Thursday Catch-up...

Once again we go with the regular daily update-apologies there haven't been many longer posts this week but job-search-related events in my own life mean I've been somewhat busy for the majority of it...Anyway...

"On a knife-edge" just about covers it: The Steelers and Devils battled out a tense eight-goal draw in the Big Blue Tent last night in the first leg of their Challenge Cup semi, scoring four each in a see-saw tie which also saw Ashley Tait score his 800th point in British hockey with the Steelers' third goal, which came just eight minutes in (the game saw five goals scored in the first ten minutes before the scoring slowed down a little). The only certainty in this tie is that the second leg is going to be an absolute humdinger as the two sides battle for the right to meet Nottingham or Newcastle in the final (that semi will be decided tomorrow night).

Stingrays add muscle: Hull have beefed up their roster today with the signing of Marlon Joseph, a 22-year old Canadian who, lets just say, isn't the goalscorer the Stingrays need but is more of a replacement for injured enforcer Cole Byers-the press release, as appearing in the Hull Daily Mail, is here. Mean-looking, isn't he?

Rumours that the same person was offering two CD's of unknown origin for sale are, however, unfounded: The Government have involved themselves in the use of hockey forums-specifically The Cage (Nottingham Panthers, which is one of the most respected forums on the net related to British hockey), after it was revealed that a poster (who ironically is a Sheffield Steelers fan and has posted the same information on the Steeltalk forum) was posting the names of new signings before they were released after obtaining them from work-permit applications to the Department of Work and Pensions, which are strictly confidential. The article covering this, and appearing in the Nottingham Evening Post today, is in full here.
Must admit this worried me for a few minutes, as I'd also posted this information on the blog after reading it from the original forum. However, after asking a few people on the Cage, it appears that posting information after it's already appeared in public, whatever the source, is OK...so there'll be no interruptions in posting due to your good writer meeting the gentlemen of the law...:)

That's your lot for now...check back tomorrow afternoon for the traditional weekend preview, and keep keeping your eye on the puck...

Locker Room Chatter: Swings and Roundabouts...

It's been a weekend for player movement, with several players now appearing in a new uniform for next weekend-here are the moves and some rumours, and reactions to them...

Ben O'Connor to Edinburgh: As predicted last week, the young British defenceman, who has been very impressive so far this season playing for the struggling Basingstoke Bison, has moved north of the border to shore up the Caps blue-line. This is a superb move by the Caps, because O'Connor is big, fast and ridiculously polished for an 18-year old at this level. He may not turn the Scots' season around by himself, but he will be able to step in and add some bite to the defence immediately. And boy, do the Caps need it after a 4-0 loss this weekend...

KC Timmons to Coventry: This is...interesting. The Manchester Phoenix released him after yesterday's meeting with the Hull Stingrays, and he immediately (well, as of this morning) ended up on the Blaze blue-line, at the expense of a former teammate in David Vychodil. Given that he's switched back and forth between forward and d regularly in his time in the UK, he's certainly versatile, but he's never really stood out in the numerous times I've seen him on the opposition. As a fourth d-man who tends to just quietly get on with the job and do it competently but not spectacularly, perhaps he'll prove me wrong and prove a much better fit than the big-shooting Czech. To some degree this seems to be more tinkering for tinkering's sake rather than any urgent need on the Blaze's part, however-certainly Vych never did anything wrong in his time at the Skydome...We shall see.

Bison dead in the water?: It gets worse for the situation down south-I've been hearing in chatter round the ice-pads that the Hampshire side will be "lucky to survive two weeks" at the current level of spending, which raises the question of whether the EPL's Bracknell Bees will also be affected, since the two clubs are owned by the same company and thus the same directors. The Basingstoke faithful had something to cheer over the weekend as their team forced out a 5-4 win against the Belfast Giants on Sunday, but this, if true, will certainly put a damper on things...

Locker Room Chatter Update: They've had Tait-could Lyle be next?

Those Basingstoke money rumours just won't go away. Now it seems that Stevie Lyle is on his way, if you believe the chat on forums. People just can't seem to agree on where he's ending up though-in this post I mention the rumour that he's Emerald-Isle bound to play for the Giants, but now Nottingham have thrown their hat into the ring, according to this thread on the Cage Forum, with the two sides being involved in a bidding war for his services. Meanwhile, the latest to come from the Bison rumour mill is that the club needs to chop two thousand pounds or two players from the weekly wage-bill in order to ensure their future, with Lyle being one to go and Peter Campbell the other.

