Well then, the new season is almost here, are we getting excitable yet? Exhibition games (or to a football fan it would be called a pre-season friendly) are being played and most teams are just waiting for the puck to drop on 6th September.
That is unless you are fans of the Sheffield Steelers (like my good self) or the Dundee Stars since a technical malfunction has stopped that going ahead…for now – it will be rescheduled obviously! Anyway I thought I’d now do my new season preview as most sides have got their rosters sorted out.
I’m going to do it by conference, and in two parts. At the end of the second part, I will make my prediction on who will be celebrating silverware. Be warned; my record of predicting things is pretty damn rubbish so don’t come running at me when you look at the final roll of honour and say: yep, Mark you got that wrong!
Let’s start with the Gardiner Conference:
Braehead Clan
Some solid recruitment here by Finner, and the squad looks as balanced as it ever has been. Sure Kevin Bergin will be missed, but to bring in AHL veteran Zack Fitzgerald as his replacement isn’t too bad a shout. Fitzgerald will certainly add more toughness at the back end in front of returning goalie Kyle Jones. They’ve also acquired Leigh Salters who was one of the few shining lights in a pretty average Panthers team last season. He should fit nicely in.
Player to watch: Stefan Meyer – Definitely one of the best puck protectors in the EIHL. The former Calgary Flame was a fan favourite in Sheffield last season, finishing as top scorer for the Steelers. Whilst it’s a major loss for the Steelers, it’s definitely a massive coup for Clan. He should do similarly well for Ryan Finnerty, I have no doubts whatsoever.
Dundee Stars
Last season’s surprise package that kept up the pace in the top echelons of the league throughout, and with a tremendous work ethic instilled in them by Jeff Hutchins. Like Finnerty, he’s raided the Steelers for one of their play-off winning heroes, Chris Blight. The Stars have a habit of finding gems in netminding, Nic Riopel in 2013 followed by Dan Bakala last year - will Marc Cheverie (brother of Evan) continue that trend? Brad Plumton is an interesting pick up on D though.
Player to Watch: Jade Galbraith - One of the most enigmatic players ever to grace the Elite League. Jade returns after a year away, and it remains to be seen: will it be the same Jade that lit up Braehead in his first two seasons there or not? On his day Jade is a match winner in his own right, he has the skills to do so. If he’s not bothered, then he’ll infuriate the hell out of you.
Edinburgh Capitals
It was another tough, tough season last year for Richard Hartmann and the Caps. Finishing bottom again by a considerable margin means that they need big improvements. Well they don’t come any bigger than former Minnesota Wild draft pick Riley Emmerson. Standing 6’8 tall and 249 lbs in weight, he should give them some considerable presence on ice. However, the loss of Curtis Leinweber is huge – he was probably their stand out player last season.
Player to Watch: René Jarolin - The Slovakian sharpshooter returns back to the Caps this season after spending last year back home. With 146 EIHL points in 116 regular season EIHL games; the long suffering Caps fans will be hoping for more goals from the 32 year old and hope it changes their fortunes. Footnote: in his last season in Edinburgh, the Caps made the final 8. Can it be repeated?
Fife Flyers
Last season saw an improvement for the Kirkcaldy based outfit as they made the final 4 weekend at the play-offs, losing just 1-0 to Belfast. Matt Nickerson is back for a second season and you can hear the shouts of “Fear the Beard” already before the season actually gets underway. With the nucleus of last season being retained also; it could continue in an upward trend for Todd Dutiaume’s team. I do have reservations though about Jamie Milam, who was a flop at Cardiff in 2012-13.
Player to Watch: Ned Lukacevic - Only came into the Flyers line up in December last year but proved to be an inspirational pick up. Averaged more than a point a game in his 34 regular season games and was a crucial figure to help the Flyers to the final four weekend, If he can reproduce this form again then the Flyers are in for a very decent season.
Hull Stingrays
It’s been a summer of big changes in Hull. A host of high profile departures and with it a completely new side to boot. Gone are player-coach Sylvain Cloutier, GB internationalist netminder Ben Bowns and Canadian duo Jason Silverthorn and Jèremiè Tendler to name just four. Defenceman Omar Pacha and forward Carl Lauzon are in charge now, it’ll be interesting to see how they cope without the prolific Tendler banging home 40 plus goals. It could be a hard season for the Stingrays support.
Player to Watch: Matty Davies – Following Kurtis Dulle’s decision to not re-join the Stingrays, I’ve had to re-write this little bit and start to scratch my head. However, I’m going to say that the player to watch is winger Matty Davies. The local lad had an exceptional 2013-14, posting a season best point haul and making the GB team. Given the captaincy, it’ll be interesting to see if it burdens him in a much changed Stingrays roster.
Well that concludes part one, part two and the actual predictions are next…
Mark
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