Round the Rinks, 4th September: The Return

"Over the top, over the top...
Right now it's killing time..."
Bullet For My Valentine: "Scream, Aim, Fire"

"And here we go, life's waiting to begin
Life's waiting to begin"
Angels and Airwaves: "The Adventure"

I couldn't choose between an optimistic and menacing tone to set for the opening weekend of the season with the song lyrics at the beginning, as I liked them both...so in the end I thought you might as well have both...

It's a slightly fragmented start to the season, as only five games are taking place over the weekend (only two on Sunday), but three of them are stormers-let's look at the fixtures:

SATURDAY

Newcastle v Cardiff: The Vipers open against the Devils in what will be a tricky test for their opening game of the season-the two teams look to be playing a similar hard-working, gritty style this season, and you can bet that any Rob Wilson team, however widespread the denials, will never be far away if there's any rough-stuff taking place. Obviously, this early in the season, results are perhaps not a true barometer of teams' pedigree, but with the Vipers fanbase jaded from several seasons of mediocrity, their home team need to make a splash early, and given that the Devils will be one of their major competitors in the rush to break into the upper reaches of the table, both teams will be aware of the need to set a marker down as quickly as possible.

Sheffield v Coventry: Stormer number one of the weekend-last season's top two renew early acquaintances after sharing the honours in preseason play. The Blaze have looked impressive so far, but the Steelers are a team known for coming together as soon as things start to become important, and now have defensive rock Kevin Bolibruck in the country, a player who they lacked visibly in the preseason meetings. They more than any other team know that a Blaze win will send a message to the rest of the league that the champions aren't invincible this time round, while the Blaze know that if they win in the Hallam tonight and then beat Nottingham tomorrow (more of which game shortly) that will fire a very loud and very accurate warning shot across the bows of the good ship Elite League...


Nottingham v Belfast: Stormer number two. The league's two self-proclaimed offensive powerhouses meet in the NIC, in the Elite League equivalent of a pissing contest-full of sound, fury and boasting about firepower. However, there is a serious side to it-because both teams need to prove that their defences are up to keeping the offences of the rivals out-and taking on a huge offensive test in their first competetive games aren't a bad way to send comforting messages...

SUNDAY

Coventry v Nottingham: Stormer number three. There is no love lost between these two clubs after the "Team Hollywood" furore of last season, and the fanbases share what is, shall we say, a cordial dislike of each other. The pair of them are two of the most powerful teams in the EIHL, and, every time they meet, sparks fly. With both teams having possibly the toughest possible opening weekends they could (or at least the second-toughest), they will both know that this game, even early in the season, can go a long way to ensuring their Challenge Cup qualification...


Hull v Belfast: This one, meanwhile, is important for completely different reasons. With the Stingrays fanbase buzzing with a new hope after Sylvain Cloutier's summer recruitment drive has left his team looking stronger than it has done for several season, they will be looking at games like this one as games to savour rather than games to simply survive-especially as two points are looking far more of a possibility than for the Stingrays of yesteryear...the Giants, depending on the result of the game the night before, will either want to bounce back from a nasty loss or continue the momentum of a morale-boosting win in the NIC...

That's your weekend previewed...