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).

Friday Night Lights

Written for, and originally published on, http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/

Do not adjust your television sets. That’s really ice hockey on your screen. No, really! It’s a travesty that it took this long, but finally, on Friday 9th December, it was time for the first televised game of the season, as league leaders the Belfast Giants travelled to the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield to take on arguably their main rivals for the title, the Steelers.

The stage was set: a group of Vipers fans gathered in Newcastle’s best new sports bar, Shark Club (it’s Canadian don’t you know), in the VIP area no less (as is befitting of our stature). The screen was large. The beer was cold. The build-up was exciting, although the lovely Anna Woolhouse and her guests were rather drowned out by the banging dance tunes being played in the bar which was a bit of a shame, but at least we managed to pick up most of what Simmsey was saying, as thankfully his voice really seems to carry (damning him with faint praise there)!

The game started out at a high pace, it was end to end stuff right from the off, all the players putting on a good show for the Sky cameras and neither team giving much away in the opening minutes. It was always going to be a close encounter: the timing of the broadcast was fortuitous as the Steelers looked to close the gap on the top-placed team, and with three games in three days they had a great opportunity to do so. But Belfast drew first blood, scoring on the breakaway just over halfway through the first period, Jon Pelle pouncing on a pass from Craig Peacock and burying it in the back of John DeCaro’s net to put the Giants in the driving seat. The Giants were always dangerous on the counter-attack, the blistering pace of Brock McBride in particular a real weapon and a sight to behold, and it seemed for a while as though they would take control, but the game became more physical and the tide turned.

This is what ice hockey on a big screen on a stripey wall looks like!! Them blurs, thems is hockey players! Yet another piece of fabulous photography brought to you by me.

In the second period things evened out again, the one goal lead lending itself to a pulsating yet cagey game. But tempers started to fray and the Giants started to pick up penalties, the Steelers with powerplay after powerplay through the second and third periods, piling the pressure on the Giants’ net. It seemed during the third period that the Giants actually wanted to be short-handed as every time a man returned from the box, another would make the effort to be sent there. Revolving door for Belfast please!

But the Northern Irish side’s penalty kill, along with an imperious display of goaltending by Stephen Murphy, thwarted wave after wave of pressure from the home side and frustrated Steelers fans, the tempo ramping up throughout the third period to a nail-biting crescendo. It looked to be all over as the Steelers just couldn’t find a way to penetrate Murphy’s defences. Back in the pub, conversation broke out. People drifted to the bar. Tabs were settled. The seconds ticked down on the clock…

And then came the game-changer. With 0.42 seconds remaining, Ashley Tait scored what looked through cider-warped eyes to be a good, and priceless, goal, to level the score for the Steelers and take the game to over-time. A shock to the system for the Giants, and the sucker punch was the gift that kept on taking, robbing them of the extra point after less than a minute of overtime, Jeff Legue picking up the puck on the Giants’ blueline and slotting it coolly past Stephen Murphy to end the game.

Steelers celebrated. Giants raged. Coaches vented at officials. Players may or may not have done things they probably shouldn’t have done. Both goals were shrouded in controversy, the first seemingly coming off the back of a missed hand pass, and the second, debated endlessly on the social networks ever since, could well have been offside. In the stop-frame replays Legue looks onside. But should he have had the chance to score that goal at all? It seems not. Passions were running high as Belfast fans and players alike wondered if this could be a turning point. Could that one point be the difference between them winning and losing the title? It would be a brave man who would make such an assertion at this stage in the season. But in the heat of the moment, and given the strength of the Steelers of late, these are the questions being asked.

In any case, for a one goal game it was a great spectacle, and the two teams should be proud of themselves for showcasing British hockey in such a close-fought and exciting encounter. The controversy rumbled on following the game, the players making their feelings known, as has become customary. It’s good for us neutrals, that’s for certain. Speaking of neutral…

Two tickets to the gunfight?

