Slightly Sickened Midweek Musings...

"Vultures circle around
Feathers float, wings flap, beaks pound"
The Distillers: "Dismantle Me"

From the Breakaway's sickbed, a slightly-fevered stream of consciousness for a Wednesday evening...

Anyone in South Yorkshire who isn't panicking now doesn't really understand what's going on:...You can't hide it any more, Sheffield. No positive press release on the planet will drown out the screams of alarm coming from the Steel City. You have serious, serious problems, and everyone knows it.

Yes, you lost six-two to Edinburgh last night. That's fair enough...after all the Caps are a very fast-improving team and appear to have unearthed an absolute gem in Simon Lambert, who is already looking like this year's successor to Colin Hemingway and Mark Hurtubise-he's scoring at over a point a game so far after coming in relatively unheralded from the CHL.

But the major point about this loss is that you let Andrew Sharp score...as soon as that happens, and even bearing in mind the fact that by the laws of averages a puck is bound to hit his rear end and go in at some point during the season, you've got problems. The defence look unsure of themselves, Kevin Bolibruck is a shadow of his former self, Joey Talbot looks, quite frankly, uninterested, and Stephen Wood has a massive shot on him but not much else. As for Andrew Verner...the best nettie in the league does not, under any circumstances, make a habit of letting in six goals on 25 shots.

It's disorienting looking at the table and seeing Steelers sixth. Even more so when you bear in mind that Edinburgh, one point behind them now, have played half the number of games they have. After this weekend, if results go right, the Steelers could legitimately be bottom. And then watch all hell break loose.

I wonder if Dave Simms is regretting his "little teams aren't worth it" speech over the summer yet, now his giant of British hockey is slowly being brought down with a bang...

Just think of it as "violence to stop violence":...Those of you who follow the EIHL may have noticed the recent upsurge in the number of fights involving Sean McMorrow, after the early season saw few players willing to take on the big Canadian. This, apparently, is due to him now acting like an old-style gangland enforcer demanding "favours" for protection-the word going around the league is that he's spending warm-up having words with those he thinks might drop 'em on the opposition team, and saying "fight me, or I'll go out and run the living hell out of (insert star player here)". It smacks to me of a somewhat drastic way to earn your money-after all, there's a barely concealed threat to injure in there...but if it works, then so be it.

But then, with the merry-go-round working overtime, maybe he has cause: It seems this year is already a bumper year for team changes. Hull and Belfast are the biggest offenders, but only two teams (Cardiff and Coventry) have exactly the same roster as they began the season with. So-here's a question for you to ponder as you keep an eye on tonight's games in Nottingham and Cardiff (more on which this Friday)...are people more willing to pull the trigger, or is there, for whatever reason, just a weird coincidence floating around this year?

And finally...: I really don't have a joke here-because there isn't one. It's just a bit...well, watch it yourself (warning-adult themes). Theo Fleury, easily the player to produce the biggest amount of controversy during his time over in Britain, has appeared on ESPN talking about a secret that's haunted him all his life, and his well-documented drug abuse. And I defy you, if you've given him a yell of mickey-taking or anything during his time over here, not to feel a little...well, bad about it.

Theo Fleury on being abused during his junior career

Wow. That might explain a little...

That's your stream of consciousness for a Wednesday...