The British Hockey Thread 2015-2016

[Calv]

The Phoenix one is a 4XL!! But it's made by Rhino who are notoriously small I think. He's about 5 inches smaller than Bakrlik and about 40 pounds lighter, so I'd be surprised if it was bigger!

The shirt was worn by Anthony Battaglia who's claim to fame is being Bates Battaglia's brother and also winning (with Bates) a series of The Amazing Race.

[archibalduk]

Ah yes that was it! I remember there was a lot of hype around him joining Phoenix. Shame he moved back to the US so quickly.

[Calv]

Ah yes that was it! I remember there was a lot of hype around him joining Phoenix. Shame he moved back to the US so quickly.

Yes, he went back so quickly he didn't even have time to sign the shirt, even though it was advertised as signed when I entered the raffle

[Calv]

What is going on in Swindon tonight, Bracknell score 7 in a row to even it up 8-8

[archibalduk]

Insane! And the first goal was scored in the first 8 seconds... Followed by 8 goals in 8 minutes towards the end of the game.

Gamesheet here if anybody is interested: http://w.fixtureslive.com/staticapi.asp ... %3d1770999

[MWE]

Even Stevie Lyle got an assist

[Calv]

This is a pretty cool feature about how Tom Darnell refs a game https://youtu.be/X5Y-Jp7RAWE

[MWE]

Got tickets for Steelers vs Panthers on Boxing Day going to be a sell out they reckon so around 9000 people

[Calv]

Nice promo they did for it as well: http://www.sheffieldsteelers.co.uk/watc ... -steelers/ Hope you have a good time!

[MWE]

The last boxing day game I went to we beat Nottingham 9-4 hoping for more of the same

[MWE]

Steelers won 2-1 tonight

Was also the biggest attendance at a UK hockey match for ten years

[Calv]

Sounds as though it was a slightly underwhelming game, but an attendance of 9,087 is fantastic as is the (currently unclaimed) 50/50 price of over £7,500!!

Going to try to get to the Flames - Bison game tomorrow

[MWE]

I bought three tickets from that 50 50 could've done with that money

[Calv]

Went to Flames - Bison this evening, Bison won in OT 5-4.

Bison went 2-0 up in the first, the first being a contentious goal with nets potentially off their moorings before the shot was taken. The second was a long dump in to the corner, Greener was first to it and shot the puck across the ice from behind the goalline, it hit Wall's stick and went in with him even noticing. Flames then scored 4 unanswered and ramped up the pressure on the Bison. Baston played well for Bison who were playing their 3rd game in as many days. Bison scored another couple of soft goals, one through Walls 5-hole from Shepperd and the second from Jarolin who just shot the puck across the goal mouth and it somehow found its way in with less than 2 minutes to go.

Flames missed a good opportunity in OT before Bison broke up ice, the Flames player went down to the ice to block the pass but went too far and effectively took himself out of the play allowing Greener a free shot on Wall who couldn't make the save.

Flames should've easily got the 2 points and it should never have gone to OT. Wall looked very poor all game and never made any convincing saves. Fair play to Bison for never giving up.

[Calv]

Forgot to add but Ozolins looked very good and was dangerous all night scoring a cracking goal. Also the game was quite physical with the Flames looking to tire the Bison, some good hits by both players. Finally, some interesting calls and non-calls by Hogarth

[MWE]

Steelers have 3 games in 3 days from Friday, first off away to Manchester then a home game with Manchester which I am hoping to go to and then an away game all the way up in Edinburgh.

[Calv]

Pantomime hockey at it's best: http://www2.tsn.ca/bardown/Story.aspx?B ... &id=569089

[Calv]

Forgot to add but Ozolins looked very good and was dangerous all night scoring a cracking goal. Also the game was quite physical with the Flames looking to tire the Bison, some good hits by both players. Finally, some interesting calls and non-calls by Hogarth

Highlights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ircBXsLmu-M

Ozolins' goal is a nice finish, but he gets past the defenceman very easily... Some nice saves by Baston in there as well, and poor play from Meyers for the GWG.

Also, how variable is the lighting in the Spectrum! In the video, parts of the ice are over exposed and parts are under exposed

[archibalduk]

The Spectrum's lighting has been off since early last season. Lights seem to dim every so often and eventually brighten up again. It seems from the video it has gotten worse!

It's great how quickly Ozolins has settled into the team. Usually it takes a while for players to settle at the Flames.

What do you think about Didiomete's 4 game ban? Seems far too lenient for what he did.

[martinmiller1986]

Desperate too get hockey back here on the Isle of Wight, with the rink being closed the last month or so hopefully January the roof will get fixed! Or I might have to travel to 'England' to get my hockey fix!

[Calv]

4 games is too lenient, I was hoping he'd get a longer ban so the Storm would gas him... So far he's played 17 games this season (7 in Slovakia and 10 in UK) and been banned for 16 (12 in Slovakia and 4 in UK).

[Calv]

When is a game penalty not a game penalty? When Stefan Hogarth is officiating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F8T8ig2AcY After clearly indicating 2 misconduct penalties he later changes his mind (After considerable discussion with the Storm players) and gives Kalemba a 2 minute penalty.

Excellent dive by Kalemba though

[MWE]

Steelers won 5-2 last night was a better game than Boxing Day

Steelers also on the verge of signing Conny Stromberg from the Herlev Eagles

[archibalduk]

There are some brilliant tongue in cheek comments on Twitter about how the EIHL would appear in the EA NHL game: https://twitter.com/hashtag/EIHLinNHL?src=hash

My favourites are:

When searching for a new coach, game keeps telling you to call an estate agent in Birmingham so he can recommend a friend. #EIHLinNHL

#EIHLinNHL Limited Edition Derek Campbell controller.

From Max Birbraer:

#EIHLinNHL Be A Pro Mode: Sign a multi year blockbuster deal worth 100's of pounds a week. Don't score for 5 games. Get 2 week notice!

[MWE]

Don't know who that estate agent in Birmingham is