Okay, let’s be up front about this. It was the fight that those of us who are that way inclined would have wanted to see, the two Canadian tough guys named after guns taking it to one another on the ice. But hockey isn’t that simple and for one reason or another – it could quite simply be that the two of them are friends. Or maybe they just didn’t feel like it – they appeared disinterested in sparring, instead showing us what else they were hired for; both putting in good shifts for their teams, King in particular having a strong night up front. Speaking of which…

Colt King: Intelligent Enforcement

‘No Keefe-watch this week?!’ I hear you cry! Yes I may be fickle. But King had a more note-worthy week than Keefe, plus the title of this section sounds like an American cop show. Win win. Don’t worry, I’ll return with a further instalment of Keefe-watch in weeks to come.

Colt King: So hard, they named an alcoholic beverage after him

In a three game weekend for the Sheffield Steelers Colt King proved beyond a shadow of a doubt why Ryan Finnerty put his faith in him this season. For a start, he may be a tough guy, but he’s no goon. He stands up for his team-mates, sure, but he picks his battles carefully; this isn’t fighting for fighting’s sake. He seems to thrive on the implied ass-kicking that he will mete out to anyone who messes with him or his team; having viewed the punishment he doled out to Lepine early on in the season even the toughest in the league will be cautious around him. But he means business when he’s on the ice and is one hell of a presence on his forward line, making a nuisance of himself constantly, distributing the puck with clinical precision and using his physicality in a clever way, shielding the netminder and blocking defencemen to allow his linemates to put in the shots. He’s no goal-poacher and he’s not the fastest guy on the ice but he’s undeniably one of the most valuable forwards in the league when he plays the way he did on Friday against Belfast.

And when he does choose to fight, man does his opponent know about it. In a clear response to Kyle Bruce’s hit on him in Glasgow three weeks previous, King invited Bruce to drop the gloves in Sheffield on Sunday night, and on his home ice proved why he is a force to be reckoned with, winning the tilt in convincing style and causing damage to Bruce in the process (here’s hoping it’s nothing serious). And there’s no show-boating with him either, in contrast to other notable tough guys in this and other leagues. He skates, head down, to the penalty box. Mission accomplished. And continues on his way, five minutes later. Impressed? You will be. More importantly, does he have his own song yet? And if not, why not?

Around the League

In the Sunday basement battle, Dundee Stars picked up two desperately needed points at the expense of visitors Fife Flyers in the first league meeting between the teams, scoring seven goals and gaining some long overdue confidence as well as a first win for new coach Brent Hughes.

The other two Sunday games were once again thrillers (what is it about Sundays?), Braehead Clan coming away with a point and almost upsetting the Steelers on home ice despite being short-benched, the hockey player who most sounds like a German dessert, Steelers’ new boy Francis Trudel, scoring the winning goal in overtime to top off an impressive start to his Elite League career. But the prize for unexpectedly amazing match of the weekend has to go to the tie between Edinburgh Capitals and Hull Stingrays, which was bursting at the seams with 12 goals in regulation time, the teams trading scoring throughout the game eventually tying it 6-6. Amazingly neither team were able to score in overtime, so to a nerve-wracking penalty shoot-out in which the Capitals were finally victorious. Yet again the Elite League pulls cracking entertainment out of the bag.

And so it’s the start of the week once again and I’m left to reflect on the weekend’s action on and off the ice. If I were any sort of aspiring professional I should be attempting to write up these reports immediately following a match. But then I wouldn’t have the full picture. Plus I’m normally drunk and/or hung over at the time. Plus there’s nothing like a couple of days following twitter feeds to add fuel to the already brightly burning fire of inspiration. That’s my excuse. And I’m sticking to it. But there are plenty more talking points to chew over so I’ll see you again soon, folks. TTFN.

Eat, Sleep, Dream, Repeat

Writing regularly about something you love comes relatively easy when you’re exposed to that thing on a weekly basis. But without a team to call my own this season, inspiration was, until recently, rather harder to come by. I still begin each new week wondering what I can possibly find to talk about that would be of interest to anybody. When you’re writing about your own team it’s easy. You’ve got a ready made group of people on exactly the same wavelength as you who will happily read the rubbish that you write. But what’s actually the point of me now? All this blog consists of, really, is a vague re-telling of the week’s events in hockeyland. With extra beards.

