This Fire Burns: Why This Blaze Team Is Something Special

Adversity. They say it breeds champions, but funnily enough, no-one, fan or player, ever goes out at the beginning of a hockey season and says “y’know what? I want it tough. Do ya worst, Fate…MAKE US EARN IT!”

Of course they don’t. We all know what the traditional cycle of events is when a sports team suffers a run of bad luck.

Fans start to mutter about “curses”. Coaches come out with that old excuse “sometimes you just don’t get the breaks”.

The old clichés are trotted out about “staying strong” and “taking it one game at a time” in pre-game talk after post-match-interview.

In fact, when the injury bug bites or Lady Luck decides to talk to the other guy at the bar counter night after night, most of the time, that has a detrimental effect on the morale around a team or the thoughts within it. The whispers of doubt start to rise unbidden in the back of minds-however quickly shushed they might be. The excuses keep flowing as people convince themselves that it’s just a blip and we can ride this one out.

You can sense it around a team when you’re involved with them, however peripherally. I’ve seen it happen at times over the past few years with the Blaze. The music seems a little quieter, people are a little less noisy at the rink, and the warmups seem a little less purposeful.

The killing thing, though, is watching a team react when this happens. There is no worse feeling than seeing a team in a bad-luck streak go a goal down and feeling the wave of discontent sweep the arena and settle over everything like an invisible grey blanket of fear, discontent and, most painfully, resignation. Seeing an arena react to a team in this situation is often like watching a Gulf Coast town prepare for a hurricane, as the organisation collectively hunkers down and hopes merely to weather the storm without too much damage.

Oh, Christ. Batten down the hatches, folks. Time to hide and ride this one out. 

However, just occasionally, the reverse happens. As injuries sting and the hockey gods keep throwing bolts of misfortune, a tingle sweeps through the air as somehow a team decide with a collective will that they’re not going to hide from the storm, but stand up and scream into the wind:

Come on then, hockey gods. Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough.

It takes a rare group of men (and or women) to do that. It’s not a decision that can be made by one person or even a decision that’s explicitly stated, but it’s shown in the actions of every member of the team, from the first-line forward to the back-office staff.

And when it happens, it’s a rare and wonderful alchemy-the kind of thing that can win a team a championship some say they have no right to.

Ladies and gentlemen of UK, hockey…be afraid. This Blaze team has found that formula., and the evidence is everywhere,

Sign 1: In the opening pre-season game Mouth Of The South (Wales) Devin Didiomete met Benn Olson in a scrap that was relatively unremarkable as a fight in itself (Olson won), but notable for the reaction of the rest of the Blaze bench.

They were roaring Olson on all the way, stood up on the bench and stepping in to back their team-mate up.

Sign 2: The first games v Sheffield saw captain Shea Guthrie lay down a marker for his team in two performances that saw him fly round the ice like a bat out of hell, setting the kind of example that doesn’t so much encourage team-mates to follow as challenge their manhood if they choose not to. Sure, a weakened Blaze (already missing d-man Jerramie Domish) lost the home game after winning the away game the night before but the message was already beginning to get through.

We may be outnumbered, but we’ll never let ourselves be outgunned.

Sign 3: In the first home league game against Fife it was new arrival Brad Leeb’s turn to take the initiative, as he returned from a three game suspension for a sucker punch against Sheffield in the away PS game and scored twice, including the winner mere seconds after he’d returned from taking a penalty for the powerplay which gave Fife a late equaliser. And another message was sent loud and clear.

If you mess up on this team, you make damn sure you make up for it. This is what we do.

Sign 4: As injuries mounted, young players brought up from junior and lower levels played (and continue to play) out of their skins, not least Dale White, who last season was playing mainly NIHL hockey and now has earned a regular shift on the Blaze’s third line, scoring his first EIHL goal against Sheffield two weeks ago.

Sign 5: Devin Didiomete returned to the Skydome last Sunday in the wake of Mike Danton’s visa refusal, having loudly mocked the team and Danton on Twitter. The Blaze fans hoped for retribution. The honour of their club was being called into question. The Blaze family was being attacked.

Benn Olson stepped up and made himself responsible for revenge. Five minutes into the home game on Saturday he dropped the gloves to dance with the Devil once again and left him battered like a Scottish Mars bar. Later that same game he took on another challenger, Tyson Marsh, and won. His celebration, mimicking putting on a heavyweight title belt, said it all.

Take the team on, you take me on. And don’t expect to win, either.

The Blaze fans have responded to this already. Watching the players interact on Twitter or on the ice you can see that this is a group already moulded into a unit and ready to go into battle. An elite unit in which everyone knows their roles.

From “Big Bad Benn” Olson providing the muscle to Mike Schutte prompting attack after attack to “the Silent Assassin” Brad Leeb providing the rapier-sharp attacking edge.

From Mike Egener’s implacable calm on the blue-line to the darting forward thrusts of the quicksilver Greg Leeb or the no-nonsense straight-up/straight-down rushes of Dustin Cameron.

From the snap and snarl of Gerome Giudice to the steady goaltending of Peter Hirsch or the youthful energy of the Brit Pack.

This is a team that has very quickly worked its way into the hearts of Coventry hockey fans in a way that few teams have since the Grand Slam year of 2004/05.

A team that, as the marketing slogan has it, will Bleed Blue.

Injuries or not, there’s a buzz around the Skydome right now on every hockey night, even this early in the season.

And everywhere  the posters, the players’ efforts on the ice and the whispers in the Skydome air say the same thing.

We. Are. Blaze.

The dragon is awake, Elite League,

And it’s getting stronger all the time.

Catching Up: Comebacks, Controversy and New Arrivals

Due to Internet issues Chasing Dragons has been a little quiet over the past week or so. Now, with the Internet fixed, we catch up and consider signings, comebacks  and also why adversity is the best possible thing that could have happened for Coventry hockey right now. Settle in…it’s a long one.

End Of The Line?

Lste last week, it was revealed that Mike Danton’s visa appeal had been rejected after a Blaze fan posted the news on Twitter along with screenshots of personal conversations he’d had with the player.

As of now, the next move is unclear, with both sides waiting for the reasons for the rejection before proceeding. But it seems that the likelihood of Danton pulling on a Blaze jersey is still in the balance.

Blaze on the (Bay)rack

Aside from letting off a MASSIVE Twitter drama bomb on a Friday night, what this news did was mean the Blaze had to act quickly to ease fan concerns, and they did, bringing in former Belfast Giant and Braehead Clan forward Mike Bayrack.

This is a superb signing. As one of the KGB Line along with Jordan Krestanovich and Jade Galbraith last year, Bayrack tore up league defences at times-if he can repeat that form and click with a very talented set of Blaze forwards it could be another happy hunting ground-especially if he pairs up with the Leeb brothers, who are beginning to show some of their serious talent and heating up in a fashion that could be ominous for the rest of the league.

Neilson Hits The Panic Switch

Nottingham Panthers, meanwhile, have reacted to their poor start to the season as everyone expected…they’ve thrown money at the problem in the hope it’ll go away. Corey Neilson hopes that he’s found the solution to the Panthers’ early-season woes in the considerable size of Carolina Hurricanes forward Anthony Stewart, who is the first locked-out NHLer to sign in the UK this time round. Stewart is here initially on a three-month visa, and will make his debut this weekend in the nice, tranquil surroundings of a Sheffield-Nottingham match. In Sheffield.

Well, no-one said he’d come over for a holiday.

