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.