Charlie Victor Two

Silly Quote of The Day

2009-07-14T11:43:00.001+01:00

This one came yesterday whilst watching the BBC News.

The decision on whether you work past the age of 65 may come sooner than you think

What?! I’m going to age faster? They’ve finally invented a time machine? Why is this not headline news? No no… more people are expected to have to work past the age of 65 due to a lack of pensions, aging population etc. It’s just the wording the infers that my decision is going to be made quicker. It isn’t.. my personal decision will come if and when I get to 65 (hopefully I do!).. and not before. Silly BBC News.

Pain in childbirth is ‘a good thing’… says Dr Denis.

2009-07-13T12:03:00.001+01:00

I’ve just read this report on the BBC website about how pain in childbirth can have a positive effect, for example aiding with establishing a rhythm with the labour. The science behind it may well be solid (I’ve not read the full report), but the fact that it is written by a man is inevitably going to put potential mothers off the findings. Which is wrong. There will be the usual ‘what do you know, you’re a man’. Even if people read down and see the agreement to some of the findings from a female doctor, I imagine the report will be held with small amounts of derision.

(I actually have no idea if Dr Denis Walsh is a man or not. I’m assuming so from the name but you can never be too sure!)

Kings sign Scuderi – does Jack Johnson have a future in Hollywood?

2009-07-03T14:51:00.001+01:00

LA Kings announced yesterday that they had signed Stanley Cup-winning defenseman Rob Scuderi to a four year, $3.4m per year deal from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brought in to aid the development of the young defensive corps, the Kings management speak of his versatility and ability to play against the opposition top lines. Touted as a potential defensive partner for Drew Doughty or Jack Johnson, he also brings the experience of being a winner, something sorely lacking on the Kings’ roster to date.

However, what becomes of the Kings’ wealth of talent on the blue line? Doughty, Greene, O’Donnell and Quincey are certainties for sure alongside Scuderi. Thomas Hickey has been projected to make the roster and Davis Drewiske had a good spell towards the back-end of the 08/09 season. Johnson however was atrocious in his defensive play, notching up –18 in just 41 games last year for the Kings, the worst plus-minus rating on the roster. Doughty as a rookie playing twice as many games was –17.

The Kings struggle in attracting big free agents to Southern California for one reason or another and arguably will have to trade if they want to bring a top 6 forward that is so desperately needed. Johnson would appear to be a very tradable commodity right now. He’s an RFA (has received a qualifying offer from LA), and so teams could trade for him and then negotiate his salary in to wherever they see fit to. With his offensive upside, he’s not going to come cheap, but I suspect there are many teams who’d be willing to trade for it.

Should LA not make a trade – the top 6 forwards would be something like:

Frolov – Kopitar – Brown – Moller / Purcell / Simmonds – Stoll – Williams

Doesn’t exactly strike fear into your heart does it?

State of Paranoia

2009-07-03T11:50:00.001+01:00

It’s pretty difficult in work at the moment, particularly in our group. One of our undergraduate students was diagnosed with Swine Flu over the weekend and she was in the office last Friday. So as brief as the encounter was, people are visibly starting to worry. It’s not good when you cough or sneeze and six or seven people turn round to look at you. Especially if you have hay fever – you already can tick two of the five main symptoms. Oh, and it’s hot, so everyone is uncomfortable like they have a fever. And no one really likes to eat in this heat, so that means they’re off their food too. Four out of five then. Oh, bugger.

Canada announces 46-man roster for Orientation Camp

2009-07-02T15:48:00.001+01:00

Hockey Canada have announced their 46-man roster for the Olympic Orientation camp. Websites have been quick to point out that those who haven’t been invited are still able to be considered, both the 2002 and 2006 rosters comprised entirely of players invited to this initial camp

G:
Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils, Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks), Marc-André Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins), Steve Mason (Columbus Blue Jackets), Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes).

D:
Jay Bouwmeester, Robyn Regehr, Dion Phaneuf (all Calgary Flames), Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks), Scott Niedermayer and François Beauchemin (both Anaheim Ducks), Chris Pronger (Philadelphia Flyers), Marc Staal (New York Rangers), Shea Weber (Nashville Predators), Brent Burns (Minnesota Wild), Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings), Stéphane Robidas (Dallas Stars), Mike Green (Washington Capitals), Dan Hamhuis (Nashville Predators), Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook (both Chicago Blackhawks)

F:
Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal (both Pittsburgh Penguins), Shane Doan (Phoenix Coyotes), Simon Gagné, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards (all Philadelphia Flyers), Dany Heatley (Ottawa Senators), Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames), Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets), Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth (both Colorado Avalanche), Martin St-Louis, Vincent Lecavalier (both Tampa Bay Lightning)., Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes), Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau (both San Jose Sharks), Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks), Milan Lucic (Boston Bruins), Andy McDonald (St. Louis Blues), Brenden Morrow (Dallas Stars), Derek Roy (Buffalo Sabres), Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks) and Dan Cleary (Detroit Red Wings).

No Osgood, Spezza or Stamkos? I guess Osgood is only good as a big game goalie – is playing someone low down in the rankings likely to be a big game? Guess the selections also mean that LA took the right guy last year in Drew Doughty! Looks like a solid group of players, Canada will be in a strong position in 2010.

Blaze make final import signing

2009-07-02T12:48:00.001+01:00

You hear that LA, a signing!

Coventry Blaze have signed 30 year old defenceman Jason Robinson from Flint Generals as their final import signing. Robinson has previously played in the UK for London, Sheffield and Newcastle in the EIHL. He can be seen in the now infamous Youtube video restraining Eric Cairns after he goes mental in the first 10 mins of a playoff game. Oh the days…

Robinson is exactly the sort of defenceman Blaze have been missing over the past two seasons. Big, no-nonsense and hard-hitting. Sensible, not spectacular and unlikely to make whopping mistakes that cost the team goals. Combining players like Jon Weaver and Neal Martin at the back are good, but only if there’s a Wade Belak or a Doug Schueller to cover them. Robinson is that guy, I hope.

Big Los Angeles signage…

2009-07-02T11:06:00.001+01:00

Click here for more details on some big Los Angeles signage…

(i’m sorry)

Analysing the Draft – LA Kings Style

2009-06-29T15:54:00.001+01:00

Here’s a summary of how the LA Kings drafted and traded up in Montreal this weekend. LA started with 14 picks this year, and ended up with ten after some trades. It is apparent that the Kings felt that next year’s draft was worth having some extra picks in since they traded two picks (4th and 5th round) and Brian Boyle for two 3rd round picks in 2010.

Picks:

Rnd / Pick	Player	Pos	HT	WT	Age	2008-09	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1 / 5th	Brayden Schenn	C	6’0”	196	17	Brandon (WHL)	70	32	56	88	82
2 / 35th	Kyle Clifford	LW	6’1”	200	18	Barrie (OHL)	60	16	12	28	133
3 / 84th	Nicolas Deslauriers	D	6’0”	198	18	Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL)	68	11	19	30	80
							GP	W	L	T	GAA
4 / 95th	Jean-Francois Berube	G	6’1”	155	17	Montreal (QMJHL)	20	6	7	2	2.66
							GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
4 / 96th	Linden Vey	RW	5’11”	176	17	Medicine Hat (WHL)	71	24	78	72	20
5 / 126th	David Kolomatis	D	5’11”	189	20	Owen Sound (OHL)	63	18	28	46	52
						Providence (AHL)	4	0	0	0	0
6 / 158th	Michael Pelech	F	6’3”	206	19	Mississauga (OHL)	68	19	46	65	121
6 / 179th	Brandon Kozun	F	5’8”	162	19	Calgary (WHL)	72	40	68	108	58
7 / 186th	Jordan Nolan	C	6’3”	216	20	Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)	64	16	27	43	158
7 / 198th	Nic Dowd	C	6’1”	175	19	Wenatchee (NAHL)	43	16	33	49	71

Trades: (picks in 2009 unless stated)

Traded pick #74 to Calgary for picks #84 and #107
Traded picks #117, #120 and #203 to Atlanta for pick #95
Traded picks #107 and #138 to Florida for their 3rd round pick in 2010
Traded Brian Boyle (center) to NY Rangers for their 3rd round pick in 2010

So Brian Boyle has alas departed the Kings. I think he just got to the end of the road with the organisation and their attempts to fit him in. For a guy who is 6’7” – he just simply doesn’t play like it. He should’ve been a banging, power-forward two-way centre fit for the 3rd line but the Kings never felt comfortable giving him more than 4th line minutes. And if you’re a centre on the Kings only getting 4th line ice time… oh dear.

