A Glaswegian Odyssey: Prologue

So, this weekend, I’m off to Glasgow to take in not one but TWO hockey games, and in true ‘I’m a proper writer, innit’ style, I’m going to preview the action ahead and perhaps hazard a prediction or two, before heading off for my lunchtime train. Because I’m a pro and that. Yeah!

Despite a professed fondness for Braehead early in the season, I have of late become somewhat estranged from my Glaswegian charges, having not seen them either live or on screen since their very first game of the season, back in September. They won convincingly that night and set out their stall as a feisty, physical yet skilful side, and it seems that the only thing they lack that prevents them from becoming a top side is consistency. On their day, they can take anyone. Will they be on their game this weekend? They come off the back of a pointless weekend last weekend so will be looking to appease the fans in this home double header.

First up, tonight, will be Belfast. Although the much-vaunted rivalry between Nottingham and Sheffield may be the biggest in UK hockey, they are not the only pair of teams with a mutual dislike this season. There’s no love lost between Belfast and Braehead, following the contentious and much debated events from earlier in the season involving Benoit Doucet and Sammy Zajac. It remains to be seen whether or not those demons have been laid to rest, or if the teams will still feel there are scores to be settled, however what most certainly isn’t in doubt is grudge match or not, these are two of the most physical sides in the league and the game promises to pack a major punch.

The teams are surprisingly well-matched, having met four times and shared the honours even, and it’s a tough one to call. Belfast lost their midweek Challenge Cup clash in Cardiff and in the league, with Nottingham and Sheffield breathing down their necks, two points on the road to start the weekend would make a statement to their rivals. However the injury-plagued Giants are a man down yet again, and a seriously important man at that, the hard-hitting and high-scoring Darryl Lloyd, so they will look once again to in-form Brit Rob Dowd who is on one hell of a hot streak to bamboozle the Clan defencemen and steal the win. Prediction? 2-2 in regulation time. I think it will go the distance and the Giants will win in the shoot-out.

On Saturday night the Clan face Scottish rivals the Dundee Stars, who are enjoying a mini-resurgence under coach Brent Hughes, having picked up three of the four available points last weekend. New boy Mark Kolanos is adding bite to their attack and despite personal cynicism having been unimpressed by the Stars on my two occasions of seeing them in action, it’s clear the side are starting to find some cohesion and in the play-off run-in they seek to pip a rival to 8th spot, and will look at games like this as chances to pick up precious points.

Goaltender Chris Whitley is consistently the best player on the Stars side and he will be looking to keep the scoreline lower than last time I saw these two sides face-off back in September, when the Clan netted an unanswered six. Braehead have had Dundee’s number so far this season and are unbeaten in four meetings against the Taysiders, but I think this will be their toughest test yet. Prediction: despite new-found confidence I still think Braehead have it in them to beat the Stars convincingly. 4-2 Clan.

Anyway. You might have noticed, if you’re a regular, or even casual reader of my ramblings, that I struggle to stick to a point. I don’t really want to be one of ‘those’ writers. You know, those ones that like, recount things that happen, in an orderly and factual manner. Journalists, I think they’re called. I like to impart great wisdom, through the medium of humour, inane observation and emotionally led opinion. Because let’s face it, you can pick up the facts from a number of sources. But what really HAPPENED? Who DOESN’T want to know about people falling over, amusing chants, pretty skating and comparative beard lengths?

I’ll admit though, I have drifted off topic perhaps one too many times and been a very bad hockey writer. Slap wrist. (Ooh I named two kinds of shot, see, look how topical I am!). As a result, I am setting myself a series of personal challenges to try and be a better writer, reporter and person. Here are my pledges. Call them (very) late New Year’s Resolutions:

1) I will attempt to limit my alcohol consumption prior to games so that I remain focussed on the job at hand. Just a half for me please, barkeep!
2) I will work harder at memorising squad numbers so I know who’s who at all times.
3) I will make copious notes in my blue notebook so that I actually remember what happened and don’t have to resort to piecing it together from my cider-addled recollections
4) I will attempt to take a selection of acceptable photographs. And what I mean by that is, not ones which feature blurry blobs on what may or may not be ice.
5) I will try to refrain from dancing during every single stoppage in play. It’s just plain unprofessional.
6) I will avoid commenting on facial hair for the duration of one whole report.
7) I will deliver you the FACTS!! The FACTS I tell you!
8) I will attempt to elicit a cuddle from a previously agreed member of the Braehead Clan squad. Oh wait, that’s going off topic isn’t it. Scratch that.

