Re-views and Previews... Part 2

I continue my review of the final weekend in the Elite League regular season, and preview the play-off quarter-final match-ups.

3rd v 6th – Nottingham Panthers v Braehead Clan

Following another disappointing performance in the league this season, the Panthers took the heat off of coach Corey Neilson somewhat by winning the Challenge Cup, and there’s no denying that with a strong crowd behind them and on their home ice the Panthers will want the playoff silverware badly, to bolster their season’s successes. Their final weekend saw them shut out the Capitals at home 7-0 before they travelled to Belfast for both teams’ final game of the season, a tight encounter that really set the tone for the playoff hockey they have ahead of them. The Panthers can be a good clutch side at times and are capable of big performances under pressure; it’s their consistency that lets them down and they are prone to a silly mistake or two, so it will be interesting to see which Nottingham side turns up for their final run-in.

Braehead ended the season as the undisputed top team in Scotland, with over twice as many points as their nearest rivals, and they battled right to the end for 5th place with Coventry. They had a fantastic final weekend, beating Hull at home before clinching a stunning late victory in Sheffield, and they proved they have strength in depth as nine different names went on the scoresheet across the two games. Braehead have blown hot and cold and netminding has at times been a problem for them; they may opt to go with Brit Mike Will over the erratic Jaakko Suomalainen as Will has performed admirably for them and won them games in pressure situations; he could be one to watch for the future.

For me this is the biggest opportunity for a team to overthrow one of ‘the big three’ teams in this quarter final stretch. It would be a massive upset for the hosts of the final four weekend not to be present but the Clan have undone Nottingham before and I believe that in at least one of the legs, they can do it again. For Nottingham their home ice form will be key and they will want to hit the Clan hard and early at the National Ice Centre, especially if they are trailing from the first leg.

Prediction: Home wins each way; I think Nottingham will want to win this at all costs and will take the victory based on a big home win. Aggregate score 7-6

4th v 5th – Cardiff Devils v Coventry Blaze

The fourth quarter final is a clash between two teams who were pitted against one another this weekend just gone, in a double header that would see both sides getting into the spirit of things and the playoff hockey in full flow. They will meet each other two more times to decide who will progress to the final four and this one really is too close to call. Honours were even this weekend just gone, with each side winning their home game. 17 goals were scored and there were two fights; Chris Frank achieved a Gordie Howe hat-trick if you take both games as one but worrying for Cardiff ended the weekend on crutches following a rip-roaring tilt with the Blaze’s Brian Jurynec. The attacking advantage probably goes to Cardiff who outshot Coventry 78–51 across 120 minutes of hockey, however Blaze’s Peter Hirsch had the stronger weekend in net, saving 70 of the attempts on his goal in comparison to 42 stops by the Devils’ Stevie Lyle.

The double header was a thrilling way to end the season for two sides who have fought closely all season and have fostered a healthy rivalry both on and off the ice, and I have no doubt we will see some feisty clashes across the two games. Of all the match-ups I think I will be keeping the closest eye on this one; Cardiff will be looking to repeat their success of 2011, when they made the playoff final and only just missed out in a close battle with Nottingham. The Blaze seek to return to the final four having missed out in 2011 and they have certainly been stronger over the last couple of months than they were earlier in the season. Cardiff have arguably the advantage with the second of the two games being played in their barn, the notoriously tough Big Blue Tent, and they will look to minimise any damage the Blaze can inflict on them in the first leg at the Skydome and seek to use their physical presence and speed of attack to get the job done in the second leg. The sometimes lightweight Blaze have found their scoring form but are a little loose in defence and it will take a monumental effort from Peter Hirsch to turn away the shots that will rain in on him from the prolific Devils forwards.

Prediction: Cardiff have been the stronger side consistently throughout the regular season and I believe they will take the final spot in the final four. It will be a close one, but Cardiff will desperately want to avoid it going to a shootout, at which they have been hopeless this season. I think they will nick it. Aggregate score 9-7.