With the #5 pick, Kings took Brayden Schenn. Much to the the displeasure of Leafs GM Brian Burke, who had a face like thunder when the pick was announced. Publically he had said he wanted Tavares, but wouldn’t we all? I think the prospect of uniting the Schenn’s in Leaf Blue was too good to miss, unfortunately he didn’t manage to trade his way up to pick him. Schenn is a gritty two-way centre (see above!) who’s been putting points on the board and has been compared to Philadelphia’s Mike Richards. That’s not a bad comparison in anyone’s books.

At #35 LA selected winger Kyle Clifford. I have to admit not knowing much about this guy, especially since he wasn’t even in THN’s top 100 prospects. Rated at #182 of North American skaters – you could argue this guy wouldn’t have even expected to be drafted! Clearly Dean Lombardi knows something we don’t. Certainly an off-the-board selection, but on the upside he was part of Team Canada’s U18 entry to this year’s World Championships.

In round three, Nicolas Deslauriers went at the #84 pick. This seems about right for the defenceman from the QMJHL, rated #59 in North American skaters. Deslauriers had a good season in 2008/09 with his 30 points and +3 rating putting him second for his team’s defensemen.

Round four saw the Kings have two picks. They traded away three lower picks to select J.-F. Berube at #95. THN rated him at #43 overall for all prospects; Berube was a strange one since he was backup to an already drafted goalie in Montreal (Jake Allen, St Louis Blues) and will be again this season unless he is moved. However those scouts who did see him play rate him very highly, and as such you can see why the Kings were eager to trade up to get this guy at #95. Presumably they felt strongly about Linden Vey too at #96 and that neither of them would make it to their next pick so they had to select them together. Vey’s point-per-game in the WHL is impressive as well as his climb up the CSS rankings from 108 to 65 for North American skaters.

In the later rounds, LA selected defenceman David Kolomatis and forwards Michael Pelech, Brandon Kozun, Jordan Nolan and Nic Dowd. Kolomatis already has some AHL experience at Providence, and will probably end up in Manchester this coming season. Kozun is an LA native who has a huge question mark over his size (5’8”, 162 lbs) but not his scoring abilities (40+68 in 72 games). He could be a sleeper, one of those players where size doesn’t matter, although he might easily be bumped off the puck by big, senior defensemen and never make it big. At that end of the draft, it really is a lottery as to how they will turn out.

Comparing the Mock with the Reality

2009-06-28T14:14:00.001+01:00

We ran a mock draft over on THF for the first 25 picks of the NHL draft. People in charge of the teams were given a brief of trades were possible, do what you would do as the GM. Only one trade occurred, Toronto and Phoenix swapped picks for Phoenix getting some lower round picks. Here are our selections.

1 - New York Islanders - John Tavares (London Knights, OHL)
2 - Tampa Bay Lightning -Victor Hedman (Modo, SEL)
3 - Colorado Avalanche - Matt Duchene (Brampton Battalion, OHL)
4 - Atlanta Thrashers - Evander Kane (Vancouver Giants, WHL)
5 - Los Angeles Kings - Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi (Timrå IK, SEL)
6 - Toronto Maple Leafs - Brayden Schenn (Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL)
7 - Phoenix Coyotes - Jared Cowan (Spokane Chiefs, WHL)
8 - Dallas Stars -Oliver Ekman-Larssen (Leksand IF, Swe-2)
9 - Ottawa Senators - Jordan Schroeder (Minnesota, NCAA)
10 - Edmonton Oilers - Ryan Ellis (Windsor Spitfires, OHL)
11 - Nashville Predators - Zack Kassian (Peterborough Petes, OHL)
12 - Minnesota Wild - Scott Glennie (Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL)
13 - Buffalo Sabres -Dmitri Kulikov (Drummondville Voltigeurs, QMJHL)
14 - Florida Panthers - John Moore (Chicago Steel, USHL)
15 - Anaheim Ducks - Jeremy Morin (NTDP, US)
16 - Columbus Blue Jackets -Louis Leblanc (Omaha Lancers, USHL)
17 - St. Louis Blues - Simon Després (Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL)
18 - Montreal Canadiens - Nazem Kadri (London Knights, OHL)
19 - New York Rangers - Landon Ferraro (Red Deer Rebels, WHL)
20 - Calgary Flames - Carter Ashton (Lethbridge Hurricanes, WHL)
21 - Philadelphia Flyers - Stefan Elliott (Saskatoon Blades, WHL)
22 - Vancouver Canucks -Tommi Kivisto (Red Deer Rebels, WHL)
23 - New Jersey Devils – Peter Holland (Guelph Storm, OHL)
24 - Washington Capitals – David Rundblad (Skelleftea, SEL)
25 - Boston Bruins – Calvin de Haan (Oshawa Generals, OHL)

Compare this with the real draft that took place on Friday night

1 – New York Islanders – John Tavares (London Knights, OHL)
2 – Tampa Bay Lightning – Victor Hedman (Modo, SEL)
3 – Colorado Avalanche – Matt Duchene (Brampton Battalion, OHL)
4 – Atlanta Thrashers – Evander Kane (Vancouver Giants, WHL)
5 – Los Angeles Kings – Brayden Schenn (Brandon Wheat Kings, SEL)
6 - Phoenix Coyotes – Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Leksands IF, Swe-2)
7 – Toronto Maple Leafs – Nazem Kadri (London Knights, OHL)
8 – Dallas Stars – Scott Glennie (Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL)
9 – Ottawa Senators – Jared Cowen (Spokane Chiefs, WHL)
10 – Edmonton Oilers – Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson (Timra IK, SEL)
11 – Nashville Predators – Ryan Ellis (Windsor Spitfires, OHL)
12 – New York Islanders – Calvin de Haan (Oshawa Generals, OHL)
13 – Buffalo Sabres – Zack Kassian (Peterborough Petes, OHL)
14 – Florida Panthers – Dmitri Kulikov (Drummondville Voltigeurs, QMJHL)
15 – Anaheim Ducks – Peter Holland (Guelph Storm, OHL)
16 – Minnesota Wild – Nick Leddy (Eden Prairie HS, USA)
17 – St Louis Blues – David Rundblad (Skelleftea AIK, SEL)
18 – Montreal Canadiens – Louis Leblanc (Omaha Lancers, USHL)
19 – New York Rangers – Chris Kreider (Phillips Andover HS, USA)
20 – New Jersey Devils – Jacob Josefson (Djurgardens IF, SEL)
21 – Columbus Blue Jackets – John Moore (Chicago Steel, USHL)
22 – Vancouver Canucks – Jordan Schroeder (U. Minnesota, WCHA)
23 – Calgary Flames – Tim Erixon (Skelleftea AIK, SEL)
24 – Washington Capitals – Marcus Johansson (Farjestads BK, SEL)
25 – Boston Bruins – Jordan Caron (Rimouski Oceanic, QMJHL)

We got the first four picks spot on, then the idiot GM of the Kings (i.e. me) picked Paajarvi-Svensson and then it went awry. Overall, THF got 19 of the 25 players correct, not necessarily in the right order! Carton Ashton and Simon Despres went in the first round at 29 and 30. Landon Ferraro went at 32, Jeremy Morin at 45 and Stefan Elliot at 49. There was only one horrendously bad pick – Tommi Kivisto went at 208 in round seven, the 4th from last pick. Crazy Canucks! Overall, I think we did pretty ok… UK hockey fans generally know their stuff…

It’s Draft Day

2009-06-26T11:37:00.001+01:00

Today is the draft day for the NHL and there are many young hopefuls making their way to Montreal in the hope of being drafted. Well, those who expect to be drafted highly will at least make the trip so they can take part in the usual shenanigans of PR with their new teams’ shirt and so forth, interview with some bloke from TSN / CBC and then smile for the camera.