Come back early next week to see how I get on!! And now, To Glasgow!

Coming to a rink near you… The Game-Killer (or, why I’m unintentionally ruining hockey).

Originally published on http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/ on 16th January 2012

I wrote in a recent post that the Elite League is providing some of the best entertainment in UK sport. And I still maintain that view; take for example the 13 goal Edinburgh v Hull thriller in December. Or the Challenge Cup semi-final this Saturday in Braehead, where the Clan won against the Panthers, the Glasgwegian side heroically hanging onto a slender one goal lead to beat the current cup holders.

Unpredictable, exciting, can’t-tear-your- eyes-away entertainment. That’s how I sell it to my non hockey-loving friends. And it really can be. Just… Not when I’m there. I can’t deny it any longer: sorry Elite League clubs, but I’m clearly bad for business.

I was cautiously optimistic as I journeyed south for my first ever trip to the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield, as they took on Dundee in their only game of the weekend, odd scheduling bearing in mind the number of games they still have in hand. So the Steelers were likely to be fresh and ready to take on the world. Dundee were a team I’d seen early in the season when in all honesty they’d looked a bit clueless, but since then they’ve had a coaching change, brought in a couple of new players and pieced together some decent performances, scoring plenty of goals against big teams along the way, so there was no reason why it shouldn’t have been a competitive match-up.

First impressions of Sheffield? Well, I liked the nice shiny white ice and the general orange-ness of the tango’ed Steelers fans, and I felt excited, nay, privileged, to hear the dulcet tones of the one and only Simmsey doing the announcing. In less salubrious news, and in a slamming indictment of the intelligence of Yorkshire-based dancing girls, the cheerleader who was positioned behind us leant over and asked me where Dundee was. I gave her a fairly specific answer. She returned to her friend, also a cheerleader, clearly a party to the very same geography-based quandary, and summarised helpfully, ‘Scotland’. Excellent. I should have gone home then as that was the highlight of my evening.

And so to the game. It’s a funny thing being a neutral in a sport that you love so much. I wouldn’t be able to do it in football; it’s losing its appeal for me enough already without throwing forced impartiality into the mix. But I would happily take in any Elite League game for the sheer love of it. And here begins the problem. If it’s a cracking game, as previously discussed, you’re sorted. If it’s a bit, well, crap, and you don’t even have the ‘they’re my team and I love them no matter what’ factor to get you through it, it’s a poor state of affairs. If you can’t while away the interminable minutes feeling disproportionately proud of player X’s beautiful skating, or calculating the precise dimensions of any given beard, it somewhat takes the edge off the whole experience. And this game was a bit, well, crap.

It just never really got off the ground. It was stunningly low on penalties which, whilst probably being ideal for the purist, doesn’t make for much of a spectacle for the neutral. The first period ebbed away at quite a lick, vast swathes of time passing between whistles, yet nothing really occurring during these long tranches of play. When Dundee took their first penalty and Sheffield had a powerplay things picked up briefly, and it seemed inevitable the home side would score, Colt ‘the immovable object’ King proving strong as usual in front of goal, tipping in a pass from Jeff Legue to break the deadlock. I wish I could say that lots more exciting things happened in the first period, but to be honest, I’d be telling a lie.

The second period had barely started when Luke Fulghum scored the Steelers’ second. I was standing in the queue for hotdogs in fact. But you could sense even from outside at the concession stand that despite the amount of time remaining on the clock, the game was done and dusted. There was a moment of tension between Dundee’s Brennan Turner and Colt King when my heartrate may have quickened just a shade, but the former appeared to shy away from dropping the gloves with King. Wise? Probably. Boring? Definitely. Filing my nails? I will be next time.

Dundee didn’t have a lot of fight in any area of the ice really, they seemed to be going through the motions, content to take an expected defeat perhaps, and unwilling to risk going all out? They certainly lacked potency. Think of the NEUTRALS Dundee, the NEUTRALS!! And all two of your away fans!! In fairness to the visiting side, they dearly missed sparky goalscorer Jarrett Konkle, sidelined with an injury, and despite attempts by handy-looking new signing Mark Kolanos to liven things up, there was nothing doing. I’d been excited to see the Steelers live having viewed them twice on Sky Sports, but as they never really needed to up the ante, I don’t feel as though I saw the best of them. Bottoms. Is exactly what I said.

