Rose-Tinted...

You believe what you want
And you said what's been said
And i do hope you learn a lesson
I... do hope you learn a lesson
What's your problem?
Can't you see it?

New Found Glory: "Failure's Not Flattering"

It's not often you read an interview and wonder whether the person being interviewed really means what they're saying, but this rare event has happened to me thanks to Neil Chiplen's continuing interview with Andy French on Elite Hockey Today, the first part of which spawned the rivalry debates of a week or two ago on here. The subject has now moved on to the playoff weekend, and while I appreciate the need to remain positive and promote at all costs, some of the quotes in this interview have left me questioning whether those running British ice-hockey are seeing the same things as the vast majority of the fans...so here's my reply. Call it an open letter, if you will, responding to the quotes point by point...All the words in italics are from Neil's article...the bits in speechmarks are a direct quote of Mr French:

Elite League Director of Hockey Andy French has told skysports.com that the playoff finals are the spectacle of European ice hockey.

Honestly? 7,000 people in an arena in the NIC is a bigger event with a better atmosphere than, say, Slavia Prague v Sparta or Cologne v Dusseldorf?

I disagree strongly. And here is one of the reasons why-the greatest ice-hockey moment and loudest roar I've ever seen live. Cologne's Bill Lindsay scoring against hated rivals Dusseldorf, in Cologne, in overtime, to keep them in the playoff semi-finals. Watch, imagine being in that crowd, and tell me how it's worse than a game for which half the people at the weekend have no real interest and a good thousand of the seven-thousand seats may be empty (if Nottingham have been knocked out).

Or, if you want an arena with similar capacity, here's the noise in Berlin's "Wellblechpalast" after they score the winner in the deciding game of the "best-of-five" DEL finals (sadly against "my" Cologne...:))

That's just two events that are bigger-the playoff weekend, however "uniting" it is, just isn't in the same league...

Moving on...

The playoff finals at Nottingham get huge crowds and always have,” French told skysports.com.
“It’s a big success. It’s very difficult to get tickets for it year in, year out and it’s very successful. It’s hard work but it is good. I enjoy it after doing a few playoff final weekends behind the scenes.”


Firstly...with ten teams represented you're not going to get a "small" crowd by British hockey standards...especially when Sheffield and Nottingham are given a third of the tickets by themselves. However, is there a single Elite League fan that's ever found it tricky to get tickets? In fact, has the EIHL finals weekend ever sold out, even in the year Nottingham won it?

I'm not sure that's the case...especially as, if either Sheffield or Nottingham go out, the arena is dramatically emptier for the Sunday...indeed, perhaps the major reason it is so full is purely because many people buy tickets while being unsure their team is actually going to be there...and in a lot of cases sell their tickets if they're not.

Then, of course, you have the fact that the average attendance of seventeen teams in Europe is higher than the attendance at British hockey's "showpiece", with only two teams represented...presumably this makes them on some stratospheric scale of importance to European hockey which hasn't even been measured yet-or at least it does if you're using the attendance as an argument...

Then, we move on to the playoff format, to whit the "knockout" two-leg quarter finals...

“I think we went to this new format and it’s created, in my opinion, a situation that’s way better than when we used to have the groups,” French added.

If "way better..." was replaced by "considered to be diminished massively in importance to the fans" then that might be right...

“I think it creates more interest for the fans and each club should get full houses (for the home playoff quarter final) especially if the first game is close."

If the playoff KO's were run like those in Europe, a best-of-three or -five, then I might agree in the "more interest" bit. And what happens to the crowds if the first leg sees one club win heavily?

“The next week (in Nottingham) you’re at what’s become the spectacle of Europe.”

Sorry, but no, just...no. The playoff weekend is considered by most fans to be a nice social way to round off the year while watching some decent hockey and supporting their team. Winning is a bonus. But seriously, it's an event which, in the past few years, has consisted of three EIHL games, a junior game that few people really "get into" on the Sunday morning and many skip in favour of nursing their hangovers before the final, and little to no fanfare outside the rink (i.e no "fan-parade" area, no social hub on site (the arena empties between games on the Saturday as everyone disappears into the Castle or other Nottingham pubs, simply because the area around the NIC is dead-you barely know there's a big event on from the outside)-to compare that to, say, the Stockholm-Gothenburg derby or any "big" game in Scandinavia, Germany or Switzerland just will not wash with anyone who knows about hockey...

It may bring a few interested newbies in, but is attempting to draw in those who don't even know there's a team in their local town to such an event as the Playoff Weekend really the best way to go?

Feel free to comment...

In other news, there are two EIHL games tonight as Belfast face Manchester and Nottingham face Coventry-reaction to those games will appear tomorrow but you can keep up with events at the Odyssey, as always, by watching the Giants Webcast...

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...