Why then do I persist? And how am I finding so much to write about now? I come to my computer this morning full of the events of the weekend, ready to spill my guts onto the screen. Because in reality, I don’t have anyone to talk to about it. When you’re gathered in the stands of your home ice rink, or in the bar after the game, it’s all too easy to chew over the happenings in the league. Maybe that’s why I’ve come to rely on this blog. It’s the only place I can vent my excitement about hockey that will listen. It doesn’t have a choice, frankly. I could be talking to myself but I’ll pretend that’s not the case and go merrily about my business.

The best way to describe the way this season feels for me is to take you back to that time when you were 16 and the party of the year was happening but you couldn’t go because your parents were forcing you to attend your Great Aunt Mabel’s 80th birthday tea instead. It happened to all of us, at one point or another. That aching, desperate, stroppy teenage feeling that because YOU’RE not there, it simply must be the most AMAZING party EVER and you’re the only one in the whole WORLD missing out. That. Except twice a week, every week. Everybody’s talking. But I’m not involved in any of the conversations.

And I’ve started yearning again. I yearn a lot these days. It gets quite tiring. I find myself yearning for things I never would have been interested in when I had a team of my own. Why do I want to go to watch the Steelers’ trip to Denmark for the Continental Cup? (Well, probably because of the beer). Why do I feel the urge to go to Braehead to see the results of the Movember competition? (Well, probably because I like facial hair). In all seriousness though, being team-less but still loving the Elite League, I feel as though there’s a little bit of me in all the teams. So I’m basically missing out on 10 team’s worth of fun. And it’s simply not acceptable.

And what fun I missed out on this weekend. This weekend proved what an exciting and entertaining league the Elite League can be. It was a barnstormer. Let’s have a look at what happened.

Coventry Blaze

It’s been a rollercoaster in Coventry these past seven days. Blaze fans were left reeling earlier in the week after the sudden and unexpected loss of Luke Fulghum. Rumours abounded, all seemed unfounded, Sheffield had him surrounded, and snapped him up less than 24 hours after his contract with the Blaze was terminated, Ryan Finnerty like a kid at Christmas with his new signing (also did you like my poetry there? I might try and throw down a few more rhymes in today’s blog). Unrest in the Blaze camp perhaps? You wouldn’t have known it on Saturday night as they soundly beat Dundee at the Skydome; seemingly galvanised they came out as a unit, putting in a great team performance and scoring seven along the way including a brace for rapidly improving Brit Robert Farmer.

Things were not so easy the following night as they travelled to Edinburgh and were given a tough test by Richard Hartmann’s men, who are giving a really good account of themselves this season and are surprising many with their tenacity and goal-scoring abilities. The game at Murrayfield was tied 2-2 at full time, Coventry winning the shoot-out to take the extra point and make it a four-point weekend. Sadly things seem tougher off-ice for the Blaze; they launched a desperate bums-on-seats appeal on Monday morning; echoes of the Vipers’ troubles of last season a grim reminder of the realities in this sport, but here’s hoping the fans answer the call and avert any possible financial crisis. It’s time yet again for everyone involved in the league to pull together.

Dundee Stars had a shocker of a weekend, losing three games in as many days, the third to Nottingham Panthers in a close-run encounter where the Stars did well to score four but were edged out by the home side in their only game of the weekend, which incidentally was watched by the UK’s newest hockey fan, Nottingham-based England cricketer Stuart Broad. Good for publicity? I’ll say. Do I hear 219,000 odd Twitter followers? I do believe I do.

In the remaining two Saturday games, Braehead beat Edinburgh and kept a clean sheet in the process, and Sheffield fought their way past a seemingly rejuvenated Cardiff side to win 4-2 despite being outshot by the visitors 50-30, an impressive performance from netminder John DeCaro the difference between the two sides in the end.

