The British Hockey Thread 2017-18

[Calv]

Tickets seem to have gone very quickly this year, expected due to the new teams. It might be time to move it to a larger venue soon.

[archibalduk]

Has it sold out already?

It's a shame they can't just put in more seats. The arena is in such a good location. I'd hate it to be at Sheffield given its out of town location. The Manchester Arena would be great but probably expensive.

[MWE]

Out of town location ? It's about 10 minutes away on the tram

[Calv]

Out of town location ? It's about 10 minutes away on the tram

One of the advantages of Nottingham is being able to walk in and out of town in between/after games for food etc, however I think given how quickly tickets seem to be selling it might be time to try it in Sheffield. I've no doubt that Sheffield, Nottingham, and Cardiff could easily sell more tickets if their sections were larger. Maybe Manchester too, I could probably get over on the train to/from Sheffield rather than having to stay the whole weekend in Nottingham.

It looks like Cardiff have got the league sewn up again this year, 9 points ahead of Belfast. Nottingham & Sheffield have been way too inconsistent, Nottingham particularly, and Manchester don't have the depth/budget to properly challenge - it also doesn't help that our captain has spent a quarter of the season suspended.

I think we have a good chance to win the conference title, MK are out of the running and I think Coventry are too far behind to catch up. Flames have a lot of games in hand and we still 3 more games in Guildford that will probably decide it.

Still a bit of a fight for the final playoff spot, although Braehead appear to be in the ascendency recently. I'd love to see Dundee in there as they've been so short this season and Pacha has done a pretty good job (on & off the ice) considering he came in late in the summer. Edinburgh really need someone like him to come in and sort them out off the ice, as they're close to dropping off the bottom of the table at the moment. Not sure there's any teams ready to come in and replace them either, unfortunately.

[MWE]

Out of town location ? It's about 10 minutes away on the tram

One of the advantages of Nottingham is being able to walk in and out of town in between/after games for food etc, however I think given how quickly tickets seem to be selling it might be time to try it in Sheffield. I've no doubt that Sheffield, Nottingham, and Cardiff could easily sell more tickets if their sections were larger. Maybe Manchester too, I could probably get over on the train to/from Sheffield rather than having to stay the whole weekend in Nottingham.

It looks like Cardiff have got the league sewn up again this year, 9 points ahead of Belfast. Nottingham & Sheffield have been way too inconsistent, Nottingham particularly, and Manchester don't have the depth/budget to properly challenge - it also doesn't help that our captain has spent a quarter of the season suspended.

I think we have a good chance to win the conference title, MK are out of the running and I think Coventry are too far behind to catch up. Flames have a lot of games in hand and we still 3 more games in Guildford that will probably decide it.

Still a bit of a fight for the final playoff spot, although Braehead appear to be in the ascendency recently. I'd love to see Dundee in there as they've been so short this season and Pacha has done a pretty good job (on & off the ice) considering he came in late in the summer. Edinburgh really need someone like him to come in and sort them out off the ice, as they're close to dropping off the bottom of the table at the moment. Not sure there's any teams ready to come in and replace them either, unfortunately.

Centertainment is next door to the arena with food places Meadowhall is also nearby although I'm not too fussed about who hosts the play off finals myself as I don't go to them.

What happened to Hull applying again for a place in the league?

[archibalduk]

Out of town location ? It's about 10 minutes away on the tram

One of the advantages of Nottingham is being able to walk in and out of town in between/after games for food etc, however I think given how quickly tickets seem to be selling it might be time to try it in Sheffield. I've no doubt that Sheffield, Nottingham, and Cardiff could easily sell more tickets if their sections were larger. Maybe Manchester too, I could probably get over on the train to/from Sheffield rather than having to stay the whole weekend in Nottingham.

Yeah this is what I mean. Having ~15,000 fans getting the tram to/from the arena in Sheffield between games is going to be a bit manic. I didn't think there was all that much around the arena aside from that out of town shopping place. But if it means more ticket availability then I'd be all for it.

Getting a hotel has been more of a headache compared with previous years.

I realised I had enough flight points to get a free return flight to East Midlands Airport... But not until after I booked it! I could have saved myself £180...

[Calv]

Free stream of Radiers - Bison: https://twitter.com/Raiders_IHC/status/ ... 4088541184

[MWE]

Watched Steelers lose 3-0 to Cardiff last night. easily beaten don't think ill be going again for a while.

[Calv]

Watched Steelers lose 3-0 to Cardiff last night. easily beaten don't think ill be going again for a while.