I wondered: did everyone just have somewhere else better to be? You could almost see the referees checking their watches. Dundee clearly hadn’t come with any notion of winning and the game sped by and clocked in well under two hours; Dundee were merrily on their way home, the Steelers left the building in carefully chosen disguises, and we stood patiently in the stands wondering if a hockey game would start anytime soon. We could easily have fit another one into our evening what with the early face-off time. It might have been a good one, too.

Oh, Luke Fulghum scored another goal. And Dundee netminder Chris Whitley had a decent game too. Unsurprisingly, they both won man of the match for their respective sides. No-one else had done a lot really, so it seemed fair enough, It finished 3-1. Will that do?

Not content with my own weekend’s hockey experience I’ll bring you news of some of the interesting happenings around the league. Starting with the Cardiff Devils, who went on a three game trip to Scotland and came back with all six points, pulling off some gutsy performances despite still missing key players and delighting the army of fans that travelled north of the border. Most notable in their three game weekend was the win over Fife which was a feisty encounter containing three 10 minute misconduct penalties and a game penalty for Chris Frank who personally amassed another 36 penalty minutes across the weekend as a whole. The guy definitely has to be on a bet, right? If he is, he’s winning.

Coventry travelled to Belfast for a double header in which they lost both matches, but provided some great entertainment along the way in what sounded like two very even contests. During the second game there was a heart-warming incident in which Adam Keefe lovingly undressed Brian Jurynec; unfortunately for Jurynec, Keefe’s favourite way to express his love for a fellow professional is with his fists. This exchanging of mutual affection resulted in a cracking fight and proves what a great entertainer Keefe is and that Jurynec too is game to take on anyone. Fun stuff.

Last but by no means least, Braehead saw their biggest ever crowd in attendance for the first leg of their Challenge Cup semi-final against the Nottingham Panthers, and the game proved a brilliant choice for any new visitors to Braehead as the Clan battled to take the win. Sadly they couldn’t keep the level up the following day in Nottingham and the Panthers were the first side to qualify for the final. Their opponents will be either Cardiff or Belfast. Braehead are proving to be a strong, cohesive and talented side this season and I am excited to see them during my next away trip, in two weeks time. At least, I would have been excited. But as has now been proven, the mere fact of my presence will render both games completely flaccid and impotent wastes of time. Sorry Clan fans. I strongly advise you to develop a sudden desire to attend an intensive flower-arranging course that weekend. It’s for your own good.

That was the week that was...

First published on http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/ on 8th January 2012

January. The New Year. A time of resolutions, post-Christmas blues and detoxing. A time to stay in and slouch on your sofa, finishing off the last of the Christmas chocolates and the dregs from the Baileys bottle before launching into the latest fad diet.

I remember this time last year. The transition between Christmas and New Year was significant for me, not just because of the chance to stop force-feeding myself cheese and biscuits and consuming a bottle of wine a day, but because it was when I went from loving ice hockey, to being obsessed with it. And now I remember why. This holiday season, like the last, featured ice hockey in copious amounts. The Spengler Cup and the World Junior Championship adorned our screens, both featured on Eurosport for our viewing pleasure. There was my trip to Edinburgh, not quite the same as last year’s festive Vipers games at Whitley Bay, but still, it enabled me to keep up appearances in the Elite League. And I got an ice hockey film for Christmas! The masterwork that is Youngblood. Ah, scantily clad Rob Lowe. It’s what the holidays are all about.

In the NHL there was plenty going on as always, with the excellent HBO 24/7 series building up to the Winter Classic, and then the game itself on 2nd January, in which a flying Rangers side just got the better of a rangy Flyers side and skated into a comfy little soft spot in my heart in the process. I returned to work to find my Calgary Flames jersey had arrived, a little late Christmas present which lifted my spirits on the return to work. A shame that the team themselves couldn’t do anything of the sort with their on-ice performances. The less said about that the better.

And then I found out that there was to be another live broadcast on Sky Sports: Sheffield Steelers travelled to the Skydome in Coventry to take on the Blaze. Going to the pub in my detoxifying state was just not an option so instead I splashed out on Sky Sports for my home television. Elite League ice hockey in stunning high definition. It’s what Friday nights are made for.

