Sunday 25 May 2014

Mark Duell: Spoilt, But Spare A Thought Elsewhere

Mark Duell (@hockeybhoy) returns with talk of British cheer and Welsh tears.

Since the bombshell over Steven Goertzen’s departure to the West Midlands has been consigned to the annals of old news, we’ve had a double Brit core signing and news is breaking about problems elsewhere with one of our fellow EIHL clubs.

Normally it wouldn’t have been the time and place for me to blog about that but it does have a loose connection in Steelerland – so I will do. Anyway I hope you are all well and dandy, and are like me in counting down the days until September comes around.

Thursday 22 May 2014

The Opposition Bench: Panthers In Europe

I like to think that we at FSB are a welcoming, friendly bunch. We welcome contributions from all over the ice hockey world, even from our nearest and not-so-dearest down the M1. But the Panthers entering the CHL is a pretty big occasion in my eyes, and so I asked friend of the blog (kinda, a bit, we talk on Twitter, you know the score) Tom from Panthers Banter if he'd give us his thoughts on the draw.

Tuesday 13 May 2014

Farewell, Stevie G

I'm not going to make this sound like an eulogy because, well, he hasn't died. That doesn't mean I'm not upset, but y'know, this is professional sport where players move around on a regular basis.

I will, however, recall a story.

Mark Duell - Surprise Time

Oft-time contributor Mark Duell returns with his take on the past week.

Don't you just love the off season?

Players re-signing, players leaving and players retiring. In the world we all know as Steelers World, it’s never normal. I can’t remember many seasons recently when we have had a period of smoothness. There’s always been something happening that makes you sigh, and inhale a sharp intake of breath.

Each of us collectively do this every season and wonder what the time between the first or second week of April and the start of September is going to throw at us. These last six days have been nothing out of the ordinary.

An Awkward Analysis - Roddy's Return & Stevie G's Shocking Switch

I'm in a state of shock right now. After the joyful news this morning that Rod Sarich would be returning to the club, it has literally just been obliterated by the news that the teams captain, Steven Goertzen, has left the club at the end of his university deal and has joined the Coventry Blaze.

However, I shall get onto that in a bit, as firstly I am going to talk about Sarich returning to the club.

Thursday 1 May 2014

The Conferences: How To Make Them Mean Something

I know they're not popular, but I genuinely believe the conferences could become something of importance.

Right now, they come across as a cost cutting measure for the Scottish teams, showing a divide in the bigger budget teams and the smaller teams, and a cash cow for the Erhardt teams (especially Sheffield and Nottingham). There's an over-saturation of fixtures between teams (we all got bored of seeing Steelers/Panthers games) and what for? A trophy Braehead had to buy themselves in the first year? Second seeding behind the winners of the league?

It can work though, it can be fixed, and it can be very relevant. 3 steps.