This is a strange one for me-only a few weeks ago, the Panthers re-signed Rastislav Rovnianek as their starter, and have given no indication that they're particularly unhappy with his performances. Now, anyone who's seen "Rasto" play will admit that at times he can be a little, shall we say, unconventional, but unlike Phillipe deRouville in Belfast, he hasn't been letting in goals left right and centre, and thus is somewhat less likely to be cut based on his performance. About the only reason I can see for this one is that it'll free up an import spot for the Big Cats to either add more firepower (although this seems a bit greedy given that they've got three of the top forwards in the league in McAslan, Molin and Drouin, and that's just the top line-Bergin and Wallenberg on the second are no slouches either), or, more likely, bring in a steadying hand at the back, where their d does look somewhat light compared to, say, Newcastle's.

As far as other rumours go, there's nothing happening-rumbles continue to float around about changes at Belfast, but so far only Shane Johnson has resolved things, joining the Giants in time to be in the line-up tomorrow when they face the Bison. It will be interesting to see if Lyle and Campbell play, and if they do, whether they give any clues as to what's going on. Certainly the Bison fans want answers...

Meanwhile-I shall be trying to make this site more user-friendly in terms of being able to see when it's been updated, so you may notice the odd layout change or a few tweaks in the sidebars...

Still-Keep your eye on the puck...

Locker Room Chatter Extra: Bison release two?

Just goes to show how much I know. Trawling the forums today in search of news, I find out the following:

Shane Johnson signs for Belfast: Not really the most surprising move in the world, given that he wasn't in Cardiff long term (although, as I say below, that was looking more and more likely), but still seems like the equivalent of a sticking plaster on the hull of the Titanic for the problems it'll solve.
No doubt Todd Kelman will use his usual PR skills to spin this signing, which, if we extent the Titanic metaphor, will be the equivalent of the captain saying to his crew: "yes, the ship's damaged, yes, we're going down because we can't fix it, and yes, you'll all die a horrible freezing death. But look-at least you won't have to refill the ice-machines!"
Not to say that this puts the Tessier rumour to bed just yet, but it's looking a sight less likely...

Basingstoke in trouble: Depressing rumours from Hampshire say that they've released goalie Stevie Lyle and top goalscorer Peter Campbell, according to the Elite Forum. At the moment this is still very much "friend of a friend" stuff, which unlike the Johnson signing isn't confirmed by the club, but coming hard on the heels of more and more questions from Bison fans, this could be an uncertain time at the Silverdome. Campbell and Lyle are reportedly both on their way to Belfast, who have been linked with more new men than Lindsay Lohan recently. It makes slightly more sense now given that Shane Johnson could fill in on their blue-line, but still is confusing given that it would still leave Troy Neumeier as a big part of the defence, despite most fans in the league seeing him as an absolute cart-horse of a player. Although carthorses are probably quicker.

Cardiff to sign new centre shortly: Surely, surely it can't be Steve Thornton? If it is then that will be confirmation that there is indeed something seriously wrong down south, but bearing in mind that ECHL and European teams release players almost every day, the chances of it actually being Thornton are just as good as any other...the South Wales Echo says
"The Devils know the player they want on their first line and (Gerard) Adams is ready to step up negotiations.It has been a tough start to the new season for Cardiff, but those hard-earned back-to-back wins against Basingstoke Bison last weekend have lifted the team."

With Shane Johnson moving to Belfast and Sylvain Deschatelets now gone, there's room for two new faces at the Bay-interesting times ahead.

And one I missed from the post below:

Rod Hinks to return to Newcastle: Interesting one, this-once again it's nothing more than "friend of a friend" stuff-although the source quoted on the forums is the player himself, who said to a Vipers fan in conversation that he would be returning "sooner than you think" after leaving the Vipers to play in Switzerland. The Vipers fans are well pleased about this, with Sergei Rublivskiy reportedly the man on the hot seat should the speedy playmaker, who carried the Vipers offence on his back at times last season, comeback to the North East.