Not to be outdone… 9th v 10th – Edinburgh Capitals v Fife Flyers: the Revenge

I can’t let the weekend review pass without commenting on what could respectfully be called a good old time hockey tilt in Kirkcaldy on Sunday night (or in layman’s terms, a mass brawl). With nothing left to play for the teams, placed 9th and 10th in the Elite League respectively, and with the score stacked 9-3 in favour of the visiting Capitals, the players decided to abandon the hockey-playing and act out the much-vaunted old-school rivalry on the ice, with a cheap shot to Fife goalie Garrett Zemlak triggering a series of fights which saw 7 players ejected from the game and a combined total of over 300 penalty minutes doled out by the toiling referees. It was an inauspicious end to the season but certainly a memorable one.

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So, I’m excited to see how next weekend plays out as we discover who our final four will be. I have a few more nuggets of wisdom up my sleeve to share with you before the season is out including my Elite League Dream Team, plenty of play-off build-up, and a beard analysis the likes of which has never been seen before. You don’t want to miss it.

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.

What Katy Did Next...

Originally published on http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/

As a wise man once said (was it Michael Fish?), it never rains, but it pours. Words. From my brain. Yes, after what could be called a bit of a dry patch, my engine has been fuelled with sub-standard hockey and my thirst to spill forth on further hockey-related shenanigans can barely be contained. As such, I decided to take in a live hockey match from the comfort of my very own living room this weekend. Without a team of my own this season what is the point of me if it’s not to stick my nose into other people’s teams’ business and give my tuppence worth, as self-appointed Elite League blogger without portfolio, so to speak. And there’s nothing you can do to stop me! Ha!

For my viewing pleasure this Sunday then, a clash between Coventry Blaze and Cardiff Devils. The weekend had been for me, rather a pleasant one. I had been wallowing in hockey like a happy little piglet in puddles of lovely lovely muck. I thrashed about in it and splashed my piggy toes until I could splash no more, maximising use of the most excellent NHL Gamecenter to watch my Calgary Flames beat the Chicago Blackhawks convincingly, and then watching Edmonton’s incredible youngsters do the same, even more convincingly. Anyone would think I had something against Chicago (I really don’t).

I followed the updates from around the Elite League on Saturday night with interest. Most interesting of all a somewhat topsy-turvy sounding game in Glasgow, where Sheffield Steelers travelled to take on Braehead Clan, the resultant controversy-fest leaving many Clan fans with a bad taste in their mouth as they suffered a number of seemingly contentious decisions against their side, although the main victim on the face of it (no pun intended. Well, maybe a bit) was Steelers alpha male Colt King, who took a questionable hit to the head from Kyle Bruce and was left bleeding and it could be said, less than impressed. The fallout from that one will be one for the violence voyeurs among us (okay, I mean me) and I fear for Bruce who, although tough, has potentially antagonised one of worthiest adversaries in all of Britain-dom in King, who let’s face it, is the only person I’ve seen who’s managed to take out the Panthers’ imperious hard-man Guillaume Lepine. And by take out I mean, completely demolish a man who was unbeaten in his previous 18 fights in this league. Yup. It’s akin to prodding a large bear, repeatedly, with a pointed stick. Inadvisable, foolish, and ultimately likely to land you in hospital.

I’ve developed quite a fascination with the tough guys in the league this season and couldn’t help but notice (as I’m sure everyone else already had) that arguably the two top dogs have cunning gun references in their name/number combinations, Colt King sporting number 45 (self-explanatory) and Adam Keefe’s number 47 lending itself to the clever nickname AK47. It remains to be seen if these two will have a shot at each other (oh dear, somebody lock me up) but doubtless the resultant gunfight will be one to fetch the popcorn for.

Anyway, I digress! (It’s my raison d’etre). The Elite League game may not have promised quite as much in terms of quality as my NHL televisual encounters but it was an interesting prospect for me. It featured a team fresh in my mind from my weekend in Belfast, and one who I had yet to see in action this season in the Blaze. These are likely to be the main two sides who will be contending fourth place in the league, assuming none of the top three suffer a spectacular implosion (stranger things have happened), and none of the Scottish sides has a barn-storming run (again, not outside the realms of possibility – Braehead have proved a force to be reckoned with at times this season, and even Edinburgh have pulled their socks up in no uncertain terms).