Coventry haven’t beaten Sheffield yet this season, so they would look to break the hoodoo in front of their home crowd and the Sky cameras. Gin and tonic in hand (well, it’s got less calories than cider!) I was ready for a good contest. And it started out briskly, the first chance coming for Sheffield as Blaze picked up an early penalty, but it was wasted, the Steelers with no ideas and no killer instinct on their powerplay, and the Blaze producing an effective penalty kill. Was this a sign of things to come? Er, no.

After an entertaining first few minutes in which King and Jurynec effectively clotheslined each other, Shea Guthrie was speedy and Dave Simms saying ‘Venus’ sounded just like ‘penis’, ex-Blaze man Luke Fulghum scored the opening goal of the game against the run of play, easily finding a gap in the Blaze’s defences to score on Peter Hirsch. Then it was the Blaze’s turn on the powerplay – could this be their chance to stamp their authority on the game? Er, no. Despite some excellent build-up play they could not make the man advantage count; the Steelers’ killer pairing of Legue and Ramsay combining on the counterattack to score a 2ndand stun the Blaze. Steve Birnstill came close to making it three; Hirsch looked all at sea (I told you there would be more poetry eventually). Sheffield’s second line battled and the 3rd goal came from nowhere. This game was in danger of being over before it had started.

It was time for another one of Thommo’s magic time outs. Would it provide the spark that the home side needed to get back into the game? Er, no. The Blaze shut the door on the Steelers to some extent, halting the free-scoring and levelling the game somewhat, but they were frustrating to watch, there was no fight, they couldn’t get any shots on goal, and the balance was by no means redressed.

Into the second and there was a rash of penalties and a number of stick breakages. Somebody call the gear supplier. The Blaze needed to up the urgency, and you could see the desperation as there were a couple of swings and misses. Peter Hirsch looked in better form and made a couple of quality saves, including from a one on one with Jeff Legue, and this seemed to galvanise the Blaze. The game opened up and there was some real end to end stuff. In a reversal of the first period, Coventry looked dangerous on the breakaway, Guthrie missing a number of good chances, and the momentum slowly swung back in favour of the home side. Would they capitalise on their new-found attacking play? Er, no.

In another reversal of fortune (Anne Robinson would be all over this), Sheffield had a powerplay which was much stronger, resulting in a tidy pass from Tait to Ramsay, who buried the puck to make it 4-0, effectively killing the game off. Rob Farmer dropped the gloves and tried to goad Mark Thomas into a fight to rile his side but it wasn’t to be. Could it fire them up? Another ineffectual powerplay later and it seemed perhaps not. But wait: a couple more minutes passed and the hex was broken, Brian Jurynec scoring on the rebound from a Domish shot through John DeCaro’s five hole. It seemed this could this give them the momentum they needed to turn the tide: Bakrlik and Guthrie showed up and had shots saved shortly afterwards. Guthrie is brilliant on the puck but he needs to do some work on his finishing given tonight’s evidence. Then another chance from Rob Farmer, the Blaze spirits really lifted now and the excitement in the Skydome surging – this was more like it! Blaze went for it; there was no doubt they needed to score another goal to take the third period to the Steelers. And they got their chance as Ryan Finnerty was called for holding – a powerplay chance right before the break. Could they make it a two goal game? Er, no.

I took my chance in the second period break to pour more gin and marvel at Russ Cowley’s massive eyes and impossibly complex accent. Where IS he from?

It was a quiet start to the third period compared with the thrilling end to the 2nd; the wind seemed to have gone out of the Blaze sails, and they returned to frustratingly sloppy passing and turning over of pucks. You could almost hear the collective sigh as hoards of casual fans turned over. Hirsch pulled off a couple of decent saves and yet more powerplay opportunities for the home side went begging, and the Steelers, with three games in three nights, understandably took their foot off the gas, their top line resting, and players seemingly taking penalties just because they fancied a sit down. It was frustrating stuff and the time ebbed away. It was all over. On the night, the difference between the teams was sheer hard work, clinical finishing and a strong game in net from John DeCaro.

North of the border, Fife Flyers lost two of their key imports in a major ‘wheels falling off’ week, a mirror image of the Vipers last season, Danny Stewart must be experiencing déjà vu in a big way, the poor guy. But if their misfortunes follow the Vipers pattern they will pull off some surprising results and this was reflected against the Steelers in Kirkcaldy on Saturday night, where the Flyers made the visitors work for the two points despite being under-staffed.