Belfast Giants

In a classic case of fortuitous timing Belfast bounced back from the loss of Benoit Doucet with the return of super-speedy forward Brock McBride who had been out of action for some time with a lower body injury. He marked his return with two goals and in a chippy contest at the Odyssey on Saturday Belfast topped Hull 5 to 1. The Giants followed this up with a trip to the Big Blue Tent on Sunday and in yet another extremely chippy game, they took the points once again despite a number of notable incidents in which they made few friends among the Cardiff Devils fans, playing their pantomime villain roles with aplomb, and causing an outbreak of major internet drama after the game as accusations flew about cheap shots, class, and who really is the boss of British Hockey.

Keefe-watch (Because he’s worth it).

Speaking of chippy, and of bosses, the Boss of Belfast made his mark on the Elite League penalty minute standings on Saturday fighting veteran enforcer Derek Campbell not once but twice, felling him with a single punch on both occasions and picking up 22 of the little buggers along the way (penalty minutes that is. Not punches). Presumably Campbell didn’t hear what Mr Keefe said the first time, so he went back for seconds. Unwise, even for him. AK47 faced a sterner test on Sunday when he finally squared up against Brad Voth, who he’s been gunning for for some time. He didn’t fare well, the height difference causing him a few issues, and the elder statesman took the win. Keefe wanted a re-match but it was not to be. One for the future, perhaps. Still, a strong weekend from the Giants tough guy, who seems to have become the Devils’ love-to-hate player du jour. To the neutral however he’s a great character to have in the league and I for one am loving his antics. More please!

The drama was not limited to Cardiff on Sunday, as all five games were thrillers, Fife Flyers nearly throwing away a three-goal lead against the Braehead Clan but just hanging on for a precious two points, and Hull holding Sheffield to a 2-2 scoreline on their home ice, before Mike Ramsay delivered the killer blow in overtime to take the extra point back to Sheffield. Next week’s Elite League highlights show will be truly unmissable.

Twitter Latest

Adam Keefe called all Cardiff Devils fans mutants. The guy really does have balls. I’ve seen the Welsh angry and I wouldn’t mess. Jon Pelle received a death threat (see my point?). World War III broke out between Devils and Giants fans. Things were taken too seriously. The Steelers marvelled at their own moustaches in between making even less sense than last week. Many hockey players Tweeted about the progress of their various journeys. And that was about it, really. More next week!

So anyway, back to me. The title of today’s post says it all. I really have been living and breathing hockey these last few weeks; at least, as much as anyone without a team can. To the point where I had a dream about going grocery shopping with members of the Giants and Steelers teams. I remember discussing grapes with Nick Kuiper. I wish I was making this up. I’m honestly not. I’m so ensconced in all things hockey that I go funny at the merest mention of ice. There was an ice rink in an episode of Dexter the other night and I came over all excited. You should have seen me watching Frozen Planet. A mess, I was. This Friday sees the season’s first live televised Elite League match on Sky Sports. I imagine someone will need to be on hand with a mop in Shark Club, Newcastle, where we plan to watch it. It could be messy.

Anyway! Enough of that nonsense. I will to return to you shortly to write a bit about the ups and downs of my NHL team, the Calgary Flames. Thankfully, there have been some ups this week. Ups are nice. I suppose that’s the one good thing about not having the Vipers anymore. I don’t have to worry about winning. Or a lack thereof. I can watch in glorious technicolored neutrality, and observe the pain and the glory of the other ten teams with cool, calculating ambivalence, and not really mind who wins the league. Well, almost. Anyone but Panthers, eh.

The Tweet Generation

The Week in Review

It’s me again! And I’d like to think that given the number of times I've flapped my lips on this here blog, you, my lovely readers, must have gotten to know to know me. I’m a girl of simple pleasures, let’s face it. I love fights, beards, and players named after weaponry. And man, can I talk. I’ve not even seen any hockey this week and I’ve still got plenty to tell you. So let’s settle down and have a chinwag, shall we.