Coventry v Cardiff was a home and away double header, with the first game at the big Blue Tent the previous night going the Devils’ way in fairly convincing fashion, hard fought as it was, with a couple of violent incidents and a general niggly feeling between the two teams proliferating. Would the atmosphere have festered overnight or would it be a brand new day between the Welsh side and their closest rivals in the league – in more ways than one.

And so it would seem in my roundabout way of introducing this week’s match report, I’ve come a digression too far, and I need to break for lunch. Or some other relevant drink and/or meal. And I’m sure you do too. We’ve got a whole match report ahead of us, don’t forget. Join me in part 2 of this week’s column to hear my take on the action.

So there I was on my sofa, laptop at the ready, dressing gown and comfy pants donned (no word of a lie), tuned into Blaze TV for my first experience of live Elite League hockey, via the interweb (If you’re already confused, please refer to part 1 of this week’s column to discover how we got here!). Aside from the commentary, which was a shade Brummier than that on NHL Gamecenter, you could barely tell the difference. OK, I’m being generous – the picture quality wasn’t brilliant. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to spot the players’ numbers let alone their faces, but the banter was jolly, as the commentators encouraged listeners to participate in Farmer bingo – basically a guessing game as to which three opposing players would punch or otherwise lay out Blaze’s Robert Farmer first. Great fun. Sadly the answer was no-one but still.

As for my allegiances, I felt pretty neutral, a state that’s both unfamiliar and disconcerting for me. Perhaps I was slightly favouring the Devils purely from a familiarity point of view, but from a journalistic perspective, I would attempt to perch firmly on the fence.

The game started evenly and I put my feet up and made myself comfortable. I could get used to this. Just under five minutes in the deadlock was broken, Max Birbraer taking a fantastic pass from Mark Richardson on the Blaze blue line to score a calmly taken goal. It was just the kick start the game needed and from there it livened right up, and even got a bit feisty, the Blaze laying on some decent hits, Brian Jurynec and Mike McLean in particularly gung-ho form. However they were erratic and gave up a couple of penalties, giving the Devils further powerplay opportunities, and even at full strength Blaze seemed somewhat devoid of ideas. Finally 11 minutes in it was their turn on the powerplay, forwards Shea Guthrie and Matic Kralj combining well to put sustained pressure on the Devils goal and force a good save from Lyle. This was swiftly followed by a period of 5 on 3 for Blaze but still they couldn’t find the back of the net, the Devils penalty kill unit strong once again despite their lack of import Defencemen (having lost Chris Frank to a suspension) and some nice Blaze build-up play was all well and good but lacked end product.

The game ebbed and flowed, the Devils once again finding themselves with the man advantage and a nicely worked chance for Jeff Pierce skimming just wide of the mark, before a second goal came courtesy of the stick of Scott Matzka. The Devils looked in control, assured, and much more like the team they were last season, perfectly capable of taking on and beating the big boys. Blaze had their moments but were unable to achieve any consistency; their forward lines look quick and their defencemen feisty but their shooting was weak and more significantly, rare.

The Welsh side’s dominance continued early in the second period, their systems coming together beautifully, some lovely passing resulting in a goal for Phil Hill in the third minute. Then I had a nice chat with my parents on the phone about their holiday in South Africa from which they had just returned… Ah, the perils of watching hockey at home! (The weather was disappointing but they had a lot of nice wine). Meanwhile back at the ranch (or even the SkyDome) Blaze were attempting to get back into the game, Greg Owen forcing another great save from Lyle. But there seemed to be no stemming the Devils’ flow, the 4thgoal an outstanding effort from Stu Macrae, carving through the Blaze defence; it was all looking too easy.