Predictably, this signing has caused joy in the Panthers camp and annoyance everywhere else, although the “who can stop the Panthers?” rhetoric has been dialed back a bit this time round-they’ve learned from the last lockout that signing NHLers does not necessarily mean success. We’ll see what effect Stewart has on waking up fellow “star” David Ling, who has been characterised as “lazy and uninterested” by Panthers fans for his performances so far this season.

Night Of The Living Dead (Comebacks)

This last weekend in the EIHL was perhaps the best indication yet of  how close the EIHL is this season. We saw both Belfast and Nottingham come back from horrible starts on Sunday and Coventry secure a battling point in Fife as three out of the five games saw comebacks of varying degrees-the night before Sheffield had taken a 3-0 lead against Nottingham before being pegged back to 3-2.

The comeback teams had varying success, with none of them taking both points (Nottingham lost in OT, Belfast and Coventry on penalty shots)-but the mere fact that these games went right to the final buzzer after one team built a seemingly uncatchable lead shows that there is no shortage of grit in the EIHL this season.

Flying High

Fife’s mercurial start continues too as they come away from another weekend with four points-the Flyers are playing some seriously exciting hockey this season so far with Bryan Pitton one of the emerging stars in the league. It’ll be interesting to see if they can sustain this as the season goes on, though…

That’s the league news caught up on. Expect normal (ish) service to be resumed now…

Numbers Mean Nothing (and 4 Other Things We Learned This Weekend)

Here we are again on a Monday evening, and it’s time, once again, for Five Things We Learned In The EIHL This Weekend)

1. It Ain’t How Much You Got, It’s How You Use It

The bare statistics show that the short-benched Coventry Blaze suffered this weekend, taking one point from four possible against Sheffield thanks to an OT loss on Sunday. The bare statistics show that the team suffered from a short bench. The bare statistics show that this was not a successful weekend.

However, in winning that one point on Sunday, the 2012/13 Blaze did something special. In my eleven years of watching EIHL hockey I’ve rarely seen a more gutsy, backs-to-the-wall, sheer bloody-minded performance. Missing three imports and their top British forward and facing a Sheffield side with the top Brit Pack in the league and two more imports, the Blaze dug in and traded blow-for-blow, hit-for-hit and goal-for-goal for 62 minutes of all-out war with a team that was supposedly far stronger than them, before finally losing in OT. In doing so, they proved once and for all that the brief era where Blaze teams would roll over and die has gone, and signalled a return to the type of Blaze hockey the Skydome knows and loves.

This is definitely a group of players that is revelling in the role of the underdog. And that will breed the kind of siege mentality that will win games they have no right to win over the next few months.

2. Fife Are The Real Thing

Sure, Braehead fans will point to still missing two import players, including Jade Galbraith, as the reason for their 5-1 tanking by the Fife Flyers on Saturday night. But everyone else in the league (if they’ve got any sense) will start taking this Flyers team very seriously indeed. After a narrow loss to the Blaze last Sunday, two wins in the Northern Conference show that, in my mind at least, the Flyers should seriously be considered as a threat for the Gardiner title. They aren’t a team of stars just yet but they’re built strongly and Casey Haines looks like a rough diamond already. Look out, EIHL…after a torrid first season back in the top flight, the Flyers are a team to be reckoned with.

3. Hype Is Over-Rated

Four games into the league season, and Nottingham fans have gone from their excitement at David Ling and Bruce Graham to already questioning their commitment to the squad. Ling in particular has come in for some serious stick on The Cage after appearing to look “uninterested” on both Saturday and Sunday. Martin Tuma and Jason Beckett are already on the fan hot-seat also, while Ling, far from “ripping up the league” as Dave Simms and other experts predicted is currently lagging behind the likes of Jade Portwood in Edinburgh and Sam Smith in Coventry-players who you’d expect wouldn’t be in the same scoring timezone. It may be early in the season but if the reports are true and he’s showing all the get-up-and-go of a eunuch’s genitalia, then how long will Ling last?

4. Mac Faulkner Is A Bona-Fide Beast.

Five points last weekend, another five this week for the big centre from King City. He has seven goals already, three ahead of his nearest rival Matt Francis (Nottingham), and is currently scoring at a rate of nearly 3 points a game in Cardiff.

While it’s ridiculous to assume that this rate of scoring will continue, the flying start made by Faulkner clearly shows that he is most likely going to be the linchpin of the Devils’ offence this season.

In fact, if you were in a punning frame of mind you could say he was Faulking awesome.

(tell you what, that’s one hell of a hashtag, Devils fans…)

5. Not Everyone Improves At The Same Rate

While the EIHL has undoubtedly got bigger and faster this season, on early season evidence the refs haven’t moved with them.

I’m all for letting the players play, but the game has got bigger and faster over here this season and so far, the officials appear to be struggling to deal with it at times-some of the decisions that have been made in the early part of the season are curious, to say the least.

Hopefully this is just a case of refs getting back into the swing of things and we’ll see an improvement. The product on the ice is becoming more exciting on early evidence this season all around the EIHL, and the officials are a big part of making sure that while it’s fun to watch, it’s also safe for all concerned, too.

Social Dysfunction And Trash Talk: Why The EIHL Needs To Toughen Up

So, it’s another wonderful Friday in the British Elite League. Another quiet day of preparation for the weekend’s games, professional media releases, and no controversy whatsoever.

Sorry…did I say “no” controversy? I meant “yet more”.

Remember the EIHL social media policy, which was meant to step in and professionalize the game a little more after some abusive tweets back and forth between players and fans (particularly Cardiff’s Devin DiDiomete and Coventry fans, neither of whom have particularly covered themselves in glory over the incident). Remember DiDiomete’s tweets to Mike Danton referencing his past?
Well, Cardiff played Hull last night. After the game DiDiomete was (to be fair to him) getting some stick from Hull fans for not taking on their enforcer Ryan Hand. There were plenty of possible targets for a response, something which Devin is not exactly backwards in coming forwards in doing. However, his one tweet picked a female fan, and said this:

“You (twitter name) are what we call a shovel face,it looks as if someone took a shovel and hammered your face with it. #ShovelFace”

Classy indeed. But under the current EIHL policy, allowed.

Also allowed is the ongoing Twitter war between the “voice of British hockey” Dave Simms and DiDiomete. Which is a mix of bad personal insults and the odd innuendo, all faithfully retweeted by Devils/Steeler fans. Pretty sure there aren’t many other leagues where the main media “face” is allowed to exchange petty snipes with one of the players AND the player’s allowed to fire back with personal jibes about weight and appearance.

Then there’s this article in that well known paragon of impartial reporting, the Sheffield Star, which pretty much threatens physical retribution against an opposition player (Coventry’s Brad Leeb in this case). Let’s analyse it, shall we?

Arena supporters will not have forgiven (Leeb) for sucker-punching crowd favourite Jason Hewitt two weeks ago.

Hewitt – who may have his own statement to make at centre ice – suffered a broken nose in the attack from behind.

So, what we’ve got here is a statement of a sucker-punch (which happened-fair enough) followed by a) a hint that Hewitt will seek to gain revenge in a fight (the language is carefully worded, but any hockey fan reading that will know the inference) and a reiteration of Hewitt suffering a broken nose.

The same “broken nose” that was unprotected by a cage or full visor when Coventry took on Sheffield the night after the incident.

Following that, there’s an admittance that any revenge attack would be at least implicitly approved of by coach Ryan Finnerty:

Coach Ryan Finnerty probably wouldn’t be surprised if there was some element of retribution when Coventry return to the Arena tomorrow (7pm.)

Swiftly followed by a blatant covering of backsides:

But any personal score to be settled comes down the team’s list of priorities, he says.

Of course.

