EHM The Blue Line

Elite League Tables last Year:
Coventry
Belfast
Nottingham
Cardiff
Sheffield
Edinburgh
Newcastle
Hull

Playoff Winners: Belfast Giants

Challenge Cup Winners: Nottingham Panthers

20-20 Cup Winners: Sheffield Steelers

Teams:
Belfast Giants:
Playoff champions Belfast will be looking to hold on to their title with a new coach at the helm since Steve Thornton left during the off-season. Doug Christiansen comes in as bench coach after 3 years in Edinburgh will be under pressure to deliver at a high budget team. They have a strong british contingent in Garside, Murphy, Peacock and Shields and should once again be challenging for honours at the end of the season.

Coach:
Doug Christiansen

Netminders:
Stephen Murphy
Nathan Craze

Defencemen:
Jon Gleed
Tim Cook
Graeme Walton
Rich Seeley
Jeff Mason
Mike Hoffman

Forwards:
Colin Shields
Mark Garside
Craig Peacock
Brandon Benedict
Colin Hemingway
Brett Hemingway
Dan Welch
Josh Prudden
Mike Bayrack

Braehead Clan:
Braehead are a new team founded by many of the clubs owners and will be new rivals for the Capitals and the Stars. They will be an unknown quantity this season and I can see them taking a bit of time to find their feet this season. Thry could cause a surprise at the Playoffs however.

Player-Coach:
Bruce Richardson

Netminders:
JF Perras
Michael Will

Defencemen:
Kevin Phillips
John Connolly
Mathieu Wathier
Cody Bostock
Jon Landry
Tim Wedderburn
Steven Chalmers

Forwards:
Bruce Richardson
Adam Walker
Matt Haywood
Bobby Chaumont
Cedric Bernier
Brendan Cook
Kyle Bruce
Dominic Noel
Ryan Campbell
Vince Connon


Cardiff Devils:
Cardiff are a well run team who are now completely self-sufficient financial wise. They almost caused an upset at the playoffs but it might be difficult to repeat this next season as there are rumours that their budget has been slashed.

Player-Coach:
Gerad Adams

Netminders:
Stevie Lyle
Joe Myers

Defencemen:
Mark Richardson
Gerad Adams
Mark Smith
Kenton Smith
Justin Sawyer

Forwards:
Ryan Finnerty
Tylor Michel
Max Birbraer
Jon Pelle
Stuart MacRae
Phil Hill
Brad Voth
Scott Matzka
Sam Smith

Coventry Blaze:
Last seasons league champions went out of the playoffs with a bit of a whimper after a long and gruelling season. They have lost a top sniper in Calder but Paul Thompson has a track record of being one of the best coachs in the league and will no doubt find a suitable replacement. Coventry will be looking for their 4th title in 5 years this season.

Coach:
Paul Thompson

Netminders:
Tom Murdy
Brett Jaegar

Defencemen:
Brad Zanon
Brian Lee
Jonathan Weaver
Jeff Smith
Matt Soderstrom


Forwards:
Joe Henry - 2-way with Telford Tigers
Greg Owen
Jack Watkins - 2-way with Telford Tigers
Russ Cowley
Aaron Nell
Greg Chambers
Luke Fulghum
Owen Fussey
Sean Selmser
Brad Cruickshank
Dan Carlson

Dundee Stars:
The latest club to join the Elite League has a rich history in the game. Dundee become the 3rd Scottish team in the league next season which should do wonders for both the Caps' and Clan's attendances. They will be another unknown quantity next season.

Player-Coach:
Dan Ceman

Netminders:
Mark McGill
Jerad Kaufmann

Defencemen:
Euan Forsyth
Steve Makway
Matt Suderman
Luciano Lomanno

Forwards:
John Dolan
Dan Ceman
Gary Wishart
Brent Hughes
Kris Phillips
Peter Cartwright
AJ MacLean
Mark Nebus
Sean McMorrow
Dean Holland - 2-way with Manchester

Edinburgh Capitals:
Edinburgh had an OK season last season, limited again by their small budget they managed to find a couple of real gems of players. They will, as usual, be unlikely to keep hold of any of those players and it will be down to the new coach to find the new gems for the next season.

Coach:
Brad Gratton

Netminders:
Scott Reid

Defencemen:
Kyle Horne
Daniel Madsen
Evan Schafer
Willie Nicholson - 2-way with SNL Caps

Forwards:
Jeff Hutchins
Martin Cingel
Adam Taylor
Nick Fanto
Iain Bowie
Neil Dolan -2-way with SNL Caps
Neil Hay
Jordan Steel
Alex Kim


Hull Stingrays:
Saved from the brink of financial destruction, Hull will once again be icing a team this season. They ended last season strongly and hopefully, with their new investors, they will be able to carry on that form into the next season.

