Flashback 2009.....

So, what interesting things went down this year? And what did I think of them? And more importantly, how much beer did I drink at the Play-Offs?

Well, the early aprt of the year brought a few rumblings of discontent to my ears, mostly about the Phoenixs future. Some folks said we were in deep financial shit, some folks said we were going to quit the EIHL, some even said we were going to be kicked out. Most agreed on one point though. The EIHL as it stood (and still stands) was putting the club into an untenable position.

These rumors came to a head shortly before the playoff weekend, when news filtered through that the EIHL board had convened a meeting, but decided to exclude ourselves, Edinburgh, Basingstoke, and Newcastle from the discussions. This set alarm bells ringing at all 3 clubs, more so when rumors of the league preparing to run with just 6 teams in the 2009-2010 season emerged from the meeting.

This all came to a head at the playoffs themselves. Upon arrival in Nottigham, before we even set foot in a pub, myslef and my cohorts (Russ, Caz, Ang, and Nathan) were pounced upon by some Newcastle fans bearing rolls of gaffa tape, to cover up the EIHL logos on our shirts. Being the supportive types, we all aquiesed, and continued on. Certainly, this got under the skin of a few Notts and SHuff fans, but that wasn't the point. The feeling of, well, betrayal by the league manifested itself further during the games themselves, when the Phoenix fans en masse joined inwith the Viprs fans chant of '6 team league, your having a laugh' on a frequent basis.

This chant did seem to rile a few folks (I was personally asked more than once why we were doing it), and allegedly one D. Simms and R. Wilson took particular offence at this, and tried to get the stewardss to stop the Vipers fans (who were situated beneath the box set aside for Sky TV). Score an epic fail on that point.

Following this, a few weeks of uncertainty followed, until it was finally announced that both ourselves ad Basingstoke were actually joining the EPL as of September. There was an attempt to head this off by the EIHL, but seemingly the promises made were not kept, and here we are.

And that was probably the biggest news directly affecting us. SOme other teams (most notably Telford and the Isle of Wight) had there own problems, and the seemingly annual 'will they, wont they' confusuon reigned in Bracknell.

The nest major event for myself wasn't actually our starting the EPL campaign (that went exactly as well as expected), but the increasingly shoddy treatment the club seemed to recieve from our rink. Poor standards of ice (stretching back our 12 months), poor cleanliness, and poor service (allegedly, i myself haven't experienced this) were bad enough, but the way the rink bar was taken from the club rankled.

Check the rink bar out now. It isn't half as busy as it was when the club ran it. And thanks to this, we (the fans) lost a wonderful aprt of our relationship with the club, namely the opportunity to talk to the players after the match over a cold beer or two. Damn, I miss that.

And thats it for this flashback. I'm sure there is other stuff, I just can't think of anything at the moment.

Half term review...

So, we are just slightly over the halfway point in the fixture list for our inaugural season in the EPL, and I have to say, things are looking good.

The team is sitting quite comfortably in 2nd palce as I write (although, with no games for ourselves this next weekend, this may change), and look to be a serious contender for all 3 pieces of silverware come the seasons end. Which is nice.

Tonys new recruits seem to have settled in nicely, with even the controversial addition Mr Payette winning folks over, mostly by not being the waste of space many assumed he would be (remember this folks, assumption is the mother of all fuck ups), and instead contributing on the ice by making plays and space for the 'skill' players on his line. Oh yeah, scarring the shit out of the majority of the opposition probably helps.

'Sir' Tony and 'Big' Ed are easily the most potent pairing in the league (probably in the EIHL too), scoring points seemingly for fun ('Big' Ed currently has a massive 73 points to his name, and 'Sir' Tony has 60, for a combined 133...gulp!), and everyone seems to know it. Close down the Hand/Courtenay line, close down the team, right? Wrong! Points are coming from all over the squad. Jakko and Walks have 43 points a piece. Ian Bowie and Greg Wood ahve 20 and 21 points respectively. So we actually have 3 productive lines.

And big, big kudos to young Adam Summerfield who has stepped up to the plate and filled in for Steve Fone with some stunning displays. Growing in coinfidence everygame, even after a couple of heavy defeats. This young man has a damned bright future ahead of him.

And the D have finally settled. Mattsson is one of the best positional player I have seen for years, and now he has adapted to the pace of the EPL is fast becoming a defensive rock. Boothroyd was abit unsettled early doors, which I put down to being given the 'C', but has settled down, and is usually very assured on the ice.

So, what else to report on?

Well, the rink management seem to not really want us. Firstly taking the bar out of the clubs control, meaning no more post game drinkies with the players. Then they seem to be unable to give us anything like consistent ice over any given run of games. Oh yeah, and far too often the rink just looks like a shithole. Untidy, dirty, and ignored are words which spring to mind.

And the league?

I'm loving it. Any team is capable of taking the points on any given night (eg: We battered Romford in our barn, yet have lost both road games to them). The pace is certainly faster than I thought it would be, and even though the 'skill level' isnt as high as the EIHL, the games themselves are far, far more entertaining. I guarantee we won't see too many (any?) ground out 1-0 games in the remainder of the season.

Indeed, me and my good buddies Russ, Caz, and Ang have already booked rooms in Coventry for the end of season playoffs, we are that impressed.

Bring on January and the resumption of our games. I need my fucking fix!

Oh yeah, Merry Xmas, Happy Hannukah, and the like. Now, wheres the beer...

It's a conspiracy!

Apparently.

According to some Scimitars fans, and a handfull of 'neutrals', it's a tad too convenient that todays game was cancelled due to 'inclement weather', and we only ndid it ot avoid the embarassment of losing 2 games on the bounce.

Fuck right off.

Seriously.

Fuck off.

Do these people seriously believe that the Phoenix would try to deliberatly cancell a game to avoid a possible loss? I can see it now:

'Oh noes! If we lose today we will only be 2nd in the league and will have lost 2 games on the trot1 What to do?

Wait! I have an idea....(picks up phone and dials)... Hello, Sheffield Scimitars? Yeah, erm, we can't like get near the rink, so, y'know, erm, we are calling the game off..b-bye!'

Hmmm, me thinks not somehow.

The real reason (as I'm sure most of y'all know) is that a: arounf 50% of the match night crew couldn't get to the rink from their house due to the weather, and b: access to the rink itslef was poor as the road leading to it had not been gritted or cleared.

I have also been told that the Scims phoned us and said they were having difficulty getting to Manchester due to the weather.

So, no conspiracy (unless of course the Scims were in on it all along.... Oh Noes!).

One more thing:

A massive congratulations to the GB u20s on their Gold Medal winning performance this past week at the World Championships. The Pyre salutes you!

Good result/ Bad result

So, A solid win against Guildford on Saturday, and a 2nd defeat in as many visits down at RVW on Sunday.

And truth be told, I'd have take 2 out of the 4 points over the weekend. 4 players absent on GB u20s duty, and a rookie back-up netminder was always going to make for an interesting weekend, and it seemingly did.

Saturday was a good game. Tony had clearly worked out a gameplan, and the team stuck to it rigidly. Summerfield looked confident, Mattson was immense on the D, covering Adam really well, and keeping the lanes clear. Payette looked calm and in control, stamping his authority on the game with ease. And the first line was sublime. The passing was smooth, the positioning was practically perfect, and the end result was just what you wanted. And once again, Jakko was solid, moving the puck, and hitting everything that moved.

Guilford were not as poor as some of their fans would have you believe over on THF, they just couldn't make it work consistently. They did trouble the Phoenix goal, but failed to apply the last bit of pressure needed to force the errors from Adam and the D infront of him.

And to top it off, I won this weekends game of 'Musical Chairs on Ice' during the 1st interval, after I was 'volunteered' for action.

I'd guess the crowd was around 650-700ish.

Sunday, I can't really comment on as I wasn't there, but RVW does look like it will be our 'problem' road trip. Ah well, everyone has one I suppose.

Now, my bitch of the week...

Over on THF, the news that we were defeated by Romford has brought a few 'neutrals' out to gloat over this fact. Why?

We didn't come into the league and act all 'high and mighty', or try to boss the other teams about. Is it really just simple jealously over the fact we have settled in quite fast, and seem to have the knack of winning most games, even when we shouldn't? I'd like to think this is the case, but fuck it. There will always be some folks who feel the urge to post on forums like that. And I suppose someone has to be the 'bad guys'. It was Guildford, but I guess it's our turn now.

Ah well, bring on next weekend.

I don't think my heart can take to many games like that!