This year holds more interest for me than the past couple of drafts. Firstly, I’m not sure who the LA Kings will pick. Last year, it was a certainty that LA would draft Drew Doughty. Tampa were going to pick Steve Stamkos and LA desperarely needed young defencemen. Doughty (who made the All-Rookie team this year) was proven to be the best of the crop by his performances this year and LA were right to pick him.

In 2007, the Kings drafted Thomas Hickey in round 1, a defenceman who is largely expected to make the NHL roster in September. This was a slight surprise as the scouts had all projected Kings to draft Karl Alzner, the best defensive prospect of the year. Whether this was the right decision remains to be seen. The Kings class of 2007 has already had an impact however, since Oscar Moller and Wayne Simmonds (both selected in round 2) got NHL spots at the start of the season just gone. The Kings’ top pick in 2006 was Jonathan Bernier – the future franchise goalie of the side and currently performing very well for the AHL Manchester Monarchs after his brief NHL debut.

So in 2009 I’m expecting a forward to be picked. The Kings lack depth across the line, particularly in goalscorers, so there are many possible picks. Picking at number five means that their potential target may have already gone off the board at that stage, or someone may inexplicably drop down. The Kings will be looking at Evander Kane (center), Brayden Schenn (center) and Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi (left wing).

I personally hope they take MSP. The reports out of Sweden are that he is better than Peter Forsberg was at his age. Whether this translates to actual NHL success who knows, but he has been plying his trade in the SEL alongside some of the best senior players outside the NHL. He is a big power left winger who scores goals, and would hopefully address the Kings’ most immediate need. There is absolutely no depth at LW at all on the roster or in the system.

There is also a need for centers in the system, realistically only Brian Boyle and Trevor Lewis remain solid prospects with Andrei Loktionov and Justin Azevedo outside bets. Either Kane or Schenn would be solid choices and it would remain for the upper management of LA to determine which one would best into the Kings set-up. Kane is the more offensive of the two and would perhaps to need to improve his defensive game, whereas Schenn would be expected to increase his offensive numbers.

What about trading the pick away? There are certainly rumours that both Toronto and Ottawa are aggressively looking to move up from 7th and 9th in the draft respectively. I doubt Toronto could offer anything substantial to make the Kings part with their pick. Ottawa is the more likely of the two; although the only realistic player they can offer (Dany Heatley) has already been ruled out by Kings GM Dean Lombardi. That may well be part of Lombardi’s PR games however, so don’t discount a trade just yet.

That sums up the Kings, but there is still more players to be drafted. There are growing rumours that consensus number one pick John Tavares might not actually go at number one. The Islanders are strongly rumoured to be seriously considering drafting Matt Duchene. Duchene is arguably the more well-rounded player and may fit into the system on Long Island better than Tavares. Tampa are then left wondering whether they stick with the plan and draft Victor Hedman at two or go for another much-vaunted center prospect. I think that’s the case, and so if the Isles go for Duchene, Tavares will be picked at three by Colorado. They’ll be loving it if he drops to them, he’s exactly what they need to refresh their ailing franchise. Duchene wouldn’t be a bad pick for them either.

There’s my thoughts. Later on today I will be publishing a mock draft I’ve collected with some friends over on THF, and then comparing it to the reality.

The NHL draft will be shown on ESPN America (Sky channel 417) at midnight tonight. ESPN America is now part of the News & Events package from Sky and can be added for just £1.

Arrrr!

2009-06-24T22:14:00.001+01:00

Definitely recommend watch the Ross Kemp… On Pirates series. If only for many many opportunities to start talking like a pirate.

Arrrrrrr me hearties!

Akbars – The Saga Continues

2009-06-19T11:33:00.000+01:00

After being thrown out of Akbars at the weekend, I thought it would be a good idea to try and speak to the owner of the restaurant and attempt to clear the air a little. After all, the restaurant is in a customer service-based industry, and the views and opinions of the customer are important.

(I have recently been taking part in market research focus groups so I know people value my opinion ;-) )

So I phoned up and asked to speak to the owner. Turns out that the owner and the manager who threw us out are the same person, so I instantly knew I was going to be up against it. Still, with my best doctor-phone-voice on, I was polite and informed him that I was part of the group that were thrown out, and that I’d like to get his views on why he did it and also get my point across about how poorly we felt we had been treated.

In short, he didn’t want to know. He described us as ‘very bad customers’ who ‘made some silly comments’ and would not discuss why or any of his reasons over the phone. He was willing to talk about it in person, but I have no intention on walking through that door again until I receive an apology. I responded by saying that I was perfectly willing to have a civil conversation over the phone, and that we could easily sort out any difficulties instead, but his response was, ‘I am not interested in your custom, thank you and goodbye’. And hung up.

Bad customers? Not sure how that one works. We would’ve still paid for the food before we left, had we finished. It would’ve been very unlikely that a tip was left but I can’t see how they’d expect one! Nor did we cause a disturbance with any of the other customers. Except Paul, on our way out after being ejected, telling one table to ‘watch out for the hairs’. But apparently we’d been bad before then.

So he doesn’t want my business. No problems. There are plenty of very decent curry houses in Coventry that I am more than willing to spend my money in. I can personally recommend The Royal Bengal in Earlsdon and Bombay Joes on Ball Hill as two very fine places to eat. I’m also going to continue to actively discourage people from visiting Akbars until I receive an apology (not that I am expecting to get one). My next step is to try and get an answer out of him by mail… wish me luck.

Matt Jansen returns to football

2009-06-18T09:00:00.000+01:00

Jansen signs for Leigh Genesis

One of my favourite all time Blackburn players, Matt Jansen has found his way back into football with Leigh Genesis. Matt’s story is pretty sad, on the verge of the England squad he had a motorcycle accident which pretty much ended his professional career and very nearly took his life. Previously, he had scored for Blackburn in the 2002 Carling Cup victory and was their leading scorer in their promotion season from the Championship (and 2nd only behind Louis Saha that season). He was brought through the youth ranks and was a Blackburn player through and through. Last time I saw him play was at Villa Park in his comeback spell. It was only for 15-20 minutes or so but you could tell there was some natural ability there, albeit if the physical side of things had disappeared. He was also committed to the cause of playing for the club which perhaps cannot be said about others on the side now.

So good luck to Matt, I hope he does well at Leigh and enjoys what he’s doing. Because that’s the most important thing and he deserves it.