Player-Coach:
Sylvain Cloutier

Netminders:
Andrew Jaszczyk
Christian Boucher

Defencemen:
Craig Mitchell
Trevor Read
Kurtis Dulle
Jozef Sladok

Forwards:
Sylvain Cloutier
Jason Silverthorn
Lee Esders
Matt Davies
Konstatin Kalmikov
Andrew Coburn
Lee Mitchell
Jereme Tendler


Newcastle Vipers:
Newcastle started well last year but then completely bottomed out and had a disappointing season. They have a new coach in Danny Stewart but once again they will have a small budget and will most likely struggle to keep up with the bigger boys.

Player-Coach:
Danny Stewart

Netminders:
Liam McAllister
Charlie Effinger


Defencemen:
Blair Stayzer
Rob Wilson
Sam Zajac
Kyle Sibley
Scott Langdon
John Schwarz

Forwards:
Danny Stewart
Jamie Carroll
Paul Sample
Nathan Salem
Jamie Tinsley
Dan Speer
Dale Mahovsky
Jaroslaw Rzeszutko
Patrik Forsbacka
Toms Hartmanis

Nottingham Panthers:
Last season was perhaps Nottinghams best chance to win the league since their last title winning season of 1956. They have kept their coach Corey Neilson and have already added sniper David Beauregaurd as they look for that league title win.

Player-Coach:
Corey Neilson

Netminders:
Craig Kowalski
Dan Green

Defencemen:
Corey Neilson
Jonathan Zion
Danny Meyers
Steve Lee
Tom Norton
Guillaume Lepine

Forwards:
David-Alexandre Beauregaurd
David Clarke
Jade Galbraith
Jay Henderson
Robert Lachowicz
Marc Levers
Alex Penner
Billy Ryan
Ian McDonald
Matt Myers
Dustin Sproat

Sheffield Steelers:
Sheffield stuck to the wage cap for the first half of last year as the teams around them did not and they paid for it by finishing 5th. Their fans are not used to finishing outside of the top 4 and expect them to be back with a bigger budget this season as they intend to challenge for honours again.

Player-Coach:
Ben Simon

Netminders:
Geoff Woolhouse
Ervin Mustukovs

Defencemen:
Mark Thomas
Jerramie Domish
Rod Sarich
Steve Munn
Kevin Bolibruck

Forwards:
Jason Hewitt
Jonathan Phillips
Ashley Tait
Robert Dowd
Joe Talbot
Derek Campbell
Neil Clark
Jeff Legue
Ben Simon
Rob Globke

EPL Table last year:
MK Lightning
Slough Jets
Manchester Phoenix
Guildford Flames
Basingstoke Bison
Peterborough Phantoms
Sheffield Scimitars
Swindon Wildcats
Bracknell Bees
Romford Raiders

Playoff Winners: Slough Jets

EPL Cup winners: Guildford Flames

Teams:
Basingstoke Bison:
Basingstoke ended mid-table and were knocked out in the playoff quarter finals by Guildford last year. They had an experienced core with established EPL players but were unable to really challenge at the top of the league last season. As one of the bigger budgets in the league they will be expecting to finish higher up in the table next year and perhaps challenge for some silverware

Player-Coach:
Steve Moria

Netminders:
Tom Annetts
Dean Skinns

Defencemen:
Sam Oakford
Kurt Reynolds
Ricky Skene
Carl Graham
Mindy Kieras

Forwards:
Tony Redmond
Steve Moria
Nicky Chinn
Ciaran Long
Andrew Hemmings
Viktor Kubenko
Ollie Bronnimann
Callum Best
Ondrej Lauko
Chris Wiggins


Bracknell Bees:
Bracknell finished just outside the playoffs last season, despite having 2 of the top players in the league in Pinc & Cesky. Both of these players have re-signed for this season and Bracknell will be looking to push on into playoff contention this year.

Head Coach:
Gareth Cox

Netminders:
Carl Ambler
Adam Marashi

Defencemen:
Greg Randall
Tom Avery
Shane Moore
Sam Waller
Valdemar Pelikovsky
Ben Johnson

Forwards:
Terry Miles
Jaroslav Cesky
Michal Pinc
Ashley Calvert
Craig Tribe
Ben Duggan
Alex Barker
Grant Rounding
Peter Jasik
James Galazzi
Nicky Watt

Guildford Flames:
Guildford are the biggest team in the league in both budget and number of fans. Last year they finished the season with 7 imports, despite the league limit being 4! Despite this they failed to win any silverware other than the EPL Cup. As usual they will be looking to win either the league or the playoffs this season and will once again finish up there at the top.

