EHM The Blue Line

Seeing as the pre-season exhibition games are underway, now seems a good time to start the 2013/14 thread.

This season, I'll be following the Guildford Flames now that I've moved house a couple of minutes' drive from their rink. The Flames' roster is pretty much the same as last season, but with the addition of Marcus Kristoffersson, who I think is going to make a big impact on their team. He's got a lot of experience in the SHL (and two seasons in the AHL) and some may remember him from Manchester Phoenix 3 years ago where he averaged over 2pts per game.

I'm really going to miss watching the Invicta Dynamos this season. This summer, the Dynamos have made some strong additions to their offence. Jakub Klima and Juraj Huska are two big signings for the team. They've both been averaging around 3pts per game during their time in the NIHL. They've also signed Elliott Knell who I think is a really promising young British prospect. He was one of the shining stars in the otherwise lackluster Telford Tigers last season. Alan Lack (Bracknell Bees) and Daniel Hammond (Chelmsford Chieftains) are two other big signings. Now I think of it, we have 3 very strong forward lines. The question mark for the Dynamos is their defence. I'm not totally convinced about the depth there. I think in terms of goaltending we're fairly respectable (Chris 'Disco' Douglas is a good signing and Davey Jackson really stepped up at the end of last season) - but I'd argue we're not quite as strong as we were at the beginning of last season (Wride and Moffat) - well at least whilst they weren't injured/unavailable.

How are everybody else's teams shaping up for the new season?


BRITISH HOCKEY YOUTUBE HIGHLIGHTS CHANNELS

Elite Ice Hockey League
Belfast Giants [Inactive]
Braehead Clan
Cardiff Devils
Coventry Blaze
Dundee Stars
Edinburgh Capitals [Inactive]
Fife Flyers [No highlights - interviews only]
Hull Stingrays
Nottingham Panthers [Inactive]
Sheffield Steelers

English Premier Ice Hockey League
Basingstoke Bison [Inactive]
Bracknell Bees
Guildford Flames
Manchester Phoenix [No highlights - interviews only]
Milton Keynes Lightning [Inactive - interviews only]
Peterborough Phantoms [Inactive]
Sheffield Steeldogs [No highlights - very limited promotional videos only]
Slough Jets
Swindon Wildcats [Inactive]
Telford Tigers

National Ice Hockey League South (Division 1)
Bracknell Hornets [Inactive]
Cardiff NIHL Devils [No channel]
Chelmsford Chieftains [Inactive]
Invicta Dynamos [Inactive]
London Raiders [No channel]
Milton Keynes Thunder [No channel]
Solent & Gosport Devils [Inactive]
Streatham Redskins [New channel - highlights apparently coming soon]
Wightlink Raiders [No channel]

I've got high hopes for this season with the players we've brought in I am hoping we win at least one trophy this season.

We have our first match of the season at 7pm tonight against Coventry

We beat Coventry 4-2 Saturday not then lost to Nottingham 4-1 last night

Robert Farmer has signed with Alaska in the ECHL

MWE wrote:I've got high hopes for this season with the players we've brought in I am hoping we win at least one trophy this season.

This always sounds so weird to many of us North Americans. We don't really have or value anything except what you get for winning the playoffs in leagues here.

How does that work there?

Manimal wrote:Robert Farmer has signed with Alaska in the ECHL

Very nice!

Primis wrote:

MWE wrote:I've got high hopes for this season with the players we've brought in I am hoping we win at least one trophy this season.

This always sounds so weird to many of us North Americans. We don't really have or value anything except what you get for winning the playoffs in leagues here.

How does that work there?

Winning something is seen as better than winning nothing at all

MWE wrote:Winning something is seen as better than winning nothing at all

I've always wondered this for soccer too though: where to all these titles/trophies come from and how do you win them? Are there other mid-season tournies or something?

Here in North America in most sports you have Division Titles, Conference Titles, and the Championship. The Divisional one is a big deal if it's your first ever *or* you haven't won one in a long time. An NHL team like say Columbus or Winnipeg might even raise their divisional banner if they ever did it for the first time. Otherwise most won't really acknowledge it. The Conference title is even more irrelevant, oddly enough. The one for winning the playoffs is pretty much the only one that matters.

Primis wrote:

MWE wrote:Winning something is seen as better than winning nothing at all

I've always wondered this for soccer too though: where to all these titles/trophies come from and how do you win them? Are there other mid-season tournies or something?