Cardiff went to Nottingham for only the second time this season and played out of their skins despite missing key players Birbraer, Voth and Matzka, producing the game of the weekend thus far, pushing the Panthers on their home ice and beating them 4-2, the forward line of Stu Macrae, Phil Hill and Jeff Pierce turning up in force and causing all sorts of problems for the Panthers defence. Devils defenceman Chris Frank picked up a surely unbeatable 35 penalty minutes in some kind of violence hat-trick, having two fights, bleeding all over the ice and eventually being thrown out of the game for cross-checking from behind. Take a bow, sir. The return leg promises to be a full-blooded affair and that’s putting it mildly.

In the final two games of the day, Belfast and Braehead picked up home wins. The rest of my weekend round-up will follow shortly. Let’s hope tonight’s games give me plenty to write about. Otherwise I’ll talk more about gin and possibly beards. And nobody wants that.

A Capital Christmas

First published on http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/ on 29th December 2011

It was 27th December. The turkey sandwiches had all been demolished. Nothing but scattered crumbs remained where fresh mince pies once lay. Shards of crumpled wrapping had been scattered to the four winds. Christmas was officially over.

‘Oh no it wasn’t!!’

(Oh yes it was!)

Actually, no – it wasn’t! As a post-Christmas present from me, to me, I had surprised myself with a trip north of the border to view a festive clash between the Edinburgh Capitals and the Cardiff Devils at Murrayfield ice rink. Really, I shouldn’t have. I’m too good to myself.

So who would get a late gift from Santa, and who would be found to have overdone it on the Christmas cheer? The Devils were flying high following a pre-Christmas cracker of a Challenge Cup decider against Sheffield, a game eventually tied at 4-4, meaning the Welsh side progressed to the semi-finals of the Cup at the expense of the Steelers, and it was a thrilling game by all accounts, and sold out – good work those dudes. They followed up with a Boxing Day league win against Fife before setting out on their travels, making the long journey north to the Scottish capital for Tuesday’s clash with the dark horses of the league this season.

A Capital Offence

(Do you see what I did there?)

The Capitals have had a good season so far and on home ice, they were likely to be dangerous – this would not be straightforward for the visitors. Coming off the back of a Christmas sandwiched by road defeats in Belfast and Dundee, there could be no excuses tonight as Richard Hartmann’s men came home with one purpose and one purpose only: to give their fans a dose of much needed festive cheer. And they started out well in the first period, taking advantage of a relatively flat-footed Devils side who had yet to rouse themselves from their bus-induced slumber. It was my first viewing of the handy Capitals side who were undoubtedly pacey on the attack, but they were unable to capitalise (pun-tastic Bob) on their rivals’ bus legs, their powerplay proving impotent, and a scrappy first period ended goalless.

Capital Punishment

(Honestly, I have more of these)

The home side would rue their lack of early finishing; they would not get that opportunity again, the Devils coming out in the second back to their usual selves, feisty, forward and physical, and after building the momentum they finally took the lead in the 27th minute from Scott Dobben following a mistake by goaltender Nathan Craze as he fumbled a Brad Voth shot. The Capitals were non-plussed however and grabbed an equaliser just five minutes later, a scrappy, scrambled effort finally put away by Bari McKenzie. The game still didn’t have quite the spark that it needed though and I was left wondering if it was actually my fault. I was yet to see a really juicy hockey match in person this season. What have I got to do to see some fireworks?!

Caps Lock (and load!)

My worries were unfounded, the third period proving that there was life in the old dog, the game finally sparking into life, hits being thrown and the momentum swinging this way and that, as Cardiff started to pick up penalties and the Capitals powerplay finally proved dangerous, twice in two minutes in fact following a 2+2 penalty for headstrong Devils defenceman Chris Frank, Rene Jarolin finding the back of the net twice, the second coming from a 5 on 3 opportunity.

Suddenly the Capitals had a two-goal cushion and looked to be in control of the game, turning the tables on the visitors. They held the lead for a few minutes but the Devils were winding up the pressure, the Capitals starting to tire, and you just knew there was more to come from the visitors, as they punished the opposition with a more physical approach, clearly not the style of hockey favoured by Hartmann’s Euro-centric side, eventually the reward coming, the second Devils goal a success on their only powerplay opportunity from the stick of Mark Richardson. An equaliser followed five minutes later from Brad Voth. 3-3. Game well and truly on.

