Just Like Starting Over

Originally posted on http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/ on 20th March 2012

Just how do I go about writing this report? It was the game after the Championship-winning night before. It was St Patrick’s Day. And I’m not going to lie to you, I had imbibed a not insignificant amount of Irish beverages prior to my arrival at the Odyssey. Not to mention the night before. The Giants players would surely have a sore head or two amongst their ranks as well and as for the Steelers, it was hard to imagine how they would approach this game; they still had a few hundred travelling fans to go out and play for, but with the title race over, would their minds already be focussing on the play-offs? Just how could this hockey game live up to the previous night?

Putting negativity aside, I am always ready for ice hockey, so I kept an open mind. In the opening minutes of the game it definitely seemed as though the Steelers were the more up for it; they had their game faces on and the teams looked more evenly matched than they had at any time the previous evening – could this be the Sheffield side’s chance to exact a little revenge? It certainly seemed that way as they almost took the lead after five minutes, Colt King with a great effort which was saved, the subsequent rebound fluffed by Jeff Legue, who went on to have a couple of better chances despite his side being short-handed in the following minutes. The Steelers penalty kill was sound and they continued to compete with the unsurprisingly sluggish champions for the remainder of the period, the Giants unable to find a way into the game.

The deadlock was finally broken after 15 minutes, Colt King poaching a tap-in goal from a Jeff Legue shot on the powerplay. This was more like it – I believe ‘let’s have it’ or words along those lines may have escaped from my lips at that time. It boded well for the second period.

The Giants response was rapidly executed however; they equalised just 37 seconds into the second period, Craig Peacock the sniper for the home side. Doug Christiansen must have had a word with his players in the period break – okay lads, you’ve won the league, but let’s prove why. Socks pulled up, the champions began closing down the Steelers more efficiently and the visitors were unable to maintain their early game pressure. The tide was turning.

Four minutes later, Giants Captain Jeremy Rebek took advantage of another lax defensive moment for the Steelers, catching them sleeping to take his side into the lead. It triggered a flurry of three goals in less than two minutes; following some major action in front of John DeCaro’s net in which the Sheffield netminder pulled off an excellent save, Giants scored their third straight from a face-off, Gareth Roberts letting rip an excellent shot into the top right hand corner of the net, DeCaro unable to get near the attempt. Sheffield called a time-out but it couldn’t stop the flow of the clinical Belfast team, who used a failed Steelers’ attempt on goal well-saved by Stephen Murphy to their advantage, turning defence into attack and charging down the ice, Jon Pelle picking out his shot and taking the lead to 4-1.

The Steelers just couldn’t catch a break and I found myself feeling rather sorry for them, the Giants were once again in unstoppable form, their delight from the previous night evident in their boisterous and effusive play in the second period. They were rampant. The Steelers managed to peg back the score to 4-2 with another powerplay effort, but the fight had all but left the building and it felt like a foregone conclusion.

As if to reinforce this notion, the third period began in a rather flat manner, and only livened up when Belfast had their first powerplay opportunity, but despite some good build-up play there was nothing doing. However there was a flavour of just why this team are champions on display throughout the third period: some Tom Dignard being brick hard, some good saves from Murphy when he was called upon, some Darryl Lloyd feistiness, the latter still busy proving just what a handy player he is to have around, goading Steelers Captain Jonathan Phillips into an elbowing penalty after he had him suitably riled, resulting in a 5-on-3 chance for the Giants with around five minutes to go in the period. There was no question they would score, and score they did, another to add to the tally of Craig Peacock.

Back-up netminder Andrew Dickson was given an airing and made a couple of saves, and the crowd noise built once again to a crescendo as the game drew to a close, the result never in doubt and as expected, the whole thing a bit of a damp squib. What followed was worth seeing however, as the League Cup made its first appearance in Belfast for six years, and was proudly lofted by one joyful Giants player after another. It was good to see, but the welcoming arms of Rockies sports bar were calling the neutrals home and as the world and his wife had their turn on the cup and it stopped being people I’d actually heard of, I succumbed to the urge for further refreshment and left the Odyssey for the last time this season.

