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.