Blackburn Rovers Fixtures 2009/10

2009-06-17T11:15:00.001+01:00

So the fixtures are out for the 2009-10 season. Blackburn have their first home league start for five years when they open with Manchester City visiting Ewood Park on August 15th. This will be a fixture of note in my family since my sister is a Citeh fan, and I would hope to start the season off with a good result!

As a Rovers fan, it was the Burnley fixtures that I was looking for… home on October 17th and then away on March 27th. If they’re as bad as I hope they will be then it could be a relegation party at Turd Moor. Maybe a little premature though, since there could be 6 or more games after that one.

Blackburn’s home run in is a much harder proposition this season to last. Last 3 games at home were Wigan, Portsmouth and West Brom (which eventually resulted in seven points from nine). In 2010, it will be Man Utd, Everton and Arsenal. Oh, and the home game before those is Chelsea. The Rovers will need a good start if they’re to avoid getting stuck in the relegation mire this year.

See the full fixture list here

How to get thrown out of a restaurant

2009-06-13T12:44:00.002+01:00

Last night proved to be more interesting than originally planned. The idea was to meet in Inspires to celebrate my friend’s birthday, head to Akbars in Coventry for curry, return to Inspires for more beer then head back to watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals between Detroit and Pittsburgh.

Part one of the plan was executed to perfection, we arrived a bit early and got the big table for everyone to sit round, enjoyed a couple of nice drinks (Rochefort 8% and Chimay Rouge for the record) and then left for our booking at the curry house. We had a table for 7 booked for 9.30pm. We pitched up about 5 mins early, told the table wasn’t ready (which we expected) and ordered some drinks. The guy behind the bar was pretty busy with drinks orders and apologised for the delay in getting to us to give us driinks. One of the glasses they gave us needed replacing as it had a crack in it and subsequently broke under some pressure

By 9.45pm, we complained to one of the staff that our table wasn’t ready, after all, we had booked. We were told everyone was in the same boat, there was nothing he could do about it. Our response was that if you know you have a table booked you don’t accept someone else to come on in. The manner in which we were addressed by the staff was somewhat rude, as if we were causing the problem for them.

We finally got seated at 10.05pm at a small table, certainly not big enough for 7 people. After taking our order and 2 attempts at getting the right number of poppadoms, we got our food. The plate given to one of us was dirty and needed replacing, and the waiters were laughing about the lack of space for all the food. One of us needed to put the small bit of salad behind their head, and empty rice dishes went on the floor.

Whilst eating one of the curries, one of us pulled a hair out of the curry. It was too short for the person eating it, but certainly longer than either of the people sitting next to her. It was also unlikely it was one of the chefs’ – but it had certainly come from somewhere. This caused more complaining and the lack of apologies from the manager led us to say that we wouldn’t be coming back again. He then flipped his lid and told us that if we weren’t coming back again we should leave now and they’d never take our booking again.

The way in which we were treated was completely unacceptable, at no time was an apology offered than other for the drinks at the start. The staff felt the situation was humourous and the manager felt we were delibrately trying to cause trouble. If they’d have simply replaced the hairy curry and apologised no one would’ve really had any problems.

That’s how you get kicked out of a restaurant.

Blaze get Chubby along the wings

2009-04-30T12:36:00.000+01:00

Coventry Blaze made their second signing of the off-season in Greg ‘Chubbs’ Chambers, a British-Canadian winger from the EPL-bound Basingstoke Bison. Chambers played for GB in the recent World Championships alongside many of the current Blaze roster, as well as being coached by Paul Thompson. There is a pattern emerging that people in the GB set-up have either played for or currently play for Thompson as he continues to work with what he knows best.

There has been some murmurs from portions of the Blaze following that this isn’t a big signing. Whilst it’s not the biggest signing the club ever made or are likely to make, Chambers has been in the top 10 points scorers for the past two seasons despite playing for a struggling Basingstoke side. This season in particular, the last win of the season for the Bison was around Christmas time. That was over 3 months with losing an average of 2 games per week, and yet still being at the top end of the table. Sheffield’s Dave Simms said he was the most talented player in the league. I’m not sure I’d go quite that far, but he’d be in my top 5 for sure. To be able to combine him with Calder (if he stays) and Carlson (reportedly on a 2 year contract) is quite the mouthwatering prospect. Most teams will kill for a line that powerful. I suspect that Chambers will actually play on the 2nd line and balance out the scoring power; all too often last season the big line was shut down and there was no depth to draw from. However, that’s trying to gauge the line up with only 2 signings confirmed!

Blaze roster 2009/10 – confirmed:

NM	Peter Hirsch
D	Ben O’Connor
D	Jon Weaver
D/F	Tom Watkins
F	Greg Chambers
F	Adam Calder
F	Dan Carlson

Fantasy Update

2009-04-29T12:33:00.001+01:00

So, round one is over. Time for some changes in the world of fantasy ice hockey.

Sportingnews.com: 3rd in mini-league, 50 pts behind 2nd and 246 pts behind 1st. Lost the lead in that table due to the Boston contingent finishing in four games. Made two more trades as well now. I’ve removed Chara for Rafalski, and replaced Kobasew with Sami Salo. Bit of a controversial move putting a D-man at the extra attacker position, but I have a feeling the Vancouver-Chicago series is going to be all about the D and Salo has been scoring more points per game than most wingers. He’s also dirt cheap at $0.5m, which is how I afforded the upgrade to Rafalski. Overall, I stand 13,635th out of 41,962

Sportsnet.ca: Currently sitting in 20,804th place with 61 points, but only 24 behind the leader. Still 3 more rounds of selections, so that gap can be clawed back to some extent with some good selections. It’s now down to 3 forwards, 2 defencemen and a goalie for both the West and the East…

West: NM: Luongo, D: Lidstrom, Rafalski, F: Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen (spot a theme there?)

East: NM Thomas, D: Green, Chara,F: Ovechkin, Semin, Malkin

Tiebreakers : 24 games total, one team will score 22 goals in a series.

CBC.ca: 21,335th overall with 65 points, but that puts me 36 behind the leader on 101. Bit more of a gap to get back here…

West: NM: Luongo (star); D: Salo, Rafalski (star); F: Burrows, Franzen, Ryan

East: NM: Thomas; D: Green, Chara; F: Ovechkin (star), Ryder, Lucic

I can hear the cries in Calgary, AB from here.

Predictions and the Round 2

2009-04-29T11:40:00.001+01:00

After last night’s games were finished, I now have a complete set of predictions from the East. Here’s how I fared:

(1) Boston Bruins vs (8) Montreal Canadiens. Well, the Bruins won… I said it would be in 5 games as I gave Montreal some competency but instead they got swept away with utter contempt. Bruins looked good too. Bruins in 4.

(2) Washington Capitals vs (7) New York Rangers. Only one out again! Maybe I am getting good at this. The Rag$ took Washington to 7 games instead of the 6 I predicted. Capitals in 7.

(3) New Jersey Devils vs (6) Carolina Hurricanes. ‘This will be close’ I said. Well, I don’t think it could have been much closer. 2 goals in the last 2 minutes meant that instead of my prediction of Devils in 7, it was Hurricanes in 7.

(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (5) Philadelphia Flyers. I hate Sidney Crosby. I hope Alex Ovechkin smashes him all over the ice in the next round. Oh, and I was way out too… I said Flyers in 7, it was Penguins in 6.

So I ended up again with 2 correct series winners, and the right length for the other one, which was a game 7 winner-takes-all decider. So not too bad I feel.

Onto round 2 then, hopefully I can do something a bit better.

Western Conference

(2) Detroit Red Wings vs (8) Anaheim Ducks – This will be a classic series. For some reason, they always seem to end up meeting each other. Perhaps that’s because they’re two of the better teams in the West. Jonas Hiller may have been able to get past the choke experts in San Jose, but the Wings are the defending champions and will prove too strong this time. Red Wings in 6.

