward who made such an impression at Manchester rather than one-half of the carnival-sideshow act he became at Newcastle alongside Andre Payette), and Sheffield taking on Nottingham this evening in the official Elite League curtain-raiser, the Charity Shield, the time for mucking around, half-measures and still getting to know your team-mates is over. Admittedly, I've not seen half the teams in the EIHL, having been limited to what's gone on in Coventry, Cardiff and Sheffield (although, if you want a finely-written insight into Hull and Nottingham's pre-season preparations, then have a gander at the F-Block Blog). So, some (limited) first impressions of the teams seen so far:

Cardiff's big line is shaping up to be more of an anticlimax then expected. So far: Mark Smith looks somewhat off the pace, Max Birbraer is big and ugly as ever, but not quite fit, and Matt Miller is committed but a bit rusty. I hope for the Devils' sake this is little more than pre-season cobwebs, otherwise the pre-season foreshadows a much bleaker season than many in Cardiff are hoping for.

Brad Voth is...well, still Brad Voth: And this, whether you're a Cardiff fan looking for someone to drive your team forward or an opposition fan looking for a hate-figure, is no bad thing.

Brian Lee, defenceman of the year. You heard it here first: Yes, I may be a little biased, but Blaze's big American blue-liner, instantly recognisable thanks to hair that would be more at home in a mosh-pit than on the ice, is a hard-skating, positionally-sound d-man who can go both ways with equal ease. And if he keeps hitting the way he has been so far, expect him to become one of the most hated d-men in the league if you're an opposition fan-the man goes through opposition forwards like a runaway freight train through a collection of Ming vases. Seriously. It would appear his dial is set not so much to "check" as "attempt to wipe from existence". Watching him battle with the likes of Dominic D'Amour, Cameron Mann et al is one of the tastiest sub-plots of Sunday's meeting with the Panthers...and any time you feel the air in a rink begin to crackle when a player steps onto the ice, as is already the case when #5 crosses the boards at the Skydome, you think "hang on a minute...this could be fun"...

If you're a betting fan, then here's a dark-horse: Luke Fulghum, Elite League top scorer, 2009/10.

Be afraid, Sheffield: The Steelers appear to have stood still this off-season...they're still a very good team, but there will be more than one better than them if all teams play to their potential this season...although, as I write this, they have just beaten Nottingham 7-6, after a ridiculous number of penalty shots...defence clearly not considered important by either team on this early showing.

It's a very, very different Hull this season: For a start, they've won something already. Granted, it's only a pre-season trophy, but even so...there is a real, real buzz on Humberside

Greg Chambers will only be popular as long as the Blaze are winning: Wonderful, wonderful passer, and when he's interested, you can see just why he's one of the premier players in the league...the man has skill and vision to burn. But, like Sylvain Deschatelets, inclined to disappear for periods at a time compared to his linemates-and given that Deschatelets was roundly disliked for such a tendency last season, it'll be interesting to see what happens if he or the Blaze hit a slump in form...When they're Greg Owen and Luke Fulghum, though, you only need to make one or two crucial passes a period, and you have a good chance of a multi-point game.

Jason Robinson can read minds: OK, that's pushing it, but based on the pre-season the big Canadian has reached an even higher level than that which made him one of the stand-out d-men in London and popular wherever he's played-people have been claiming he's slow but, when your positioning is as good as his is, being beaten for speed is much less of a worry than it might have otherwise been.

Nottingham just might have something this year: Demolishing Tilburg 11-3 in the first game many of their players have played together? The talent is clearly there...can Corey Neilson finally mould it into a team, and will the "concede five but score six" approach finally work this year?

Nothing gets more of a welcome than a former enemy becoming a friend: The roar that Derek Campbell got when introduced on his Skydome debut is testimony to that...compared to that, the albeit-still-enthuastic reception given to the other players was about the same size, relatively, as a fart to a tornado...

There you go...a few pre-season reflections...Limited they may be, somewhat biased towards Coventry they may also be, but the appetite for the beginning of the serious stuff on Saturday is now well and truly whetted.

Tomorrow will see part IV of Frozen Dreams appear in the evening, while Friday afternoon/early evening sees the return of Round the Rinks as the season starts in earnest...

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...