Without a live match for my poor, hockey-starved mind to devour, my thoughts turned to matters off-ice this week. And I’ll get to those in good time. But let’s start with some of the talking points from this week’s Elite League action. There was a thriller at the Odyssey as Braehead travelled to take on Belfast, and in an overly physical game there was yet more frustration for fight fans, as in the first meeting between Sam Zajac and Benoit Doucet since ‘that’ check which left Zajac sidelined with concussion, the gloves were dropped but the fight was unable to take place due to some over-enthusiastic officiating. A poor decision in my opinion and potentially a dangerous one: the guys clearly needed to air their grievances but were unable to do so; frustrations could have easily boiled over leading to more unsavoury outcomes being played out. In short, let them go*. If this wasn’t enough Adam Keefe tried to start a fight with half the Braehead team but no-one was game. ‘A’ for effort, lad. Belfast took the game by the horns with just three minutes to spare and continue to look dominant.

Coventry had a hairy bus ride home from Dundee after shutting out the home side and taking the two points back to the West Midlands. Thankfully they made it home safely despite the bus nearly being blown over. In other, more dramatic, and less hairy news, there were some sad losses in the world of British ice hockey as Matthew Myers (Nottingham Panthers) severed his enviable tresses and Chris Zarb (Dundee Stars) shaved off his frankly incredible beard. I’m still reeling from the shock of those unwelcome discoveries. Absent from the weekend’s action were the Sheffield Steelers who were all busy joining Twitter. Oh, and playing the occasional game of hockey in Denmark during their spare moments. They didn’t fare well in the Intercontinental Cup, despite a promising start, and were subject to some seemingly over-sensitive refereeing. Apparently the Europeans don’t do physical ice hockey. Whereas we like a good bashing here in the UK. On a positive note, their entire squad are now on Twitter, so the trip to Denmark wasn’t a total waste of time.

On Sunday, only one ice hockey team turned up in the first period for the dead rubber Challenge Cup tie at Skydome Arena, and as the only team there, the Blaze found it relatively easy to take a 5-0 lead. In the second period only one ice hockey team turned up too – this time however it was Nottingham Panthers, who proceeded to score 5 goals of their own to level the scores. I’m led to believe that both teams were present in the final period. The score was nonetheless tied.

The Tweet Generation

So that’s the hockey dealt with. Now onto my ponderings from the week. I hardly need to point out that as a fan of ice hockey, if you have any interest in the deep and meaningful thoughts that travel through the grey matter of the players you watch and admire, accessing said thoughts is not as difficult (or stalkerish), as it may once have been. No longer do you need to creep around behind them on the street trying to listen in to their private telephone conversations (I’ve not done that, by the way). Never again do you need to pen a desperate fan letter, asking them what their favourite colour is, or if they could be any superhero who would they be (I haven’t done that either. That I can recall). Instead, using the various social media that’s available, Robert is in fact your mother’s brother: instant access to a wealth of richness and diversity, courtesy of the collective brains of your favourite team(s).

By its very nature Twitter is a voyeuristic medium. It allows you to read for yourself whatever little nuggets of wisdom anyone you happen to be intrigued by is sharing with the world at any given moment. For some this amounts to reams of material daily, for others just the choicest morsels will be drip-fed to the starving masses, to satisfy the aching chasm deep inside that could only possibly be filled by the knowledge that their favourite Canadian defenceman is going to the bowling alley for the afternoon. It’s different to Facebook. Facebook is for friends, and family. Twitter is the social network of strangers. You are safe, hidden behind your maximum 15-character username, to follow the people whom you choose to follow without fear of retribution. You never have to talk back. You can read a full conversation between team mates about where to meet for coffee without having to get involved. But – you know they’re meeting for coffee. And that’s something you didn’t know before. Stalkers 1, Privacy 0!

Of course it’s hardly a place to reveal your innermost secrets if you don’t want anyone else to know about them, but there’s just something about Twitter. That sense that maybe, probably, no-one’s really listening (reading) tempts you into giving up just a little more information than you would if you were speaking to a group of people you barely knew in person. It’s the genuine candour adopted by sportsmen, celebrities and the like that makes following them on Twitter so appealing. That sense that you’re catching a glimpse into their everyday lives. Twitter obviously feeds one’s propensity to stalkerishness; but at least I’m not afraid to admit it!