Player-Coach:
Paul Dixon

Netminders:
Miroslav Hala
Mark Lee

Defencemen:
Paul Dixon
David Savage
Jez Lundin
Neil Liddiard
Joe Graham

Forwards:
Martin Masa
David Longstaff
Matt Towe
Rob Lamey
Lukas Smital
Ben Campbell
Rick Plant
Nathan Rempel
Stuart Potts
Milos Melicherik


Manchester Phoenix:
Manchester flew out of the traps last season and looked like the team to beat. After they lost a lot of their players to the World U-20's and netminder Steve Fone to injury around christmas time their season faltered. Manchester were very good offensively, with 2 players finishing with over 50 goals (Walker & Courtenay) however they were very fragile defensively. They did improve after Courtenay left however they will be disappointed to have gone out in the semi finals of the playoffs. They will be looking for another top 3 finish next season and hoping for some silverware.

Player-Coach:
Tony Hand

Netminders:
Steve Fone
Adam Summerfield

Defencemen:
Luke Boothroyd
Ben Wood
Ben Morgan
Pavel Gomenyuk
Max Drakeley - 2-way with Phoenix ENL

Forwards:
Tony Hand
Greg Wood
Dean Holland
Tom Duggan
Stephen Wallace
James Neil
Curtis Huppe
James Archer
Marcus Kristoffersson


MK Lightning:
Last years team of the season petered out after they had won the league and limped out of the playoffs in the quarter finals. Despite this they had a very good team and will be looking to carry on their success of last year.

Player-Coach:
Nick Poole

Netminders:
Alex Mettam
Barry Hollyhead

Defencemen:
Leigh Jamieson
Lewis Christie
Michael Farn
Lukas Zatopek
Ross Green

Forwards:
Nick Poole
Adam Carr
Adam Brittle
Matt Towalski
Jamie Line - 2-Way with MK Thunder
Gary Clarke
Grant McPherson
Monir Kalgoum

Peterborough Phantoms:
The Phantoms downsized last year after their treble winning season of 2008-09. They lost some key players in Peacock and Rempel - it was clear to see as well after they finished 6th in the league and were beaten in the playoffs by Manchester. Their fans will once again be looking for a return to silverware next year.

Head Coach:
Curtis Cruickshank

Netminders:
Stephen Wall

Defencemen:
James Hutchinson
Dwayne Newman
Steve Duncombe

Forwards:
Tom Carlon
Joe Miller
Maris Ziedins
Warren Tait
Jeff Glowa
James Ferrara
James Spurr
Shaun Yardley
Luke Ferrara


Sheffield Steeldogs
Sheffield were a rather inconsistent team last season, finishing 7th in the league they could beat any team in the league but their inconsistency shone through as they failed to make the playoff weekend. One of the smaller clubs in the league they always have a strong, young, British contingent in the team with players such as Dowd & Farmer starting their careers at the club.

Head Coach:
Matt Darlow

Netminders:
Ben Bowns
Dimitri Zimozdra - Counts as British Trained
Paul Jones

Defencemen:
Arran Strawson
Lee Haywood
Lewis Bell
Lloyd Gibson
Simon Offord

Forwards:
Peter Vaisenan
Tom Squires
Matej Kangyar
Chris Sykes
Mark Turner
Stuart Brittle
Andrew Hirst
Scott Morris
Craig Elliott
Oliver Barron
Nicky Lewis
Shaun Ashton


Slough Jets:
Big spending Jets won the playoffs last year after finishing 2nd in the league, which is nothing less than the club's owner expected. He will once again be expecting a strong season this year and will be one to watch come the end of the season.

Head Coach:
Peter Russell

Netminders:
Gregg Rockman

Defencemen:
Jan Krajicek
Billy Phillips
Andy Munroe
Adam Greener
Paddy Ward

Forwards:
Blaz Emersic
Joe Greener
Slava Koulikov
Doug Sheppard
Darius Pliskauskas
Dan Davies
Carl Thompson
Scott Spearing
Michael Bowman

Swindon Wildcats:
Swindon made the final playoff berth and beat league champions MK Lightning in the playoffs. One of the smaller teams in the league they will once again be looking to cause an upset next season.