One paragraph later, though, the article all but admits that there’ll be a good chance of a fight off the opening faceoff:

Asked if Hewitt would be in a starting line up with gloves ready to be dropped, Finnerty replied: “We’ll see…”

So far, we’ve had veiled hints of retribution that are basically saying “WE’RE GOING TO GET BRAD LEEB BUT WE CAN’T SAY IT PUBLICLY!”

Then, just in case the message hasn’t got across, Dave Simms chimes in, as is the law when Sheffield are involved:

“Whilst I am sure not one of our players will openly say that there is to be some retribution, I think Brad Leeb will end up having to pay the price for his actions this weekend.”

Well done, Steelers. In one sentence you’ve tried to regain the high-ground and then tumbled off it by all out saying “REVENGE IS COMING! WE’RE GONNA GET YOU, LEEB!

So basically, in the past two days what we’ve had is an EIHL league player attacking a female fan on Twitter, followed by a team official saying in an official media publication and RTing on Twitter that his team will be planning on targeting an opposition player for revenge.

That social media policy-working well, isn’t it? Fairly sure that had a similar article appeared in the press saying one Premier League player would be looking to “send a message” to another, with quotes about hard tackles and that kind of thing, the FA would be considering disrepute charges.

I’d be interested to see what’ll happen if (heaven forbid) Brad Leeb is actually injured this weekend as a result of a Steeler players’ actions after the coach and media official have said in not so many words that he’s got a massive bullseye on his back as far as they’re concerned.

(The Blaze, meanwhile, have chosen to focus on the issue of the team’s injury struggles in their hype ahead of the weekend, avoiding any mention of previous events such as Hewitt’s vicious check from behind on Steven Chalmers which started the whole Leeb melee in the first place. Good on them for not being drawn into the war of words Sheffield clearly want)

I’m fairly sure (well, I hope) this article is merely harmless posturing, the like of which we see in leagues all over the place (although in the NHL or other leagues they’re usually fined for it). But even if it is, it throws up an issue in British hockey.

When I’m calling games, I have to be VERY careful what I say because a) the Blaze are conscious of how it’ll reflect on them and b) I, too, am conscious of professionalism. Sure, I’ll go near the knuckle sometimes, but as far as I’m aware I’ve never actually crossed it on air-and this blog, like all the others, is very carefully worded to get my point across without actually crossing the line. I’ve learned the hard way what happens when you let your mouth run away with you in public forums, even if your original point might be solid.

It seems that the Blaze are far more conscious of their public image than some other teams in the league.

Right now, someone in the EIHL hierarchy needs to have words with teams and players, and remind them that, while hype is a good thing, articles like this are the kind of thing that just make teams look a little silly at best, and liable to accusations of premeditated violence at worst. Not exactly the kind of thing you’d expect from a supposedly professional league and media outlet-nor from the supposed “voice of British hockey”. At least not if the sport wants to be taken seriously in the wider world.

Tell you what, though. If nothing else, this weekend’s double-header should be interesting…

Midweek Musings: Awards Anarchy and Merch Meltdowns

A few midweek thoughts on the Elite League:
“If in doubt, we’ll pick a Brit, lads. If not in doubt, we’ll still pick a Brit anyway“:

The first Elite League Player Of the Week award has been given out, and, like most things the Elite League do, it’s caused a little debate. Coventry Blaze’s Sam Smith gets the award for three assists over the weekend in the Blaze’s two wins over Dundee and Fife. A good performance indeed, and fair play to Sam for being selected.

However, I can’t work out the thinking of the EIHL (I know, it’s a novelty for this to be the case). Cardiff’s Mac Faulkner gets a natural hat-trick against Sheffield on Sunday, assists twice the night before in a Devils win IN Sheffield, scores a penalty shot and still doesn’t get considered.

In EIHL maths, a five-point weekend is seemingly less impressive than a three-point weekend.

The award has been greeted with confusion by many, with Devils fans (naturally) sticking up for their guy, neutral fans around the league going “um…did the awards people actually SEE the games this weekend” and even Blaze fans going “hm. That’s something of a surprise”.

Sam Smith was impressive on Sunday night at the Skydome, landing several big hits, assisting on two goals and generally being a valuable asset to the club on the ice. He had a very good weekend and will doubtless be in the running for many POTW awards this season.

But again, EIHL stats people-FIVE POINTS AND A NATURAL HAT-TRICK. Sometimes, the decision is almost too easy to not mess up.

Or at least it should have been.

“And here we see the first piece of the Blaze 2012/13 clothing collection…what every well-dressed fan is wearing”.

Presented without any comment, this is British hockey moving into high-fashion…a must-own for fans of big no-nonsense d-men everywhere:

Nice. Personally I’d have put a question-mark and quotation marks on the “wanna go?” but there you are.

What d’you reckon?

(you can tell it’s been a fairly slow news week so far, aside from Steven Chalmers signing full-time as expected. Mike Danton has tweeted that he’s expecting to hear from the UKBA any day now on his visa appeal, so let us hope for a good outcome. Good luck, sir).

Reinforcements Coming?

NOTE: I should point out here that I know nothing from an “inside” perspective, and am purely reacting to the news that a Blaze player on a two-way contract has left his EPL club.

I was going to save the discussion over Blaze’s injury crisis for tomorrow, but it appears that they may be already taking steps to solve it.

We’ll be looking deeper into the possible solutions tomorrow, but a brief thought for now:

The EPL’s Telford Tigers have posted a press release confirming that their defenceman Steven Chalmers has left the club.

So why is this of any relevance to Blaze blogs, you ask?

Aside from the fact that Chalmers is (was) on a two-way contract with the Blaze, not much.

The 20 year-old Scot has looked impressive for the Blaze in preseason, showing a calm beyond his years when given a regular shift. The press release also mentions that the 5’11, 185lb native of Kirkcaldy has had offers from several EPL clubs.

Given that Fife are still a little short on their roster import-wise, and Chalmers is a local boy, they may be looking to tempt him back up to his home town team (for whom he’s interestingly never played a senior game, as it happens)

He’s also a former member of the Braehead Clan and a Dundee Star from last season, so you have to figure they’re two of the clubs who may be in the running.

But with the Blaze short on bodies thanks to injuries to Jerramie Domish and Russ Cowley, both of whom do (or in the case of Cowley can) play defence, Paul Thompson may have moved quickly to get Chalmers locked up on a full-time contract.

Chalmers’ thought process will be key in this decision-does he want to go to Blaze and risk ice-time diminishing greatly when Domish returns, or will he return home to Scotland with the potential to become a much more important contributor? The fact that Fife are running five very useful dmen right now may preclude his joining of the Flyers, but Braehead are a body short on defence too and Chalmers is a former Clan member-they’re also local to the player’s home, and would probably be the most logical choice for him if returning North.

 

This could be another example of the Clan sneaking in under the Blaze’s nose to sign one of their players, as was done with Rob Farmer earlier this offseason. The fact that Chalmers is a Brit will also impact Braehead, as it means they will fill their defensive spot and have an import slot open to either strengthen their defence further or add even more firepower to the forward lines, which could make it a VERY astute move by Clan’s coach Jordan Krestanovich.

. But with the Blaze short on bodies and the Clan, too, needing cover on defence, this has come at a very interesting juncture early on in the season.

Why We Were All Wrong About The Gardiner Conference (& 4 Other Things We Learned This Weekend)

The regular season is now off and running in the EIHL, and with that comes the chance to see players tested in the heat of battle under “proper” game conditions. And also the chance to have every pre-season thought, prediction and “educated” opinion well and truly thrown out of the window.

