The Junior Report - Edition 19

Welcome to the Junior Report special. It's the second part of George's EIHL article. Read on...

Now anyway, I need to move on to the point of this article, although it seems a lengthy one, I would like to hear what you think. Make sure to contact us on twitter if you need to discuss anything. I welcome any message.

How I think the conference system should work, is very strange but probably the best. Not to toot my own horn. Personally I think we should scrap the conference system. Not only does it have a very odd trophy at the end of it, but it also has a very dampening affect on a club.

Here is my suggested format in bold.

• Each team plays each other 6 times over the course of the season.
• 3 games at home and then 3 games away.
• This would take the amount of games played up to 66 in the league.
• This may seem like a lot, but I suggest the scrapping of the challenge cup altogether. It is becoming such a dead rubber tournament.
• Therefore without the challenge cup teams will see less and less of each other making each game more contentious. 
• The playoff format is the same as it is now, but the title winners automatically qualify for the playoffs. This to me seems only fair.
• This is a weird proposal, however there needs to be another team that automatically qualifies to make this even out a bit.
• The team with the most goals scored then qualifies for the playoffs. This will make every goal count, and will make games more exciting.
• Meaning the qualifying system is different. 
• There are now only two qualifying places available. Exciting right?
• 8 more teams will still battle it out. However this is the new proposal.
• These teams will play in the same format as currently happens. There will be four quarter finals, two semi finals.
• The winner of the two semi finals progress to the playoff weekend, and play each other in the first game.
• The two automatically qualified teams will play each other.
• The most amount of games played in a season will be 70.

My next question to answer is where do I think the EIHL stands compared with other leagues around the rest of the world. Quite frankly as a league we are not the best but we are certainly improving in terms of what we are becoming. There are many leagues in Europe, personally I believe we are a middle of the pack league. Certainly compared with leagues such as the All-Svenskan and the DEL. As we found out in the summer, the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers, were a class above. Far beyond what we are. They didn't even get out of second gear against us, we were outclassed. Looking at where they are now, it seems to me as though the Panthers completely fluked their CHL campaign. They were put in a group that was far below the normal CHL standard. However in the previous year they won the Continental Cup, yet looking at the stats of their group in the Super Final last year there is no real wonder they managed to win.

We are nowhere near the standard of the NHL that's for sure, although in the past few seasons, we have started to pick up some very good ex NHL players, even players such as Tim Wallace are adding a lot of spark to the league in terms of their past experiences in the NHL, any career in the NHL is a good one. Brian McGrattan was in the league last season, below average, but still had the experience. Desbiens, Fitzgerald, Jesse Schultz, and even Boris Valabik, have played there. Therefore there is a glimmer of hope the league will become a superpower in the near future.

Just need to secure a TV deal.

G

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