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...

Opening Face-Off

Morning all.

Given that I spend the vast majority of my leisure time either watching or playing hockey here in the sunny UK (well, in sunny Coventry to be precise, home of the current British Elite League Champions), I've decided I may as well write about it, because while there are plenty of hockey blogs, there aren't that many about the UK scene. So now there will be at least one...I will try to update this blog most days with news from around the UK and my views on it, and you might even get some NHL and DEL in amongst the postings as well, for all you transatlanticans...:)

But anyway-this post is just to get some of the boring introductory stuff out of the way...

My name is Paul Wheeler, I am 23, and I've been watching hockey for about eight years, and playing it at amateur (recreational or beer league level) for seven, ever since the Blaze moved to Coventry from Solihull. I've also spent my year living in Germany two years ago watching the DEL. You can usually find me down by the plexi at the Zamboni end of the Skydome on a game night (hence the web address), although I sometimes move into block 15 depending on the mood-and I travel to every away game I can (although given that I can't drive, this is sometimes tricky).
My teams are Coventry Blaze (EIHL), Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL), Cologne Sharks (DEL), and Germany and GB (international).
I play left wing (badly) and my number is ten.
My favourite NHLers are Evgeni Malkin (legend already), Marco Sturm (favourite German), and I quite like the look of this Patrick Kane kid that Chicago have drafted. So do they, by all accounts...:)
My favourite players outside the NHL are Stéphane Julien (Cologne), Curtis Huppe (Coventry) and Ryan Finnerty (Sheffield).
Best hockey memory is seeing the Blaze win the Challenge Cup against Cardiff Devils, their biggest rivals. In their barn. That was a fun evening. Luckily I was in Germany the following year when they took revenge...
Least favourite players are Theo Fleury (for his chippy game on the ice, not the off-ice stuff) and a whole list of those who've played in Britain, which is probably a whole seperate other post.

There you go-a little info about me. Now, given that there's a lot happening in British hockey at the moment-straight on to the meaty stuff...:)