Thank you to Tony for his contribution to FSB, All Credit for this piece goes to him so any queries you can contact Tony on Twitter @DISGU15ED.
Tony returns with his first "Five Things" of the new season, this time he's talking about the Champions Hockey League. Agree with or disagree? Well let us know.
So after a couple of seasons of CHL action for EIHL clubs, what five things did we learn?
1. The Swedes play at a higher level: In the six games between EIHL and SHL in the CHL so far, the Swedes are 6 from 6, with 45 goals scored by the Swedes and 7 scored by the plucky Brits. Nothing to be embarrassed by, as their player budgets are over ten times more than ours, but something to consider when you next watch the SHL on Premier! Of the eight teams they entered this year, six won their group and the other two came second, even though they consistently rested some top players and played back-up net-minders. Last year the CHL final was an all Swedish affair (and their top team was knocked out in the Semi’s), so it’s fair to expect the blue and yellow Scandinavian cross to by flying high again this year.
2. The Finns aren’t far behind: We’ve seen four games against Lukko and JYP and they’ve won them all too. Goal difference is less, but they still average three more goals than we do, and by god they’ve got some big lads – did you see Jason crick his neck when he went face-to-chest with one of them at the Arena!
3. The Germans aren’t too far ahead though: Possibly the third best league in Europe in terms of player income, and we’re 50:50 over four games – both the Clan and Panthers beat their German oppo at home. When we get the bounces we can compete, and congrats to Braehead and Nottingham for staying close enough to do exactly that.
4. Wild Card Leagues: Unfortunately for the EIHL every other wild card league did a bit better than we did, and if the Poles want to play next year, or the Danes want a second spot, I fear we might be the ones that suffer. For the record the Norwegians both won their groups, the Slovaks had one team qualify and one team get one point, the French both got 1 win each, and the Danish team won one too. Even the Belarussian qualifier from the Continental cup grabbed a win. All statistically better than one win from two teams I'm afraid.
5. Worst team in the competition? There were only two teams who scored no points in this year’s CHL. The Steelers who finished with a -16 goal difference, and EV Zug from Switzerland who finished with -12. In a small sample then stats can lie, and we were close to getting a result, but our overall league CHL ranking will probably fall in 16/17. With an easier draw we may have had different results, but the history books mark us down as dead last.
Speaking for myself, it’s been a great competition so far, and I’ve enjoyed seeing our boys compete against some of the best teams to come to Britain for many years. When Europe comes to play we found we weren’t too far behind, and if we get some ‘puck-luck’, they rest some of their top guys, and they play their back-up net-minder, then we can nip the odd point or three off them. Let’s hope that next time the EIHL teams can grab a win that matters.
One last thing: We can be proud of our attendance records, and this combined with large social media interest amongst the GB fans, might save our CHL bacon - Steelers were 12th highest and Clan 20th (out of 48), and above teams like Skelleftea, Munich and Prague. On the flip-side however, we might not be so proud of the one stat that the Steelers did win - that of top penalised team with 26 mins per game, and an average of almost 10 minors each game.
So what do you think?
Tony
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