EHM The Blue Line

We almost made it a year without a team folding Nah, not really Edinburgh made it until November before getting wound up at the High Court in Belfast by HMRC, presumably for not paying all of their taxes. They limped on to the end of the season, winning just 5 regular season games as their Russian Revolution headed by Dmitri Khristich failed. At the end of the season they lost their ice time contract to a rival bidder (Racers Leisure ltd), however the Racers were denied a spot in the Elite League. Hull Pirates were asked to move up to the EIHL, however have declined for the timebeing due to uncertainties over their rink.

The rest of the EIHL looked pretty stable, with new teams Guildford and MK fitting in well, however MK ended up fading after a good start in a league that Cardiff once again dominated. Nottingham put in some fantastic performances in the CHL, getting out of the group for the first time ever after beating the likes of Bern, Turku, and Mountfield. Zurich put an end to their CHL campaign, but it was better than expected for the Panthers. Cardiff managed to win 2 games in the CHL, but did not make it through their group. They'll be back in this season.

Things were generally quite stable in the NIHL, however no team was promoted in the South as Solent declined. Both NIHL S1 & N1 were quite uneven affairs, with the former EPL teams dominating on the whole, however London Raiders upset the applecart by finishing fourth above Bracknell in the South. Basingstoke won S1, while Sheffield won N1. Sutton will replace Deeside in N1 next year, after they won the playoffs. Spare a thought for Cardiff Fire, who secured just 3 points from 32 games in S1, with a goal difference of -182. They'll remain in S1 next season. It looks like there will be big changes this season at Basingstoke, in particular, as well as other clubs. Romford/London Raiders should also look to be strong after moving to a new rink.

In unexpected news Team GB managed to gain promotion to the top level of the World Championships They'll face Canada, USA, Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Denmark, and France. After a good set of performances in Budapest, Ben O'Connor has earnt a contract with Barys Astana of the KHL. It also looks like Liam Kirk will be getting drafted, somewhere in the latter rounds, and he's expected to play in the CHL (Canadian Major Jrs) this year.

Season 2017-18 Recap
Elite League Table
[table][tr][th]Name[/th][th]Points[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Cardiff[/td][td]85[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Manchester[/td][td]75[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sheffield Steelers[/td][td]71[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Nottingham[/td][td]71[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Belfast[/td][td]70[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Guildford[/td][td]69[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Fife[/td][td]68[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Coventry[/td][td]55[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Braehead[/td][td]54[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Dundee[/td][td]48[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MK[/td][td]42[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Edinburgh[/td][td]11[/td][/tr][/table]
Challenge Cup Winners: Belfast Giants
Playoff Winners: Cardiff Devils
Conference Winners: Cardiff, Manchester, Fife

Cardiff were head and shoulders the best team this season, ultimately falling short in the Challenge Cup final. Manchester looked okay, but never really put up a fight for the league title. Fife also looked good but faded, while Braehead will be disappointed to miss out on the playoffs.

Top Points Scorers: Mike Hammond (83 points), John Dunbar (81 points), Matt Beca (75 points)
Top Goalscorers: Luke Moffatt (34 goals), Marc Vallerand (33 goals), Mike Hammond (32 goals), Brendan Brooks (32 goals)
Top Save%: Patrick Galbraith (92.4%), Ervins Mustukovs (91.8%), Andy Iles (91.3%).

NIHLS1 League Table
[table][tr][th]Name[/th][th]Points[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Basingstoke[/td][td]56[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Peterborough[/td][td]56[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Swindon[/td][td]48[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]London[/td][td]37[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Bracknell[/td][td]34[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Streatham[/td][td]29[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MK Thunder[/td][td]25[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Invicta Dynamos[/td][td]22[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Cardiff Fire[/td][td]3[/td][/tr][/table]
Autumn Cup Winners: Swindon Wildcats
South Playoff Winners: Basingstoke
National Cup Winners: Swindon Wildcats

NIHLN1 League Table
[table][tr][th]Name[/th][th]Points[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Sheffield Steeldogs[/td][td]63[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Hull Pirates[/td][td]60[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Telford Tigers[/td][td]56[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Solway Sharks[/td][td]41[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Solihull[/td][td]41[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Whitley[/td][td]36[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Blackburn Hawks[/td][td]33[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Billingham[/td][td]24[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Nottingham Lions[/td][td]13[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Deeside[/td][td]4[/td][/tr][/table]
North Playoff Winners: Telford Tigers

National Playoff Winners: Basingstoke Bison

NIHLS2 League Table
[table][tr][th]Name[/th][th]Points[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Oxford[/td][td]46[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Solent[/td][td]45[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Bracknell Hornets[/td][td]43[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Chelmsford[/td][td]40[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Peterborough 2[/td][td]36[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Guidlford Phoenix[/td][td]31[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Slough[/td][td]24[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Bristol[/td][td]22[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Cardiff Fire 2[/td][td]22[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Haringey[/td][td]19[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Basingtoke Buffalo[/td][td]16[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Invicta Mustangs[/td][td]15[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Swindon 2[/td][td]13[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Lee Valley[/td][td]5[/td][/tr][/table]
South 2 Playoff Winners: Solent

NIHLN2 League Table
[table][tr][th]Name[/th][th]Points[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Sutton[/td][td]59[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Widnes[/td][td]52[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Hull Jets[/td][td]52[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Telford 2[/td][td]51[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Altrincham[/td][td]49[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sheffield Senators[/td][td]44[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Bradford[/td][td]32[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Coventry NIHL[/td][td]28[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Deeside 2[/td][td]9[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Blackburn 2[/td][td]3[/td][/tr][/table]
North Playoff Winners: Sutton

Ill put formats in here once they're formalised.