Anyway I promised myself this wouldn’t descend (ascend?!) into a ponderous philosophical commentary on the vicarious nature of social media, so let’s cut to the chase. Ice hockey players: they really do love Twitter, don’t they? And while I concede that a lot of what they dribble on about is no more interesting than any of the rest of the inanity spouted by your average Twitter user, they do make for an entertaining follow. To support this week’s column and to find out just how many of them frequent the site, I set about compiling a Twitter list of EIHL players (available now for any user to follow – @ktdude/eihl-ice-hockey-players). I basically adopted the role of electronic shepherd, herding the lovely big lugs together in one easy to manage pen – and I am surprised to tell you that it contains just shy of 100 of the hairy creatures already. Basically half of the possible number of players contained in the league right now. Surprised? I was.

The variety of fripperies they supply is astounding; I have in recent weeks given Sam Zajac directions, asked Danny Meyers a question about his sideburns (he grows them because otherwise he’d look really young), seen pictures of the Belfast Giants’ Halloween party, viewed a wide selection of Movember moustaches, and discovered that Jeff Pierce really loves his own hair. They aren’t shy about voicing their opinions on games, either. It’s a whole added dimension to the dynamics that already exist between players, teams, coaches, managers, referees, fans, commentators and everyone else involved in our beautiful game. The NHL have banned the use of Twitter on game days. I don’t think the Elite League would ever have the faintest notion of doing similar and I for one hope it stays that way.

And viewing them all together in one list is priceless. It’s taking on a life of its own. Sheffield Steelers used their trip to Denmark as an opportunity to ensure that every single squad member was signed up and the resultant (presumably drunken – I’m allowed to say that, right?) nonsense has been quite amusing if not somewhat baffling to follow. It’s interesting what they choose to say, and not to say. For the most part they seem content to share a great deal – to the extent of possibly having boundary issues. Of course the majority of it is ‘in’ jokes and banter between teammates, but there is some genuinely fun content if you can get through this. My top 3 suggestions of players to follow:

1) Adam Keefe – self-appointed spokesperson for the Belfast Giants this season, Keefe has not wasted any time in throwing himself into life in Northern Ireland, and the Elite League in general. He Tweets regularly, but there’s plenty of substance in there, and he’s not afraid to bite back if someone tries to wind him up. He also made me come over all unnecessary following recent comments about his moustache. Top bloke.

2) Danny Meyers – speaking of top blokes, the Nottingham Panthers captain has surely got to be up there with the best of them. One of my first hockey player follows, Danny is just an all round good egg and is the perfect spokesmodel for Great British hockey. He loves his wife and kids, he enjoys a bit of banter with Simmsey, and he is happy to answer questions once in a while, even the more bizarre ones about sideburns!

3) Ryan Finnerty – Finner16 is a sound dude with a wry sense of humour and although he displays the restraint that a good leader should, he’s not afraid to engage in the banter and is clearly well-liked throughout the game and not just by his own team, or fans.

So to conclude: if you actually care about what goes on between the ears of your favourite hockey players, follow my list. If you don’t really care, follow it anyway, purely for the amusement factor. If you’re not even on Twitter, check it out. It’s ridiculously addictive. And a few weeks down the line, you’ll wonder how you lived without knowing about Jade Galbraith’s trip to the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet.

*STOP PRESS: The fallout from the Zajac/Doucet non-fight is more serious than first thought. Doucet is out for the season, due to a freak accident which occurred when he was wrestled to the ice by the linesmen who landed on him causing his knee to twist the wrong way. A sickening injury, which is a massive blow to the Giants and more so to the player himself. A great shame. My initial thoughts on the way the matter was handled were followed by a lengthy debate and some further hockey schooling and as a result I’m going to hop back up onto the fence on the matter, claiming ‘noobishness’ as my excuse for not being more outspoken. That is all.

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!

The Nomad Speaks: Chapter 236 and a half. Ish.