Fuck me, what a game! We certainly don't like to make it easy for ourselves, do we? 4-1 down, before mouting a stunning comeback to take the game 5-4 in OT. Phew.

I swear that I was going to have a fucking heart attack during the final period, as MKL looked like they might just about hang on for the win, despite pressure from Tony and the boys. And the gamewinner in OT was sublime. A beuatiful break, a genius pass, and a stunning finish made for a truly worthy matchwinner.

And damn well done to Adam summerfeild who, despite a few errors (especially for MKLs 3rd goal), never let his head drop, and gerw in confidence as the game progressed. Not too shabby for a 19yr old rookie who has played less than a dozen games as starter in the past couple of seasons.

Player of the night was Jakko, who simply hit everything that moved, and made some cracking plays in the zone.

Plonker of the night was Nick Poole for taking a dumbass 10 minute misconduct in the aftermath of the Phoenixs game tieing goal, just when the MKL needed his experience on the ice. and he was bloody lucky not to be called again during OT for standing on the seat in the penalty box and trying to shout instructions over the plexi. Tut-Tut.

And as for the ref, Goodwin..... Argh, he was so fucking frustrating. the 1st period was a nightmare with him seemingly determined to penalise the Phoenix for everything he could, including a bizarre 10 minute personal misconduct on Big Ed (Ed has word with Goodwin over the placement of a face-off, had the puck passed to him, and played it into the zone. Goodwin was stood in the way, blew his shistle and intimated that Ed hit the puck at him deliberatley). 2nd period hew tried to redress the balance a bit, and in the 3rd, I just couldn't figure him out at all. Oh well.

Anything else... no, nowt for now. Laters.

Another missed game (again!)

Yes, I missed another home game!

Sorry, I was busy having my ears destroyed by W.A.S.P. down at the Academy 2, as a birthday treat to myself.

So, 2 wins, 4 points, and an injured netminder. I would say that the positives just outweigh the negatives (just).

4 points keeps us top, with a 2 point cushion, and a game in hand over MKL. Good thing.

Fone dislocating his shoulder on Saturday. Bad thing.

But Summerfield appears to have stepped up to the plate admirablly. Good on the lad. Mind you, he will get a much sterner test next weekend, especially on Sunday, with MKL visiting our barn for another mouthwatering top of the table clash.

Of course, Tony could bring in a replacement, but I can't see who he would go after.

Anyways, I'll wrap up by reminding everyone that I will be there on Sunday, celebrating my birthday. So be nice!

Rollercoaster weekend...

So, on Saturday, our intrepid boys make their first ever trip down to Romford, presumably expecting a fairly staraightforward win against the leagues 'whipping boys'.

We leave on the wrong end of an 8-3 tonking.

OOOPS!

Apparently, RVW (thats Rom Valley Way) is a bastard of a rink to go to and get a result. Hostile fans, hostile announcers (Saturdays was thrown out of the booth for mouthing off at Payette), and poor lighting all combine to put pressure on visting teams.

Ah well, normal service was resumed last night, with an absolute belter of a game against Milton Keynes. 3-1 hardly reflects the game, as it was as close a could possibly be. Seriously, you couldn't have fitted a piece if paper between the two teams, it was that close.

The game was played pretty much at full throttle for the entire 60mins, with some outstanding plays made by both sides. Man of the Match for ourselves was Steve Fone, who put in an assured, cinfident performance, showing that Saturdays game hadn't affected him one bit.

And it was physical. lots of chipping away from both sides lead to a few tempers getting short, culminating in young Mr Bowie dropping the gloves for a little tete-a-tete with on of the MKL players (whose name I couldn't hear properly, sorry. I'll correct it when I get the match stats). Bowie just edged the scrap, but as seems to eb the norm in the EPL was 'rewarded' with just 2+2 for roughing. It was not roughing, it was a fucking fight! Deep breath.

Anyways, crowd was good, and seemed very up for it, making plenty of noise. I would guess that there were about 750-800 in the Dome, and allegedly only a handful were freebies, so thats all good.

And the ice was much improved. It probably helped that the ambient temperature inside the doem was quite a bit colder than last week (thankfully). The ice cuts are still embarassingly poor though. Too many missed patches and too many extra laps to sort them out. Would someone please show the lad how to do the ice cut correctly please! Anyone?

Other gubbins:

The Pyres pre and post match watering hole, the Station Inn, has now closed. The lovely landlady, Janet, has moved on after a dispute with the pubs owners. Which is a bit of a bugger, as it was fast becoming the best damn pub in Alty. Janet hopes to re-appera at Uluru (or whatever its called now) in the next few weeks, so a new venue might not be too far off!

And the official forum has managed to piss me off once more. It seems that frequent poster and serious Phoenix die hard 'The Rat' aka Pete Roden, has been banned after arguing wiht the site main moderator and admin, Carl. It looks like Carl didn't appreciate Petes response sin a thread as to why the league table wasn't accurate on the offcial site, and after some forum based arguing made acryptic post about Pete getting the 'next best thing to an ignore button' on him. Yes, Pete is blunt, and yes, he will butt heads with other posters, but whats the point of a forum without debate? Seems to me that Carl just didn't like being criticised, and has used his powers in an unfair manner.

(Thats why this blog exists. I can't say what i really want on the offical forum a lot of the time withour the risk of posts being deleted or being banned. Some people on there are fr too sensitive. So yay for the bog1)

Whooooo! Back at the Dome!

So, after a 2 week abscence, I returned to my 3rd 'home', the Ice Dome, and what a game it was!

We took a solid, 3 goal lead, only for the Phantoms to claw back to 3-2 in the 3rd period, giving more than a few fans a bit of a 'squeeky bum' feeling. Thankfully Big Ed was on hand to slot home a cracking winner towards the end of the game, making it a bit more relaxing.

Personally, I thought we played well as a team this week, possibly the best whole team performance I have seen yet this season. There were definatley fewer errors in the defensive zone, thankfully, but Fone still came out of his crease to play the puck behind the redline far to often for me. So Mr Fone, if you are reading this, a little message: STAY IN THE FUCKING CREASE FOR FUCKS SAKE!

Seriously, I have kittens almost everytime he does it. (on a side note, it seems to be a thing with Phoenix netminders. Platt did it, so did Wolfe, and Smurph. Must be something about playing in the Phoenix jersey). Oh yeah, and he is still coughing up too many rebounds for my liking, although the D seem to have the measure of this now.

Was quite a clean game too, with the ref (Wardell, IIRC), allowing the game to flow, and only calling when absolutely required to do so.

Other stuff:

Apaprently, Mags has had some signed player photos stolen from her over the past few weeks. Bastards. Just what the club needs. More money lost.

And now a moan about the Dome.

The ice maintainance is becoming, in the opinion of myself and others, worse and worse each week. The quality of the ice cuts is mostly piss poor, usually with far too much water laid down behind the zamboni. Added to this is the fact that it feels far too warm down at ice level. Seriously, the ice was as wet at the end of the 2nd and 3rd periods as it was immediately after the cut during the intervals.

I sincerely wish that the team at the Dome would get their shit together, but sadly, the management seem to be happy with the state of the ice as it is, so unless we complain en masse, I doubt anything will change anytime soon.

And thats it for now.

Another missed game....

...another solid win. Bugger.

Ah well, by all accounts, the team is starting to click, so fingers crossed for the rest of the season.

Bring on Saturday!

Telford to return? And more fantasy 'ideal league' stuff.

No games for me, but still stuff to talk about...

TELFORD TO RETURN?

If you click on this link HERE, you can read some encouraging news from Telford.

Looking at what the Telford Tigers Fans Trust are trying to do reminds me so much of the early days of FOMIH. I sincerely hope the trust can bring the Tigers back to the ice for the 2010-2011 season, as more teams means a stronger league for all of us.

WHAT ABOUT A POINTS SYSTEM?

So, I've already detailed a regional conference system, but how to manage the players? It is pretty obvious that if (when) the EIHL collapses, teams such as the Panthers would want to be included. The problem is though, the financial power of these clubs could and likely would see most of the top British talent stripped from existing clubs, thusly maintaining the status quo with the 'Big 4' being on top, and everyone else struggling to keep up, then going bust.

So what about a 'points' system? Each club has a maximum points value for the Brits in their squad, and each registered player has a points value, based on simple criteria, such as:

Age (+Points)
Experience (+Points)
Time spent at current club (-Points for long service, + points if player moves around a lot)
International Cap(+ Points)

So, Stevie Lyle would have a high points tally (fairly old, lots of experience, lots of clubs, played for Team GB a lot), whereas Adam Walker would have a comparatively low value (youngish, reasonable experience, not played for too many clubs, only Junior International caps ).