When all is said and done, Belfast deserved to win the league this year beyond any shadow of doubt. They worked for it and earned it, simply outclassing their opposition at almost every time of asking. Their netminding and defence were by far the best of any team, they had plenty of power in their forward lines and they have arguably the stand-out Brit of the year in Robert Dowd. Whether or not they will be able to replicate it next year is another question and hinges upon how many of the team can be persuaded to stay, and who they bring in to replace the leavers. But now Doug Christiansen has tasted victory, there’s no doubt he will want to do it all over again next year.

Can they become a dominant force in British ice hockey, or was this a one off, unique to this particular group of individuals? Can a team win the league not once but TWICE with a British netminder, thus proving Dave Simms wrong on the same point twice? Will I EVER catch a Subway that’s been shot from a cannon into the crowd at the Odyssey Arena? I’m excited to find out the answers to these and other questions, but all in good time. First and foremost – will the Giants extend their dominance into the play-off section of the season? Discuss. Or at least, I will discuss, in my play-off preview, coming soon. Tune in, fine folk. Oh and please feel free to leave a comment or two, it makes me feel all warm inside. Thanks for reading, bye for now!

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.

I am serious sports journalist, hear me roar

Right. There’s been far too much ‘ooh-ing’ and ‘aah-ing’ and whining and crying and namby-pamby, arty-farty, girly rubbish on this blog recently, and for that I apologise. We’re now at the business end of the summer and so finally, it’s time for me to put sentimentality aside and take an objective look at the coming season. Who’s looking good and who is struggling? Which signings have put the fear of god into the opposition? Who will I be paying my money to go and see next season? Have I learnt anything at all about hockey since last season, and can I pass myself off as a decent hockey writer? These and other questions are about to be answered as I engage in a team-by-team 2011/12 preview. Bold, ambitious, in several parts, and ultimately likely to result in a discussion about beards. But before I launch into roving reporter mode in an attempt to convince you all I’m worth taking seriously, I feel I must balance the factual with the juicy, the speculative and the downright contentious. I bring you:

MY SUMMARY OF THE SUMMER ACTION – AND BY THAT I MAINLY MEAN ‘GOSSIP’!!

There were juicy snippets in all possible areas of hockey life. It all started with a glorious performance by team GB in the Ukraine. After that, things got snipey. Owners bickered. Companies went into liquidation. New teams raised their status. Players became coaches, moved between English clubs, moved to Europe, moved back again. Coaches were staying, then going. Key imports were re-signed, lost and discovered. Hull and Edinburgh went Euro-centric. Giants got smaller. Mystery surrounded the whereabouts of Brad Voth. Shoes were put back on. Then taken off again when he was found. The hockey world acquired its very own Julian Assange. Dave Simms offended people. Rumour sites vied to bring the most accurate gossip, earliest. Dave Simms misled people on several occasions. Coventry started over having had half of their team retire. Danny Meyers had surgery and then declared he would put on a stone as if to compensate for the loss of Jade Galbraith in Nottingham. The shock move of the summer occurred involving the latter-named player. And Vipers fans became nomadic.

Okay enough of that. Now on with the facts! I’ll present the teams in two parts to break it down in an attempt to let my wisdom fully penetrate your brain-holes. But to keep things orderly, I’m going to do it in alphabetical order. Let’s do this thing!

BELFAST GIANTS

It seems to have become standard in recent years for the Northern Irish team to assemble a selection of players capable of contending for the league title but without an end product to speak of. Coach Doug Christiansen had his critics last season and despite boasting a roster of quality imports, honours were not forthcoming. But this season could be different. He has once again pulled together a mouth-watering selection of North Americans in what looks to be the strongest collection of imports of any team, even further bolstered by their decision to go with 11 imports, surely a statement of intent from Christiansen, and if the British players can raise their game and Christiansen can get his tactics right, I don’t see any reason they shouldn’t be top of the pile come March. The Giants are the team to beat this season and quite frankly on paper, the title looks theirs to lose. I for one cannot wait to see them in action.

One to watch: It has to be Adam Keefe. He’s created the most buzz over the last few weeks, isn’t afraid of a fight despite lacking in the height department, can put away a few goals it seems, and most importantly he looks just like that wrestler. You know the one. Er…
Predicted finish: I really think they can, and will, do it this season. 1st.
Fun fact: Belfast have possibly the shortest collection of players in ice hockey history, despite their name. This is ironic. Someone call Alanis Morrissette.

