New blog!

Head on over to our new home at www.thepyre.co.uk to read my latest blog.

As of today, all new postings will be made there.

Thanks,

Robb

We've launched a forum! And a new home!

Yup.

Given that a percentage of the fanbase seem to find the official forum somewhat disagreeable, I have decided to try and launch a forum over here.

The url is: forums.thepyre.co.uk

And, if you go to this blog via the www.thepyre.co.uk address, you will find yourself at our new home.

Enjoy!

WE ONLY BLOODY WENT AND DID IT!!!!

Oh yes!

At the 4th time of asking, we finally can throw of the mantle of EPL 'nearly men' at the Finals weekend.

The Manchester Phoenix are EPL Play Off Champions!

Sadly, I wasn't there to witness this piece of Phoenix (and indeed Manchester) ice hockey history, being unable to afford the tickets etc. Which is bloody typical for me. Ah well, there is always next season.

From the reports of other folks, it sounds like we once more got under Lyles skin in the semi final (Lyyyyyyyyle!), then thouroghley dominated the final itself. I am most definatley looking forward to watching the DVD of the weekend.

So, what else? Well, Swindon have announced that Stevie Lyle will be backing them up for the next 2 seasons, which is a major coup on their behalf. It does make me wonder if Swindon are betting the farm as it were, much like the Bison did this season, but we shall see as they build the rest of their squad.

Of rather more interest to us Phoenix fans is the rumour that messers Thomas and Hewitt may be coming back across the hills to play for the Phoenix once more. I for one am ambivalent at best about this. Firstly, they would come with a hefty premium attached beinf senior GB internationals. And secondly, I'd rather young Brits be given the chance.

And thats it for now. I'm sure that after the World Champs, more rumours will come to light.

See y'all down the rink!

Well, that wasn't part of the script....

I certainly did not expect the scoreline on Sunday at the Ice Dome, that's for sure.

Not that I'm going to bitch and moan about it. We were undone by our own lapse in concentration, allowing Telford to score 3 goals in under 40 seconds. I could get pissy about the D falling asleep, and not paying attention to their game, but as far as I am concerned these things happen. And being totally honest, I'd rather they happened now instead of in the play offs.

There were some positives though. Tom Duggan looks like he has found his scoring stick once more, which is always a boon going into the final 2 weekends of competition. Foney was back between the pipes, which was nice to see, although he looked somewhat rusty as you would expect. Has he come back too early? I guess we will know this coming weekend.

And the crowd.

Well, knock me down with a feather, if it wasn't huge. Easily our best attended game all season that wasn't part of a promo deal. I would hazard a guess at their having been around 1800 fans inside the building, with an especially large and noisy block from Telford. And those Telford fans were a credit to their club. It would be damned nice to get those kind of crowds on a regular basis next season, but that will take a lot of hard work, which should be starting now!

And that's it for this time. For once, I don't have a lot to say really. Which makes a change.

See y'all in the Dome on Sunday!

That was an interesting couple of weeks...

So, I'm sat here, listening to KISS playing very fucking loudly (screw the neighbours, I wanna rock dammit!), drinking a fresh mug of coffee, ruminating on the events of the past couple of weeks.

Interesting doesn't even begin to cover it.

My 'Getting it off my chest' blog certainly stoke the fires somewhat, eliciting reactions I never expected. For sure, I thought some folks would disagree with my take on the situation, but not quite as vehemently as was the case. Having said that, I guess if you are willing (or dumb enough) to stick your head above the parapet then you have to live with the prospect of upsetting people. Certainly, I was very angry for a good few days afterwards, but common sense prevailed, and I have now filed it away as an interesting experience.

Beyond that, we managed to have 3 very exciting games at the Ice Dome over the past 2 weekends as well. Whilst I missed what was by all accounts a stunning attempt to overturn the 1st leg deficit against the Flames, I certainly managed to see 2 displays myself which certainly bode well for the Play Offs. The Bison were turned over in style, as Stevie Lyle finally cracked in the Dome. You could say we left him with ravaged and sore 5-hole....

Then the Phantoms were dispatched with an almost nonchalant ease, the scoreline underlining just how dominant the boys were.

But there was something even better about those 2 games.

The crowd.

Thanks to a timely bit of marketing through online discount specialist 'Groupon', the Phoenix managed not just 1, but 2 sell out games! Yes, I know, there were a few empty seats here and there, but both games had enough tickets sold/allocated to class as sell out crowds. And it was brilliant. Noisy, excited, and frankly different. If we could get close to those crowd numbers every week, I'd be more than happy, and we most certainly then would have the fiscal muscle to compete with Guildford. Shit, we had to lock people out on Saturday! (And I was lucky. I barely made it inside before the doors were shut, after enduring the absolute worst of Manchesters public transport system alongside a visiting group of some 40 Girl guides) So not just a sell out, but a lock out too!

Yes, there were problems, but it was a learning curve for everyone involved. I'm confident that next time such a situation arises, then the little niggles will be ironed out, and a silky smooth experience will be had by all.

Hopefully a good number of those who took advantage of the Groupon offer will return, which naturally bodes well for the club going forwards.

See you at the rink!