Properly administered, this should provide a relative parity amongst clubs, or at the very least stop 'Club X' from 'buying the league', and would also place a greater emphasis on developing your own players, rather than bringing them in from other clubs.

Thoughts, people?

No game review this week...

..or next folks.

I wasn't at this weekends game as I was at an engagement do down in Dunstable, and this coming weekend, I'm at my own engagement do...

2 weeks without a game.. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

From the sublime to the ridiculous...

Saturday: Bracknell 0-6 Manchester. Get in. Solid result away from home.

Sunday: Manchester 1-6 Slough. What the fuck?

Yup, it was a weekend of extremes for the Phoenix. A road win at Bracknell, by a convincing scoreline was reversed on Sunday by an absolute tonking at home to Slough.

And lets be honest, we were comfortably the poorer team on Sunday. No fluke goals, no poor reffing, no '1 man plays a blinder'. Slough were vastly superior to us in every aspect.

They came to the Dome with an obvious plan, involving high tempo play, solid forechecking, and rapidly closing down any passing channels we might have had going forwards, and they did this bloody well. Our D just could not contain Sloughs forwards, judging by just how much time they had on the puck, and how easily they scored.

Mattson had a bit of a mare. So did Boothroyd. Hell, our best D was Haggelberg, and he is technically a forward. Tony and Big Ed were almost entirely shut down, and the Brits jst could not get shots on target. So its time to gas someone, right?

Wrong! Despite the clamour on the offical forum for Payettes head (He is doing just fine thanks. Tony has told him what he wants, and Payette is giving him exactly that), gassing a forward to bring in a Defenseman is not sound thinkiing. Hell, who says we have the resources to bring another player in anyways? I personally think Tony needs to work more on the getting the D to hang back a bit more, and play more 'defensively'.

Think about it, we are 12 games into the season, sitting 3rd in the table with 9 wins and just 3 losses. Hardly panic stations just yet. If things are stioll the same on ice in a month, then we might have to try and change things, but not just yet.

And the crowd? Well, it was a tad smaller than last week (@700), but it was damn quiet. Even the Choir Boys (yes, I'll name them) gave up once it was clear we were done for.

Anyways, Onwards and upwards!

Fife for the EPL?

Check out this link:

Fife want to play at a higher level (thats not the EIHL)

So, Fife Flyers in the EPL? Yes please!

Now, I know this would be something that the Southern EPL teams would probably be agianst, simply because of the travelling, but hear me out. I propose a new 'British Premier Ice Hockey League' (BPIHL).

To keep costs down, I would split this into 2 conferences, thusly:

North:
Manchester Phoenix
Sheffield Scimitars
Fife Flyers
Dundee Stars
Solway Sharks
Whitley Warriors/Newcastle Vipers (Whichever was interested and able to ice a team)
Hull Stingrays
Edinburgh Capitals

South:
Basingstoke Bison
Bracknell Bees
Guildford Flames
Slough Jets
Romford Raiders
Milton Keynes Lightening
Swindon Wildcats
Peterborough Phantoms

The schedule would run as thus:

2x home, 2x Away against teams in own conference (28 games), 1x home, 1x away against the other conference teams (16 games) for a total of 44 league matches (10 fewer than currently), plus 3x home, 3x away cup games, based on groups of 4 drawn at random from within own conference (6 games). Winners of each cup group progress to a 2 legged semifinal against winners of the other group in each conference (ie North Group 1 winners play north group 2 winners), and the winners of this move on to a 2 legged final.

Playoffs are top 4 from each conference, playing 2 legged conference semis. Winners of the conference semis go to finals weekend where they play 1 game for conference title, then conference winners play in Grand Final to determine play off champions.

I think that looks, and sounds pretty damn good, but undoubtedly it will piss some folks off (Too many/few games, too many teams, etc).

Thoughts people?

Sign it!

Keep Streatham Ice Rink open!

Tesco (boo, hiss!) are trying to renage on apromise made to the people of the borough of Streatham to maintain a proviosion of an ice rink during the construction of their new store and replacement ice rink.

Sign the damn petition people! We know what its like to have no ice.

Did we escape just in the nick of time?

The past couple of days has lead me to believe that we escaped from the lunatic asylum that is the EIHL just in the nick of time.

Both Edinburgh and Newcastle have put out press releases intimating that they both need more money, probably pretty sharpish. Scott Neil, the owner of Edinburgh has stated he feels he cannot put anymore money into the club to take it forward, and the Vipers are seemingly not putting enought arses on seats to make ends meet.

The whole situation is begining to resemble the end days of the ISL. If Edinburgh and Newcastle make it to the end of the season (and there are no guarantees they, or indeed any club, will), we will be back in the summer of 2003. The same people will involve themselves in the same petty, ridiculous pissing contests. Fans will be at each others (metaphorical) throats, and the game as a whole will lose out.

It's deja-vu all over again......

Bloody hell, that was close!

Talk about leaving it late. A win in OT, after not one, but two fightbacks from a 2 goal deficit each time. Not good for the old ticker, but tremendous entertainment nontheless.

Sure, there were problems. Take our woeful defending, leaving Fone high and dry, although to be fair he was having a bit of a mare himself. I do admit to begining to harbour some doubts about his ability as a starting nettie, but I shall wait til the season is over before passing any kind of judgement.

I know that at least 7 of the squad were feeling ill, but still...there were some atrocious errors at the back, from simple overcommitment going forward to not covering the channels when back in the zone. Basic errors I hope that Tony is trying to get rid of asap.

There were some positive points too, though. No penalties given up that left us on the PK was one. Given how the D were playing, this was a major relief. Payette getting the 'Fight' monkey off his back, by having a pleasent little tete-a-tete with the Bisons Wiggins. Score it a win to Andre, who did look a little rusty. Tony and Big Ed seem to be improving their link game on game, with some sublime interplay between them, and some moments of truly spectacular brilliance form Tony himself.

The young Brit forwards are looking more an more comfortable as each week passes, and Adam Walker actually looks comfortable now, after struggling for a few weeks. Hagglebeg has finally settles into the pace of the EPL game, and is leading his checks less with his elbows, and more with his shoulder.

The only othe rkajor dissapointment was the crowd turnout. It was visibly down on last weekend, with (at a guess) 700 people in there. What does the club have to do to get people to come/stay? Being at the top of the table and winning more than they are losing doesn't seem to work. Bugger. Back to the drawing board.

And following on from that....

I was going to go to the 'Commercial Board' meeting this week, but on reflection, I am choosing not to. Ther eis a simple reason for this, and it echoes the thoughts of many people I have spoken too about it. It already looks that it is a case of the same people being involved as everything else that is doen for the club. No disrespect to those involved already, but I do knwo that quite a few folks are pissed off at who seems to be in charge of this, and feel that their ideas will be ignored in preference to a supposed 'chosen few'. Maybe that is the bigest problem we face a sa club in motivating the fans. New blood is needed, but feels unable to come forward. And I'd like to see how it pans out after this meeting, and maybe attend later ones once the board remit and make up is fully known.

That is all.

(Only 1 swear word...bollocks, I'm loosing my touch!!!!! Shitshitshitshitshit!....ahh, thats better)

That was satisfying.

So, a Saturday home game. Not something we do too often here in Manchester. Thankfully, we were not in direct competition with our big sporting neighbours down the road, but the RSL Grand Final didn't exactly help with some things (like parking spaces).

Anyways, I digress. The game itself was a full blooded affair, with some cracking end-to-end play on display from both sides. The mighty Phoenix ran out 6-4 victors, but it was a bloody close run thing.

And the game even had a fight, of sorts. Bowie vs Farmer was a bit of a non contest, with 4 punches thrown, before Bowie fell over, with Farmer on top of him... ooo-err! And for once, the ref showed some sense assesing just a 2+2 each for roughing.

And what an improvement from Big Ed. For the first time this season, he actually looke dlike he gave a shit, fighting for the puck, and moving about the ice with some sense of purpose other than 'where's my money?'. A top class show from himself and Mr Hand anchored a fairly solid performance from the boys. The D and Fone will wnat at least a couple of the Scims goals back, but all in all a solid team performance.

Attendance was down on last Sunday, as one would expect for a Saturday game, but it didn't appear to be by much, maybe only 50 or so in it. My guess is that there were about 750ish in the Dome, which isn't too bad at all.