Cross-posted from http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/

I’m back. And I have to admit, I’m feeling a bit rusty. The lack of exposure to live hockey this season has left me withered and crusty, like a dried up piece of chewing gum stuck under a park bench, used up and forgotten about. God what rubbish I talk. Anyway, I had missed my hockey dearly: it was time to break my fast and a banquet was laid before me in the form of TWO live hockey matches in the fine city of Belfast, a glut that would surely fill me to the brim with wondrous hockey-related tales to impart to you, my poor deprived readers. I was expecting to go away plump and fully sated, content to wallow in the warm glow that my hockey travels would induce and ready to wait patiently for my next instalment.

DAY 1: Friday 11th November

Sadly, almost the exact opposite was to occur. Let’s start at the beginning. There was a plane journey, a bus ride through some truly biblical rain, and a quick pit-stop at our hotel base, before we were on our way to the Odyssey Arena for the first game in our double-headed Giants weekend, against Fife Flyers. I’ll get this out of the way right now: not only am I merely in my sophomore year as a hockey supporter, but I have seen but one live match this season, so despite viewing a selection of odd highlights on YouTube and a bevy of stats on the Elite League website, I feel I might as well be back to square one. I’m a hockey novice again. A nomadic one. A nov-mad. A person who should stop making up words. All that to say, my weekend was one of first impressions, whereas for everyone else, they will have seen their teams in action loads of times and will therefore potentially rubbish my opinions, and for that I wouldn’t blame them. But I’ll share my impressions anyway, because that’s what I do.

The game was a bit pants, really.

We weren’t expecting a great deal, in fairness. Belfast are a very strong side at home, and let’s face it, they’re top of the league. Under-funded and short of imports, and with Danny Stewart recently named club captain and Toms Hartmanis signed to lead the forward line, Fife have basically morphed into last season’s Vipers team, so I was undoubtedly feeling an amount of trepidation as to how they would fare against a notoriously tough Giants side. I’ll stop beating around the bush: we fully expected a rout. It became clear however that this was not what we were going to get. I’m not going to give a detailed match report but I will make a few comments.

I’d been really excited to see the new crop of Giants players in action but some of the key players were quiet for them against Fife, notably Adam Keefe who, although solid, didn’t put in a standout performance, aside from a lone incident which could have exploded into violence if it hadn’t been over before it started, Fife’s 29 mugged by the Giants tough guy, the player basically on the floor before Keefe could really get going. He just looked at the guy and he collapsed in a heap. Keefe’s that hard. Impressive for the Giants today were defenceman Jeff Mason and centre Darryl Lloyd, the latter being my favourite of the Belfast team, a feisty, speedy, blood-and-guts agitator who came out all guns blazing and laid down hits worthy of a guy twice his size. Following the controversy during the week following a questionable hit on former Viper Sam Zajac, Benoit Doucet, unpunished by the Elite League on review, bounced back to score a hattrick and looked one of Belfast’s strongest threats throughout the game.

The scoreline flatters to deceive – it was nowhere near as exciting as it sounds on paper; the home side, although not massively threatened by Fife, did not take the game by the short and curlies and the three goal difference belies the reality of a game in which neither side was overly dominant. At one point in the third period, Fife were on the powerplay and Toms Hartmanis had a fantastic one-on-one shooting opportunity which he just missed. Had he scored, he would have brought the scoreline to within one goal and the game could have genuinely have been turned on its head. As it was, Fife were stubborn but ineffectual in front of goal, the Danny Stewart fighting spirit certainly on show but the lack of strength in depth clear for all to see. And despite the lack of actual fights, the game itself was chippy, with both teams taking numerous penalties, and it threatened to blow up as the final buzzer sounded, the ensuing multi-player handbag-dropping session more exciting than pretty much the entire game.

So what of the former Vipers? As if to make us feel at home, Danny Stewart for some reason took up a spot in defence, and spent a large portion of the game on the ice, along with Toms Hartmanis who displayed the same level of skill and class he did at Whitley Bay last season. Us Viper fans in the audience were greeted with confusion and disdain in equal parts by the Giants faithful, who were presumably thrown by our jerseys in a sort of ‘is it in fact 2010’ déjà vu moment. It felt like something between being an alien species and invisible, which suited us fine, as we mingled with the locals and joined in with the songs, dance routines and general good humour, and what little went on on the ice was much less dramatic than the terrible discovery during the second period break that the entire building seemed to have run out of cider. (Never fear, I found a pint eventually at the last bar I visited – the relief was palpable all around the arena).