Here, in what will be the first of a weekly series, are Five Things We Learned in the EIHL This Weekend.
1. We were all wrong about the Gardiner Conference.

Remember how everyone said that Braehead would run away with the “northern” EIHL conference and Fife, Hull, Edinburgh and Dundee would just be making up the numbers? Remember that time we thought that the Erhardt teams would “run all over” all of the Gardiner Conference?
Well…the evidence so far says otherwise.

Saturday night, Braehead beat Belfast 3-2. Yup-that Belfast-the one that was supposed to pretty much destroy the Erhardt, never mind the Gardiner. Dundee pushed Coventry all the way, finally losing in a shootout. Even supposed whipping boys Hull pushed their aristocratic Panthers neighbours (the ones who have David Ling so according to a few commentators should be given the trophy now) hard before going down 4-2.

On Sunday, meanwhile, Fife came down to Coventry and lost 4-3 in a pulsating game that required a moment of magic or two from Brad Leeb to win it, while Edinburgh (yes, that Edinburgh who were supposed to be making up the numbers) beat the “Gardiner powerhouse” Braehead.

What we’ve learned this weekend is that teams in the Gardiner not named Braehead are a lot closer in ability to the Erhardt than some have thought. Sure, defenders of the South will doubtless point to Coventry missing players through injury, early-season bonding, or any other argument they can find to say that this was just a blip.

But on Sunday night the Fife team I saw was one that was light-years better than last season’s, much more organised, much more hard working and, but for a sloppy first ten minutes of play, could have been walking out of the Skydome with at least a point. Don’t forget that three of the five Gardiner Conf teams, too, still have imports to come in-if they can do this while short of some of their top players, then there’s no reason to suggest they can’t do the same when all the teams are at full-strength too.

Maybe this weekend has made a few EIHL spectators take the supposed “mickey mouse conference” a bit more seriously. Because based on the evidence of the scores and my first look at Fife (supposedly one of the followers in the Gardiner) they really should.

2. Shea Guthrie being given the C in Coventry has made him better, not worse.

After a relatively quiet pre-season, a few Blaze fans were already starting to wonder if Shea Guthrie’s game would be affected by his being given the “C” this season.

Sunday night was a clear indication that, far from being a problem, Guthrie’s new letter is an inspired decision.

Last season, the Carleton Place, ON native carried the Blaze on his back for long periods offensively-a state of affairs which no doubt led in no small part to his being rewarded this offseason. After a quiet few games, Blaze fans on forums were still unsure whether it would have a positive or negative effect on his play.

On Sunday, their questions were answered. Guthrie was a force of nature. In the first ten minutes, he scored the opening goal, landed several big hits and forechecked like a demon, causing the Flyers to cough up the puck more than once. This was a player who had clearly decided that the letter on his chest placed a responsibility on him to lead by example, and he looked like a player reveling in his new role all night long.

I was amazed this morning to see Blaze fans criticising this new Guthrie, arguing that his place was “scoring goals” and that he was “trying too hard”.

Sorry, people…but think about this for a second.

If you can come up with ANY logical reason why a player expanding his game to encompass all aspects of it, leading by example and showing just how hard he’s prepared to work is “trying too hard” then I’d love to hear it.

If not, just enjoy the new, even-further-improved Guthrie. Because he will be a bigger player than ever for the Blaze this season.
3. It’s always John DeCaro’s fault.

At least if you’re a Sheffield fan. The Steelers goalie came under some stick after Saturday’s loss to Cardiff for inconsistent play in the net-stick which hasn’t fully gone away despite Sheffield rebounding to beat the Devils on penalty shots on Sunday night.

DeCaro’s never been a goalie that’s looked fully convincing at the Skydome-he appears to be one that benefits from a solid defence in front of him more than being a genuine matchwinner. But there are five players in front of him who have an equal influence on the game-if they’re letting shots through, then DeCaro will likely let a couple of bad ones through due to law of averages. If he starts doing it once or twice a game, Sheffield, then you can criticise. Until then, remember he was part of a team that took you to third in the league last season, so he can’t be that bad, all things considered.

4. Mac Faulkner, not Devin Didiomete, is Cardiff’s new star.

All the offseason focus in South Wales has been on Devin Didiomete and his Twitter antics, but now the season is off and running it’s centre Mac Faulkner who’s very quickly come to the fore. The native of King City, Ontario has none of the off-ice glitz, glamour and sheer mouth of his team-mate, but he’s going to be far more dangerous to opposition goalies this season along with his partner-in-crime Chris Blight. A hat-trick against Sheffield on Sunday followed two assists on Saturday as the big centre gave Sheffield’s defence a torrid time. Didiomete, meanwhile, came up with one assist but a whole lot of mouth as his ongoing Twitter war with Dave Simms continues-a war which frankly makes both of them look a little silly.

5. The hockey starts here:

Sure, pre-season games are fun to be at purely because it gives both fans and players a chance to get back in the routine, get a first look at both their new team-mates and new opposition, and it signifies that the long, tortuous summer days with too much sunshine and not enough ice (except in drinks) are gone again…

But there’s something about the first home game where points are actually on the line. There’s a buzz around the rink that doesn’t hang around even for pre-season games-the warm-up seems a little more focused, the rink lights seem a little brighter and even the sound of the skates seems to be a little louder, never mind the crowd. The hockey season has finally truly begun again.

From here to April, every game will mean something, whether it be Cup battles, league points or playoff victory. Judging from the looks of the first weekend, there’ll be more surprises, controversy and discussion than you can shake an Easton S19 at.

Which is great for us commentator/bloggers, of course.
There’s your five lessons from this weekend. While you’re around, why not have a look at murphonice.com and skybluehockey.com-blogs by my Blaze TV partners Aaron Murphy and Stuart Coles. Both of them are well worth a regular read…

Chasing Dragons will be back tomorrow considering the Blaze’s reaction to yet another injury over the weekend…

A Game In The Life

So, in my attempts to come up with something to present to you all this fine sunny Friday, I pondered a discussion on Jerramie Domish’s injury and the “keep or release” debate going on on forums everywhere, before deciding that it’d be done to death everywhere else and besides we’re better off waiting for the weekend.

So instead, with the regular season starting, I thought I’d give people one of those periodic journeys behind the scenes of life as a British PBP guy. Here’s a typical gameday for me, from leaving for the rink to post-game drinks. It’s a routine that solidified last season but has had to be moved around thanks to Blaze changing their face-off time. But this is pretty much how a day will run. Come step inside the glamorous life of hockey PBP, British style.

Blaze games face off at 5:15 pm on a Sunday this season. After getting up around 10 or 11 (hey-everyone lies in on a Sunday) my game day preparation starts around 1pm. I’ll drag myself away from whatever Sunday movie/kids TV is on TV, fire up the Internet and read up the very latest on whoever Blaze’s opposition are that night-current statistics, histories, even little things like player home towns) and work out in my head who I’ll particularly be watching out for.
I use Eliteprospects.com for this, not least because it’s a) far easier to find statistics, jersey numbers and the like on it than anywhere else-which is particularly important early on in the season…
I might make a few notes in my head on particular things to keep an eye out for-for example my list of “keys to the game” will be different if Blaze are playing Sheffield to, say, Fife.
This is the point at which I’m beginning to plan what I’ll say that night. Usually, though, it’ll only be in the broadest possible strokes of “things I may want to mention”. PBP is a very reactive thing, so planning what you’re going to say about a team or a player in advance is pointless beyond the two or three minutes of intro you have. I’m also doing a last-minute bit of plugging on the Blaze TV twitter to make sure everyone knows about the webcast.