And I would like to apologise for the behaviour of a small number of 'fans' sat in Block 16 who somehow felt it was 'right' to satrt taunting the travelling Scimitar supporters towards the end of the game. It's not big, and not clever... especially when you hoist your kid onto your shoulder and encourage him to do it too. You looked like a bunch of cocks. Grow up.

And thats it. For now.

AAARGH! Some people just piss me off!

I present, for your edification, quite possibly the most annoying, irritating, and stupid 'Official Forum' posting I have read for a very long time (and thats saying something. That place pisses me off on an almost daily basis):

I really do try not to get involved on the forum however I am finding it really difficult to understand the stick some of OUR players and club recieve on this forum

Why not change the forum to

Slag of the players and moan about everything possible to do with the club Forum

Bring back the old video
If you cant say anything nice then dont say anything at all.

o, basically, according to this forumite (who I won't name), we should only use the official forum to be nice abnout the club and kiss its collective and metaphorical arse. Bollocks.

Forums, as another poster stated, are a place for debate and discussion. If people cannot offer any form of criticism, then the forum serves no real point.

In my experience, most fans only criticise their own team if they feel the need to try an make the club improve something, be it presentation, players, whatever. No one ever did anything truly great whilst having someones nose so far up their arse they could smell toothpaste.

Idiots.

That was actually quite boring...

I never thought that winning a game so comprehensively could make for such a boring game.

Romford never even bothered to show up, ustering a pathetic 7 shots on goal during the entire game. So comfortable were we, that after the first period, Adam Summerfield was sent out to play the remaining 40 minutes, although rumour has it that Fone had tweeked himself and was rested as a precaution. Either way, it was good to see Adam out there for a spell.

I did feel sorry for the Romford fans who travelled the not inconsiderable distance to see their team. They were rewarded with a poor display from a team who ran out of ideas after about 30 seconds of the first period. They were piss poor tactically, resorting to dumping the puck on almost every play. They had no answer to Payette, whom they could not handle at all, and could not match the pace of any Phoenix player (with one exception).

And speaking of exceptions, Ed Courtenay was once again incredibly dissapointing. Showingost no desire to even be in the building, he once more failed to do anything of merit bar scoring an easy goal. And even then his 'celebration' was insultingly poor. No passion whatsoever. And when his commitment was questioned on the official Costigan stepped in and basically told people not to criticise him! Bullshit! If we can't criticise the players, whats the point? endless backslapping? Not for underachievers, thank you very much.

But to finish, another 4 point weekend, placing us 2nd in the table behind Milton Keynes.

Poor, poor timing....

2 weeks into the season and the 'walk up' ticket price for adults has been shunted up by £1, making it £13 on the door.

Ouch.

Rather obviously, this has lead to the ineveitable, and understandable, backlash from a section of the fanbase (and a sponsor), with the even more obvious 'you're not a proper fan' comeback from another section. Sigh.

I personally don't agree with the price increase. But I do accept that there may be a very sound reason, or reasons for doing so. Having read NMs impassioned response on the official site, I fear he is engaging in some damage limitation for an action not entirely of his own doing. I believe that our 'illustrious' rink management team have more than a small part in this, and much like the way the club was treated regarding the rink bar, this sticks to high heaven.

I'm sure one day the truth will out, but until then do we really need a return to the petty bullshit of previous seasons?

I know I've got a lot of time on my hands, but some folks.....

15 pages.

15 pages.

About the fucking intro video. What the fuck?

Surely as a fanbase we have more important issues, like the state of the rink (still dirty and barely cleaned week on week), the ice (still not good enough, and still has holes around the boards), certain players not pulling their weight (Mr Courtenay), but a fucking intro video? Give me a break.

Some folks don't like the music ('I want Ladies & Gentleman back! Boo Hoo!'), somne folks do like the music, some don't even care and seem to be bitching for the sake of doing so.

But seriously, 15 pages? Sheesh!

Reminded me of one of the reasons I don't post there very often anymore.

Last nights game...

Well, first off, the better team won. Fact. We were out played and outclassed last night by a very well drilled and focussed MKL squad.

But we were poor. Loose passing, players looking disinterested (yes, Big Ed, I'm looking at you...), and a 'headless chicken' approach to chasing the MKL players made for an embarassing sight at times. Back to Big Ed... If you don't want to be playing here, why fucking bother? Last night he made almost no effort to win the puck at all, often just shrugging his shoulders after loosing it, rather than battling to win it back. He was embarassed by the mighty fine efforts of Ian Bowie, who was a shining example to the entire roster last night. rarely have I seen an MOM award given that was more deserved.

Sure, some frankly piss poor reffing didn't help. The amount on missed or ignored calls was beyond belief. At times it looked like the ref just did not want to call a penalty no matter what was going on. And when he did...

But I refuse to blame the ref. We played like shit and get the result that a performance of that quality deserved.

I could rant on some more, but right now, I'd rather be happy...

First weekend thoughts....

So, after having a day or two to gather my thoughts...

Rather obviously, saturdays result was an absolute corker. Winning 7-4 on the road, with four of the goals coming from a forward who had only just arrived and had not even practised with his team-mates was the best way to begin a campaign possible. Big, big ups to Ed Courtenay for his performance.

And then to Sunday. Well, swindon showed up, and they gave us a hell of a game. Clearly more used to the style and standard of reffing in the epl, I feel that they made this work to their advantage. From my viewpoint, there was rather too much 'slash and hack' with the sticks, and too much holding the stick. The ref seemed very loathe to award penalties for these indiscretions, even if they were happening in his full view, and I did note that Tony mentioned this to him (and some Swindon players) on more than one occasion during the course of the game. Apart from that, the game itself was fast and furious, with Swindon taking the lead 3 times, only for the Phoenix to pull it back. Even at 4-3, things didn't look over comfortable, but the problems which were apparent are nothing 2 or 3 weeks more practise and games won't sort.

Highlight of the night was simply seeing the team skate out for the first ever EPL game at the Dome. The future starts here.

Now on to the shitter of the night. Our (not so) great rink management have decided that they are now gfoing to run the VIP Lounge, rather than let the club do it. Bad idea. On sunday the bar, which is usually rammed full and buzzing, was almost empty and very, very subdued. And it didn't help that when people ordered hot drinks, the satff were going outside and using the vending machines to provide these, which is beyond cheeky. Not to mention an absolute rip-off. A Hot drink in the bar was charged at £1.50... but the machines only charge £1.20. If you bought one, demand your money back on Sunday.

Personally, I think the rink have dropped a major bollock here, and have turned something which made them (and the club) a reasonable amount of cash (especially post game) into a dead duck. No atmosphere, no players meeting the fans (they are now going direct to the American Bar & Grill after the game). Thanks for ruining it, Vern. Myself and my cohorts will be heading to the Station Inn after the games now. Indeed, rather than get to the rink for doors, I believe we ware going to stay there before the game until about 10 mins before face off, and not buy drinks in there during the period breaks. Thats probably £50 a game lost just from us, let alone the other 50 or so folks who were absent on Sunday. Add it up.

Pricks.

War of the Roses...

Well, we won it. It wasn't as easy as some folks may have expected, as the Scims are a very well drilled side (as they should be after the best part of a month together), and seemed very confidant coming of the back of beating Hull in a friendly, then winning a pre season tournament in Fife.

But, impressive as the Scims were, I was more impressed with our boys. Despite just 2 hours training, and 2 games together, they already ahve the makings of an extremely confident, skillful side. To those fans of other teams who seem to think that we will be a '1 line' outfit, with no-one to back up Hand & Big Ed.... think again. Almost every guy on the ice on Sunday looked like the real deal. No one making up the numbers here.

Now, my stars of the match were Andre Mattsson and Andre Payette. Mattsson is an absolute beast of a d-man. Fast, skillful, and very strong, it will take a phenomenal forward to get the better of him over a full 60mins. His positional play was awesome.

And big old Payette... Captain for the weekend, and seemingly relishing it. This man can play hockey! Y'know, like he did back during his time in Coventry. He ain't just a goon and he seemed to thrive on the responsibility. And major kudos for doing the rounds in the bar afterwards, trying to have just a few words with everyone present. Thats what I like to see.

Other stuff.... New shirts look better in the flesh. Got my order in for a Cup jersey, so fingers crossed the legend 'Learned 1' will be seen around the Dome in two weeks time. Also, the ice looked good. Plenty of logos, and clear, visible lines. Still looked a little soft, but I put that down to it having just been laid, and the warmth in the rink on sunday. Indeed, it was much warmer than usual, which is a tiny cause for concern, but not much.

