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Simmsey is spot on
Hey everyone, my apologies for being inconsistent with my blogs so far this year. A few things to talk about this week so lets get straight into it.
Firstly a big well done to everyone involved in the Belfast v Boston game last Saturday. I’m sure it was a great night for everyone and despite a 5-1 defeat i don't think anyone let our league down. Talking off the NHL it was nice to see things start up last night with Minnesota beating Carolina. Also talking of congratulations they certainly must go to the Hull Stingrays good to have them back in the league last weekend with a good showing against Cardiff in the cup.
Right then having read Powerplay magazine the last couple of weeks i have to say that Dave Simms is on the money with what he has said. Now lots of people may not like Dave especially those from down the road in Nottingham but the fact is that he is right more often than not when it comes to hockey. For example i agree 100 % with what he says about teams having a 12th import this year. Its stupid! Lower budget teams can't afford more than 4 or 5 good imports so to let them have 12 is crazy. It doesn't help them compete it just dilutes the overall quality of their imports. There are enough decent British players out there. I thought it was a mistake putting it up to 11 imports but 12 is just over egging the pudding. Its undoing all the work that has being done in the early years of the elite league to help improve home grown talent and will have a negative impact on team GB. Maybe not right now but in 5 or 10 years. Don't get me wrong we all love import players, they are largely the best players and the most exciting but I want GB to be the best it can be and in the long term Coach Thompson needs as big a pool of talent as possible if we are to one day earn promotion to Pool A. The best way to do that is get as many players in the Elite league as possible. Playing in the top league and against the best players.
Another thing Simmsey talks about is goaltending. Again he is right. Stephen Murphy is now the best goalie in the league. Yes he has improved greatly over the last 2 years but the general level of goaltending is not what it was. Apart from Murphy there is no stand out goalie in this league this season. I have to admit i thought Kowalski in Notts and Jaeger in Coventry would be the stand outs but so far they have looked just ok. There is no Jody Lehman or Trevor Koenig calibre netminder. No one save Murphy who you could see backstopping his team to the championship and half the reason i think Murphy could is because he is playing on the best team on paper. The thing is maybe good goaltending can't win you a game but you don't win without it.
It is becoming obvious that we have 2 divisions in our league. The top 6 and the bottom 4. The top 6 should all qualify for the playoffs and will jockey for the best position and the league title. Ok you could say its the big 4 and the middle 2. The reason being Cardiff will not win the league. Stevie Lyle is not good enough. He is not the goalie he was last year. Also you can't see Braehead doing it in their first season. It would however not be unreasonable to see either of those teams to break into the top 4. The bottom 4 will of course be trying to make the playoffs. 2 of them will not and i am going to be brave here and make a couple of predictions. 1st Dundee will not make the playoffs. I have seen them twice and i just don't think they are good enough at the back and in net. 2nd and this is brave i will go with Hull to make the playoffs. Now I am aware that Hull have never made the playoffs when you actually have to qualify but i like what people in hull have being saying and the result against Cardiff shows they can compete. if they could have kept even more of their original signings i would be even more confident in them.
Finally to the really important stuff. This weekend we see the first Steelers vs Panthers clash at the NIC. I will be there and i can't wait. That rink in Nottingham is special, its the best place to watch hockey in Britain when its full. For this Steelers team and for Ben Simon this is the real measuring stick. You could win the league but defeat in every game against Nottingham would cancel it out. That's how important these games are. With all due respect to everyone else in the league it is the biggest rivalry in British hockey.
Just one more quick thing. It has being said that Kevin St Jacques is already looking for a move out of Edinburgh. Now I don't know why this is but it wouldn't be to far to imagine that Kevin is unhappy with the lets say unfashionable facilities at Murrayfield. Personally i love the place. It has character that no other rink in the league has. Anyway back to St Jacques, if that is the case and that's why he wants out then if i was Scott Neil I would be throwing him out the door head first. Better players than him have stuck it out and honoured heir contracts in that tough old building. If its not the reason then its a early headache for Brad Gratton who will have to replace him.
0-3 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-3 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-5 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-4 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-4 |
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| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
2-4 |
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| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
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5-8 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-2 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
3-7 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|
- Adam Walker
- Alex Birch
- Andy Pierce
- Chris Gent
- Christopher Beal
- Craig Simpson
- Dave Simms
- Elliott Stanley
- Gareth Chalmers
- James Broughton
- James Gordon
- Katy Madgwick
- Luke Catterson
- Mark Briggs
- Mark Duell
- Mat Young
- Patrick Smyth
- Promotion
- Russ Morrell
- Seanna Murdock
- Stephen Dowson
- Stewart Roberts
- Tom Forster
- Vicki Smart
- William Lyon