Around 3:15 I’ll leave for the half-hour walk to the Skydome. During this time I’m  thinking about pretty much anything to do with the game ahead, from running through opposition roster numbers in my head to trying to work out likely stars, possible key battles or possibly who the Blaze will run on which line.

3:45 is about the time I get to the rink. First job once I get in there is find Rob Coleman and get the key for the Blaze cupboard, since I have to set up the sponsor backdrop in the Blaze media room for the post-game interviews.

The media room sounds fancy but is actually a small, dimly lit room just off the Skydome entrance. The backdrop barely fits under the roof, and usually doesn’t go together cleanly (not because it’s broken, but because I’m a technological dumbass-the amount of times I’ve got the thing upside down already is ridiculous.) The next twenty minutes or so is occupied by setting up the chairs and camera for the post-game media conference.

What I do from now on depends on whether or not my partner Aaron Murphy is covering the game with me. As he works for ESPN, he can’t get to every Blaze game due to work commitments. He’s new this year, replacing Ed Kimberley, who is a good friend of mine and was my partner last season. Ed is moving away to another part of the UK shortly, so naturally we needed a new guy, and were VERY lucky indeed that Aaron came along.

Whether he’s there or not, I’ll nip up to the Skydome media gallery (which is really just a balcony behind the announcer’s table) and say hello to the team up there, all of whom I know well and several of whom are close personal friends. At this time Pete, the Blaze TV cameraman, will be setting up and testing his kit-it’s not the multi-camera fanciness of the NHL but one camera on a tripod, linked to a set of DVD players and a mixer which feed the picture down to the Internet server in the rink bar office. Jane, Pete’s wife, is down there making sure the feed is going out OK throughout the game.

It should be mentioned at this point that Jane and Pete are the ones who REALLY make the webcast happen-I yammer away on the microphone but it’s these two who do all the hard technical work and set up the kit.

By now the doors have opened and people are starting to come into the rink-and I’ve (hopefully, anyway) met up with Aaron, too and had a brief chat.  I’ll nip down and say hello to some friends, and then (usually) be back up in the box for warmup. During the warmup I’ll be watching the opposition team more than the Blaze, trying to get hints on line combinations, defensive pairings and looking for unique aspects about each player to aid identification of them during a game-it might be their skates or other equipment being different to everyone else’s, a particular haircut, or being the only left-shooting forward on a line of righties. Ed used to stand with me and we’d swap notes on the upcoming game, but Aaron and I have still to build a routine. It’ll likely be similar, though.

I’m also mentally rehearsing numbers and possible events during the game in my head, just so I don’t stumble during stock moments in play (although it does still happen)…at this point I’m also beginning to plan the first bit I’ll say on the air after “good evening”, so it comes out nice and clearly, and checking rosters so I know which players on both teams are missing that night.

As time ticks toward faceoff, I tend to get more and more hyped up. At the Blaze they have a routine where they play the same songs in the buildup each week-I can usually be found playing air guitar to “Hysteria” by Muse just as a way to calm myself down a bit…which has got a few odd looks in the past.

A few words with Pete on how he’s set up this week-if there are any tech issues like the replay button (a button which switches the broadcast to the feed on 12 second delay so we can get replays of goals etc) not working he’ll let me know at this point. We’ve already planned who’ll do the intro, so as the away team hits the ice, on go the headphones, up goes the mic sound fader on the mixer, and away we go.

Actually calling a game is something that comes fairly easily to me…I’m trying to watch the whole ice and all ten players rather than just the puck, although the biscuit of course has the majority of my attention, my eyes are flicking back and forth watching the other players, trying to anticipate the play. I’m also watching for penalty calls or, if I miss them, trying to listen to the announcements while continuing to talk. I don’t notice anyone around me so when someone wants to get by (and it’s busy up there-you get people coming in and out on the media gallery all game-no private booths for us) I usually need a gentle nudge in the back to get me to move. Calling a game solo is simple-you just have to know when to talk and when not to, and react to the events on ice, describing them in the best way you can.

Calling a game as a duo is a lot trickier as then you have two things to react to-the game and your partner. I try to either leave a long pause or actively mention the other guy to give them their talk-time to-something like “Puck goes into the corner, cleared away by Domish…he’s definitely been one of the Blaze stars tonight, Aaron”. However, when you’ve got a partnership going, that kind of thing happens naturally. You can see it happening on any commentary you listen to.

I’m also keeping an eye on Twitter and responding to any messages that come in from those watching-fan interaction is a big part of the appeal of Blaze TV, we’re told.

Period breaks are a chance to take a brief break from the concentration, but even then I’m still thinking about how I’ll introduce the next period, what the possible storylines are, and where the game could go.

At the end of the game, though, my work isn’t done. After finishing up and summarising, it’s then time to race down to the media room and work the camera for the post-game interviews, sometimes joined by fans who’ve purchased the “Ultimate Fan Package” which lets them behind the scenes. Stuart Coles does them, and does them well.

After that, it’s time to pack the backdrop down, tidy up the room, and put it away. Then to the bar for a quiet drink (by now it’s around 8:45pm, 45 minutes or so after the game has finished, normally) and home, ready to do it all again the next game.

It’s unpaid, it’s challenging, and it’s sometimes tiring (particularly when the game is slow or there’s little to comment on) but it’s just as much fun as I imagine calling an NHL game on a national TV network would be, just on a much, much smaller scale.

And it’s what I do at least once, (and often twice or three times since I also do PBP for the Blaze’s minor-league feeder team)  a week from September to April.

It’s well worth it.

Lights, Camera, Inaction

So, the Elite League have extended their TV deal with Sky Sports, and judging by the press release, they’re all very excited about it.

On the face of it, there’s no reason not to be. Production company Televideo do a good job with the coverage, one live game a month gets the sport some exposure to the greater public, and a highlights show, too, means that somewhere on Sky Sports there’s British hockey.

All is good, right?

Well it is, if you’re willing to take the announcement on face value. However, given that the Elite League clubs reportedly have to pay Sky for the coverage, just what are they getting benefit-wise from Sky themselves for their money? Apparently they will pay nothing this time round-but with no payment and little financial incentive to Sky to show it, what’s to stop them shunting it around the schedules even more than they already have?

The one live game a month on a Friday evening was trumpeted as a major coup for Brit hockey. After all, EVERYONE has Sky Sports now and so there’s a potential audience of 60 million people out there to market the sport to, isn’t there?

Let’s get this ABUNDANTLY clear before we carry on…none of the following is criticising either the quality of the product produced by Televideo, nor the Elite League having a TV deal. It’s a hypothetical argument on how that TV deal could change in the future, and how a change could possibly benefit the league.

And that would be fine-until you apply the Rules of Devil’s Advocate and consider a few facts about the coverage:

Scheduling: The highlights show was, to put it kindly, all over the place. Late Friday night, early Saturday morning, late Sunday morning, sometimes on Sky Sports 2, sometimes on 3 or 4…sandwiched in between Swedish speedway, German handball and Italian rugby.

Reach: Remember that “whole country” argument? Latest statistics show that there are around 11 million Sky subscribers in the UK, and 6 million to Virgin media. So that “60 million” becomes “17 million”. Then remember that of those, how many are likely to spot “British ice hockey” tucked away in the schedule and go “oh, what the hell, I’ll avoid the football, rugby or cricket on other channels or the Simpsons on Sky 1 and watch a sport I’ve never heard of featuring players I’d not recognise in the street and that I don’t get the rules of.”

To put that effect into perspective-the WWE, derided by many as “a soap for grown men” gets ten times the amount of viewers the EIHL did-and that’s on very late at night also.