Head Coach:
Ryan Aldridge

Netminders:
Chris Douglas

Defencemen:
Jan Melichar
James Griffin
Jason Stone
Joe Baird
Nick Compton

Forwards:
Lee Richardson
Ryan Watt
Matt Foord
Steve Fisher
Toivo Suursoo
Jozef Liska
Jamie Hayes
Loris Taylor
Sam Bullas


Telford Tigers:
Telford mothballed before last season when they were left without an owner, now they're back with a fans consortium in charge and Tom Watkins installed as Player/Coach. Expect them to re-sign some of the players that left last season as they look to play closer to home.

Player-Coach:
Tom Watkins

Netminders:
Martin Clarkson - 2-Way with Cardiff Devils
Declan Ryan

Defencemen:
Daniel Croft
Daniel Scott
Michael Jones
Ashley Stanton
Chris Allen

Forwards:
Tom Watkins
Marek Hornak
Jack Watkins
Joe Henry
Tomas Janak
Luke Brittle
Andrejs Maslovskis
Daniel MacKriel
Scott McKenzie
Andrew McKinney
Josh Bruce

Telford Tigers are back in the league

And with Tommy Watkins as their player/coach Good to see another team in the EPL with the almost inevitable loss of Romford to the ENL.

An announcement will be made about Dundee on Wednesday

I hope they get in the league.

Dundee officially announced this morning

Good news for the Eilte League with Dundee and Braehead joining this year! I hope Manchester get back there eventually! And with Braehead signing Adam Calder as player/coach, thats a good thing!

Manchester won't be back anytime soon without some major investment unfortunately as I would love to see them back there, I just can't get excited about EPL hockey.....

Also there's been some problems with Adam Calder & the Clan management so I wouldn't exactly be 100% sure that he's going to join

Import limit to be raised to 12 for Edinburgh, Hull, Newcastle, Dundee & Braehead.

Great, we can't afford many as it is!

Calv wrote:Import limit to be raised to 12 for Edinburgh, Hull, Newcastle, Dundee & Braehead.

Why only for those teams?

Manimal wrote:

Calv wrote:Import limit to be raised to 12 for Edinburgh, Hull, Newcastle, Dundee & Braehead.

Why only for those teams?

there is a big budget difference between the top 5 teams and the bottom 5 teams. The good British players are rare and hence can ask for bigger wages, hence the bigger clubs can afford the better british players whilst the lesser clubs can afford the imports of a similar standard but lower wage( or that's the thinking anyway....)

EIHL rosters updated - imports listed in italics

Very pleased with Vipers signings, making a good start. But we need some depth. Plenty of time though!

Your lack of British depth will be your main downfall I think.

Romford confirmed as moving to ENL South

EPL rosters updated

Yeah, wish we'd drop out of that league, it's pretty *cough*.

Dundee appoint Dan Cemen as player-coach

Big Bad Brad re-signs for Cardiff, despite having offers from other clubs (mainly Sheffield wanting to make him their franchise player)

Nottingham now only have 1 player to announce before they've finished their roster, Hull have so far only signed 1 player (their coach!)

More problems at Sheffield, this time the Scimitar are short of cash and may have trouble taking part in the EPL. They're about £15,000 in debt.

It's pretty bad that in the top 2 leagues in Britain, only 5 clubs actually break even/make a profit. Nottingham, Coventry & Cardiff in the Elite league and Guildford & MK in the Premier League.

Its bad news about Sheffield EPL! Especially when the EPL kind of prides it self on being the more 'stable' league in the country! Hopefully they can sort that out. Manchester need to hurry up and get some imports in, I heard they offered for Adam Calder, that would have been special

I cant see Dundee doing much, they have been quiet on the signings front, I hope that Braehead do well, they easily have the best logo in the Elite now too haha! and with their coach claiming to fire himself if they dont do well should be interesting!

I think Braehead will do the best out of the new clubs. Hopefully with the UK govt. allowing the EIHL to sign players from the NCAA we should some young hungry players coming across for the smaller teams wanting to make a name for themselves in Europe.

Also Edinburgh have always waited until late in the season to sign their players as some players reduce their wage requirements the later into the off-season we get, I'm sure Edinburgh & Dundee will pick up a couple of bargains later in the summer. I still expect, however, that the top 4 will be 4 of Notts, Belfast, Cardiff, Sheffield & Cov.

Manchester are waiting to see what happens with Rob Farmer before signing any imports. If he succeeds in getting a contract in the US following his trial we will sign 3 import forwards and 1 import D, otherwise it will be 2 + 2.

It is a shame about Sheffield as they have a great youth development system with many players coming up through the ranks to play for the Scimitars who then go onto the EIHL, I hope they find the funding they need.