Welcome to a two part Junior Report by Junior Member George. He's decided to write about the Elite League in this report. Part Two will appear later this week.
The league and the talking points that surround it
In this article, what I will be trying to bring across is
many key talking points regarding the current position of the British Elite Ice
Hockey League.
We will start off with the conference
system. Currently the league adopts a conference system, which consists
of three, four team leagues in which you play each team in your conference
eight times over the course of the season, that consisting of four home
games and four away games. Meaning that you play the other teams outside
of your conference four times in a season, two home and two away. What the
conference system does, is it creates a sense of equality around the league.
These four conferences are set up like this. The Erhardt Conference consists
of four teams, those being the Cardiff Devils, the Nottingham Panthers, the
Belfast Giants, and the Sheffield Steelers. The Gardiner Conference consists of
the Scottish teams. Those being the Fife Flyers, Edinburgh Capitals, Dundee
Stars and the Braehead Clan. The Patton Conference consists of the final four
teams, those being, the Manchester Storm, The Coventry Blaze, The Guildford
Flames, and Milton Keynes Lightning.
Let's start with the Erhardt Conference. This league consists
as what is considered as the big four. The teams with the most money, three of
which have very big arenas, and have a total capacity of a combined 28,000
seats. This conference is considered to be where the best hockey is played,
although current standings suggest otherwise. Cardiff being the monumental
force in this conference since the start of the season has meant that they are
leading very much so. Belfast have had an okay season, but are certainly below
where they should be in terms of the quality and the size of the fan base they
have.
The Nottingham Panthers are certainly underachieving, having only managed
to win something domestically two seasons ago, and then that leaves the
Sheffield Steelers, who have consistently won a trophy since 2014 but currently
this season seem to be losing a lot of momentum going forward, and now that
they crashed out of the Challenge Cup in awesome fashion, realistically only
have a chance of the playoffs being currently so far behind the leaders
Cardiff, who will probably once again win the league with games to spare.
Now moving on to the Gardiner Conference. The Gardiner Conference is usually won by the Braehead Clan, but it has been a long time
since any Scottish team has won a domestic trophy. The Gardiner Conference is
perfect for the Scots. They are literally a stones throw away from each other geographically
and are very similar in terms of playing style and quality, the Edinburgh
Capitals being the only team to really be far below what is expected of an Elite League team. The Caps, as they are known as, are certainly a long way off
the mark in terms of actually being able to win anything and are in
desperate need of a revamp. It is fair to say, money has to be invested into
the Caps before they lose a lot of what they have already achieved. Edinburgh
is a good city that simply needs a hockey team. Someone needs to take
ownership of that team, otherwise it will go down the pan.
Next we move on to
the previously mentioned Braehead Clan. A team riddled with sadness and
disappointment. They seem to have this season took a downhill landslide after
the departure of Ryan Finnerty in the summer, taking a lot of the good players
with him and leaving the Clan with a very average side that is very unlikely to
make the playoffs. The Dundee Stars simply accept they are a bottom club,
however last season they made the playoffs after a half decent season. They are
suddenly taking an uphill path to getting back on track, which is always good
to see from a club that hasn't won much in previous seasons. Finally the Fife
Flyers. A mid table steady going club that in coming seasons will be likely to
win trophies, they don't really have a chance this season, but I can almost
guarantee, will win a trophy next season.
Now we move on to the new Patton Conference, speaking of new
it has two new teams to the EIHL. The Guildford Flames are a club from Surrey, and are new to the league. They currently sit in fourth, and are certainly
adapting to life in the bigger league well: beating the Steelers notably in a 4-2 win
at the Guildford Spectrum on Sunday the 11th February. Talking of new people,
the Milton Keynes Lightning also resemble one of the four teams. They have gone
the opposite way to the Flames, the Lightning struggling near the bottom
of the table, and don't look to be going anywhere currently. They will not
finish last, but will almost certainly come in 11th place. Possibly the worst
possible start to their EIHL debut.
The Manchester Storm are by far one of the
most bang average teams in the league, very dull to watch, but weirdly seem to
get the job done game by game, which is why I have tipped them to win the
playoffs this year. Although I hope the Steelers win the playoffs, I cant help
but think that Manchester will win. Finally, the Coventry Blaze. A very
disappointing outfit that won the playoffs in 2015, however seemingly don't
look likely to win a trophy after this, even to this point I would hate to be a Blaze fan.
Part two to follow...
G
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