Then remember that these live games will cause attendances to drop (last season Coventry took on Sheffield on a Friday night in January in front of a crowd that was probably 20% smaller than the equivalent Sunday game would have been, in a rink where the atmosphere was flat and the home team appeared to have stage fright. THAT’s not going to sell British hockey to the casual fan.

Then, add in that the people most likely to be watching the Elite League highlights are British hockey fans who’ve paid for the package anyway, the fact that Sky barely really advertised the programme (certainly in all my watching of Sky Sports I never once saw an ad for it) and you wonder…

While the Elite League are all excited because they can say “we’re on Sky Sports!” the fact remains that they’re on one of the minor channels, moved around the schedule and live games hurt the clubs attendances.

Now a lot of people defending the deal will say “hockey needs exposure”. And this is a fair point indeed. Indeed league spokesman Tony Smith has said that the league has a “high-profile image”.

Personally I’m not sure that having a highlights show stuck on late at night on one of the side Sky Sports channels and moving around the schedule can be truly called “high profile”, especially when the average audience numbers struggle to reach the high five figures, but each to his own.

But are the Elite League’s (fairly meagre) resources best spent on pursuing a deal with Sky in a desperate hope that one day the Murdoch empire programmers might say “sod it, let’s give up on the Spanish football and stick British hockey in there instead?” or are they better off chasing the terrestrial market-particularly with the recent BBC mandate that more minority sports have to be covered?

Cycling gets a regular spot on freeview. So do the British Touring Cars. In the past, BBC local radio has covered live games from Bracknell and Slough in the EPL and Coventry, Sheffield and Nottingham in the Elite League. Clubs already have the local media connections-why not use them to get live commentaries broadcast and advertised on the Internet-or take the Televideo footage and say to the BBC “we’ve got the infrastructure in place, why not sell it?”

Everyone has terrestrial TV or freeview now.The likes of ITV4 and BBC3 are SCREAMING for content. Imagine the reach of an Elite League highlights show placed on BBC3 at, say, 8pm on a Friday night-or a live game (perhaps the PO weekend) on BBC2 or 3 on a Sunday, much like rugby on BBC NI or the Welsh regions is already?

Sure, some will argue a live game on terrestrial TV may affect attendances-but visit all the rinks like Sky do to spread the supposed “hit” out and it will likely ease the risk a little. Then of course there’s the obvious argument that football has live coverage almost wall-to-wall on Sky and a weekly highlights show on Saturday night on terrestrial TV-and that doesn’t seem to have done the attendances much harm, does it?

Even aiming a little lower at regional radio/internet commentaries may seem like a step backward, but it means clubs are consistently targeting their local fanbase, or, to put it another way people who they know might actually come to the games. All the Sky seems to do is give existing hockey fans a new way to keep an eye on their team more cheaply (and the Elite League to think it’s in the big-time)

Finding “expert” commentators a problem? Several teams in the league now have their own webcasts, run by volunteers most of whom are a) fans of the sport and b) dying to get into the media. Maybe it’s time to give them a go, fire some new blood in there and see what happens-since this strategy of “pay for airtime” has gone on for seven years with no immediately discernible benefit or increase in crowds.

Sure, Sky are prestigious a name to be associated with, but with the BBC now changing their remit and on the lookout for minority sports, and the league having built a good relationship with the Televideo production company, why not change tack in not aiming for the most “instant” fix, but taking advantage of changes in BBC philosophy AND the wider reach of the BBC to sell the product-probably without having to put money in Sky’s pocket while doing so, too.

It may mean that this year there’s no live Sky coverage and we don’t see Dave Simms on our TV screens as much…it may mean that the league goes from live (pay-per-view) visual games to live (free) Internet audio…but it also means that the league aren’t throwing good money after bad, the EIHL gets reliable and consistent coverage at the same time every week, and pairs up with the UK’s national broadcaster to do so.

Surely that can’t be bad, can it?

Elite League Preview 2012/13: The Gardiner Conference

I wrote 3000 words on the Erhardt Conference last week…if you missed it, firstly…why? and second…Here it is for your reading pleasure..

If you’re not familiar with the format-each team gets a song lyric, a summary, a Player To Watch, Unsung Hero and an X-Factor which’ll affect their season. Clear? Good. Away we go. And warning, this preview has one rude word in it. You’ve been warned. 🙂

The Gardiner Conference is supposedly the poor brother to the Erhardt, talent wise, with the four Scottish teams and Hull working their way through the summer quietly recruiting and preparing for the new season without all the fireworks of their Southern counterparts. Indeed, some seemed to think Braehead would walk the conference compared to some of the other teams…but this is not the case. As I shall now try to prove.

And coincidentally, we start at the top with…

BRAEHEAD CLAN (coach: Jordan Krestanovich)

“I’m outta your reach now
So give me some rocket fuel
Hookin’ a beat down, let’s do the impossible”

Styles Of Beyond: “Second To None”

There’s been a quiet revolution going on in the West of Scotland over the past few seasons. Braehead are a new club but they could show many in the EIHL how a British hockey club should be run, working on playing entertaining hockey and creating a buzz to get players through the door through excellent use of social media and treating fans as valued members of the club and not walking wallets. There is a hockey tradition in the area thanks to Ayr Scottish Eagles, Paisley Pirates, Solway Sharks and going back a little further the Dumfries Border Vikings-the Clan have aimed to tap into all of these fan bases and carved out a niche in the football-mad city of Glasgow.

This season is the third for the Clan, and having got past the “difficult second season” syndrome, they enter this one with a new player coach in Jordan Krestanovich and a roster that looks like it could challenge for honours, with quality all the way through.

In goal is Garret Zemlak, who performed wonders for the Fife Flyers last season and was for many the best goalie in the league. The defence in front of him is quietly effective, built not for excitement but strength. Steve Birnstill scored 47 points for Sheffield last season and will be the main blue-line offensive threat, but he’s joined by Matt Hanson and Mitch Maunu, who at 214 and 225lbs are two big slabs of muscle on the Clan blueline to make sure Zemlak sees the majority of pucks fired at him. Sam Zajac and Kevin Phillips are two solid Brits who can both perform steadily-Zajac in particular is small in stature at 5’7 and 165lbs, but definitely a rising star on the GB blueline after serving his apprenticeship in the North East cradle of British hockey.

But moving up front is where the Clan have really loaded up this season. The mercurial Jade Galbraith was the EIHL’s top point scorer last season, and has the skills to rip league defences apart when he wants to. Ash Goldie has joined from the ECHL after a few years in Europe-back in 2007/8 he scored 43 goals in an ECHL season and 44 points in the Asia League in 2010/11 so clearly knows where the net is. Krestanovich himself scored 69 points in the last EIHL season and is only 31, but the major capture for the Clan this off-season is ex Coventry Blaze and Sheffield Steeler Robert Farmer, who is one of the top British  forwards and hoping to repeat his breakout year of 30 goals last season. Bobby Chaumont and Brock McPherson return too, and both of them can put the puck in the net…leaving experienced centre Ryan Campbell to do a job on the third line alongside Matt Haywood and Adam Walker. Make no mistake-this team has some serious depth about it. Depth that many of the supposedly “better” teams in the Southern Conference would envy.