ULSTER FRY: I didn’t take any hockey photos because, well, I just didn’t. I wasn't feeling inspired. I have posted this instead which I could use as some kind of hockey metaphor, something to do with breaking eggs, being full of beans... It might get a bit suspect when referring to the relative lack of meat or the size of the sausage though. So I think I’ll just leave it.

DAY 2: Saturday 12th November

By the time game number two came around I was ready for some serious action. And by this, I mean I was literally chomping at the bit. I was so pumped I reckon I could have put in a couple of decent shifts on the ice myself. (Let’s all relish THAT image for a moment, shall we. OK, I’m going to move on now and never speak of such a thing again). Tonight’s opponents were the Cardiff Devils who were expected to be a tougher test for the home side; a decent contest was expected by all. However, as I’m starting to learn that it’s okay not to mince my words and I don’t have to please all of the people, all of the time, I’m going to be brutally honest.

The game was a bit pants, really.

I mean, it was a marginal improvement on yesterday. But it was still missing some major amounts of spark. The Devils were sloppy, giving up penalties haphazardly in the first two periods, but the Giants just couldn’t make the powerplay work for them. Cardiff’s penalty kill team along with a confident Stevie Lyle in goal reigned supreme, and a correctly disallowed goal in the first period took the wind out of Belfast’s sails somewhat. At the other end, Murphy was strong in the Giants goal, and Cardiff had very few shots on either, however the difference between the sides was accuracy, two coolly taken goals to the Giants’ single successful strike going on to be the final score.

I hate to sound bloodthirsty but honestly, what was missing in the game was some good old-time hockey violence. It hung in the air like an unspoken threat, riling the crowd (it wasn’t just me, I swears it), but was never acted upon, tough guys choosing to take a back seat and leaving us frustrated and without resolution, and me yet to see the infamous Keefe doing what he arguably does best, although I would have taken anything at that point; Brad Voth having a heated altercation with a goalpost would have done. Both teams are notoriously physical however I would have to say that our first view of the Braehead Clan some weeks ago left them looking comparatively like far more of a physical threat than either team on this particular night; interesting then that the Glasgow side went on to beat Cardiff in their own rink the following night.

So what of the rest of the action? A few minutes into the third period the game finally picked up, players seemingly realising they were supposed to try and win, Lloyd and Kuiper in particular laying on some big hits for the Giants and lifting their teammates’ spirits. The final two minutes were all Giants, as they frantically tried to level the scoreline and take the game to overtime, but it was not to be and they were left to suffer their third home defeat of the season.

Don’t get me wrong: the edge was in no way taken off my overall Belfast experience by the lack of quality hockey on offer. The Ulster fry was excellent, the company top notch, the dancing cheesy and the weather even able to put in a decent showing after the initial torrents of rain. Sadly, visiting hockey celebrity Simmsey never put in an appearance in Rockies, but the men in black and white stripes, who also put in a good performance on the ice, were on hand to provide drinks.

Okay so I haven’t written much about hockey, but I haven’t written much about facial hair either, remarkable given that we are in the throes of Movember and I had a collection of 50-odd new hockey player faces to inspect over the course of the two days. Rather than dulling my enthusiasm, the lacklustre matches – although failing to provide any real inspiration for my post – have served as a reminder of what I am missing, and that in turn has sparked a desire to put in more of an effort to follow the league once again. I miss hockey more now than ever before. The connection may be missing, and that’s a bitch, for sure, but the passion is still there. I just have to find a way to channel it. And my unhealthy and (worryingly) sharply increasing desire for violence is probably not the healthiest expression of it. Suggestions?

Till next time folks. Don’t forget about me! Tell me things about hockey! And to the Elite League clubs – for the love of God, film some highlights, PLEASE?! How hard can it be? Ta very much!