And that about wraps it up.

Oh, and Swindon fans coming down next weekend, if you want to meet up and chat, bring yourselves over to the Station Inn, opposite the bus station. Myself and a number of other Phoenix fans will be in there from about 3-ish.

And we're done. No swearyness this time either.

I'm still here!

Yup, I've been away, so I missed the shirt launch, but fear ye not, I'm still here!

a quick note on the shirts..... i quite like them. Sure, the home jersey is a bit too 'red' (I prefer white, with a red & black trim), but the away and cup tops are pretty damned good. I'll probably get either the away or the cup (or if I can, in my current poverty stricken state, both) at the start of the season.

Only 2 weeks to go!

We got 'im!

Yes, one of the worst kept secrets in British hockey has finally been confirmed.

Ed 'Big Nose' Courtenay has been announced as a Phoenix player.

More details later. I'm getting excited. Oooh-err.

Why? Just Why?

Why do I let them do it?

Another idiot poster on the official forum, complaining about all the sponsors logos on the jerseys, saying he wants a sponsor free one. Then when it is explaind (laboriously and repeatedly) o0ver the duration of the thread, the best they can do is say they will get their own unofficial one rather than spend the money on the club, and then tells everyone else to do the same.

Naturally I decided to join in at this point. And I got a post deleted (oh noes! I attacked the muppet and used a naughty word!)!

I fucking hate forum trolls.

And it keeps on getting more interesting....

According to rumor, TH has secured the signature of fellow veteran forward Ed 'Big Nose' Courtenay as our 3rd import.

If this is true it adds another proven goal scorer to our line, albeit another 'veteran' one. Of course, with the EPL being a bit slower and less physical, being a veteran of the age of messers Hand and Courtenay is less of an issue (see Mr S. Moira for details).

Awaiting confirmation, which if this is true will come on Friday.

He might be a donkey, but he's OUR donkey!

Yup, the rumors were correct, in a fairly surprising move TH has brough big, bad Andre Payette into the Phoenix fold.

Something a lot of folks have forgotten is that when used correctly (as he was during his first year in Coventry) Payette is a damn useful forward. And given how well TH kept Cloots on the leash, I doubt very much that discipline will be too much of an issue (6 fights and you are out for the season as per the EPL rules, I believe).

And lets be honest, Payette will likely be one of the most physical players that the EPL has seen for a very long time. Not to mention a pretty big draw.

Welcome to the Phoenix, Andre.

Its oh so quiet....

Yup, summer is now in full swing (I can hear the rain lashing against my window as I type), so the news coming out of the Phoenix has pretty much dried up.

Adam Walker is doing a charity bike ride (summed up far better on the official site than I could do), and there are persistent rumours that we have an ex EIHl forward lined up to announce. Current front runner being good ol' Donkey himself andre Payette, who apparently can apply for a passport after being here for 5 years.

He would certainly be an 'interesting' addition if nothing else, especially given the EPLs much tougher stance on fighting during games.

And now that I'm unemployed, attending the hockey will have to become a cheaper night out, somehow.....

Simms talks shite...

I know, I know, nothing new there, but for once he has actually pissed me off, properly.

In an interview he has conducted with the UK Hockey Live blog HERE, Simmsy has decided to 'run down' the Phoenix.

Apparently our club ethos is to be 'Big Fish in the pond', which is why we have moved to the EPL. Yes, according to his (arse)holiness, we threw our toys out of the pram at not being able to win things. Yes, he mentions that NM has put a load of cash in to the club, but gives the impression that the finaces are/were a ruse, not the deciding factor. Oh, and apparently, if we dont' get to be the Big Fish in the 'Small (EPL) Pond', he 'knows' we will simply move leagues again so we can be.

Wanker.

And for you EIHL fans, apparently, seeing the same teams 4 times at home is the best ratio of games. Y'see it's only once every 8 weeks.... except the fixtures never work out like that. Any more than 8 teams, and apparently its not worth it. Oh yeah, and small clubs should bring themselves up to the spending levels of the big teams to levbel things out, not vice versa.

I'm more and more glad about being in the EPL with every passing day.

So, that was a pretty good week or so...

Well, the Paul Fox challenge game was a damn fine piece of entertainment for the 150-200 sould who made it down there. A comfortable 9-2 win for the Phoenix brought the trophy home. It was bloody good to see some familiar faces again, and the rink felt just like home.

Only downer was when they ran out of beer in the rink! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Anyways, the other important bit of news was the annoucement of our first 'import' player, versatile Finn Jaakko Hagelberg. Jaakko looks to be a very impressive 'utility' player, who has previously plied his trade in the Finnish SM Liiga (the top level of play in Finland), and in the German Bundesliga and Oberliga (the 2nd and 3rd tier of German hockey respectively. Both almost indisputably better than the EIHL in all fairness).

He is fairly young (26), and apparently matched Paul Deniset pretty much point for point whilst in Germany, so he looks to be a goodie.

Some folks have written him off already ('not DAB standard'), but his stats seem solid, and until we see him we won't know if Tony has made the right choice. Personally, I think Tony might have found us a doozy.

Off to the game today

And I should ahve a report of some description up for it later.

Oh, its the annual Paul Fox memorial cup game. Manchester vs Bradford.

Summer time hockey! Whoo Hoo!

The Brit Squad.

So, not even at the end of May, and Tony Hand has already signed (and announced) his entire Brit contingent for the inaugural EPL campaign here in Mancland.

And overall I'm impressed. At the official announcement meeting for the switch to EPL hockey Tony promised a young, hungry squad of Brits, and he has most certainly delivered. he has signed guys with EIHL experience, guys who are straight out of ENL/SNL/Juniors, and kept himself in there to provide a core of unmatched experience.

If the import signings match up to the Brits in terms of quality, and given Tonys track record I see no reason to doubt that they will be, we could, nay should be looking at some very exciting times ahead for the club.

And it also looks like Bracknell and Romford will both be icing EPL sides too. Sadly, no IOW (a road trip I know many were looking forward to), and Telford still look doubtful, but the EPL is gearing up to be damn good.

Bring on September.

And one more thing...

Some folks are already saying tht they wont watch the team in the EPL, and will instead go to various EIHL games, as the EPL will be 'rubbish hockey'.

Well, numb-nuts, it's EPL or fuck all hockey. If y'all want to watch an artificially high standard of hockey which exists to please the owners of but 4 teams, fine. Do that. Just don't come crying when it all goes tits up.

Oh, and don't let the door hit your arse on the way out.

Pricks.

(Yeah, I might have offened them. So what? Their attitude offends me.)

PHOENIX TIL I DIE!

So, about this move then.....

Well, I've had a few days now to get things sorted in my own head, so here goes...

Firstly, I'm just as excited by the prospect of my team playing in the EPL as I was when it was first mooted to me early this year. Given our building size, crowds and financial base, the EPL is the ideal level for us to be at.

So, players so far. Well, I aint exactly complaining. Tony Hand will lace em up for the forthcoming season, giving us easily the most potent playmaker in the EPL by default. No D is going to relish facing Tony at all. Top points scorer come this time next year? Dont bet against it.

Steven Fone as starting netminder... Great. Sure, Smurph would ahve been better, but I'm sure he would have considered EPl a 'step back' for himself, especially with Lehman now being a Team GB player, So Fone is a more than adequete replacement (and a bit of a cult hero after hsi loan spell here 2 seasons back). He will also help his back up, the returning Adam Summerfield to progress hopefully (I fully expect Adam to start a few games this coming season).

Walker, Graham, and Boothroyd all return to the ice as well. Walker becomes the longest serving player at the club, IIRC, 09-10 being his 4th season at the Dome. All 3 made strides last season, and should form a solid core of Brits around which Tony can build the team. Graham in particular should benefit from more ice time, and I fully expect Boothroyd to be part of the 1st line D. Walker could be a good shout for wearing an 'A', as the 'senior' Brit (outside of Tony).

New boy Joe Graham.. Don't know much about him except that he has iced for the Panthers a few times.

And Ben Wood has been promoted from the ENL side. I believe big things are expected of this young d-man.

Imports? Tony is playing his cards close to his chest here. All he has said is they will all be high quality (ie not CHL/UHL cast offs), and one he has offered a contract to will be the best the EPL has ever see. Given his track record for unearthing quality guys, I have no reason to doubt this.