The Devils in the Detail

It was end to end stuff now and the atmosphere built despite the relatively limited number seated in Murrayfield’s Baltic conditions (yes, it took me back to the good old days at Whitley Bay. Except there were pretty lights. As opposed to none. Which was nice). There were moments of pressure as Jeff Pierce was called for hooking and the Capitals had another good powerplay, an excellent pad save from Stevie Lyle the only reason the home side were unable to take the lead. Back to full strength and the game changer came from the clinical Devils side, Stu Macrae netting with less than a minute and a half to go. Could the Capitals find an equaliser once again to take the game to overtime? It was not to be, the game wrapped up in the final minute via an excellent individual effort from Ben Davies on the breakaway, one of two young British players to catch the eye on the Devils side, defenceman Josh Batch also looking a fine prospect.

A great final period had rescued what could have turned out to be a fairly lacklustre game, and to celebrate we headed to the Murrayfield bar to sample some of their finest beverages. Well, it was Christmas after all.

The Best of the Rest

Speaking of Christmas, a number of gifts were being bestowed in other parts of the kingdom. In the second of the massive home and away double header between rivals Nottingham and Sheffield, Nottingham were once again victorious having won the first leg at the Motorpoint Arena the previous night. The Panthers have now won 5 of the 6 clashes between the two sides, seemingly the Achilles heel of last year’s title winners, and the only team to really have the Steelers’ number this season. It capped a frustrating run of three games without a win for the Sheffield side who are now out of the Challenge Cup and down to third in the standings. Finnerty’s side having a little wobble. Will that be all it is, or are the wheels coming off the previously seemingly infallible challengers?

Nottingham’s gift to Belfast of taking away four of the Steelers precious possible points was apparently not well received by the Northern Irish side, who, despite a comprehensive victory over them on their home ice the night before, couldn’t beat the Braehead Clan at the Odyssey, a gifthorse looked soundly in the mouth there. Surprising, as it was a fairly substantial present – this was no knitted snowman jumper. Mike Bayrack was the stand-out man for the Clan, scoring a brace against his former side as the Glaswegians won 4-1 – a gift indeed for their travelling fans, and a missed opportunity for the Giants.

The Lion, the Finn and the Mo-Train

In other, far more important, news, Christmas looked set to be cancelled when Panthers’ captain Danny Meyers announced he was cutting off his beautiful blond locks. If he’s saved the cuttings he could raise enough cash to buy a new player by auctioning them off to stalker fans. Not me, of course. I’m not in any way stalkerish. £50 for a locket-full?

There was more movement around the league as, clearly in direct response to my post last week about player loyalty and him sounding like a Hollywood divorce lawyer, Scott Champagne decided to quit the Panthers. He was promptly replaced with not one but TWO new imports, Corey Neilson full of the Christmas spirit, bringing in Finn Sami Ryhanen, and former Panther, veteran Sean McAslan, who shoots to the top of the all-time awesome name rankings with immediate effect, being as it is that he sounds like the fictional lion king of Narnia. Amazing. Belfast chose to replace arguably THEIR top player with a veteran too, in the shape of former player Mark Morrison, who apparently hasn’t even played the game for a year. A strange decision, but one which was met with unbridled joy by the Giants fans. Well alrighty then.

What else? In summary: Hull and Coventry traded wins in their home/away double header. Belfast’s Darryl Lloyd picked up the mantle left first by Benoit Doucet and then Brock McBride, scoring back to back hat-tricks and proving he means business. Fife picked up a much needed two points against local rivals, the struggling Dundee Stars. Colt King had a Twitter row with some Panthers fans. Brennan Turner was this week’s ‘player moaning about officials on Twitter’. Adam Keefe was back in fighting action, imperious against Braehead Clan’s Kevin Phillips. Edinburgh’s Rene Jarolin became the league’s joint top scorer. Cardiff had the best of the weekend, quietly picking up four points and qualifying for the Challenge Cup semi final. Brad Voth said hello to me in the pub. And I think that just about covers it.

And so into the New Year. It’s time to head towards the business end of things. Stay tuned folks – it’s going to get serious.

It’s a (Christmas) Cracker

First published on http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/ on 20th December 2011

Anyone who hasn’t realised that the Elite league of British Ice Hockey is currently providing some of the best sporting entertainment in the country must be living under a rock. Okay, I realise that probably runs to a fair few million folk in the kingdom who would have to be classed as subterranean but still, in a week in which Nottingham Panthers owner Neil Black spoke out about the league, it seems he was absolutely spot on in his assertion that it’s in better shape than ever.

