EIHL Playoff Finals 2009 Review

Before I launch into my review of the past weekends festivities a quick mention must be made of the EIHL’s brush with implosion. As mentioned in my previous post here things seemed to have come to ahead on the Friday of last week. Im not going to go into the ins and outs in great detail as other blogs, and the numerous press releases pretty much cover it all. Along with all the supporters forums across the land.

Basically Friday saw both the Phoenix and the Capitals post two news items detailing the bare bones of operating within the EIHL. Exposing all the improper business dealing, all the mis-management and cloak and dagger movements behind the scenes. Now I am a Phoenix fan, but putting aside my Phoenix tinted specks, after reading the following two links you must admit the Caps/Vipers and Phoenix were nearly forced out of the league by the ‘other’ 6! So the two articles in question:

Manchester Phoenix
Edinburgh Capitals

If all this is true, I think it’s a complete and utter disgrace and the ‘other’ 6 should hang their head in shame! However as im not privy to how each club and in turn the league is run I will leave my comments there. Following the playoff weekend it does, how ever, seem that sense has prevailed:

Elite League

So after reaching the edge, it seems everyone took a moment and a step back! We will have nine teams in next seasons Elite League. So onto finals weekend, and the annual pilgrimage to Nottingham! Yours truly started off the weekend badly, when East Midlands Trains decided to cancel our train! Never mind, we made it and joined around 350 other Phoenix fans spread across blocks 7 and 8! The ticket allocations for the playoffs is a whole other farce from EIHL towers!

Anyway the four teams present in Nottingham were:

Sheffield Steelers
Coventry Blaze
Nottingham Panthers
Cardiff Devils

With the Devils crashing the party EIHL towers would nearly have had a wet dream over that lineup! Almost the coveted ‘big 4’ at finals weekend! Anyway ill review each game separately from what I can remember! If im honest I spent most of finals weekend singing for the Phoenix and generally being a nuisance (noise wise) to the league in the NIC! You can revisit my weekend predictions here.

So here we go:

Sheffield Steelers vs Cardiff Devils

Pre finals weekend prediction: Steelers to win.

Final Score: Steelers 5 – 2 Devils

With the vast majority of the arena rooting for the Devils, save for some Giants fans – get a room J, the Steelers had to make sure they did not come acropper to the perennial Finals team the Devils. All looked to be going well for the Steeler machine when Phillips had them in front at the end of the first period. Even at this stage, with the solid Steeler D it began to look inevitable. The Steelers began the second where they left off in the first, when Doug Sheppard made it 2-0 Steelers. This seemed to wake the Devils who then went on to score two goals in 71 seconds. With everyman’s nemesis Brad Voth getting the first and Matt Elich getting the second. The Steelers did end the period in front, however, when Jeff Legue netted. The game was put beyond any doubt when the excellent Robert Dowd scored to make it 4-2 Sheffield. The Devils pressed, and with Aubry off the ice for the extra skater, Deganais scored an empty netter to send the Steelers to the final, and the Devils home…..again!

Coventry Blaze vs Nottingham Panthers

Pre finals weekend prediction: Panthers to win.

Final Score: Blaze 2 – 6 Panthers EIHL towers would have been praying for a Panther win in this semi-final, and those towers will need a wipe down as the Panthers eased past a rather naff Coventry Blaze. Many a Phoenix fan were left to rue the loss to the Panthers in the quarters, as many fancied the Phoenix to win through to the final had we played that Blaze side. Anyway onto the game! This semi was effectively done and dusted after the first 20minutes. The Panthers raced to a 3-0 lead in 14 minutes. With goals from Galbraith, Cook and player coach Neilson. The Blaze, understandably, took a time out to regroup and disrupt the Panthers flow. It seemed to work and before the end of the period the Blaze were on the board through Stewart. Onto the second, with many hoping of a Blaze revival, it wasn’t to come. The Panthers would win the period 2-1. With goals from Clarke and Richardson, and the solitary Blaze goal from Moore. It was all over after 4 mins of the third when Bergin scored the Panthers 6th just to humiliate the Blaze. Im amazed by the Blaze! They always seem to make it to Nottingham only to loose all interest and go out without so much as a whimper! Mr Thomas needs to sort this out or the Blaze will never make it to a final! So with the Panthers meeting the Steelers in the final EIHL towers had their dream final, as mentioned the Kleenex must have got worn out in those ivory towers! I had a big worry with this game, with all the build up I came to the conclusion that this final would be naff!