(3) Vancouver Canucks vs (4) Chicago Blackhawks – Is there an inverse classic? One series that I will be likely to stay away from. Good for fantasy owners if you have Luongo or Khabibulin though. I felt that the Blackhawks struggled a little too much against the injury-hit Flames and the Canucks looked good against an in-form St Louis side. Canucks in 6

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston Bruins vs (6) Carolina Hurricanes – I simply can’t see past Boston on this one. Carolina will be tired from an exhausting game 7 comeback, and the Bruins are simply stacked from top to bottom. They’ll nick a game or two perhaps, but that’s it. Bruins in 6

(2) Washington Capitals vs (4) Pittsburgh Penguins – Roll up, roll up, get your tickets for the best series the NHL could’ve hoped for. Alex vs Sid. Semin vs Malkin. Green vs Gonchar. These two teams showed some signs of distaste in the regular season and I really hope it goes the distance. It will be goals-a-plenty since neither team really defends and both are full of offense. Logic says the slightly more experience Pens will nick it, but I have a feeling that the Russian Red Mafia in DC will drag the Caps through. Capitals in 7.

I’m almost certainly just as wrong now as I was then – but it’s a bit of fun, isn’t it?

Predictions – Western Conference

2009-04-28T13:49:00.001+01:00

With round one of the Western Conference playoffs done – how well did I do with the predictions? I think the results will tell you that I’m pretty damn awesome. Ish.

(1) San Jose Sharks vs (8) Anaheim Ducks – I said, Sharks in 7. It was Ducks in 6. Not even close!

(2) Detroit Red Wings vs (7) Columbus Blue Jackets – Bit closer this one. I said Detroit in 6. Detroit at least won the series, but they got the brooms out and swept the Blue Jackets. Wings in 4.

(3) Vancouver Canucks vs (6) St Louis Blues – Does it get more wrong than this one? I said Blues in 6. It was a Vancouver sweep. Canucks in 4.

(4) Chicago Blackhawks vs (5) Calgary Flames – My best prediction so far, just one game out. It wasn’t the Hawks in 5, but Hawks in 6.

So, 2 out of 4 correct series winners, and 0 from 4 for the correct length. Generally a bit pap. Tomorrow – the Eastern Conference! (Because that’s gone so much better!)

Der, der, der-der

2009-04-22T16:42:00.001+01:00

Alex Burrows… der der der-der… Alex Burrows :D

2 goals from the diving buffoon in last night's game was a welcome boost to team Malkin in the Middle. Over the weekend in the Sporting News league the side dropped to 2^nd place, where it sits now some 95 points behind first place. As of today – I've also made my first trade. Out goes the underperforming Jordan Staal, whose 3^rd line minutes and face off win whilst impressive are not scoring me points. As a direct replacement, I bring in Chuck Kobasew from the Bruins. This also gives me an advantage of getting 1 extra game of my 'extra' attacker – Staal played last night and Kobasew and the rest of the Bruins have game 4 tonight. I now have 6 players playing tonight, with the only absentee being the afore-mentioned Burrows, who is now out of action until the start of round 2. I haven't traded him out since I may need the trades if Washington get knocked out.

So, the current standings:

Sporting News : 2^nd in mini-league (95 pts behind 1^st, 120 pts ahead of 3^rd); 10,047^th overall out of 41,000 (1,185 pts behind 1^st)

Sportsnet: 21,151^st overall with 39 pts. Leader has 61 pts.

CBC: 30,751^st overall with 38 pts. Leader has 75 pts.

Basically, not selecting Roberto Luongo has killed me so far. I hope to make that up in future rounds.

Hail The Destroyer Of Trees!

2009-04-22T15:36:00.001+01:00

The garden is looking more and more like a barren wasteland. The past few days have been spent clearing gravel (still) but onto a pile in the back of the garden. The need to get it shifted from area to be turfed over took hold, especially with the bank holiday weekend looming near. The upshot of this is that now the garden is mostly clear of gravel, about ¾ of the area or so.

However, there were still two trees and two large bushes that need removing. Bring on the destroyer of trees! (that's me by the way). Cutting a tree down is man's work, and two have since been felled along with the bushes from hell. My cat is now not happy with me, since they were his hiding / pouncing on bird places and now they are gone. Also gave him his worming medication last night. That always makes him go mental.

The next stage is to shift the remaining amount of gravel and then buy some stump / root killer for the trees & bushes. The bushes are so deep rooted that my (Homebase Value) fork broke trying to dig them up! This is not good form. Bush > Metal is not usually an equation that I'd buy into, but it certainly was the case. Kill them off and pull them up followed by top soil over the remaining land and then turf. Ta da! Instant garden. Ish.

Playoffs Day 2

2009-04-17T16:16:00.001+01:00

And a much rosier picture it brings to fantasy hockey land…

Sporting News – 1^st in mini league. A mighty night from Phil Kessel and the Bruins helped – since they were the only points scorers! 56points above 2^nd place, and currently sitting 919^th overall.

Sportsnet – up to 20,708^th place in the standings, but still only 10 points behind 1^st place. That's closed the gap between myself and the top by 2 points.

CBC – ranking at 27,431^st place. 13 points behind 1^st place, which is a gain of 4 for me.

Still early days yet, and there is much hockey to be played. More updates on Monday!

Fantasy Hockey Update

2009-04-16T13:24:00.001+01:00

So after day 1 – here's the current standings for the 'Malkin In The Middle' sides…

Sporting News – 3^rd out of 6 in the mini league, 2 points behind 2^nd and 19 behind 1^st place. A good start, with all of the Boston players still to play their first game. Overall standing – 12,237 out of 39,630.

Sportsnet – 24,838^th place. No idea how many entrants, but a poor start with only 6 points. Top placed side has 18. However the majority of the team will play their opener tonight.

CBC – 29,260^th place. Same poor start with just 6 points, highest side has 23 (thank you Ovechkin and Green) but again, Detroit, Boston, San Jose all still to play.

I expect updates on the THF game to be intermittent at best.

Down At The Bottom Of The Garden

2009-04-16T13:11:00.001+01:00

Among the birds and the bees… I'm going to stop there before I go any further. Over the past week or so there has been a lot of work carried out down the garden, mainly due to the completely un-English Bank Holiday weather (i.e. no rain) allowing it to happen. The side alleyway has now been covered up to about halfway with weed fabric, and approximately ¾ of that has been covered with gravel. It looks so much nicer down there and also when finished will allow the alleyway to actually be used for something. It's going to be difficult to get a car down there though – it's narrow enough at the entrance for my Corsa but gets narrower by a foot or so towards the middle. I suspect that it will never be used for that!

The gravel has come from inside our own garden, the area between the patio and the hard standing is completely covered, and we've managed to shift a fair bit of that already. The reason for moving the gravel is to turf over the back… this will make it look a bit nicer, and more cat-friendly too! He's not a fan of walking on the gravel, so will probably enjoy the grass to lie on in the summer! The turf needs to be laid as soon as possible, realistically by the next bank holiday weekend. This could be tricky, at least one weekend between now and then is to be spent in Southampton, and the evenings are not condusive to gardening – especially at the moment if the weather's crap. The gym is even a more attractive proposition!

Fantasy Playoff Hockey

2009-04-14T17:34:00.001+01:00

I've decided to enter as many playoff hockey pools as I can get my hands on, in order to test my knowledge and powers of prediction. I'm going to put all my team selections here and provide regular updates…

THF

The rules here are simple. Pick 2 goalkeepers, 6 defencemen and 9 forwards. No salary cap or limits on players from a particular team. Skaters: 1pt per goal, 1pt per assist & 1pt per game winning goal. Goalies: 2pts for a win, 2pts for a shutout & 1pt per goal or assist.