It's been a funny season for the big 4. Panthers have looked very mediocre, Steelers not much better and even the Giants have been inconsistent. Devils running away with it this season, and I don't think Flyers or Storm will put up much of a challenge.

[Manimal]

A swedish reporter is in Sheffield and is writing several articles and blogs on his visit for the major hockey site in Sweden, Hockeysverige.se.
Here is his first article/blog in case anyone is interested :http://www.hockeysverige.se/henrik-skog ... a-shl-lag/

[Calv]

A swedish reporter is in Sheffield and is writing several articles and blogs on his visit for the major hockey site in Sweden, Hockeysverige.se.
Here is his first article/blog in case anyone is interested :http://www.hockeysverige.se/henrik-skog ... a-shl-lag/

Interesting, thanks He should feel at home with all the snow we're having this weekend

Cardiff won the league last night, by far the best team this season. They won the league when Belfast dropped away, as there was no chance Fife or Manchester were going to win

[archibalduk]

Congrats to Cardiff for winning the playoffs today. They were the best team throughout the weekend. I think this was one of the better playoff weekends I have been to. Yesterday's Nottingham v Sheffield semi was a cracking game; as was today's final.

[Calv]

Cardiff by far the best side in the league this season, although Storm had their number in 3 of the meetings (out of 4).

It sounds as though Edinburgh are not yet confirmed for the next season in the EIHL. A Tony & David Hand led consortium have approached the rink about running hockey out of Murrayfield however it's been suggested that they want to ice in the NIHL rather than the EIHL. The rink have asked for business plans from them & the current Caps owners (with the addition of a few local businessmen). Decision due pretty soon by the sounds of things. A new company called Racers Leisure Ltd was setup in mid-March by David Hand & a couple of others (Willie Dunn whose name sounds familiar and John Colley). Never a dull moment

[Calv]

Never a dull moment

Looks like the Caps are no more and the Racers are in:
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... -1-4724718

A shame, but the Caps have been pretty poorly run for some time now.

Also, Liam Kirk has been ranked #65th 2018 Draft eligible EU skater by the NHL Central Scouting http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftprospectbro ... =2018&pg=2

[archibalduk]

It's a shame, but perhaps for the best. It's just a relief a team has filled the gap right away. It would be awful if we had to have another restructure of the league already. I can't remember the last time we haven't had a change to the EPL or EIHL in recent years. Wouldn't it be nice to have a summer without any teams moving/disappearing/reappearing!!!

#65 in the EU is not bad at all. IMO if he is to stand any chance with something like the AHL, he needs to get to a top Euro team or a decent NCAA/ECHL-type team as soon as he can.

[Calv]

It's a shame, but perhaps for the best. It's just a relief a team has filled the gap right away. It would be awful if we had to have another restructure of the league already. I can't remember the last time we haven't had a change to the EPL or EIHL in recent years. Wouldn't it be nice to have a summer without any teams moving/disappearing/reappearing!!!

The league hasn't confirmed anything yet! There could be a standoff between the rink & the league...

#65 in the EU is not bad at all. IMO if he is to stand any chance with something like the AHL, he needs to get to a top Euro team or a decent NCAA/ECHL-type team as soon as he can.

There was a couple of articles on him suggesting that he's looking at the CHL import draft, or possibly the Swedish leagues (due to the Steelers Swedish connections).

[Calv]

GB 1 point away from qualifying for the Top Group of the World Championships, this is utter madness!!!

Some fantastic performances from Perlini, O'Connor, and Bowns.

[Kopi]

GB was a big surprise and they really played well. Group was and still is very tied. Slovenia came without few very important players and for the first two games that we should have won easily we had to admit that GB and Poland were better (at least GB played the rest of the games on tournament very good while Poland will most likely be relegated). How tied the group is shows that if Slovenia beat today Italy we get promotion alongside GB. So lets do it!

[MWE]

GB win Gold!

[Calv]

[marksbros6]

“Good GOLLY miss MOLLY!!!”

What a tournament!

[Calv]

Liam Kirk to go first round now...

Looked at flights to Bratislava for next May, not cheap even with Ryanair...

[CJ]

Congrats to you!

[ForNever]

Many congratulations, great to see a hockey nation with a proper fanbase rise to the top after such a long time. Sure, I feel bad for Hungary for missing out since they have one of the loudest fans in hockey, but it's also great to see what GB can deliver. Already looking forward to it.

[Kopi]

Congrats to UK and Italy!