So……

The Playoff Final – Sheffield Steelers vs Nottingham Panthers

Pre finals weekend prediction: Steelers to win.

Final Score: Steelers 2 – 0 Panthers

So the immovable Steelers defence cam e up against the high flying Panthers offence, whats that phrase again? ‘Offence wins games, defence wins championships’ So it was the case, this game needed the Panthers to score first, and they didn’t! It was obvious from the moment the Steelers scored first an air of inevitability descended on the NIC. It was only a case of when Sheffield would secure the win rather than if! A game, which promised so much, including a warm up session of handbags! Rather petered out into a naff final. The Steelers scored after 15mins through Steve Munn with a shot that Michel Robinson will want back! The Panther fans will complain he was offside, however from where I sat, at the other end of the arena, it looked ok for me! An even second period that resulted in no goal lead to a winner takes all third period. The Panthers could not muster enough offence to really trouble the excellent Lehman in the Steeler goal. Sheffield would go on to secure the win when Ryan Finnerty scored their second at after 44minutes. From that moment the Steeler curtain fell and the Panthers could not find a way through.
So ended the game, and a moment, which I think was the most disgraceful thing I have ever seen in hockey. More on which below!

Another weekend in Nottingham gone, a weekend of much turmoil and protest, and ultimately a rather dull win for the Steelers. Im sorry for the so called ‘greatest rivalry in hockey’ it produced one of the worst finals I have ever seen!

Highlights of the weekend:

• The camaraderie between the ‘little 3’ Vipers/Caps and Phoenix fans, joining together to let the EIHL know, we would not go quietly!
  
• Upholding the Phoenix fan’s reputation as the best in the country IMO! We defiantly had the best variation in songs sung all weekend!
• 'He shot, he missed, he wanted an assist, Tony Hand, Tony Hand!'
• Meeting Paul from the Breakaway Blog for a good chinwag!
  

Lowlights of the weekend:

• Theres two really, the perennial tit that is David Simms coming down from his lofty perch to rollock the Viper fans beneath him for making a noise!
  
• But the icing on the cake was the way the Steelers celebrated their final win. You would have thought with 5 seconds to go Lehman would wait and go and celebrate in front of his own fans? Well no he didn’t, he threw down his stick, raced over to the Panther fans, jumping into the plexi and beginning to goad and taunt those fans. Im pretty sure Lehman knows what the V sign means! Needless to see the Panther fans went mad, a situation only made worse when the rest of the Steeler team decided to join Lehman on the plexi making the same gestures!
• The Panther players thanking only thanking their own fans after the final. OK fiar enough but skate around the arena, lets face it most of it was supporting you!
  

What makes all this worse is the Steelers complete lack of judgement and releasing the following official press release:

Sheffield Steelers

This has just shown what a classless organisation the Steelers are, their celebration and this press release serve nothing other than to stoke up and piss of the Panthers organisation more. It was a senseless and needless act. Ignore what I say, fine I don’t care what you think, but you cannot escape the facts of the day! The way the Steelers celebrated was wrong, and releasing that article on the official website was just stupid.

So a weekend of much turmoil ended the way it begun, with the EIHL showering itself in brown doo doo!

Up next for this blog will be a Phoenix end of season player by player review, and a club by club review. Stay tuned people!

EIHL - Back from the Edge!

Well a weekend is a long time in hockey! Since my post here on the possible death of the Elite League it seems sense has prevailed and the league will go ahead, as was, with 9 teams for 09/10!

The Elite League have issued this press release detailing whats happening next season. Thankfully it seems like the league owners have seen sense and decided a 6 team league was not the way forward. If anyone has an ounce of sensibility in them, they too would have come to this conclusion! 6 team league, playing each team 5 times home and away? How quick will that get boring? Those 6 saying it will produce fast exciting hockey.....it will, there will just be no one there watching!

Paul over at the Breakaway blog has made many a good point reading into the EIHL release above, I suggest you head on over and take a read!

While a compromise seems to have been agreed, I cant help but think this is just putting off the problem until later! At a time where no one is flushed with money, this agreement just means the haves can have bigger better paid teams than the have nots. The only restriction is the 10 imports on any given match night. Plus, as Paul mentions, no reference made to enforcing a wage cap, come to think of it theres no mention of a cap at all! Which means we all carry on as is, the same teams busting the cap with no punishment.