The new ticket prices look good. Not as chea[p as the 'established' EPL clubs, but better than the last few seaosns up here, and competative whne compared to other local options (Alty F.C., Sale rugby). Hopefully we will see a rise in attendances as a result.

And I honestly believe that the club will take the EPL ethos to heart, and won't come in being the 'Big Fish in the Small Pond'. we are in this for the long haul.

I can't wait til September now. Bring it on.

We're EPL!

So, the cat is finally out of the bag.

As of NOW, the Manchester Phoenix are officially and EPL club. 4 imports, no work permits, lots of local lads, and cheaper tickets.

Brilliant.

I'll have more later this weekend once I have got everything sorted in my own head.

End of Season review

Well, the dust has well and truly settled on the season now, so I guess I should do some kind of 'wrap up' piece.

This wrap up however will be slightly different to most others. I'm not going to rate each player individually, because I just cant settle on individual gradings for them.So here is my 'alternative' wrap up:

Inspired signing: Stephen Murphy. Smurph came in witha fair few people feeling that TH had dropped the ball, big time. Well, Smurph has probably been the best guy between the pipes we have seen in a loooong time here in Manc. I for one would love to see him back here next season.

'How Fucking Good': Mr D.A.Beauregard. Pure quality and without a shodow of a doubt the best forward to have graced these shores in many a year. Whats scary though is how fucking good he could have been were it not for his eye injury earlier in his career. Would love him back, but sadly I can't see it happening.

Total wanker: Joint award here. Grant Jacobsen for using us a a training camp, and Andrew Sharpe just for being a cock of the highest degree.

So, what else did I enjoy this season? Well, the cup runs were glorious, producing probably our finest hockey in the CC Semi against Belfast at the Dome. Even though we didn't win either of them, it proved we were able to compete with the 'big boys' on any given night.

And the cameraderie of the players. We got to see a bona fide TEAM on the ice this year. The way they played through the killer last month showed just how important it was to them to give 100% every night.

Off ice was equally great. After an early season snafu with our watering hole of choice, the Station Inn picked up, and became the prime pre-game watering hole for myself and my buddies (Russ, Caz, Ange, you guys made it great). And getting to a stage whereby I didn't have to ask for a drink ion the VIP lounge, they just appeared when i walked up. Brill.

The play-offs were great fun, even when I wore a tutu.

And thats that. I'm looking forward to a summer of 'fun', now. So expect to see a few more rants over the coming weeks about various bits and pieces.

The future of the EIHL

So, after a week of sniping press releases, much rumour, and outright nastiness between some fans, the 'EIHL 6' becomes the 'EIHL 9' for next season.

The alleged split and its reasons seem to have been healed (possibly only temporarily) after a post play-offs meeting of all 9 EIHL member clubs. A plan has been drawn up for 09-10, and the gist of it is a s follows:

10 imports on any given game day may be dressed.
3x Home, 3x Away fixtures, for a shorter 48 game season.
K.O. Cup to be abolished.
Challenge Cup to have its format ammended.
A 'festival of hockey' to be arranged.

So, what does this actually mean? Well, in real terms not much has changed on the players/finacial side. No mention of the wage cap, so we must therefor assume that it is to remain static at the upper limit of £7k per week (not that everyone will adhere to this, mind). The useless KO cup is no more! A revamped Challenge Cup? I'll wait to see what the new format is before calling that one.

The 'Festival' seems interesting, especially given the presence of the Dutch and Belgian leagues at the play-off finals. Can you say 'Aherne Trophy'?

And the shorter regualr season? Well, to my mind this is either to allow for an expanded Challenge Cup, or an ammended playoffs (2 3/4 team groups?).

And just to keep the cat amongst the pigeons, Neil Morris in anoucing the move forward to the local press still kept his options open by giving a 2 week deadline to see these changes ratified, or 'other options' will be explored once more.

Summer of Uncertainty once more, methinks.

Well, it was a fun weekend.

So, the Play-Offs 2008-2009 are done with. And, hockey aside, it was bloody good fun.

Yes, I said hockey aside. The 3 games I saw (2 semis and the final) were shite, to be honest. Seriously boring.

All the fun was had up in the stands, with various chants going on which seeme dto cause a little bit of consternation, and laughter, from fans either side of us (Giants and Panthers), such as 'we hate you both', 'hockey over money', and the one that pissed off Simmsy, thanks to the Vipers fans really letting rip with it: 'Six team League, You're having a laugh!'.

Some Giants fans chose to respond in kind, with the chant 'Show us your trophies', which got either a 'hockey over money' or a 'show us your wage bill'. The latter of which caused one Giants fan to shout accross at me 'if you can't afford to play with us, sod off!', a bait to which I sadly rose, causing a few minutes of tension between myself and the idiotic gentlemen, wherein I lost my temper. D'oh, stoopid me. I felt like a right twat after that I can tell you. But, it is done with, so c'est la vie. Next time I will simply rise above it (or just simply ignore it). Take note kiddies, lots of booze, plus minimum sleep equals frayed tempers. Sorry to anyone who witnessed it. As I said, I was behaving like a twat.

Anyways, outside of the hockey, there was much merriment to be had, from the second myself and my intrepid fellow fans (Caz, Ange, Russ, and Nathan) stepped onto the 8.45am train to Nottingham. First order of business was to crack open a few beers and have a good natter about the weeks 'revelations'. Upon arriving in Nottingham, we then had to find the hotels, which we did thanks to Russ 'getting his Google out' (ooh-err). Me and Russ couldn't check in til later, so we dumped our stuff with the ladies, and did the only sensible thing whilst waiting for the games to start... We hit the pub.

Truth be told, we spent most of the weekend in various pubs (special mention goes to the Pit & Pendullum, possibly the best pub ever) drinking beer, cider, and cocktails (by the pitcher). Hic. Bunkers was a hoot on Saturday night with various mascot performers doing incredibly silly things to each other whilst getting progressively more drunk. Wetherspoons was hit by a wave of Phoenix fans Sunday morning for brekkie, beer, and the GP. Somehow I eneded up modelling a skirt/tutu. Don' ask.

Then sadly, after the final, and just as the party was getting into full swing, Russ and myself had to return home. The girls and Nathan stayed to carry on the party.

Roll on next year.

PS, the league is going with 9 teams and an ammended format! More on this soon.

Well, it looks like its all gone a bit 'Titanic'

Well, I just couldn't wait.

It appears after a posting on THF by venerable Phoenix fan Tambo, that the proverbial shit has hit the metaphorical fan, and the EIHL is about to go with 6 teams next season:

Sheffield Steelers
Nottingham Panthers
Cardiff Devils
Coventry Blaze
Belfast Giants
Hull Stingrays

Allegedly, a board meeting took place today, to which ourselves, Edinburgh, and Newcastle were not invited. Indeed, it seems that the meeting may have taken place without the knowledge of the 3 excluded teams.

If this is true, then the EIHL is fucked. Sorry to be so blunt, but its true. Last time we had a 6 team league it died on its arse (the ISL). Seems some people either have very short memories, or are so ignorant and stupid that they can not see history repeating itself. Wankers.

So, what of the 3 'expendables'? Where do we go? What do we do? We're all doomed!

Not quite.

The obvious options are as follows:

1: The 3 teams approach Dundee, Fife, Paisley, and maybe Whitley, and form a new 'Northern LEague', similar to the EPL (4 imports, weekend only games).

2: The 3, plus Dundee, Fife, and maybe Paisley approach the EPL about forming a new Northern Division of the EPL, alngside the Sheffield Scimitars.

3: Newcastle and ourselves apply to the EPL. Edinburgh become SPL.

Of course, this could all be bollocks, but something tells me there is more than an element of the truth to all this.

Stay tuned, peeps...its gonna be a hell of a ride.

Quick blog...

My season review won't be up until after the play-offs, so you can expect that next week (it will give you all something to read over the bank holiday weekend).

And keep an eye out for a post this week regarding the state of the EIHL and what could be happening next (yes, I've done something similar already, but now we are at seasons end, more and more details are emerging).

Laters.

That was the week that was.

So, lets recap the last 7 days then...

Sunday saw us face off against the Vipers, who were looking to secure their placing in the play-offs. Frankly, it was obvious even during the warm up, our lads were completely knackered. And once the game began, this tiredness showed even more. Plus, I'm sure that they guys had at least half an eye on Tuesdays game, and were trying to keep something in the tank in that regard.

So, Tuesday. Lets get it out of the way first. We lost. The giants took the CC 6-5 on agregate. Well done to them. We played as well as could be expected given the circumstances (outrageous fixture schedule, 5 guys dosed up on antibiotics), but Belfast were quite clearly fresher. We made them work for it, mind, but the better team won on the night.