2018-19 League Structure
Elite League

NIHL South 1

NIHL North 1

NIHL South 2

NIHL North 2

Also, I have a friend who works in the events industry. This involves travelling to and meeting with people who own arenas. The staff at Wembley Arena told him that the arena will be ready sometime next year. Perhaps the EIHL are happy running with 11 teams this season as they know a new Wembley-based team will be ready next season...

I thought Wembley was being used for a KHL franchise?
Hull not going to apply next season?

MWE wrote:I thought Wembley was being used for a KHL franchise?
Hull not going to apply next season?

The EIHL guys (Neil Black, Todd Kelman etc) have been pretty consistent that a EIHL team playing out of Wembley is on the horizon. Not sure about the KHL team, however a sports investment company owned by a Russian has claimed that they are close starting a professional hockey team : http://totalsportsinvestments.com/news/ ... to-london/

The details are limited, the statement is in pretty bad English, and there has been no news from them for the past 2 months on the subject, so I'm not sure of the current state of it.

Not heard much on the KHL front recently.

Hull could apply again, perhaps the league will try to involve a new Edinburgh club at some point too?

Ben O'Connor's contract with Barys has been cancelled after a change of management

Also, it appears all of the tables have been broken after the update?

Calv wrote: Sat Jun 09, 2018 2:30 pm Also, it appears all of the tables have been broken after the update?

I've been trying to fix it but no luck so far...

Kirk drafted by Arizona, 189th overall.

Do you think he will go to one of their affiliates this coming season or stay in England for another year?

Isn't it the CHL import draft shortly? Perhaps he'll start off in the CHL.

Import draft is the 28th of June

Kirk goes 9th (8th pick as Calgary passed on theirs) in the import draft to Peterborough, who have several former EIHL players in their coaching staff. Sounds like he'll be spending the season there

Nice to see some free-to-air EIHL games lined up for Freesports. I just hope we see someone other than Aaron Murphy commentating as he just terrible. Probably wishful thinking though!

archibalduk wrote: Sun Aug 26, 2018 1:41 pm Nice to see some free-to-air EIHL games lined up for Freesports. I just hope we see someone other than Aaron Murphy commentating as he just terrible. Probably wishful thinking though!

Yep, he's nailed on to commentate unfortunately. At least you'll know exactly how tall/heavy all of the players are, how many NHL/AHL caps they have and where you keep the good whiskey.

Funnily enough, I won't be able to watch as my TV still isn't plugged into an aerial I should be able to watch online though.

First hockey of the season for me last weekend, with Storm playing Odense & Aalborg from Denmark. Saturday's game against Odense highlighted the problems with Storm (on paper) which is a lack of scoring from the forwards - we haven't really replaced Beca & Pitt (from what I can tell), and we just couldn't find the back of the net. Sunday was completely different with Storm winning 7-1 against the Pirates (who will be playing in the CHL this season). The returning players on the whole played well (Byers got a hattrick) but not many of the new import forwards are really standing out yet. Still early doors though, and this weekend sees another 2 home games (EC Bad Tolz & Eispiraten Crimmitschau of the DEL2)

Steelers first proper game of the season will be on Saturday against Nottingham in the Challenge Cup

Had a bit of a mixed pre-season beat Leksands 3-2 then lost the next 3 games a few injury worries going into the game this weekend too

9252 people watched Steelers play MKL on Saturday lost 3-2 though

Blimey, Paul Thompson leaves Sheffield a poor start to the season but I expected him to stick around a bit longer

Only a season too late.

It's a shame we don't have an On-Ice Insanity thread in addition to the On-Ice Stupidity thread as this has to be one of the bigger scorelines you'll see: Billingham U13 0 - 66 Manchester U13 (yes, that's sixty-six to nil). The scoresheet is pretty nuts to look at too: http://eihams.fixtureslive.com/matchShe ... id=2149894

What makes it stranger is that the number of goals scored per period increased as the game went on with 13 goals in period 1, 25 in period 2 and 28 in period 3. Usually the scoring team takes the foot off the gas and scores fewer as the game goes on. Manchester now has a +142 goal difference after just three games...

The game has caused a lot of controversy on Facebook with many people seemingly unhappy that the Manchester coach didn't step in and ask his team to go easy after the first period. But the reality is that Billingham consists of a bunch of first time players whereas Manchester consists of experience junior conference champions. Manchester has released a statement on Facebook saying that the issue is with the way the EIHA has set up the league groupings with such a parity of skill and experience. The full statement can be read here: https://www.facebook.com/ManchesterStor ... __tn__=K-R

Storm academy seem to have some really good juniors coming through the younger age groups, not there at the higher age groups yet (most likely due to poor leadership & coaching in the past). It's a shame that the 66-0 result happened and it doesn't really reflect well on either the Storm or the EIHA. Hopefully they'll get moved up a league before the end of the season, because otherwise this is a wasted year for them.

A side view of the Blackburn Hump: https://www.facebook.com/welivehockey1/ ... 3Nzk4NzUy/

A game was cancelled at Blackburn recently, due to holes in the ice

I can't help but laugh at the recent videos of the hump but it is pretty serious. There's a bit of a dispute between the Hawks and Lions about whether it was a mutual decision to abandon the game.

O'Connor leaving Leksands after their next game, heading back to Sheffield?

Would be nice to have him back he would probably manage to be top point scorer by the end of the season too

Steelers are playing Coventry on Wednesday it is live on Freesports at 7pm for anyone wanting to watch us make hard work of it