Im glad the Phoenix are still in the EIHL don't get me wrong, but my sense of worry is still there! This could have been the time the EIHL woke up to the current world and acted to ensure the future of top flight hockey in the UK. As it is they haven't, the fact that some clubs wanted to spend even more money really has shocked me!

This leads me to a question, why shake things up now?

Manchester and Cardiff are still settling into new rinks, Newcastle look to be leaving the Metro Arena and the Bison have left for pastures new. Personally this whole furore should not have come about anyway. Keep the league as is, minus some minor tinkering, and settle for some stability. Lord knows the Phoenix need it after many years of turmoil.

Maybe in a couple of years we can revise import limits etc...but only after each club can operate on a sound footing!

Anyway as it is we will see EIHL hockey next year, but I do worry we will have this same circus next summer!

That's it for today, im halfway through my Playoff Final weekend review and will hope full have that online tomorrow. For now take care, enjoy your summer, and keep checking all the hockey related blogs for more Finals Weekend fall out and summer coverage!

Take care everyone!

Tonights EIHL All Star Game

So tonight sees the first ever Elite League All Star game take place at the Coventry Sky Dome. Most of you will be aware of this and of the players from your team taking part. From the Phoenix we have:

David Alexandre Beauregard
Kenton Smith
Adam Walker

The Phoenix would have been represented by the Great One Tony Hand, as captain too, but rather wisely Tony has declined to appear in tonight’s extravaganza! Perfectly understandable as the Phoenix are in the middle of a busy league schedule and trying to qualify for two cup finals! I fully respect Tony’s decision, rather selfishly as it will aid the Phoenix to have a fighting fit Tony Hand in the line up! The other choices are no-brainers! A All Star game without the league’s leading goal scorer would be silly really! Kenton Smith is, arguable, one of the best D men in the league, and Adam has come along way this season!

Onto tonight’s game:

The Concept: I do like the idea of having an All Star game, it gives the chance for the players to let their hair down and have some fun. Along with the usual competitions it also allows them to free style and try a couple of things they could not, or would not be allowed to try in regular league games. I would, however, argue that mandating each team to select 4 players (two imports, two Brits) from the line-up of each team in the North or South, doesn’t really equal a team full of All Stars. It does mean that each team is fairly represented; it just means its not quite full of All Stars.

The Venue/Time: The SkyDome in Coventry, great venue, filled to the brim with fans from all teams will create a great atmosphere! Almost a mini play off finals weekend! However it wont! If you have read The Breakaway British Hockey blog, you will have seen Paul mention that as of yesterday only 400 tickets have been sold. This will not create a good atmosphere! It’s a real shame, I would have love to have gone down to see the leagues best. But a Thursday evening in Coventry? Most fans across the league will not be able to take the time off work to go, I know I cant! It would have been so much better to have it at a weekend! But then you run into scheduling problems with the remaining league games. Or have it at the end of the season, nope cant do that as the Playoff Finals weekend has always been seen as the show piece event at the end of the league season. So your left with a mid-season game in mid-week! Shame really!

Who Will Win? In my opinion the North will, I could say that is entirely down to having the league’s leading scorer on the bench but that would be selfish of me! In all seriousness the North has the resources of Belfast/Sheffield/Newcastle and Manchester. Four very strong teams in their own right! It will be a close game, a high scoring game, but I think the North will take it!

Complete Randomness: Yes that would be Hull being in the Southern All Star team, yes Hull, further north than Sheffield! If you had Hull in the North what does that mean for the balance of the game? You would then have Belfast/Newcastle/Hull/Manchester and Sheffield. In terms of geography you would have to bump Sheffield down into the Southern All Stars. This would leave Sheffield and Nottingham in the same team, obviously that sent the shivers through Elite Towers and it was left for poor Hull to be sent south!

Well after all that, if your going, enjoy yourself, if not who cares really! Paul at the Breakaway will be there running live (hopefully!) updates throughout the evening, so pop by if you want to stay up to date!

A final mention must go out to the Phoenix performance in Newcastle last night, this was the first leg of our Knockout Cup semi-final played in Whitley Bay. Before the start of this game I had hoped for a close encounter. I believed that either team could win the game, and as it was an away game for the Phoenix a close loss would do! Well I was wrong, by all accounts it sounds like the Phoenix played the perfect road game and came away with a 4-1 win. That included a Clouthier breakaway goal! One for the scrap book me thinks! This leaves the second leg set up nicely for the Phoenix, and a game they should close out to advance to their second final of the season! However it wont be easy, the Vipers have nothing to loose and will come at the Phoenix hard and fast!