But wait, he was talking about the finances, wasn’t he? Oh dear. Just two weeks after the Coventry Blaze’s desperate appeal for financial help, and in a season in which it’s no secret that more than just one or two of the Elite League clubs are struggling against financial constraints to offer the best possible on-ice product, Black’s remarks were at best ill-advised, but more realistically blinkered, short-sighted, and lots of other words that imply he’d not actually thought it through at all. Cue a frantic back-pedal a few days later with his suggested league reforms which seemed to acknowledge that not everyone can afford to put out a team that includes the likes of Champagne, Beauregard and Kowalski (who sound like a firm of Hollywood divorce lawyers). It’s been made patently clear that their organisation do not feel the pinch that other clubs do. Some teams sound more like a cockney debt collection agency (Frank, Dobben and Voth). But do we love them any less? Of course not! (No offence to the fine gentlemen of the Cardiff parish. Comic effect is everything). Now I’ve ruined the joke, haven’t I? Sorry.

Anyway… The financial argument rumbled on throughout the week, rearing its ugly but unavoidable head as it tends to do at numerous points throughout the season, but putting it aside for a moment, there really is no denying that in terms of entertainment, the league this season is a nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat thrill ride from top to bottom. If we could bottle this and sell it, we wouldn’t be in these financial doldrums in the first place. We should be marketing the crap out of this bad boy.

So, shout it from the rooftops good people of Hockeyland! Ice hockey is here and it’s AWESOME! Unlike in recent seasons, NOTHING can be taken for granted which makes every game a potential classic. Take this weekend as an example of how unpredictable the Elite League has become: Nottingham WON’T win every game on home ice! Fife CAN lead by four goals against the likes of the Steelers! The Edinburgh Capitals can and WILL go on their travels and take the lead in some of the most challenging rinks in the country! And they will NOT concede 15 goals a game! No-siree-bob! It’s all true – hold the front page hockey news writers – because you really can’t write the script for how a hockey weekend is going to go anymore.

The Weekend Revisited

Try Saturday for starters. A typical day in the Elite League. On paper, you’d have had the four scheduled games down as home wins, and comfortable ones at that. But as the stories unfolded around the country, you’d have been forgiven for thinking you were seeing things. Or perhaps on drugs of some sort. Coventry Blaze travelled to the National Ice Centre in Nottingham and appeared to take a 3-0 lead in the first period. Sheffield were mysteriously unable to break the deadlock against Fife on home ice in their first period. Edinburgh apparently went 1-0 up in Cardiff’s Big Blue Tent. Did I need my eyes testing? Or a strong drink? (I opted for the latter).

As the games progressed, momentum began to swing back in the direction of the logical. Nottingham pulled back level, the Blaze unable to capitalise on their opening period onslaught. Sheffield went 4-0 up on the Flyers and looked to complete a demolition on their Scottish opponents. Early in the third period, Cardiff cruised into the lead against Edinburgh with three goals in four minutes. And Belfast were 4-2 up on Dundee at the Odyssey Arena. Would all be right with the world after all?

Not before some last gasp excitement. In a reversal of fortune (‘Weakest Link’ mode engage), the Steelers conceded three quick goals to make their game a last gasp affair, Colt King scoring the decisive goal with seven seconds remaining to take the win for the Steelers. In Cardiff, the Capitals also pulled a goal back to make the Devils sweat for the final ten minutes of the game, but the home side held on to take the points. In Belfast, Dundee had their fair share of the score line, pushing the Giants to within a one goal margin, eventually losing 5-4. And in the surprise of the day, Blaze won the penalty shootout in Nottingham to take a precious and unexpected two points back to Coventry.

The action was just as frenetic on Sunday, four more games, and a total of 36 goals scored. Edinburgh once again took the lead on the road, taking a two goal lead in the first period against the Blaze, who promptly got their acts together in the second period and went on to cruise to a 7-2 victory. Hull were involved in their second Sunday spectacular in as many weeks as they took on Cardiff at home, the lead changing hands on several occasions before the Devils took control of the game in the third period to take the win, 5-3. Braehead were the only team to make short work of their opponents all weekend, quietly despatching Dundee 7-1 in a fuss-free effort, a hat-trick for the inimitable Jade Galbraith and a brace for Captain Krestanovich.