Selection –

G: Nabokov (Sharks) & Thomas (Bruins)

D: Lidstrom, Rafalski (both Wings), Green (Capitals), Chara (Bruins), Boyle (Sharks) & Campbell (Blackhawks)

F: Datsyuk, Zetterberg (both Wings), Crosby, Malkin (both Penguins), Ovechkin, Backstrom (both Capitals), J. Thornton (Sharks), Parise (Devils), Savard (Bruins)

I tried to pick players from teams that I think will go deep in the playoffs. There's no trades here, so it's pick and hope in many respects.

Sportingnews.com

A bit more tricky this one, and they have a complex scoring system. Pick 1 goalie, 2 defencemen, 2 wingers and 1 centre along with 1 'extra attacker'. There's a $30m cap, which prevents you loading up on the stars. My team is:

G: Thomas - $5.93m

D: Chara - $3.56m

D: Green - $5.27m

W: Ovechkin - $8.67m

W: Burrows - $1.26m

C: Kessel - $3.57m

X: J. Staal - $1.67m

Staal and Burrows are the concessions made to allow Thomas, Green and Ovechkin to be selected. Last year I won our small group of teams by building from the back, and so I'm following that formula for this season.

Sportsnet.ca

Pick 1 goalkeeper, 2 defencemen and 3 forwards for both the Western and Eastern conferences.

G: Nabokov (Sharks), Thomas (Bruins)

D: Lidstrom (Wings), Campbell (Blackhawks), Chara (Bruins), Green (Capitals)

F: J. Thornton (Sharks), Datsyuk & Zetterberg (both Wings), Savard (Bruins), Ovechkin (Capitals) and Malkin (Penguins)

You might see a theme emerging with the picks!

Hockey Night in Canada (CBC) almost has the same format, but has a 30-point salary cap in place as well and you also have to pick 3 star players.

G: Thomas (Bruins) 3 pts (Star), Nabokov (Sharks) 4 pts

D: Lidstrom (Wings) 3 pts (Star), Niedermayer (Ducks) 2 pts, Green (Capitals) 3 pts, Chara (Bruins) 2 pts

F: Ovechkin (Capitals) 4 pts (Star), Wheeler (Bruins) 2 pts, Fedotenko (Penguins) 1 pt, Cheechoo (Sharks) 2 pts, Clowe (Sharks) 2 pts, Holmstrom (Wings) 2 pts.

That's my lot for now, progress reports and other entries will follow!

NHL Playoffs – First Round

2009-04-14T12:10:00.001+01:00

It's prediction time here, prompted by my Canadian-dwelling-English friend's attempts at his own predictions. I am notoriously bad at predictions (although my hockey skills appear to be strong this year) and I expect the following to be dismissed with the contempt they deserve…

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston Bruins vs (8) Montreal Canadiens – The old adage 'offense wins games, defense wins championships' in American Football can also be applied to Ice Hockey. It's more applicable really to netminding when it comes down to the playoffs. If you have a netminder who gets ridiculously lucky or insanely good then you'll go far. Stick a decent corps of defencemen around them and it's game set and match. Look at Detroit last year for example. Montreal's best defenceman, Andrei Markov is out injured and they have a netminder in Carey Price who is struggling beyond belief and a rookie in Jaroslav Halak. Halak will probably get the start… but if you compare that to Boston's tandem of Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez, anchored on the blue line by the formidable Zdeno Chara, I just can't see past the Bruins on this one. Oh, and Boston can score goals, whereas Montreal seem to struggle. Bruins in 5.

(2) Washington Capitals vs (7) New York Rangers – I like the Caps. Mainly because Ovechkin is arguably my favourite NHL player of the moment who doesn't play for LA. If he did play for LA… oh, happy times. Anyway… Washington are stocked full of young talent just waiting to win a playoff series. After last year's heartache in round one, they are going to be pretty tough to stop. New York have a good side, but don't have any of the stand out big players that Washington do. Henrik Lundqvist will probably win them a game or two, but this looks to me like another no-brainer. Capitals in 6.

(3) New Jersey Devils vs (6) Carolina Hurricanes – Maaaarrrrrtaaaaahhhhhnnnnnn Brrooooooduuuuurrrrrrr. That's all you will hear all the time in this series. Ignore the fact that the 'Canes have been scoring for fun of late, all the hype and build up will be about the big man in NJ and whether he can cap his record-breaking season off. Also ignore the fact that the Devils have amazingly managed to sneak a player into the top-10 list of scorers (Zach Parise) and have changed their usual neutral zone trap style of hockey for the better. This will be close, both teams have a bit of form coming into the playoffs and both teams have Stanley Cup netminders and both teams have forwards who can score. Devils in 7.

(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (5) Philadelphia Flyers – Now this will be a series. The battle of Pennsylvania on ice… these two sides do not like each other one bit and I expect fireworks galore in this one. Pittsburgh have the much-hyped tandem of Malkin and Crosby, but they tend to disappear in physical games, which is exactly what Philadelphia will bring. Add in Philadelphia's stupidly deep scoring depth and a sprinkling of ridiculously-good-in-the-playoffs Marin Biron, and I'm going to plump for the only upset in the East here. Flyers in 7.

Western Conference

(1) San Jose Sharks vs (8) Anaheim Ducks – The divisional rivalry in the Pacific carries on to the playoffs here in a matchup that will be a lot closer than most people think. It's an unstoppable force vs immovable object here as San Jose's potent attack goes up against Anaheim's solid defense. As much as I'd like to try and be unbiased and neutral here, I hate the Ducks. I want San Jose to dump them out in 4, but I suspect that this series is in for the long haul. Sharks in 7.

(2) Detroit Red Wings vs (7) Columbus Blue Jackets – Detroit nearly came unstuck last year when they came up against an unheralded Nashville side with a netminder playing well. Rookie Steve Mason has been playing at near-Vezina standard this season and will likely drawn on his World Junior Championship experience with Canada to play well in the big games. As much as I want to see Columbus do the upset, they will need to be at the top of their game and Detroit to play badly to get through this. With Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Hossa, Lidstrom, Rafalski etc etc.. the Wings have just too much in the locker for CBJ. Wings in 6.

(3) Vancouver Canucks vs (6) St Louis Blues – If ever there was a playoff series to make me switch off the TV, this would be it. Vancouver stole the Northwest division by playing dull defensive hockey and relying on Bobby Lu in nets to make it anywhere. A recent run of 1-0 wins shows this. If you can't beat Colorado any more than 1-0 in OT going into the playoffs, you're going to be in trouble. St Louis are the best team in the NHL since the All Star break, they have been playing well and will take the Canucks. Special Teams will prove the difference in this one. Blues in 6

(4) Chicago Blackhawks vs (5) Calgary Flames – This is not going to be pretty. The Flames are riddled with long term injuries and Chicago are young and brimming with confidence. At least Calgary are expecting back Rene Bourque and Dion Phaneuf for round 1, and have been able to make some call ups from Quad City. Calgary have also failed to beat Chicago all season, the closest being an overtime defeat back in the middle of the season. Iginla and Kiprusoff will need to drag the Flames kicking and screaming into the next round, and I don't think they can do it by themselves. This is the one I see most likely being a sweep. Blackhawks in 5.

If we follow those matchups through… here's my predictions for the further rounds. They will of course be revised as I'm proved to be wrong.