Paul Thompson called a time out and presumably shared a selection of choice vocabulary with his flailing side, and it clearly did the trick as a period of desperate attacking was to follow from the frustrated home side, who were feeling the pressure from the stands. Poor old Bradley took a bit of pasting, taking several hits in quick succession from Luke Fulghum and Mike McLean, a repeat effort from McLean moments later almost knocking the giant from his feet. He took it all in his stride as he so often does these days, and I believe the travelling Cardiff fans removed a large amount of footwear in tribute.

The tide had turned, and Blaze finally got off the mark via an Owen Fussey individual effort, taking a pass from Shea Guthrie and going one-on-one with Stevie Lyle, almost leaving it too late, Blaze hearts in mouths no doubt before he buried it. The home side’s tally was doubled just seconds later through Dustin Wood, and they turned the tables on the Devils, piling on wave after wave of pressure. The visiting side started to look nervous, a 180° flip from their earlier impressive display. The tempo of the game was turned up to 11, frenetic attacking and a Blaze powerplay followed by a gilt-edged opportunity to bring the game within one goal when Scott Matzka gave up a careless penalty and they went 5 on 3.

I opened an organic strawberry beer. Perks of the job, you know. They finally scored the pressure goal from a Guthrie long shot, the second period proving to be almost a mirror image of the first. Then Brian Jurynec punched Matzka in the back of the head and took a penalty. Cardiff retaliated with some accidental high sticks in McLean’s face followed by Jurynec possibly taking an elbow right at the end of the period – Blaze faces seemed to suffer for their art that night.

I can’t let this report go by without a comment on the period break entertainment – Blaze had their announcer singing live with a boy band! I was stunned. I thought perhaps they might be famous, because I don’t know much about boy bands. Testament to their ability, clearly! The Devils fans seemed to be enjoying themselves with one bloke getting up to strut his funky stuff, presumably unaware there was a camera pointing right at him. Great stuff. I hoped the cameraman would take it upon himself to fiddle with his brightness settings as the glare from the ice was hurting my brain a bit and I was almost forced to watch through sunglasses. Luckily, he did.

The 3rd period began amid a flurry of Tivo’ing (The Cube is far too good to be missed, you know!) and a second round of alcoholic beverages. The commentary team engaged in a thought-provoking discussion about Thommo possibly drugging Blaze players (scandal), the relative merits, or lack thereof, of Hitler moustaches, and what to do when a person cannot grow a moustache at all during Movember (Novembeards: note, I heartily approve). Despite the game hanging on the slimmest of margins, it was a quiet start to the third period. Cardiff went on the powerplay again but Blaze managed a better penalty kill to prevent their rivals scoring. There was a brilliant attempt on goal by Fulghum from Guthrie. Then a fabulous 5th for Devils, Voth taking a cool tap-in from Scott Dobben, covering well in defence.

Then it went a bit flat, and I was presented with my dinner. It was fajitas. They were a bit messy so couldn’t type as much. Er, sorry about that. Then it was nearly the end of the game and Blaze fans held their breath as Greg Owen scored a 4th for them with a minute to go, after they pulled their netminder. In return, Max Birbraer missed an empty net, a shocking yet hilarious miss which will no doubt have haunted him for at least 20 minutes. Really though, it was tense. With just 3 seconds to go the Blaze had a face-off in Cardiff’s zone and it was down to one last shot from Owen Fussey, whose stick proceeded to break with a mere second to go. It pretty much summed up the Blaze’s night.

So to conclude, I rather enjoyed my first living room Elite League viewing experience. I didn’t stick around long enough to catch the Men of the Match as I had X Factor results to catch up on (priorities and all that) but for me, the Devils had a number of strong performances, surely one of their defencemen would have to take it as they performed admirably despite being short-handed. For the Blaze I was massively impressed with Shea Guthrie, his speed and movement on the puck were as good as I’ve seen this season but his shooting could use some work. Mike McLean had a good game too, acquitting himself well all over the ice and making a number of key checks.

I appear to have talked a lot. If you’ve made it this far, many congratulations. I assume my next column will be a bit shorter as a result of this case of textual diarrhoea, so fear not! Or if you know me better than that, you know to expect a similar level of drivel. Tune in at your own risk! Until next time, goodbye my pretties!