PLAYER TO WATCH: #27 BROCK McPHERSON (RW)

Jade Galbraith is the player that gets all the attention both from opposition defences and the media, but this 6’1, 223lb slab of prime Canadian muscle should be the player that gets the credit for making Galbraith the space to weave his magic. The 27-year-old Toronto native signed almost unheralded from the CIS’ Lakehead University last season, and then quietly set about blasting a path through opposition defences with his bulldozing style. Even some Clan fans would probably be surprised to see he scored 33 goals last season. But he did, and most of them were from that land of flying sticks and whirling bodies known as “in front of the net”. McPherson is, very quietly, one of the best old-fashioned power forwards in the league. And boy, is he good at being one. Watch him in front of the net-assists are only given if you touch the puck in a lead up to a goal, but if they were given for work off the puck too, then McPherson would lead the league. Watch him next time the Clan set up in the zone…

UNSUNG HERO: #37 RYAN CAMPBELL (C)

We like to give credit here at Chasing Dragons for players who do the little things to let everyone shine, and Campbell is one of them par excellence. A two-way center who wins faceoffs, plays responsibly at both ends of the ice and can be relied upon in any situations, Campbell will never lead a team in points but he’ll always be part of the glue that holds it together.

X FACTOR: CAN THEY CROSS THE BORDER?

The Clan will likely win more than they lose in the Northern Conference if the formbook goes to plan, but it’s against the Erhardt Conference where their title will be won and lost. If they can pick up points against the likes of Belfast, Nottingham, and Sheffield, the Clan will not only have an influence on who wins the Erhardt Conference but also strengthen their own title aspirations considerably.

DUNDEE STARS (coach, Jeff Hutchins)

“I’ll be awful sometimes, weakened to my knees
But I’ll learn to get by, with little victories”

Matt Nathanson: “Little Victories”

Dundee are another team that have probably not been given enough credit in the “Braehead are going to win everything” talk of preseason. They’re a team that haven’t really recruited any stars. Jeff Hutchins appears to have followed Miracle’s Herb Brooks’ philosophy when recruiting the 1980 US Olympic team, of “I’m not looking for the best players. I’m looking for the right ones”.

And we all know how that turned out, don’t we?

Let’s get this straight. This will not be a team that’s pretty to watch. It won’t be a team that will leave the DIA crowd gasping at flashes of individual skill, sizzling blasts from the blue-line or coast to coast rushes. But, on many nights, it’ll get the job done. It’s a team built to win each little battle, in the hope of winning the war each night.

Nicola Riopel is an enigma in net-the Canadian has bounced between the AHL and ECHL but never solidified a spot as a starter-he’s eager to seize the responsibility in Dundee.

On defence, Pat Bowen appears to have a somewhat high opinion of himself, describing himself as “excellent at both ends of the ice”. His 20 points in the ECHL last season don’t really back that up, but Matt Baxter could be a useful player going forward and back. Doug Krantz and Greg Moore, too, look safe enough. But the major player to watch will be Sam McCluskey, a young Scot who’s now coming into his own after two seasons with Hull and the Stars. Euan Forsyth is another solid local who will eat up minutes and do the simple things well.

Up front, Bill Bagron is the creative centrepoint, along with fellow center Sami Ryhanen, around which the Stars offence will revolve. The Alaskan from Eagle River will likely play on the second line, with Finn Ryhanen (who impressed with his slick playmaking skills for the Nottingham Panthers and has extensive SM-Liiga experience) on the top line. Around them are a crop of workmanlike but not flashy forwards-Hutchins, captain AJ MacLean and Tristan Harper can all put the puck in the net if necessary, but the Stars still lack a genuine sniper, a hole they will no doubt look to fill since they still have two import slots remaining. But time is running out…

PLAYER TO WATCH: #21 SAMI RYHANEN (C):

The Finn is a very skilled player indeed. If he’s firing, then so will the players around him. Ryhanen is the kind of player who can see a killer pass even before the recipient can-as shown by his 27 assists in 29 games with Nottingham last year, and his point-per-game average in the same league. If the Stars can sign a genuine goalscorer, expect how that player links with Ryhanen to be crucial in how the Stars season goes.

UNSUNG HERO: #15 AJ MACLEAN (LW):

The Stars captain epitomises the team philosophy. He isn’t particularly skilled, particularly big or particularly good at putting the puck in the net-he just works very, very hard indeed and does the job he has to do at that particular moment in time, whether it be checking, scoring, penalty killing or working the powerplay. The Nova Scotian is a fine leader, too, and will be key in coaxing the team through those long winter nights in Belfast or Sheffield.

X FACTOR: BISCUITS IN BASKETS

The Stars, at the moment, don’t look like a team that can score at will. They will score, don’t get me wrong, but they lack a genuine matchwinning goalscorer who will conjure a goal out of nothing. And that is something they’ll need, particularly in a Gardiner Conference that’s looking tighter than a duck’s backside. Get that, and they’ll start to look a lot more interesting, both on the ice and in the points race.

EDINBURGH CAPITALS (coach: Richard Hartmann)

“We really need to see this through,
we never wanted to be abused
We’ll never give up, it’s no use,
if we’re fucked up you’re to blame”

Blink 182: “Anthem Part Two”

Poor Edinburgh. They’ve had yet another offseason where all the star players have ended up elsewhere, signing news has been few and far between, and even now their roster isn’t complete, three days before the season starts, with many people picking them to have another painful season down in the basement of the league. Small crowds, small mercies, and fighting against a mix of seeming disinterest, budget poverty, and having to compete with arena teams driving up wage costs again and again are all the kinds of things Richard Hartmann knows well from last season. The Caps are a team who know what it’s like to be forced into the underdog role by the power spenders down south. But despite that, he’s built a roster that contains several major flashes of hope for Scotland’s capital. A roster that will come out fighting tooth and nail when everyone else expects them to simply lay down and die, just like the Scottish tribes of old.

For a start, it’s a roster unlike any other in its mainly Eastern European look-in fact, of the foreign players only one (Jade Portwood) is North American. Second, Hartmann himself is no mean player even at the age of 36, able to play both forward and defence well. And thirdly, the Caps have pulled off a major coup in tempting Rene Jarolin to return. The Slovak was a revelation last season, scoring 43 goals and singlehandedly giving the Caps fans something worth watching on some nights. Latvian Marcis Zembergs returns and is quietly making progress once again on the Caps second line, while Hartmann has pulled off recruiting magic in convincing D Michal Dobron and goalie Tomas Hiadlovsky to join the Caps from the Slovak league-Dobron in particular has a VERY impressive CV with many years in the Czech Elite League, one of the top leagues in the world. Then, of course, there’s the homecoming of Martin Cingel to Edinburgh after a season away and the recruitment of several useful young local Brits which mean that the Caps have, once again, made the very best use of a VERY limited budget-and they still have two more imports to sign. Don’t bet against Hartmann finding some more Eastern Promise…

PLAYER TO WATCH: #36 JADE PORTWOOD (RW)

At 6’3 and 205lbs, the sole Canadian on the Caps roster is another unheralded bit of business by Hartmann, coming straight out of college in the NCAA after captaining the University of Alaska-Anchorage last season. His stats don’t look that impressive based purely on numbers, but the level of play in the NCAA is very high indeed, and Portwood will have no trouble adjusting to the British game with his size and hard work. Remember what I said about Braehead’s Brock McPherson earlier on? Portwood could just be this season’s version…an unheralded player signed from college who goes out and surprises everyone.