Off ice, however, was a different story. What respect i had for the Giants organisation was somewhat erroded by the on site reports I recieved during the game. First off, there was a pretty major problem with the seating arrangements. We sold 120 tickets, apparently under the belief that these were for reserved seats. Upon arrival, we found that of this 120, only 75 had actuall seats, the remainder being forced to either stand, or sit on the stairs. This did not go down too well with the Phoenix contingent.

Then, there was no small amount of kerfuffle over the M.O.M. presentations, or lack thereof. What seems to ahve happened is that Belfast announced that Tony Hand was the Phoenix M.O.M., but seemed to not do the standard presentation and photo, prefering to move on to the trophy presentation. Thyis lead to a pissed off Tony, and some very pissed off fans (thanks for the call, Caz!). And allegedly, promionent Phoenix supporter Tambo spoke to Belfast GM Todd Kelman, who basiclly said 'tough', which needless to say did not go down too well at all.

Phew.

Then came Thursday where a clearly not trying, still knackered Phoenix almost took the full 2 points away from Hull without apparently trying. Hull needed OT and penalty shots to guarantee themselves the points in waht was a surprisingly hard fought game.

And thats pretty much that. I should be running the Twitter updates for todays game, but if you are going, I'll see you there.

this weeks update...

will be made on Sunday. I have not had the time to sort one out yet. Sorry.

So, again, Sunday (probably around lunchtime. Tune in.

The week in review

So, a busy week for us Phoenix fans, with 3 home ties in the space of 5 days.

And it was pretty successful too, 2 wins in league action, giving us an important 4 points in the battle for 5th place with Cardiff, and a 1 goal advantage in the CC Cup final to take to Belfast.

Of course, it wasn't all good. As is becoming oh so familiar, in 2 of the 3 games, despite taking the victories, the standard of reffering (and seeming bias) was shocking. Marco Coenen and Dean Smith are easily the poorest pair of refs we have in the EIHL.

Lets start with Mr Coenen. On Thursday night, with the Sky cameras in attendance, he gave a masterclass in 'how to piss people off and alienate them', by simply refusing to call the visiting Edinburgh team on any penalties until he himself was knocked on his arse by one of their reckless challenges by the boards. This happened 38 minutes into the game. Easily the longest I have ever seen any team play 'clean' hockey. Indeed, so offeneded were some of the (few) Phoenix Phaithful who were in attendance, he had to be escorted off the ice during the intervals (allegedly, I didn't see this). I honestly thought that this was the most inept display of officiating I had ever seen, or was likely to see again. Boy, was I wrong.

Enter Dean Smith. Probably the least experienced of the EIHL refs this season, and already proven to be unable to control a physical game (see the last game at Alty vs the Vipers for evidence of that), Mr Smith put on an absolute masterclass in bottling major calls, and blatant ineptitude.

Lets look at the 3 most heinous incidents from Sunday then:

1: The Phoenix have just gone 4-0 up in the 2nd period. Nathan Ward and George Awada chase the puck into the Phoenix zone, with Dean Smith looking directly at them. Awada proceeds to punch Ward very obviously in the face, and goes on to score. Smith does nothing, despite looking right at it.

2: Belfasts 3rd goal comes from a face off which was caused by a Giants player very clearly scooping the puck over the plexi. A straight 2 mins for delay of game, right? Nope, to the amazement of both sets of players, Smith simply signals for a face off.

3: Phillips cross checks Fulghum into the boards, which caused Tony Hand of all people to try and get at him. Another no call.

He also decide don a numbe rof occasions to send players from both sides th the box for incidents which would have required a 'one way or the other' decision, thus avoiding any tricky calls, and potential back-chat.

Being honest, I'm sure Smith is a nice guy, and he does show potential, but to be sent to ref a 'showpiece' event (CC Final 1st Leg)... nah, a game like that, espcially given the intensity it was always likely to be played at, required, nay demanded a Carson or a Hanson. Someone with the balls and authority to make tough calls, and stick to them.

Anyways, the good things were that in all 3 games, the boys looked great. Especially the Belfast game, where they were all hitting anything in a Belfast jersey with real intent and passion.

And apologies to the Belfast fan who I had a short debate with after the game. Adrenaline and passion make fools of us all, and I did not mean to be so rude. I humbly apologise.

Bring on the 2nd leg and the KO Cup Final!

Quick note

I'll do a full review of the week later on (hopefully).

And don't forget the Twitter score updates.

Tweet Tweet!

Starting on Tuesday for the home game vs. Basingstoke, I will be starting to do some score and incident updates via my shiny new Twitter account, viewable here: The Pyres Twitter page

Enjoy!

Well, it could have been worse.

So we return to the norm for our games against the Blaze (or Blades as the tickets issued by the rink had it), by losing.

And, in my opinion, 6-2 was perhaps a touch flattering towards our visitors from Coventry. The first 2 Blaze goals had a significant element of luck to them, and Smurph had a real 'off' night. The forwards did good though, trying right to the end to get us back into the game. On any other night Fulghum could have bagged a hat trick with ease, but the luck just wasn't there. Ah well, there are always the games on Tuesday and Thursday to look forward to (should be 4 points, but if not...).

My only major gripe really was the fact we only had 2 on ice officials. 1 ref, 1 lino, which in my opinion isnt good enough for the 'top' league in the country. The EIHL likes to posit itself as a professional league, comparable to mainland Europes best, yet I cannot imagine a DEL game happening without a full quota of officials present. This naturally affected the reffing, as Boniface (for twas he), was consistently behind the puck as he had to cover 1 of the blue lines looking for offside infractions.

Ah well. As long as we beat the Bison and the Capitals midweek I won't complain too much. 4 points from 6 will be more than respectable.

The bus, the bus, the bus is on fire....

Yup. We didn't get our expected evenings entertainment on Sunday as the Bisons team coach apparently set itself on fire whilst driving along the M6 (Maybe it couldn't face being full of beaten hockey players again?).

The club were apparently informed at around 2.30-3.00pm, and were advised that the Bison would not make the stated 5.30pm face-off time, but might be able to make it for 7.30pm (the limit of the EIHLs timeframe for abandonment and fortiture of points). Then, just to make things even more ridiculous, they had the cheek to ask us to abandon early, and award them the points! What the fuck?!?!?!

Anyways, as ever, Neil and the Phoenix crew made the best of a bad situation, by giving the 400 or so fans who stayed on the chance to see the guys play some not entirely serious 3 on 3 hockey, complete with a shootout to decide the winners. It wa svery funny to see Garbutt and Ward put the netties gear on and take up the position between the pipes... and as for some of the goal celebrations, well, they were truly hilarious.

The downshot is with the fixture re-arranged (take that Bison, it wasn't abandoned, so no easy points for you) for next Tuesday (3rd) we have the unenviable prospect of 6 games in 10 nights. Its almost like the first season in the Dome all over again.

Oh, and I can also confirm that the Pyre will be partaking in the Play-Off Weekend Project. Stay tuned for more on that one.

The future of British hockey...

Earlier in the season, I posted my idea for a more sustainable league format for the sport here in the UK.

Recent rumors seem to be suggesting that I'm not the only one to have had these thoughts, and that some significant changes might be afoot. Obviously, most of this is just rumour and heresay at the moment, but I thought it wise to re-cap the various bits and pieces which have reached my ears, so we can look back come the off season and see just how accurate thes erumors are/were.

So, without further ado, here we go...

Rumor 1: A new Northern Premier League is going to be formed. This will feature a number of North England teams, along with the stronger Scottish sides, playing in a 4 import league (much like the EPL). Various combinations of teams have been mentioned in relation to this rumour, with the common thread being that at least 2 current EIHL sides are interested in 'dropping down' to this level. Also, a persistent part of this one features a number of sides who have tried and failed to run import hockey being involved. Odds of fruition: 50-1.

Rumour 2: A new 'Northern League' featuring the top Scottish Teams, plus the majority of the ENL North to start. This may be an expansion of the ENL into north of the border, and would amke sense, possibly allowing a split into 2 divisions as per the ENL South (ie ENL North 1&2/ENL South 1&2). Would likely require a re-branding of the ENL to a more 'British' name (eg BNL/BNIHL). Odds: 10-1. This one seems pretty Strong.

