Double Overtime, January 19th

On we go with our usual stream of consciousness review of the weekend...but first of all, a few loose ends as the transfer merry-go-round turns again...

Niec, nothing, nada: Basingstoke have shored up their roster with a new import, from Telford of the EPL. Andre Niec joined late last week, and the forward registered an assist on his debut in the Bison's 7-1 loss to Nottingham on Saturday. As to what effect it'll have on Bison's chances of making the playoffs at the moment, judging by their current form...just see the title.

Cassells in the Sky: Meanwhile, up in Edinburgh, they welcome Telford's top point-scorer and second-top in the EPL, Jason Cassells. The Canadian has been getting rave reviews from EPL fans this season, so it will be interesting to see if he can make the step up...

Now, on to the weekend...

The Rejects' Revenge: Nottingham found out the hard way on Sunday that former players are almost guaranteed to come back to haunt you at some point, as they lost to Hull 3-2 in the NIC. The Stingrays prevailed 3-2, with two goals from Konstantin Kalmikov (Panther in 04/05) and one from James Cooke (Panther in 05/06) The winning goal was a Kalmikov penalty-shot after Michel Robinson had thrown his stick to prevent a scoring chance with less than two minutes on the clock...you get the sense he may have enjoyed that one.

Bison are rock-bottom. And may be beginning to dig: Another hefty loss for Basingstoke in their only game of the weekend, as the Panthers cruised to a comfortable 7-1 victory on Saturday night, means that even the playoffs are starting to look more and more distant for the Hampshire club...

"You've had your fun. Now let the big boys play": In something of a running theme this weekend, Manchester too suffered a bit of a mualing at the hands of Sheffield on Friday and Belfast on Sunday-including conceding six goals in twenty-one minutes against the Giants in an 8-2 defeat in Altrincham. The traditionally-strong Giants and Steelers, meanwhile, took maximum points from the weekend (well, all the points they could) being the only teams apart from Cardiff and Coventry to do so. The Phoenix are nearly, nearly up with the best teams in the league, but weekends like this show there's still a way to go...

Rumours that he circles meetings with the Phoenix on his calendar are gathering pace: Paul Deniset scored his third hat-trick at Altrincham in three visits there this season on Sunday, which, were he a Phoenix player, would put him on pace for a 72 goal season from home games alone. Clearly, he likes the place....

Keep on keepin' on: Sheffield earn themselves another four points...and despite being second in the league many fans of their close rivals are already handing them the title after Nottingham lost to Hull on Sunday...

Meanwhile, in the Midlands, the embers are glowing: Remember when I said on Thursday that, even in their KO Cup capitulation to Belfast, there were signs that the "real" Coventry Blaze were on the way back? A confident performance against Newcastle (despite going two-down early on) and a battling comeback in Edinburgh, aided by two very promising debut weekends (Erik Hjamarsson getting an assist on Saturday despite clealry not quite being match fit and Blake Forsyth looking like the d-man Blaze have been missing all year in scoring 1+2 for the weekend) means that, suddenly, the Skydome has the air of hope around it again. Saturday's meeting with Manchester and Sunday's trip to Nottingham should show whether that hope will grow or stall...but the signs are promising.

Hm. Not exactly a barn-burner, then: Cardiff and Newcastle played out a rare 0-0 draw on Sunday, with the game only being decided in the Welshmen's favour through penalty shots. Given that, according to IH update, there were only 44 shots combined in those 65 minutes, you'd imagine that this game was fore for those who get excited by tight defensive play rather than offense. So, in essence, hardly anybody...it comes to something when all you can really think to comment on is an early-game scrap between Mike Prpich and Derek Campbell...

There you go-that's you weekend reviewed...

Just a quickie before I go-many thanks to those of you who've taken the time to tell me how much you like the blog-both via email and (in the case of one very nice gentleman on Saturday-apologiies if I seemed a little distracted) in person at games...it is, as always, much appreciated...

The next post will likely be on Wednesday morning, when we'll have a preview look at the midweek action between Belfast and Sheffield as well as round up any tidbits of news...

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...