UNSUNG HERO: #29 MARTIN CINGEL (LW)

It couldn’t be anyone else for the Caps. The native of Povaszka Bystrika is one of my favourite players in the EIHL, and a genuine Edinburgh legend. Now aged 36, he’s spent 10 of his 15 pro seasons with the Capitals, and is almost viewed as a god amongst their fans. Joining the team first in 2001/2, he captained the Caps for five seasons from 2006, holding on through money problems after arguments after boardroom upheavals while quietly and proudly leading the team, before finally leaving for Manchester in the EPL last season. One season later, he’s back. Never one of the leading scorers (although he has a decent eye for goal, scoring an average of around 40 points a season), Cingel is a true professional who’s one of the hardest working players I’ve ever seen and deserves to be called not just an Edinburgh legend, but a legend of British hockey. As he enters his testimonial season in Edinburgh, the respect held for him around the league can only grow.

X-FACTOR: HOW GOOD IS HIADLOVSKY?

Because he’ll need to be. With the best will in the world, the Caps may struggle some nights against the offensive powerhouses, and so it’s those games where their goalie will have to come to the fore. If he’s good, then the Caps will always have a chance of causing an upset due to their organised and hard-working system. If not, it could be a long season at Murrayfield once again.

FIFE FLYERS (coach, Todd Dutiaume)

“When you can’t go on, you got to get up and try.
This is it, can you feel me?
When the bombs come down, you will make it alive,
But only if you want to believe.”

Angels And Airwaves: “Call To Arms”

Last year was a nightmare year for the Fife Flyers. A tough introduction to Elite League hockey meant that the wave of excitement of Fife’s return to the top level in Britain faded a little. Roster turnover, injuries to key players and money questions (from other teams’ fans if not from Fife themselves) dogged them throughout the season.

As if that wasn’t enough, coach Todd Dutiaume had to deal with the tragic death of his wife Kelly, and unborn children-an event that not even the worst enemy of the Canadian would wish upon him. The quiet dignity with which Dutiaume and the team handled an almost unbearable burden and the bonding of the team around their coach (epitomised by Garrett Zemlak’s selling of kit to raise money for Todd and his daughter) showed the Flyers at their best. They kept going through some of the darkest days ever seen at the Kirkcaldy Arena, and have rebuilt for this season stronger and more battle-hardened under coaches Dutiaume and Danny Stewart.

In net, Bryan Pitton joins from South Carolina of the ECHL, backed up by arguably the best in the league in Blair Daly.

In front of him, the Flyers have built a smallish but mobile defence, with Canadian speed and guile backed up by Scottish brawn. Chris Wands and Tom Muir return from last season, while Kyle Horne, that stalwart of Scottish hockey, pulls on a Fife jersey for what seems like the umpteenth time-this will be his 17th season in pro British hockey despite being only 31-he made his debut for the Flyers in the BNL at 15. The import contigent consists of Zach Carriveau, Jeff Caister and Derek Keller…all in their 20’s and all not the biggest-expect Caister to be the main source of offence with Carriveau backing him up.

Up front the Flyers have made something of a coup in signing John Dolan from Dundee-Dolan has been tempted away from his hometown club for the first time in his career after scoring 46 points last season. He joins a host of young Scottish forwards in the Brit pack, the most prominent of which is Steven Gunn, who got 12 goals but only three assists last season. Import-wise the Flyers have Casey Haines and Kris Hogg, who both look useful, the evergreen Dutiaume (who at 39 is probably in his last season) and Danny Stewart, now in his seventh UK season after four with Coventry, one with Newcastle and one with Fife.

However, one name stands out above them all…

PLAYER TO WATCH: #71 JASON PITTON (LW)

Pitton (brother of goalie Bryan) is a big forward with skilled hands. A former NY Islanders draft pick, he’s spent a career bouncing between the AHL and ECHL before moving to Italy last season. He wasn’t a big scorer in the ECHL, but showed enough to convince me that he’ll trouble EIHL defences-his skill and hockey brain, coupled with his 6’2, 194lb frame, should mean that he’s always a danger around the net and more than able to handle himself in the physical stuff, too.

UNSUNG HERO: #39 DANNY STEWART (LW)

“Stewie” is the heart and soul of any team he’s played on. He doesn’t try to do it intentionally-it just happens. The man from Fort McMurray is the very prototype of an agitator, flying around the ice nipping at people’s heels and making a nuisance of himself. He’ll block shots, score goals, or drop the gloves if it’ll give his team an advantage, and very few players will outwork him.

X FACTOR: SIZE DOES MATTER?

The Flyers aren’t that big a team defensively-the Scottish boys are a decent size (around 6’1 190lbs on average) but the imports are small (Zach Carriveau, for instance, is 5’11 but only 172lbs, which is lightweight for a dman). With a lot of teams loading up on decent-sized physical forwards this year, can the Flyers hold a physical onslaught on Pitton’s goal back with speed and smarts? We’ll see.

HULL STINGRAYS

“There’s a chance I’ll start to wonder
If this was the thing to do
I’ll start to wonder
If this was the thing to do”

Tegan & Sara: “Call It Off”

Sorry, Hull fans, but I think we’re looking at a team that’ll be dogfighting all year to avoid last place here. Sylvain Cloutier has put together a typically workmanlike Hull roster this season. The big news we get right off the bat, as young British prodigy Ben Bowns is given the Elite League starting role many have been calling for him to get-but with the defence placed in front of him, Bowns could well find himself thrown in at the deep end.

Kurtis Dulle returns as captain, while Shane Lovdahl comes in from the CHL to add a little size, but the other defencemen are Tomas Valecko (signed from the Edinburgh Capitals) and ex-Coventry Blaze dman (briefly, at least) Jeff Smith, along with Ryan Hand as the enforcer-type dman and young local Scott Robson as the sixth dman.

Ouch. That’s neither the most mobile nor the most prolific defensive top five we’ve ever seen, with the exception of Dulle. It’s certainly not the kind of D most coaches would stick an untried 21-year-old starter behind for his first full season.

Up front, things don’t get much better. Jereme Tendler can be prolific given the right linemates, Dominic Osman and Jason Silverthorn, too are useful scorers and it’ll be interesting to see how Janis Ozolins’ scoring exploits at EPL level translate to a higher level…but behind that, there’s not much to get excited about. Cale Tanaka looks a spectacularly underwhelming signing, Matty Davies is workmanlike but will never set the scoring tables alight and the others are Hull youngsters of which it’d be unfair to assume too much.

Sylvain Cloutier is a good coach, but to get more than a last place finish out of this bunch, he’ll have to do something special or hope that they can shut teams down, because I’m not sure where the goals are coming from.

PLAYER TO WATCH: #33 BEN BOWNS (NM)

The young Brit star finally gets his chance to start at Elite level after impressing in the EPL for the past few seasons. And boy, is he getting thrown in at the deep end. This is a team that looks like it’ll give up a fair few shots, so Bowns should see plenty of practice. He’ll have to stop a fair number of the shots, too, because goals look like they could be tricky to come by at times this season for the Stingrays. Can he hold up under the pressure?

UNSUNG HERO: #21 JASON SILVERTHORN (LW)

The Canadian from Owen Sound, Ontario has been a good servant to the Stingrays over the past few seasons, consistently being among their top scorers and performing in all situations due to his hockey sense, nose for the net and quick skating. He’ll be expected to do that again this season-and will set himself to the task with a will.

X FACTOR: COACHING GENIUS REQUIRED

Doubtless Sylvain Cloutier has an idea how he wants this roster to play. He’d better after PS losses to the Steeldogs in their first game caused a few tremors of disquiet to run through the fanbase already. In fact, if the Stingrays are to avoid seeing Ben Bowns shelled every night and being rooted to the foot of the Gardiner conference, then Cloutier had better have a master plan lined up already, otherwise it could be a long year for the Stingrays indeed.

There you go. 3700 words later, the Gardiner Conference is previewed, just in time for the start of the new season. Puck drop time. 🙂