The Clan have played the least games of any team in the league aside from the Steelers, and it’s worth noting that if they win their game in hand on Cardiff who sit one place above them, they would move within a single point of the Welsh side. Dark horses? What did I tell you.

In the final tie of the day, Sheffield travelled to Fife to complete a home/away double header, and there was a shock to the system in store for the pretenders to the top spot as Fife scored five past them with only one in reply to take a four goal lead into the third period. This was unthinkable! Hockey fans around the country waited with bated breath for news. Doug Christiansen and Corey Neilson must have had the champagne on ice (‘why, did he injure himself?’ I hear you cry! Ba-dum cha! I’ll get my coat). But, goal by goal, the Steelers clawed back the deficit, finally evening the score at 5 goals all late in the third. So to overtime, where they almost immediately struck the killer blow to the gutsy home side, Mark Thomas scoring in just over 30 seconds to take the extra point and delay a potential miracle until another day. Hockey fans released their collective held breath. It smelt a bit like pies.

The weekend summed up everything that is good about the league this season. Last season, the hapless Edinburgh Capitals were on the end of double figure drubbings on a weekly basis. This year? Nothing of the sort. The Caps are proving themselves more than worthy adversaries on a regular basis, and new kids on the block Fife have proved nothing like the whipping boys that many thought they would be; after overcoming a slow start they now have the Danny Stewart factor and are taking it to opponents like Sheffield and Belfast week on week. It has to be good for business.

It’s all about the money

Aside from the over-arching league-wide financial debates, there were more player movements this week, the most notable being Belfast’s Brock McBride, who signed for HDD Olimpija Ljubljana of the Austrian first league, much to the dismay of the Northern Irish fans. He proved what a massive miss he will be for the Giants by picking up five points in his final game on Saturday, going out with a bang instead of a whimper.

So what does it take to command some loyalty from a player in this league, or, like the English lower leagues in football have become to an extent, is the Elite League merely a breeding ground, a nursery, or perhaps in the case of some, a retirement home? Can we really ask for loyalty when better money is being offered elsewhere? It’s a game of high player turnover at the best of times, but in the ‘current climate’ (how I hate that phrase), it’s even more difficult to prevent a player’s head being turned by the promise of riches elsewhere.

It has to be bad for the sport in the UK; the fans put their support behind a player, buy a shirt with his name on, only to watch him wave bye-bye as he jumps on the next plane to Wherever two months later. Ice hockey is more volatile and fragile than most UK sports, especially in this market, and it’s definitely ‘that’ time of year again as the comings and goings pick up pace around the leagues; injured players are replaced, unsettled players move on.

Following the departure of Luke Fulghum, Coventry Blaze signed Frankie Bakrlik and Woo Sang Park on a permanent basis. Hull parted company with captain Josh Mizerek. Dan Ceman moved from Dundee to Fife. There’s an air of tension that I remember all too well from last season as you wonder who could be the next through hockey’s notorious revolving door of employment. It’s nigh on impossible for a club’s management to command a regular and loyal fanbase let alone drum up new support when those on the ice aren’t even committed to stick around for one full season – a meagre seven months – the blink of an eye, really. Or perhaps that’s unfair. It IS just a job after all.

End of familiar rant. For now at least.

Off-Ice Shenanigans

That’s a sexy subtitle if ever I’ve seen one. The Coventry Blaze ‘risqué’ calendar went on sale. The limp carcasses of swooning women littered the floor of the Skydome shortly afterwards. The Sheffield Steelers ‘Rockstar’ video aired for the first time at their Saturday home game. And then a few hundred more times as it was viewed on Youtube by hockey fans around the country. Whilst not quite matching up to the glorious camp-fest that was the Belfast Giants 2010 Christmas video, it features Jeff Legue playing the guitar, outdoors, in just his undercrackers, Jonathan Phillips and a sheep, and Colt King being just about the coolest creature ever to have graced the soil of Sheffield. It’s quite delectable.

So apparently off-ice shenanigans this week directly translates as being semi-naked, singing, or singing whilst semi-naked. Glad we’ve cleared that one up then.

And so into the Christmas period. There’s no logic to the fixture list. There’s no regular Saturday and Sunday fix. There are a lot more mince pies and turkey. There will be expanding waistlines. And there will be a trip to Murrayfield. See how that goes in my next instalment of What Katy Did Next (apart from eat chocolate).