East

Bruins v Flyers – Bruins in 7

Caps v Devils – Devils in 6

Bruins v Devils – Bruins in 6

West

Sharks v Blues – Sharks in 6

Wings v Hawks – Wings in 7

Sharks v Wings – Sharks in 6

Stanley Cup

Sharks v Bruins – Sharks in 6

Pineapple Watch

2009-04-12T19:51:00.002+01:00

To save time introducing this topic… pop along to Facebook to see the Event page for the Golden Pineapple ceremony.

After the ceremonial handover at the EIHL Playoff Weekend, I got to parade it over the whole weekend and then take it back to CV2. Victory of the Golden Pineapple is an honour, and the Pineapple should be taken care of. That means you, Newcastle fans on the coach down to the playoffs! ;-)

However, after just one week on display in the trophy room, the Golden Pineapple 2009 has ceased to be. A rather squidgy bottom started to go a little too mushy and mouldy pineapple bits started to leak on the shelf. Sadly this meant that the Pineapple had to be consigned to the great dustbin in the sky. It was not as hardy as it's 2007 version, which lasted a mighty two weeks before falling foul to the same squishy outcome. One can only assume that the credit crunch is now shortening the life of pineapples.

RIP The Golden Pineapple 2009.

It’s Cold Outside

2009-04-09T12:06:00.004+01:00

Opening

Tongue Tied

Arnold J Rimmer

Fan-smegging-tastic

Llewtube

I'm quite excited about this weekend on Dave. Can you tell?

Trust Your Instincts

2009-04-09T11:53:00.001+01:00

A chemistry-related entry this one. It amazes me that after nearly seven years as a full-time researcher, I can still be shocked that a reaction from the literature doesn't go according to plan. In this particular case, it was the only recorded synthesis of a particular compound 1 in the literature. Whilst reading the details, I was dubious as to how it would work, but felt that as it was published, I would still give it a shot. My gut instinct was telling me that instead of producing 1, I would get an alternative in compound 2.

On obtaining my ESI-MS and NMR data today, I was actually shocked that the nice white crystals (yes, crystals!) I had produced were indeed 2 and not 1. There is a hard-nosed sceptical scientist within me who is secretly very happy right now. I am not. I wanted to make compound 1. Back to the benchkote-covered drawing board...

Dear Patrick O’Sullivan,

2009-04-08T23:00:00.001+01:00

Dear Patrick O'Sullivan,

That sound you can hear is your playoff dream slipping away.

Love and kisses,

The Los Angeles Kings.

Three Games for Twenty Quid?

2009-04-07T12:12:00.001+01:00

In an effort to get a huge home crowd for the final three games of the Premier League season, Blackburn Rovers have decided to make a ticket offer of all three games for just £20 in total. Madness I hear you cry! Well, Blackburn have one of the lowest average attendances in the league and desperately need to drum up some support quickly so they have allocated two sections in the Darwen End for this deal. Ticket prices have also been dropped around the ground so that individual game prices are now just £15.

The games are:

Sun 26^th Apr – Blackburn vs Wigan (4pm KO)

Sat 9^th May – Blackburn vs Portsmouth (3pm KO)

Sun 24^th May – Blackburn vs West Brom (4pm KO)

Happy Blackburn Days!

EIHL Playoff Weekend – A Review

2009-04-07T10:06:00.001+01:00

If you make some predictions, you should always go back and review them at a later time. Now that the hangover has gone away, I can now recollect the hockey that was on show at the weekend.

Game 1 – Sheffield Steelers 5 – 2 Cardiff Devils

It was a pretty defensive game, but good solid hard-hitting hockey. I'd have liked more offensive flair from both sides to be honest, but that's just how I prefer my hockey. And Sheffield have been successful with theirs, so who's to say who is right! An early two goal made it look like Sheffield were going to run away with it, but then Cardiff came back and then kept the game fairly tight until Robert Dowd's powerplay goal in the 3^rd period. If they could've scored on a huge 5-on-3 powerplay with just under ten minutes left it perhaps could've been different, but it was not to be and Sheffield got the empty netter to make it 5-2. I said by two with an empty netter, but it was by three with an empty netter. I'm taking that one as a reasonably successful prediction!

Game 2 – Coventry Blaze 2 – 6 Nottingham Panthers

I don't want to talk about it. As horrendous playoff performances go, this was up there with the best of them. One team turned up, blitzed to an early three goal lead and the other seemed to be looking towards their golfing holidays. Blaze were never in this game and Panthers never had to get out of third gear. I said Blaze by two, it was Panthers by four, so that's a wrong one then…

Game 3 – Sheffield Steelers 2 – 0 Nottingham Panthers

This game made me smile. 2-0 to Sheffield, 60 minutes of dominant hockey. Nottingham never looked like scoring and Jody got yet another playoff final shutout to add to his shutout in last year's playoff final. He really does excel in big games and if he is to leave these shores to pursue his career elsewhere, it will be a loss to ice hockey in this country. I might have got the teams wrong, but Sheffield to win comfortably by three… well it was by two but it should've been a lot more. Job done for those boys from far up the M1, and that was our 2008-09 EIHL season finished.

EIHL Playoff Weekend – A Prediction

2009-04-02T13:28:00.001+01:00

Arguably the biggest weekend of the UK Ice Hockey calendar, the EIHL playoff weekend is taking place this weekend at the National Ice Centre (NIC), Nottingham. Or the Trent FM Arena, depending on whether you're feeling corporate or not. Now, there is somewhat of a dark cloud overshadowing the games, but this entry intends to shed the politics and look purely at the most important thing – the hockey.

Game 1 – Sheffield Steelers vs Cardiff Devils (Sheffield lead the season series 4-2)

Let's start with a piece of information we can nearly all agree with. Brad Voth is the antichrist. These two teams have engaged in not only a war on the ice this season, but a war of words in the media as well. An incident early on in the season involving Voth and Randy Dagenais led to Voth receiving a six game ban (reduced from the original 12). To be fair to Voth, that incident was not as bad as the whiny Steelers PR machine was trying to make out and the fact that it was reduced speaks to that effect. Whilst the Steelers lead the season series, Cardiff haven't lost to Sheffield this calendar year in the two games played and more importantly both of those have been on Sheffield's big arena ice pad, similar to that at the NIC. Cardiff are also the form team of the moment, stringing together a good run to make sure they finished 5^th in the regular season and then dumping out Belfast in the quarter-finals. Belfast had been on a good run, having captured the Challenge and Knockout cups this season, so they were no easy team to be drawn against.

I think this game is going to come down to netminding. Jody Lehman is the best big-game netminder in the EIHL and has a disturbing habit of pulling out top drawer performances when they are needed. Peter Aubry, as good as he is, just isn't at Lehman's level when it comes to the crunch. With both teams being more on the defensive-minded side, I suspect it will come down to the odd chance here or there, and that's when Lehman's at his best. Prediction: Sheffield to win by 2 including an empty net goal.

Game 2 – Coventry Blaze vs Nottingham Panthers (Coventry lead the season series 4-2 and 1 tie)

Goals, goals and more goals. In the seven games between these two sides season, there has been 48 goals scored. Why's that? Simple really, neither of them can defend and they've both got pretty decent forwards who know where the net is. Add to that the two best point-men for the powerplay in Jon Weaver (Coventry) and Corey Neilson (Nottingham) in the league, this game is going to be exciting and full of chances.

There's also been some press-related shenanigans between these two sides. Blaze head coach Paul Thompson branded Nottingham as 'Team Hollywood' after comments made in the press by Neilson. The Panthers' response to this was to head into the Skydome and get their first win in three years in Coventry by routing the Blaze 4-0 just before Christmas. Traditionally, Coventry struggle on the large arena ice pads but have seemed to have found a way to win there this season. In particular, the last game between the two sides was an epic 6-5 comeback victory sealed in the dying seconds by forward Erik Hjalmarsson. I expect this game to be nothing different from the other seven so far. Prediction: Blaze to win by the odd goal in nine.

