Well then folks, the season is now officially one month old. Doesn't seem two minutes since we were all waiting for the puck to drop on the season start. Some teams have made excellent starts, some haven't whilst a few have blown hot and cold. With that in mind, here's my winners and losers awards for the first month's action.
If you don't agree then I quite frankly couldn't give a hoot, this is just a bit of fun. Got that? Well onto the monthly awards.
Team of the Month: Skate forward the Sheffield Steelers, and I'm not being biased at all here. New coach, new players and new ideas. Despite a loss in Cardiff, Steelers have swept all before them since. Up to last Saturday, they had conceded a misery single goal in 180 minutes, scoring 17 times at the other end. The players are buying certainly into Paul Thompson's philosophy and it's certainly working.
Flops of the Month: It has to be Chuck Weber and his Coventry Blaze team. Save for a single goal win over Nottingham, the season start has mirrored the pre-season campaign. Heavy beatings and already blanked out three times, these are troubled times for the West Midlands side especially after the euphoria of last season's superb Play-Off Final win. Players will soon be playing for their jobs (if they aren't already) and that's not good.
Coach of the Month: I'm gonna surprise you all here and not award it to Paul Thompson. Bet you were all expecting that. No the winners, yes it's a joint award for this inaugural month, are Marc LeFebvre and Omar Pacha. LeFebvre had a torrid time at Coventry 12 months ago but has returned to these shores and already is making a great impression on Tayside. Wins over both highly fancied Belfast and Braehead, and points taken from both Nottingham and Sheffield. That's damn good.
Pacha earns his vote for the brilliant job that he and his back room have done in Manchester. A roster assembled in double quick time, and they haven't done too bad really. A much deserved first win last Saturday night, they are proving to be a tough cookie for whoever faces in them in opposition. Take a decent round of applause Mr Pacha.
Player of the Month: A fair few candidates for this one. Ryan Hayes has proved to the Capitals fans that there is definitely life after Renè Jarolin, Tyler Mosienko is having an excellent start to his second season in Sheffield and Gui Doucet is already proving to be a hit in the Principality for Andrew Lord's Devils. Yet I am going to go for a player than is new to these shores and has already notched a hat-trick this season. He also impressed me on Sunday night in the Arena too. My player of the month is Luke Salazar of the Manchester Storm.
Douchebag of the Month: One winner of this and it was decided even before the season started. It's Theo Peckham (see I like being controversial) who didn't join the Nottingham Panthers. The official word has it that it was Visa issues but I am sure there's more to it that than. I feel he was playing a game with Gary Moron and Corey, wanting to have another shot in "The Show" rather than playing over here. Hasn't stopped Cam Janssen though..
And that's that. In the week that sees David Ling come back to Nottingham, even though he's a handy player at 40 still, I am sure that you won't get anyone outside NG1 whooping with excitement. Jamie Black (son of Neil) was like a kid at Xmas with his tweet about, he probably wet himself when he found out. Time will tell if this signing is a good one or not. Enjoy your hockey weekend where you watch it, I'll be back next week with more musings.
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