Locker Room Chatter: Rumours and Ramblings

Changes continue apace in British hockey, with David Taylor under pressure from both of his clubs, some signings for Manchester, and more names to throw into the pot for Nottingham...

Manchester sign their new sharpshooter: And here he is. Or at least who the strong rumour is according to a poster on the Steeltalk forum-some say PC Drouin will make his way up the M1 after being released by the Panthers, but Luke Stauffacher is the hot tip. With 42 goals in the UHL last season and the fact that he was on the same team with Phoenix's current resident spark-plug, Sean Starke, there is certainly a very good chance this could be the man the Phoenix are looking for as they try to complement their strong defence with lethally-accurate shooting...

Panthers linked with more names: Dan Tessier is still the front-runner as the NIC side look to replace PC Drouin with a scoring centre-more so now that his team Duisburg have signed a Norwegian centre apparently out of the blue. However, with Mike Ellis mentioning in the Nottingham Evening Post that the centre is likely to be new to this country, ex-NHLer Donald Maclean is another name that's been thrown into the pot after being released from his club in Switzerland. A very long shot (yet still possible if the Panthers are looking to save themselves some money in order to fund a top d-man, but only then) is Taras Foremsky, who tore the EPL up last year with Peterborough but was released earlier this week after coaching differences. Finally, the new centre could come from the DEL, but not from Duisburg as expected-with the big Canadian Cam Severson, recently released by Straubing, an option mooted if the Panthers decide to go for power to complement the skill of Sean McAslan and Johan Molin.

Bees in "no pay, no pay" threat: This season just gets worse in the home counties. With David Taylor already up to his neck in fan anger with the problems in Basingstoke, now it comes out that the team he's been running for several years in Bracknell is also under threat, with players going public in the local press about not being paid. Taylor has insisted that the problems are not as large as reported, but given that he said the same thing about Basingstoke (in a long statement which I analyzed here), just how many people will believe him?

Belfast and Cardiff to be fined: Both teams played cup-tied players in several Challenge Cup group games this season (Belfast with Peter Campbell and Stevie Lyle (ex-Basingstoke), and Shane Johnson for Cardiff (ex-Sheffield). The league appears to be stopping at just paying fines, but the complaints are loud from Blaze fans in particular, some of whom claim that their team should go through with the Giants being excluded, as the two cup-tied players had a direct influence on the 1-1 draw which prevented the Midlands side from qualifying (Peter Campbell scoring the Giants goal). As a Blaze fan myself, it seems to be somewhat clutching at straws-the Blaze were simply not good enough in the vast majority of CC games this season, and to qualify by default seems a bit of a let-off, particularly if they then go on to win it...

Hull injury worries eased: The Stingrays were worried after second-top points scorer Rob Rankin was forced out of Sunday's game against Manchester with a dislocated shoulder. However, the American winger has said he intends to be back this weekend in order to try and help the Humbersiders out of their current slump, which will be a much-needed boost to the north-east club.

Simms all but concedes title: Dave Simms is ruffling feathers again, but this time at his own club, as he has appeared in the Sheffield press stating that, despite his side currently being just four points behind the table-topping Coventry Blaze in third place, the title race is already all but over for the teal-and-orange men...an opinion which is curious even for him. To my mind it's just a bit of reverse-psychology. We shall see what effect, if any, it has over the next week or two...

And that's your daily update of all things EIHL...keep keeping your eye on the puck...

Locker Room Chatter: Big Cats on the prowl...

I should rename my rumours section-the in-season rumours are flying around again after a quiet couple of weeks, and we start with someone making their traditional appearance...

Return of the Prodigal Tess?: Dan Tessier is off to Nottingham. Or Sheffield. Or Belfast. Depending on who you ask. This one comes from no less a source than Dave Simms, who in his usual "mischievous" fashion mentioned that Nottingham have contacted their former star centre as things are not going well for the little speedster in Germany this season, and he's not exactly popular in Duisburg. Panthers fans have reacted to this news with an almost-universal "yes, please!"...with this a flavour of the comments from the Cage Forum...

" any player who can provide Shaun Sutter (!) with a 35 goal season is clearly an expert setup man." (This one made me laugh a little...:))

Some are claiming that he's selfish and only interested in himself, but this comment put that into place, also from the Cage...

"Anyone playing for self-glorification who can post 70+ assists on an average EIHL side is my kind of ego-maniac."

It makes sense as a rumour-Nottingham are crying out for a creative centre, and the prospect of Tessier feeding snipers of the calibre of Sean McAslan and/or PC Drouin will raise the screaming ab-dabs in opposition defences. Money could stop this, though.
Mark it as a "possible"

Ben O'Connor to Edinburgh: Another Bison strays from the Herd? It's possible, especially as Slava Koulikov has also recently been released from the Bison. According to Dave Simms (that man again) this is already a done deal with the young (but very polished already) d-man set to make his debut this weekend...
Mark it "very likely"...

Edinburgh to announce new signings on Monday: Fact, as it's come from the Capitals webmaster. No details on who or who goes, but the changes are finally happening north of the border...

That's the two biggies...admittedly not much of a rumour-fest but rosters are all but settled for many now...

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...