LONDON, UK – The complete format for the National Ice Hockey League competition, Cup and Play-Offs was finalised this week after the biggest shake up of British hockey’s lower tiers in recent memory.
Any NIHL South 1 fans or players stuck in North Korea, the Arctic or even Alexandra Palace for the past two months unable to get a phone signal, will have returned to their 4G or Wi-Fi to discover that the world as they knew it had changed considerably.
For starters the NIHL South is no longer the third tier of British hockey. That’s right. The teams that resisted promotion for years, largely train once or twice a week on a modest budget and contain players who play mostly for fun with an eye on improving are now the second tier of the sport in the UK. Well some of them…
These NIHL teams are now joined by the remnants of the now defunct English Premier League, which in the South includes Basingstoke Bison, Swindon Wildcats, Bracknell Bees and Peterborough Phantoms. Some of whom recently played in the top flight and most of whom train to semi-professional timetables with imports flown over on a full time basis whilst operating on budgets in some cases at least four times larger than their new league rivals. They too have some players who play for fun of course but are semi-professional in the main.
Why has this situation happened? What happened to the EPL you ask? Simply google news on Telford Tigers, Manchester Phoenix, MK Lightning and Guildford Flames for your answer. Or if you would prefer to spend half an hour watching videos of Golden Retrievers swimming in a lake, we would suggest that as a more useful way to spend your time. Just file the EPL alongside the BNL, ISL, Premier League and others that lost their way through madness and the race for temporary glory.
Of course the NIHL South 1 as it was, had strength in numbers to at least dilute the effect of this influx of ex-EPL teams and subsequent uneven playing field. Indeed at the only meeting where all the clubs sit down together face to face they (and their new EPL friends) thrashed out a compromise of two six team conferences, quickly named and publicised by the EIHA in a spurt of excitement in May. The calm waters lasted as long as a pot of gravy in a Northern Toby Carvery.
Valiant competitors from last season Solent Devils mysteriously and immediately changed their mind, previously resurgent Oxford City Stars then couldn’t commit to a non-conference structure and league champions Chelmsford Chieftains, one can only assume decided that actually, it all sounded a little expensive to spend a season struggling against the odds so relegated themselves.
None of these club owners can be blamed for anything other than a dose of prudence and perhaps realism, and in fact Chelmsford actively avoided stepping up a league after each of their multiple league wins because they understood the financial implications of promotion. However the actions of all three clubs did their old league mates few favours.
Promotion by stealth with no trophy or new ‘Premier League’ status for marketing purposes was complete for the now famous five. Just increased costs and an unnaturally tougher playing field.
So from twelve teams that agreed to bite the bullet initially there are now nine (that magical league number everyone loves), with Invicta Dynamos, Streatham IHC, London Raiders, Cardiff Fire and Milton Keynes Thunder bravely stepping up to give the former EPL teams someone to play against, at least for a season.
The Cup competition announced this week could have been another chance to add variety to the fixture list, specifically for three of the old guard of the NIHL who entered it, alas it simply placed them in the same group as each other ensuring that the players and fans will get very familiar and on first names terms with the staff at the opposition’s rink cafe. ‘The usual hot dog and raspberry slush puppy Sandra?’ Ok love.
Long standing NIHL fans could only dream of a competition that brought the Chieftains, City Stars and Devils or even others to the table but alas no. Variety is for weirdos who buy those mini cereal multipack boxes. The NIHL South orders you eat only Bran Flakes for 2017/18.
For fans of the Bees, Wildcats, Bison and Phantoms they will become even more familiar as not only will they meet each other multiple times in the league and cup, but also in an Autumn Trophy that will certainly light up the hockey season like Blackpool illuminations or perhaps a dim bulb. Will the actual Autumn Trophy be the same one from decades ago with a touch of mould for authenticity? Will the Findus Cup make a return in future years? All questions on the lips of every long time British hockey fan.
Pro Hockey News has covered this league for eight years now on a regular basis and part of the charm has always been the enthusiasm, the fun and the camaraderie of the fans, players and coaching staff. It would be naive to think that with teams employing professional players and money playing a much bigger part in competition that we can cover the league in the same spirit, but we can of course try. To our new readers please don’t worry, this is the moaning piece of frustration to be followed by the usual light hearted coverage. Please understand that we have promoted NIHL South here for many years, are mourning its loss in its former state but when the puck drops all of us will be happy hockey is back.
Of course many of the players icing for the Bison, Bees, Phantoms and Wildcats are graduates of the NIHL, however their import signings thus far are more of a concern for league competitiveness. They will of course give it 100% but will the old NIHL teams be able to afford to pay and house imports of similar standard to Frantisek Bakrlik, Ales Padelek or Tomas Karpov for example?
We can only hope that all of the teams in the NIHL South 1 and indeed 2 retain their fan bases and produce an interesting on-ice product. The league will only be as strong as its weakest teams and those with the cash to flash would do well to remember that. It is an awareness that is rare in British hockey historically, even if the warning signs are all around.
Make no mistake that the summer of 2017 could put the lower tiers of the sport in uncertain waters for years to come. The EIHA have done their best to try and deliver a solution to an age old problem that hovers in the top tier and spits out and swallows teams causing havoc and re-organisation below. The EPL clubs dropping down are not to blame for where they find themselves, just another victim of the lack of cohesion from the Elite League downwards for clubs who want to be professional/semi professional.
Let’s hope NIHL South (and North) is a success, otherwise a few months in the arctic watching orcas toss semi-conscious seals above the water may be a less gruesome sight, with or without phone signal.
For the full EIHA Press Release click HERE
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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