Game 3 – Sheffield Steelers vs Coventry Blaze (Sheffield lead the season series 5-1)

If I get the first two predictions right, which is highly unlikely, then we'll be seeing a repeat of the playoff final from last year's season. Then the league champions Coventry took on 2^nd placed Sheffield and lost 2-0 due to a, shockingly, big game performance from Jody Lehman. If all goes to the script, then Blaze will struggle to find a way through Sheffield's stingy defense much as they have done all season and Sheffield will capitalize on Coventry's errors at the back. With Coventry having the evening game, they will have less time to recover from what is likely to be a fast-paced game against Nottingham. Given that they've also struggled to get past Newcastle in a tough quarter-final match, this is likely to be one game too far for the Blaze. Prediction: Steelers to win comfortably by 3.

So there you have it. Probably misguided, likely to be wrong, but it's still fun to do these things and find out. Incidentally, my original prediction was for a Sheffield v Manchester final, which clearly isn't going to happen! I'll post a full report of the games next week when my hangover has worn off…

An Offseason of Discontent?

2009-04-01T15:44:00.001+01:00

In the run up to the EIHL showpiece event of the season, the Playoff Finals weekend in Nottingham, a storm is brewing over participation in the league for the next year. The story broke on THF last night that Manchester, Edinburgh and Newcastle had effectively been excluded from a meeting which decided the rules and regulations for the upcoming season. It seems that those three teams had wanted a reduction in salary cap and import numbers to help with their costs, whereas the other six teams (Champions Sheffield, Coventry, Nottingham, Belfast, Cardiff and Hull) were against this. Basingstoke has already announced they are dropping down to the EPL due to costs, amongst other things.

This secret meeting, for want of a better term effectively spelt out that there was to be no change to the playing rules for next season. There had been rumblings up in Newcastle for the past week or so that not all was well, and now the story came out of Manchester last night. Here are some statements from various parties:

Elite League Statement:

"Over the past months there has been considerable consultations and meetings between the Elite League clubs regarding a plan going forward. All clubs in one way or another have had to consider how best to adapt to the economic climate in order to ensure progress for their club. The process culminated in a meeting on Monday 30^th March of those clubs who were, without conditions, committed to participation in the 2009/10 season.

The clubs not present, but fully aware of the meeting being held, had consistently throughout earlier meetings and correspondence put forward a number of points which they required to be considered or adopted by the league. Immediately following the meeting all clubs were advised of the outcome, which is to continue effectively under the same playing conditions as was the case in 2008/2009 and the league presently awaits the remaining clubs to formally confirm if they are continuing their involvement in the league.

2008/09 has been a thrilling year of ice hockey and both fans and sponsors can look forward to the fantastic playoff weekend and standards being maintained in the Elite ice hockey league for the 2009/10 season."

Manchester Phoenix Statement:

"The rumours of a club meeting held on Monday are correct, and I can confirm that Manchester were not represented - this is not an April Fools prank. There is currently a lot of conjecture and rumour circulating regarding the future format of the Elite League, and the possible inclusion or otherwise of not only Manchester, but Edinburgh and Newcastle too. However, until such time as either Neil Morris and/or myself receive due notification in writing of the outcome of Monday's meeting and any decisions being taken without Manchester being consulted, we can say little more officially.

Naturally, the club is keen to learn of what was discussed in our absence and upon receipt of such written detail, we will issue our official response. I would ask all Phoenix supporters to please refrain from contacting the club offices as there is currently little more we can advise, and the staff are extremely busy with everything involved with the end of the season."

There are some other articles here from Mick Holland (Nottingham Evening Post), Nigel McFarlane (The Bolton News) and Nigel Duncan (Edinburgh Evening News) on the subject.

My take on it? It stinks. Mick Holland compared the breakaway six to the original six in the NHL, stating that they survived for 25 years. Well, they had the best players in the world, and eventually they decided to expand. It seems to have done alright for their business model! A six-team EIHL would result in at least eight games per season against each one of the other five teams. There's no variety in that at all. It's bad enough now that with league and cup games accounted for you can play a team more than 10 times in one season. The NHL also changed their scheduling back this year to reduce the amount of divisional games because playing the same team eight times a year was too much! That's eight games in 82 against 29 possible opponents.. not eight games in 54 (or 40, 48) against 5 possible opponents.

We don't even have the best players in the world either. Whilst the fans want a good standard of play, they also want variation between the teams. A ten-team league has proved to be just about right for now, if anything I'd be pushing for expansion rather than contraction. My own personal solution would be to drop the salary cap but abolish the import numbers. British players have had their wages artificially inflated due to their need to be on the roster. With a maximum of ten imports, you have to have at least four or five British players to put out a team as a bare minimum, and then they have to be good if you want to succeed. By removing the cap on imports, teams don't have to have them, although the British players who can fulfill a role will find a spot. Their wages would come back in line with imports of equivalent quality and teams would be able to afford those good British players. If you look at the GB senior squad announced today, only four of the 23-man squad come outside of Sheffield, Coventry, Nottingham and Belfast. Why? Because they can afford to offer the British players the big money under the current system. Simply dropping the import numbers makes those British players even more valuable and the wages go up (supply and demand).

In honesty, there's no simple solution and there never will be. There needs to be some compromise between all parties, rather than this continuous cycle of teams going it alone to make it work for them and if the rest get left behind, then so be it. A minority sport in this country needs more clubs to succeed, not fewer. Trying to kill off teams which have been the lifeblood of the league for several years now is just bad business practice all round.

Summer Time Is Here

2009-03-31T15:33:00.001+01:00

Well, technically it's here. There's no sunshine outside although why I would expect there to be sunshine outside is beyond me. The West Midlands region seems to live in a perpetual state of grey. It's not sunny like Southern Spain nor is it as cold and white as far-flung Canada. British Summer Time arrived this weekend heralding many changes for the next few months ahead. Arguably the main one being is that the hockey season is nearly finished. In fact, this weekend sees the last three games in the EIHL 2008-09 season. There will be more on those later…

The levels of gardening will be increased. I'm not a fan of gardening in any shape of form. Cutting grass or getting near trees just sets my hay fever off something chronic. With there being light in the evenings now after work I can see myself out there chopping back plants and shifting gravel. For those not in the know, there are currently two projects out the back; firstly, moving the gravel from the main part of the garden to the side entry way between us and next door. The gravel is to be replaced by turf, so there can be a nice green garden. There is somewhat of a time limit to this one, since the turf really needs to be laid by the end of April at the very latest. And the fact that I know it needs to be laid by then concerns me greatly. Therefore this is the priority at the moment.

Project number two is the conversion of the ManShed into a gym. The people who owned the house before us seemed to believe they were good at DIY. They really weren't. Now I know I'm not good at DIY and taking this project on is probably biting off more than I can chew. There are so many botched jobs that I'm having to correct before I can start on kitting on the shed properly it's untrue. From live wires hanging over my head to badly-installed plasterboard and benches needing removal, there's a hell of a lot to do there. The end result will be good however, since the housing market is suffering somewhat of a downturn, the added value to the house will definitely be a bonus. As well as providing me somewhere to get back in shape that doesn't cost me stupid amounts of money per month!

Given that the US football season has finished and the hockey is nearly done, you'd expect there would be more free time to enjoy the summer. Not so! I've given up expecting any free time now until July 2010.