Here in North America in most sports you have Division Titles, Conference Titles, and the Championship. The Divisional one is a big deal if it's your first ever *or* you haven't won one in a long time. An NHL team like say Columbus or Winnipeg might even raise their divisional banner if they ever did it for the first time. Otherwise most won't really acknowledge it. The Conference title is even more irrelevant, oddly enough. The one for winning the playoffs is pretty much the only one that matters.

I think the British way of contending for many different trophies comes from football (soccer). In Finland, and most other Euro leagues, there are no separate cups, just the regular season and then the playoffs. We do hand the silver medals and bronze, but many teams and fans don't really care much for them, unless if they haven't had much success lately, then they might settle for a bronze.

Primis wrote:

MWE wrote:Winning something is seen as better than winning nothing at all

I've always wondered this for soccer too though: where to all these titles/trophies come from and how do you win them? Are there other mid-season tournies or something?

In football in England we have the league titles, League cup for the 92 teams in the football league and the FA cup which for all teams that apply to play that fit the right criteria to join these all happen during the regular season also 72 of the football league teams excluding the premier league teams have thier own tournament and the non-league teams have the FA trophy to play for. Winning the FA Cup and League Cup earn you a place into european competition which can be lucrative for those teams that don't get into the Champions League each season.

The way I see it if you win something at least your season hasn't been a waste of time

Steelers have posted highlights of their 4-3 win against Hull in the Challenge Cup on Wednesday night

So, does the English hockey system have playoffs, or is the "winner" determined just by regular season standings, like in EPL?

Its actually the UK hockey system as there are teams from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and there is a play off system which is the bigger title of the 3 we have

I see. Thanks.

Tasku wrote:I see. Thanks.

Not a problem

Tasku wrote:So, does the English hockey system have playoffs, or is the "winner" determined just by regular season standings, like in EPL?

Although, while MWE is correct, winning the Playoff is the main one, people still love and care about winning the league!

For me the play offs should be the biggest thing especially now that there is the conference system in place but I think teams value the regular season more and the entrant for the continental cup is the regular season winner. The main problem is that the arena teams are limited in terms of when they can get ice and need to guarantee dates so a best of series is unlikely to happen. There used to be a system of having a group stage in the play offs with 8 teams in 2 groups and top 2 going to final 4. The last few years it has gone straight to quarter finals with aggregate scores deciding the winner after 2 games. The final 4 play the 2 semi finals on a Saturday with the final on the Sunday in a show-piece event that fans of all 10 teams attend.

There is also the challenge cup it starts off with 2 groups of 5 with top 4 from each going through to the quarters so not that hard to get out to the next stage. The groups differ slightly from the conferences with Belfast joining the 4 Scottish teams and Hull joining the other 3 English teams and 1 Welsh team. Some group games are doubled up with league matches but some are just separate cup games, very much depends on ice availability and what sort of crowd they expect to justify playing an extra game with all the travel. The quarter, semi and final are all played over 2 legs home and away. I think this competition was better when it had a one off final in a neutral venue, also the earlier rounds should give more reward for finishing higher in the group e.g. home advantage in one off or best of 3. Aggregate games can be over after game 1 or make it hard for small teams if they win the first as bigger teams have a chance to catchup. I think most European leagues have a national cup or league cup of some sort as it is sporting tradition of football/soccer.


The elite league has its arena teams - Nottingham, Sheffield, Belfast and to a lesser extent Braehead. These teams play in multi-purpose arenas that are used for other events like concerts etc. While I'm sure the arena's benefit from having a regular tenant in these teams things like concerts often make more money so it puts limits on when these teams can play. Sheffield actually sometimes use a different rink for some home matches since they are limited in dates and home games against smaller clubs are not worthwhile compared to costs. Belfast had tried playing in other rinks in Ulster when the arena was not available but these rinks really were not that suitable for them. They sometimes now play 2 home games in a row then go a couple of weeks without a home game while concerts etc are on. They try avoid Sunday home matches due to religious sensitivity in area and well crowds were much lower on that day. Braehead played one league or cup match at home to Dundee and will go a month before getting to play at home again. So these things have a big effect and these teams have the larger fan-bases and corporate pull so have a lot of influence on fixtures and how things like play offs or cups are structured. The other teams play in ice rinks, when I say that I mean that ice hockey is biggest attraction at least in terms of numbers of people but much smaller capacities. The likes of Nottingham, Sheffield and Belfast probably get 3-5 thousand at home. Braehead, Coventry and Cardiff about 2000, then the rest probably range from 800 - 1500 depending on who they are playing and travelling support and how competitive the match is likely to be.

grazza wrote:For me the play offs should be the biggest thing especially now that there is the conference system in place but I think teams value the regular season more and the entrant for the continental cup is the regular season winner.

