SWINDON, UK – Continuing with what we Brits laughingly call summer, which means the dearth of both sunshine and hockey information rolls on, but one development worthy of note this week was the progress of the English Ice Hockey Association plans to introduce electronic gamesheets.
First mentioned, at least to me, by EIHA Chairman Ken Taggart some months ago following a discussion on the information available to fans, it was good to see the scheme has now been tested during a recent Sheffield 18’s tournament with the intention to introduce it into the EPL at the start of the coming season.
We all know the problems involved trying to follow some games even when we are actually in the audience like having to contend with a poor audio system, noisy fans, inaccurate announcements etc, so to do so remotely is even worse. In my own case, and I don’t suppose for a moment I am unique, I have on occasion received different times, goal scorers and assisting players for the same incident, and it isn’t until the gamesheet is viewed sometime later, in those cases where a club or fan makes that possible, that things become clearer. But even then, while not guaranteeing perfection, at least it is something better to work with, so to have the official report available on-line is a terrific step forward, and while not cheap to introduce, is a credit to our sport’s governing body.
Also ahead of the game this week are the Steeldogs who like last season have arranged two pre-season games against Elite League opponents, the Hull Stingrays, in early September bearing in mind the season kicks off earlier this time to allow next year’s the Coventry finals to occur sooner than normal. While it was the EIHL side who announced the fixtures had been ‘pencilled in’ for the 2nd and 6th of the month, even should they not come about for some reason, at least it shows the Steeldogs aim to carry on where they left off last time out.
But one player who will not be part of that programme is British forward Scott Morris who, after two seasons, returned to the ENL Spartans meaning he will stay in Sheffield where he has played since 2003.
Also headed towards the ENL is Bees’ forward Michael Bowman, who joins Billingham Stars after a year in Bracknell and six years with the Jets.
In Peterborough D-man Tom Norton, who left the Lightning in April for the EIHL Panthers in his native Nottingham, signed a 2-way contract that will keep him in the EPL with the Phantoms.
Also from Nottingham, but a lot further from home, is forward Sam Bullas who re-signed for the Wildcats. Bullas has also iced several times for the EIHL Panthers, and represented his country at Under 20 level and returns to the Wildcats for the third time.
The Jets added Lithuanian international ‘Mindy’ Kieras to their blue line for a second term, who finished last season as a top ten EPL D-man, plus British forward Josh Bruce who ended last season as the second highest points scorer for the Tigers.
The Phoenix re-signed former GBU20 forward Tom Duggan for a second time, and also confirmed the addition of Norwegian forward Joachim Flaten who signed two weeks earlier. Flaten is new to British hockey so will be one to watch, especially with Coach Tony Hand’s knack of rooting out talent.
But the lion’s share of the signings this week went to the Flames who managed to tempt Slovakian forward Jozef Kohut back for another season despite rumours he was calling it a day at 37. Kohut came to Britain in 2003 when he played for the Flames for five seasons before a short venture into Poland and a half-season with the Wildcats. Although he re-signed for the Swindon side, a year later he walked out early in the season in favour of his homeland. Last season he rejoined the Flames and now looks forward to his seventh season there.
Guildford will also be the home for another season to two Brits: D-man Neil Liddiard, who incidentally was born in Swindon and for whom he first played in 1993 before going on to play for his country at Under18, Under 20 and senior level, returns to Guildford for a tenth season where he is likely to pass the club’s all-time 1,031 penalty minute record; while forward Andy Hemmings re-signed for a seventh time over two spells with just a 2-year sojourn with the Bees.
So that’s it once again for another week. Enjoy the sun if you can find it.
For more EPL facts and figures, stats, news and a headline mailing list take a look at www.iceman-epl.com
Contact Bill.Collins@prohockeynews.com
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