I shall be keeping an eye on how things develop, and of course, will post it straight on here when anything does...

Keep your eye on the puck...

Locker Room Chatter

It's time for the weekly dose of rumours, as I've trawled Britain's hockey forums so you don't have to, in order to find the mix of the plausible, the possible and the just plain wacky which make up your average week of rumours in the EIHL...we start with the big one...

Dan Tessier to Belfast: You can't deny that everyone who watches their hockey at the Odyssey will be licking their lips at this one-the speedy centre has already proved himself as one of the most prolific scorers of the Elite League era in his stints at Nottingham and Sheffield, and with his ex-Steeler linemate Shaun Sutter already in teal, white and red, the fans screaming for changes, and a less-than-stellar start in Duisburg for the DEL Foxes after his move there this season, "Tess" would certainly be a HUGE boost to the Giants. However. with EIHL teams only allowed to use 15 ITC cards (cards which must be filled in whenever a player moves club internationally) through the season, of which eleven are already used including that of Todd Kelman, and the fact that Giants are at their full quota of imports already (only ten are allowed to ice at any one time), it would mean one of the current imports has to go...and if you listen to the Giants fans, there are many candidates. Trouble is, this would leave the Giants with eight import forwards-at the moment Mark Dutiaume is playing as an offensive defenceman (and doing well, by all accounts), but would Ed Courtenay really gamble on playing him there for a whole season? This is definitely one to keep an eye on...

Speaking of rumours I will keep an eye on-this one for a slightly different reason:

Stevie Lyle to Belfast: I hope this doesn't happen. Not so much because I bear Belfast any particular ill-will, but because it would give substance to the rumours I dealt with last week about financial problems down in Basingstoke. On the surface this is plausible in itself-Phillippe deRouville hasn't made the greatest start to the season after his heroics in the playoffs last time out, and Lyle is the best British goalie out there by some distance now that Joe Watkins is languishing in the EPL and taking Guildford's shilling-not to mention that it would free up the import space needed for the Giants to sign Dan Tessier without Ed Courtenay having to cut one of the current Belfast forwards. However, with everything coming out of Basingstoke pointing to the fact that the Bison will not lose any players and will continue the way they're going, I can't genuinely see this one happening.

Steve Thornton to Cardiff: Another case of an ex-player being linked to the club where he had most success due to the Bison cash rumours, this seems to me more wishful thinking based on hearsay than anything concrete, particularly with the Bison adamant that there is nothing for their fans to worry about. This is not the only rumour involving an ex-Devil, however...

Sylvain Deschatelets to Belfast: Possibly the most plausible of the lot so far. The Quebec native hasn't set the league on fire, and the Devils have decided that they're not prepared to wait and given him his two-week notice, which ended on Sunday, making the big centre a free agent. However, Deschatelets has impressed recently for the Devils with both his attitude and his work-ethic, and has been seen in conversation with Belfast coach Courtenay when the two have met on opposing sides. Much will depend on how true the Dan Tessier rumour is as to whether this goes ahead, but it's not the most far-fetched rumour by any means...

Shane Johnson to Cardiff: Shane Johnson can't make his mind up. After leaving Belfast for Sheffield last season, retiring from the EIHL to return to Belfast as player-coach their newly-formed Irish League side, and then deciding that he missed the EIHL too much and acting as a rent-a-player for Sheffield while Jeff Legue was injured, the utility player is now filling in on the blue-line for the Devils. Originally signed as a temporary measure, Johnson has impressed in his time in South Wales, and with the Devils missing out on David Vychodil (signed here in Coventry, and fast becoming a fan favourite) and ex-Bison Kevin Bergin (signed in Nottingham), there are rumblings they may be asking the #74 to stay on for the rest of the season to bolster their blue-line. But given that Johnson has moved house more often than your average hermit crab, this is by no means a done deal just yet.

And so there we have the locker-room chatter for this week. Interestingly, it involves the two clubs who've been the most disappointing this season so far, and both of them picking the bones of one in supposed financial trouble. Personally, I'm not sure that any of them will come off (with the possible exception of Deschatelets or, at a long shot, Tessier) but hey, it's always nice to speculate...

Keep your eye on the puck until next time...