Should be another corker at the Dome!

The season so far.........part 2!

This post kind of follows up on my thoughts of the team so far this season; and wanted to give my opinion on a couple more things.

My first thought is a follow on from last season, and the first full season we had in our finished rink. Now I love our Dome, yes the sight lines are rubbish, but its our home and I love it! Its got character, quirks and so many little things that make it more of a home than any arena would. Which is why it frustrates me to read fans of arena teams come here and moan! Look you knew what you were coming too, there have been endless posts on forums around the league that our rink, and Cardiff’s for that matter, don’t have great sight lines. Its easy to get round it, stand up or watch TV, just don’t say you didn’t expect it!
Still, I wouldn’t swap the Dome for an arena anytime! I have been to Schuff when the shed has been half full, such a poor atmosphere. Plus in the last days of the Storm/First Phoenix season, imagine 1500 people in an arena that can seat 17,245, you can imagine that atmosphere! No the Dome is great for us, we can create an awesome atmosphere in that place, 2,500 fans in a small/compact tin rink its fantastic!

My second thought for this post, and I hope the Phoenix can maintain their current form and finish high up the table, is this could be a season when the fans of the ‘big’ teams finally realise there are other teams in this league.
The reasoning behind that thought comes from our resent wins against Schuff and Nottingham. Immediately after our win against Schuff I remember going on Steeltalk and reading the reaction cross the pennies. Not one comment acknowledging the fact that the Phoenix were the better team and deserved to win! Fast forward to the win against Nottingham in the NIC, I was so pleased to read the Panther fans admitting the Phoenix were, on that occasion, better than them! I think it may need a good season, with a good finish, to convince these fans that there are teams outside their arenas!

Im sorry if that last though annoys some of you, but I have to admit to feeling closer to the likes of Basingstoke/Hull/Edinburgh etc.. as I always feel that because we don’t play out of an arena, we are not good enough!

p.s. Crikey just read that Ed (Big Nose) Courtney is back in the Elite League after singing for Newcastle! Will be good to see him on the ice again, I just hope hes not slowed down too much!

Elite League Money Problems.....

Right, I was intending to post the first of my thoughts on the Phoenix season so far tonight, but reading the local paper and events over the weekend have prompted a change, so what follows is my take on the troubles at the Bison and Caps along with my idea of a solution!

So this post concerns the recent developments at the Bison and the Caps. It seems as though both teams, despite encountering financial difficulties, should make it to the end of the season. But the main thing that worries me is…what happens then?

It seems as though, in both cases, promised sponsorship money has not been forthcoming, also the collapse of Zoom did not help matters. Surely when these sponsorship contracts are drawn up some consideration must be given to making them legally binding? (of course this is where my complete lack of understanding on these matters is shown up!) How can a company, who promises to sponsor a team, simply walk away? That’s what baffles me!!

I consider the Bison/Caps along with the Phoenix as, in the grand scale of things in the Elite League we are all ‘small’ teams. So whenever I hear of other teams having trouble I have to admit to worrying about my team! Thankfully I think no news is good news in terms of the Phoenix! We managed to get all (bar a couple) of players in before Zoom went bust. Our team are playing well so hopefully sponsorship money is continuing to come in, and crowds are up (I think!). Whilst I hope the Phoenix continue to flourish I really hope, come the end of the season, sensible heads can be put on and a long-term future for the Bison/Caps can be found.

My own thought (though probably had by someone else already!) could be to have a central pot, where any profits from the clubs who make money could be shared out to those less fortunate. A bit like the NFL (I think!). I know this idea may not sit well with Giants/Panther/Blaze and Steeler fans, but surely they would prefer to be playing 9 other teams as opposed to 7? That would get very boring very quickly! I can see a hole in that plan already in that, its not a given that the ‘bigger’ teams make a consistent profit (as you never see any financial results) but as the league is run by the club owners surely they can get round a table and thrash something out?

Every new season along with praying for a hard working Phoenix team, I always pray for a full season with every club making it without any wobbles. Again this seems not to be the case for 08/09. So please, Elite League, lets get this sorted for the good of Elite hockey in this country!

p.s. reading through today’s MEN it seems that the future development in Altrincham, which, would have included a new 3,000-seat arena for the Phoenix, has hit difficulties. One of the developers behind the project has filed for administration, I really hope this doesn’t put an end to the project, as our beloved Ice Dome is only a temporary facility. I just hope it doesn’t become a permanent temporary facility!

As always your comments/thoughts are appreciated!