Is this the one I meant? I'm not even sure.

BRAEHEAD CLAN

The Clan have had a funny summer, opening with a couple of strong signings and then going quiet for a while. Plans went up in the air when coach Bruce Richardson, who had already committed his future to the club for the forthcoming season, changed his mind and decided to leave for a job in North America. Rumours as to his replacement rumbled through July and were finally quelled with the appointment of Drew Bannister, who spent part of last season in Hull and brings with him a wealth of experience. Bannister slapped his cards on the table almost immediately as in one of the most surprising moves of the summer, he secured the signature of Panther’s star man Jade Galbraith. Then they went quiet again and remain so with a number of players yet to be announced. There seems to have been unrest bubbling under the surface all summer over off-ice matters and it remains to be seen if this will have any effect on the on-ice product this season. I also can’t fail to point out that the Clan are now in possession of one Samuel L Zajac (middle initial actually unknown), formerly of the Vipers of Newcastle. They’d better look after him or there’ll be trouble. Mainly from him.

One to watch: Jade Galbraith will rule the roost in Glasgow and continue to frustrate defences up and down the land.
Predicted finish: 6th
Fun fact: In hockey terms, I have the most in common with the Clan, as we are both one year old! For this and other reasons, I will mainly be following this team for the 2011/12 season.

CARDIFF DEVILS

The Devils absolutely stormed the 2010/11 season and were desperately unlucky to walk away with no silverware to show for it. I’m sorry to say I don’t think they will repeat the heroics of last season this time around. Despite retaining the services of influential American forward Scott Matzka after a will-he-won’t-he move to France collapsed at the 11th hour, the Devils have sustained arguably the biggest losses of any Elite League side following the departures of Ryan Finnerty, Tylor Michel, Craig Weller and top-scorer Jon Pelle. Gerad Adams has added strength to his side with the signing of defencemen Chris Frank, and talisman Brad Voth announced he would see out his career in Cardiff this season, spending an seventh consecutive year with the Devils, but they are going to have to rely on the combined fire-power of returners Matzka and Max Birbraer to have a hope of competing with the likes of Belfast this season.

One to watch: Scott Matzka. Guy needs to step up to the plate this season and provide serious amounts of goals to give the Welsh side any hope of contending,
Predicted finish: Sorry to say, I cannot see them finishing higher than 5th (Note, I originally wrote this on 4th August BEFORE Simmsey made this prediction).
Fun fact: Cardiff is in Wales! That’s a whole other country! They talk funny there. And they have a fantastic set of fans!

COVENTRY BLAZE

Along with Panthers, Blaze were one of the teams who chose to show their cards early in the off-season, more through necessity than choice as a significant complement of their core had made the decision to retire from the sport. They signed a number of quality imports early on including former Newcastle Viper, Slovenian Matic Kralj and Canadian starlet Shea Guthrie. They have assembled a good range of players and look set to mount a more significant challenge on the bigger sides than they did in their disappointing 10/11 season. They are an exciting and dynamic prospect and will be a real handful this season.

One to watch: Shea Guthrie is a young talent who promises much. One of the players I’m most looking forward to seeing in action, he has size, speed and skill on his side.
Predicted finish: Blaze will do better this season with their young, dynamic side, and could give the likes of Nottingham a real run for their money. 4th.
Fun fact: Americans call Coventry ‘Cuventry’. If I was a Blaze fan I’d be hard pushed not to correct them every time they said that. I suppose I should be grateful there isn’t a team in Birming-HAM.

DUNDEE STARS

Dundee have flown under the radar this summer in terms of gossip, signings and general goings-on, but that’s not to say the wheels haven’t been turning in the chilly outer reaches of Scotland (well, okay, it’s not THAT far away – but it’s the furthest north of all the Elite League clubs!) Player coach Dan Ceman has played his cards close to his chest and has quietly gone about building up his squad, bolstering the Stars’ ranks with a solid selection of players, both British and import. They could be a dark horse in this year’s race, and I certainly feel they will improve on last year, and will definitely not have a scrap on their hands to make a play-off spot.