Yeah this is the same impression I've had too. I think the teams attach more significance to winning the league than the playoffs. I think the double-header of Belfast v Sheffield (was it about 3 seasons ago now?) at the end of the regular season which determined the regular season winner (because they were so close in the standings) was probably a more highly contested game than many of the playoff finals I've seen. Similar to the Challenge Cup, the playoffs feel more like a cup competition rather than the pinnacle of the season.

I think the whole cup competition thing is because British hockey takes its influence from both football/soccer and American-style hockey. So on the one hand we have cup tournaments (e.g. EIHL Challenge Cup, EPL Cup and numerous NIHL regional tournaments) and on the other hand we have the playoffs.

On a different topic, it seems Sky Sports has dropped the Elite League Show. Seems a bit of a shame because I enjoyed watching that each week. Although Simmsey is a pretty terrible presenter and the show did feel more of a goals show rather than a highlights show. On the plus side, most EIHL teams and many EPL teams (and even a few NIHL teams) show highlights on YouTube - and these are more like highlights and less like just the goal show that the Elite League Show was. When I have a moment I'll add all the YouTube channel links I have to the first post in this thread.

EDIT: I've added the EIHL YouTube links to the first post in this thread. I'll add the EPL and NIHL ones I have later.

We lost 7-3 to Nottingham last night and are playing Braehead tonight at home unfortunately I will miss the match as I will be moving my girlfriend back to her uni accomodation for her second year

A very entertaining game at Guildford today. They ended up beating the Steeldogs 7-6. It was very back and forth with both teams taking turns at having a 2 goal lead at different points during the game. Andre Payette (the Steeldogs' player/head coach) arguably didn't help his team when he took a 5 min + game misconduct for checking from behind. IIRC it was his fifth penalty of the game. After this, the Steeldogs lost momentum, losing their 6 - 4 lead (IIRC) to ultimately lose the game. Payette came and stood next to me after he was ejected. He was not a happy man! "No ****ing way was that a check from behind" was his description of the penalty he'd given away!

I'm enjoying watching the Flames each week and my seat is probably one of the best views in the rink. That said, the seating is elevated above the glass which means that you can't see the near-side boards - and that's a bit of a pain (it's a similar layout to Manchester's rink in Altrincham). If I renew my season ticket next season, I'll see if I can move back a row because they let you stand on the back row (which should be a better view). My ticket also lets me stand by the glass (as I did today) which gives a pretty decent view.

Still, I really miss watching the Dynamos each week. Each game was a real battle for them. But with the Flames, they're an extremely strong team and I'm expecting most games will be reasonably straightforward for them (as was the case when I saw them play Bracknell last weekend).

EDIT: I've added EPL and NIHL-1S Youtube links to the first post. I'll add NIHL-1N, NIHL-2 and SNL links later on. I know there are a few NIHL North teams with active channels but I don't think many South or SNL teams do.

Steelers beat Cardiff 4-2 last night at thier place return match is at our Arena tonight hopefully another win on the cards

MWE wrote:Steelers beat Cardiff 4-2 last night at thier place return match is at our Arena tonight hopefully another win on the cards

Nearly but not quite. Btw how is Aaron Nell getting on with the Steelers? I know he got a GWG the other day.

I watched the Flames thrash Swindon 6-1 this evening. I was hoping for a close game but Swindon fell apart after Guildford scored the first two goals of the game. Jonas Hoog was the only impressive player for Swindon. Still, it's not as big a thrashing as Peterborough suffered this evening - 0-11 at Manchester. Manchester are unbeaten this season.

I'll be honest i've not seen them play yet this season been working away alot will be getting to some games next month

I think Nell only has one point thus far and that was his GWG the other week.

Off to see my first match of the season tonight we are playing Coventry in a challenge cup match.