Rumour 3: The 8 import 'Anglo-Scottish League'. This is broadly similar to the NPL rumour, alb eit featuring everyone in the EIHL outside of the 'Big 4' plus Fife and Dundee reverting to a level similar to the defunct BNL (8 impoerts, lower wage cap). Could be a goer. Odds: 20-1.

Rumour 4: EIHL to drop to 8 imports, BAsingstoke to stay in the league, wage cap to be lowered. According to rumor, only 1 EIHL side is against a reduction in the import and wage level (could be Nottingham of Sheffield depending on who you here it from). Would essentially maintain the status quo. Odds: 10-1. Just as likely as Rumor 2.

And there you go.

CC Final, here we come.

Well, that was much more of a formailty than I expected.

6-1 on the night, 11-3 on aggregate. Ouch. The Bison surely can't know what hit them?

Of course, if the team had actually shown up opn Sunday, we might be looking at a different scoreline, certainly one which was a tiny bit closer. I really felt sorry for the contingent of Bison fans who travelled all the way up to the Dome. Their team were, to be non to polite, shit.

Reiter did his best to keep them in it, but it became a lost cause all to easily in the end, with both backups icicng the majority of the 3rd period.

The crowd was damned good, albeit with a fair few 'comps' in, but there were easily 1500+ in the building, which made for a good vibe all round.

And thats that for now.

Well, we did it!

We finally beat the Blaze.

FINALLY.

Talk about getting the proverbial monkey off your back.

And we did it in a cracking game. There was some wonderful hockey played by both sides, and some well taken shots.

Sure, there were moments of contention (when isn't there?), such as Coventrys 2nd (Washed out then awarded) and 3rd (goal was off its moorings) goals, and we almost conspired to throw away a 2 goal lead in the 3rd period again, but I an so happy we won I am not going to do my usual rant about these percieved injustices.

All I will say is the goal judge, (who was in the bar after the game), said that the 2nd goal was definately a goal, and that linesman Staniforth agreed (It was Staniforth who convinced Hanson he got it wrong). And I couldn't see their 3rd clearly (other end of the rink) so I won't pass comment on it.

Oh yeah, one more time... WE BEAT THE BLAZE.

Memories of the horrible double figure drubbing from the 1st season are now fading fast.

What a shitter...

Talk about being robbed! losing 2-4 to a Panthers side who only showed up in the last 10mins or so of the game.

Once more, this has brought about the usual apoplectic siezures on the official forum, but I refuse to criticise the boys after Sunday. 1 d-man could barely breathe thanks to bronchitis (Garbutt), and another had to go to hospital after losing several teeth (Boothroyd), putting immese pressure on the remaining guys, faced with a team which is clearly a grand or so better (you figure out what I mean).

But what really pissed me off was the pathetic behaviour of the Panthers team in the aftermath of our 1st goal. Complain to the ref by all means, but refusing to play for nigh on 5 minutes after he has dismissed your appeals is frankly petulance of the highest order. It also shows a total disregard for the match officials, and should have drawn a number of misconduct and delay of game penalties. What it did draw was precisely fuck all. Referee Dean Smith bottled it, by not calling a single penalty against the Panthers or their bench.

Then when we were getting ready to restart Robinson deliberatley kicked his goal off its moorings... again, no penalty called.

This lead to myself and a number of others going into the 3rd period witha deep sense of foreboding, which was ratehr sadly an accurate indicator of what was to come.

Thank fuck Cardiff also lost. Keeps a bit of daylight between us.

And the attendance was also rather poor again. About 1100-1200 (barely) in the house, and it would ahve been significantly less if the Panthers hadn't ahve brought so many with them. WTF is going on? We seem to have lost about 2-300 regulars since Xmas. Not a good sign.

Attendances and irrelevant games

I have just had a text from tonights game (yes, I'm not there. Can't afford 2 games worth of expenditure this week).

Apparently the crowd is numbering somewhere around 500-550.

Ouch.

This approx figure proves 2 things:

Midweek games have lower attendances.

The Knock Out Cup is seen as being irrelevant to the majority of supporters (around 700 fewer folks at the rink tonight, compared to Sunday, and probably 2-300 fewer than most midweek games).

Personally, I would either withdraw from next seasons K.O.Cup, or push for the league to scrap the competition, and save on the ice time costs. I have a feeling tonights tie will actually end up costing the club money rather than making it any, which in the current economic climate is something we really do not need.

Now that was much better

Finally, after a couple of points-less weekends, we take 3 out of the 4 on offer.

For sure, we made a right balls up of the game in Coventry (I still can't understand quite what happened), but we took the points off a very determined Cardiff side, who performed admirably despite being 5 skaters down.

The boys looked sharp and focused, and played at a cracking pace for much of the game. I totally loved it. The passion was there again (it has been missing somewhat recently).

Highlight of the night was undoubtedly the entire crowd helping/mimicing peter Aubrys desperate attempts to get the bench to pull him. Totally priceless.

And thats it. Im too damn tired to do anything detailed, thanks to my wonderful job.

What the Fu....

...ck happened there?

2-2, and quite finely balanced going into the 3rd, then BANG, were done for the night, shipping 6 goals in one period of play.

Ouch.

But, as the title suggests, I'm at a loss as to what actually went wrong, as we didn't really appear to turn to shit,indeed, we kept on trying to make plays happen, and get forward. The heads stayed up (mostly), and we still looked like we could score, but.....

I suppose the tipping point was Cloots missing a sitter from all of 2 feet out. I think that they boys must ahve known at that point that it just wasn't going to be their night.

Oh, and in my opinion our 2nd goal shouldn't have happened.Darnell should have stopped the game to allow the Giants player to recieve medical attention as it was obvious to a blind man that he was genuinely hurt, and was lay in such a position that a stry or deflected shot on goal could have caused further injury.

Of course, some will argue we should have stopped ourselves, but unlike football, if the puck (ball) is put out of play deliberately,then the ref must assess a 2 minute 'Delay of Game' penalty.

On a plus point though, I won £118 on the 50/50 draw. Which is nice.

Oh, and a special shout out goes to Five Minute Majors ladyhathaway (AKA Becky), Who has done some sterling work over the last few games as club photographer. You can actually go and buy her photos (for a very reasonable £2) on match nights at the merch desk. Just tell em Robb sent you.

We have a new address!

Yes, this wonderful, informative corner of ye olde web can now be reached from the following url:

www.thepyre.co.uk

That is all.

Well, that was shite wasn't it?

Thats my assesment of Sunday.

Shite.

We looked a (very) pale shadow of the team we usually are. For whatever reason we just never looked any good on Sunday.

The Blaze, on the other hand, looked every inch the 'Big 4' team that they and their fans proclaim them to be.

I really can't write anymore as I am at a loss as to explain what went on on the ice.

This could be a long one.....

So, lets start with Sundays game.

We beat the Panthers 4-2, which, being honest was a major surprise. In all honesty, for me, getting a tie, with an OT loss would have been a result, but the Gods of Hockey smiled upon us this time, and presented us will a well earned victory. After a sluggish first period from us, we improved and made ourselves some luck (Cloots goal was one of those 'It didn't actually go in, did it?' moments), and the empty netter was the icing on the cake.

And it must be noted, Robinson looks far better with the Panthers D infront of him than he did at Edinburgh. Could be a very astute signing there.

Now, onto some other stuff.

So, Neil Morris has gone public about how he is supporting the team commercially at this time after some (unnamed) sponsors have been unable to match their commitments due to the current economic climate. Good. I'd rather he was honest about this rather than pretending all is well, as other team owners have done (and likely will continue to do so). Yes, it makes things alittle more precarious for next season, but I have every confidence in Neil and the Phoenix team.

And as we enter the new year, the inevitable 'new league' rumors are begining in earnest. Allegedly Hull and Newcastle are looking at joining an updated 3 import Northern League, alongside Fife and Dundee. Other teams rumored for this NPL include Flintshire, Blackburn, Sheffield (Scimitars), and Whitley (no mention of us, interestingly).

Other rumors involve Basingstoke and Hull (again) joining the EPL, and the EIHL dropping all the way down to 6 imports. Certainly Basingstoke to the EPL has a ring of truth to it (more local games, less travel), but given that Hull tried the EPL for 1 season and found it just as expensive as playing with more imports due to higher travel costs, I feel that this rumor may only be partly true (although I have a feeling that Basingstoke could be persuaded to stay in the EIHL). As for the EIHL dropping to 6 imports.... won't happen. The 'Big 4' will not countenance such a drastic lowering of imports and the percieved (important word that one) drop in standards it would bring. My guess is for the import limit to be dropped to 9, maybe 8 at a push.