TWO to watch: Either Jarrett Konkle with his extensive experience in North America or Dan McGoff, the speedy offensive defenceman fresh from the Dutch league, could be the key players for the Stars this season.
Predicted finish: 7th
Fun fact: Dundee have continued in their quest to sign the most amusingly named hockey players in the land with the arrival of Konkle, who sounds like a cross between a large nose and a shell, and automatically rockets to top spot in the Amusing Names list, just edging out Panthers new boy Scott Champagne

Join me for the remaining 5 teams in tomorrow's post, good people of Hockey-land!

A Very Vipers Christmas

Forgive me Vipers, for I have sinned. It’s been 15 days since my last attendance and I have been unfaithful. I watched some football on the TV and cheered on my ‘other’ team (we won!). I went to another city to see some live music instead of going to Whitley Bay. I remembered why watching prog rock bands live is so much fun. And that gigs are warmer than ice hockey matches. I did my Christmas shopping. I spent time with my family and had in-depth discussions about decorating, and winter recipes. I basically came to remember what life was like before I met you. But don’t worry, I have more than made up for my indiscretions with the amount of time I have spent thinking about you, missing you and worrying for you. I watched the film ‘Slapshot’ in order to keep up my Iearning and actually picked up some pointers. And I am counting down the days until I see you again in true Advent style (except that on Christmas Eve there will still be 3 days to go. And there’s been no chocolate involved. Sadly. I would have enjoyed nibbling the legs off a chocolate John Schwarz. Maybe next year).

Mike Prpich Beard Watch: I have heard on the grapevine that it has secured its own visa and is now staying in an apartment over-looking the Tyne. I’m disappointed as I was hoping to sit on Mike’s knee and tell him what I wanted for Christmas but without that key ingredient, it just wouldn’t be the same.

In terms of what the Vipers want for Christmas, it’s very simple. And inspired by commentator and hockey enthusiast David Simms, the hockey community came out in force to give them lots of little Christmas presents, stocking-fillers if you will, in the form of tickets for last Saturday’s match against the Sheffield Steelers. Tickets for the game were bought from all over the country, by people with no intention of going to the game, but just doing their bit to support a club in its time of need. It was touching and hugely appreciated by everyone associated with the club, and meant that we could live to fight another day. Now we need the big one… the present under the tree that means we will be able to live to fight into 2011 and beyond. We’re still suspended in ‘watch this space’ mode at the moment, and I know I’m not alone in clicking on the Vipers website every morning hoping for some Christmas cheer. I have everything crossed. Everything, I tell you!

Impractical as his outfit may be for hockey refereeing, Santa loves a bit of it once his Christmas Day duties are complete.

I feel the need to share with you the slightly alarming realisation I came to the other day: I have recently surpassed the word count of my undergraduate dissertation – previously the longest thing I have ever written – writing about hockey. By about 4,000 words now, actually. Why wasn’t writing about Spanish Civil War poetry this easy? Is there some kind of qualification I can have please? To be honest I’m not sure if I should be rewarded or sectioned, having just spent the last twenty minutes trying to write a Vipers version of the Twelve Days of Christmas song summing up my highlights of the season so far, and coming up with the following. I’m not writing out the whole thing, so this will have to do you. Sing along now, my pretties:

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my Vipers gave to me:
One game-worn jersey,
A Danny Stewart slapshot
Ninja Rzeszutko
Sammy Zajac scrapping
Dale Mahovsky’s front teeth
Chewey Forsbacka
A Hartmanis hat-trick
PRPICH’S BEARD!
Great saves from Charlie
That Blaze win
Super Danny’s Dozen and…
11 goals against Dundee

Right, I’m keeping this short. As predicted, my hockey-related drivel has basically descended into foaming at the mouth, such are my withdrawal symptoms and the subsequent mental trauma. All will be remedied on Monday. That’s just 5 days away. There’s just the small matter of Christmas standing between me and a reunion with my Vipers. It’s but a mere trifle. (And roast potatoes, and Christmas pudding, and cheese and crackers…). A very Vipers Christmas to you all, and I look forward to seeing each and every one of you, all a little plumper I imagine, for our match against Hull Stingrays next week. Bring it on!