Double Overtime, Feb 16th

Be warned...this one is a bit long..hence why it's a day late. I've had to do three drafts of it to tone it down to the version you now see...I thought the other two descended too much into ranting. However, I eventually decided to post that on Tuesday afternoon-thanks to a bit of Blogspot magic that is already written and will be going up on here at three pm exactly on Tuesday.

Anyway...on to the weekend review...

Well, that's me told, then: Remember my musings on how the Steelers/Panthers rivalry was, perhaps, a little tamer than it was made out to be and perhaps wasn't considered hugely important by those outside the fan-bases involved (and even that was dwindling)

Well, Saturday proved me wrong...seven goals, a game only won after nine rounds of penalty shots, the horrific sight of Jade Galbraith removing his kit (luckily he stopped with elbow pads) as he challenged the Steelers bench and was rather amusingly ignored, although the ladies in the crowd may sue for cruel and unusual punishment of their eyes. Add a decent scrap between Steve Munn and Kevin Bergin and Dan Tessier getting the smacking some would say is long overdue, all of which you can see courtesy of Steelers TV here, and I'm willing to admit that, on this evidence at least, the rivalry is still very much alive...

It's beginning to get a little...well, embarassing now: Poor old Basingstoke. Three goals scored, fourteen conceded...and well and truly rooted to the bottom with their fans hoping the season just ends as quick as possible. As if that wasn't bad enough, they starred in the latest Mark Haddon novel:

The Curious Incident Of The Twenty-Two Minute Period: This, which happened on Saturday night against Coventry, came as a result of an Adam Calder shot which appeared to go in, wasn't given as a goal, and play continuing. So far, so samey. However, the officials managed to do something truly special, deciding after the end of the second period two minutes later that yes, this was in fact a goal, and thus the second period needed to be replayed from the point the puck had "hit the net", which saw the surreal situation of teams play a 20 minute second period, then come back out after a normal period break, play the last two minutes or so of the second period again, and swap ends for the third. You really couldn't make it up...

Cup Crazy: Remember I've predicted from the start of the season that Manchester will win a trophy? They took a giant leap closer this weekend, passing safely into both the KO Cup Semi-final and Challenge Cup final, where they will face Newcastle and Belfast respectively after beating Hull and Basingstoke. The chase for silverware (and proof that I may actually have some ability at this prediction game) gathers pace...

So, lads, I guess that's training sorted this week: Nottingham played two games against their biggest rivals for position this weekend (Belfast and Sheffield) and lost both games in true English-team fashion, on penalties...

Cue much shooting practice this week at the end of training, especially with Dan Tessier now injured and off the roster for the rest of the season...

Not with a bang, but with a whimper: Similar to last season, some of the most intriguing action in the coming weeks will be to see who plays who in the playoff weekend, and particularly who will take the last playoff spot since Edinburgh and Hull are currently tied. The table is clearly split into three divisions, though, with a big gap between Coventry in fourth and Manchester in fifth (seventeen points) and between Hull and Edinburgh fighting for eighth and Basingstoke in tenth (ten points). It seems that all that is really left to decide is who plays who in the playoff quarters now-the jostle for position will be intriguing but hardly compares with the excitement of either a genuine title race (which has all but disappeared from this season as Sheffield march on) or the tooth and nail scrap which Edinburgh and Hull will hopefully provide...

With that in mind: It seems the Capitals are gearing up for their usual late charge-an impressive 7-4 win against Cardiff on Sunday shows that finally, something is stirring in the Bravehearts of the north...

It may be nicer looking up at the stars, but for the rest of this season, those looking for excitement in the EIHL may do better to find it in the basement...

Vipers lose their bite: However, it wasn't the best weekend for one of the others in the mid-table pack, with Newcastle (who look so far away from my prediction of a big year that it's untrue) coming out of the weekend point-less, including a loss to their nearest rivals in Cardiff. A respectable performance in Sheffield goes some way to redeeming the weekend, but you get the sense that some teams in the league are already focusing on the playoffs now...

Not with a bang but a whimper II: Coventry's performance against Belfast on Sunday was a microcosm of the Blaze's season...early promise, a bit of hope, problems against superior opposition, a brief resurgence and then simply being beaten by the same old frailties over and over again. This is the first season I've heard genuine mutterings of discontent at the Skydome directed at the organisation as a whole-even the Valentine's shirts for breast cancer were cynically being dismissed by many as "a moneymaking scheme" with the belief that not all of the money was going to reach the charity it was promoting...

These are not good times at the Skydome...despite the league position. If the Blaze ever genuinely do have a bad season, they could become hockey's version of Leeds United..

There you go...that's the weekend reviewed...check back around five for Tuesday's offering...
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