Big Dave Sez….

SHEFFIELD, UK – I hope you all enjoyed the Halloween festivities over the last weekend. Hopefully the clubs that brought out limited Halloween jerseys will have also had a good Halloween, with the shirts potentially bringing in a fair penny to the clubs coffers. However it is not just Halloween that sees clubs tripping over themselves to bring out limited edition jerseys. At one time, you would only have the home and away jersey that the player wore that season. If they were in Europe, you might have one for that, and if you were really lucky, you’d have one for the play-offs. That was it. Now, there is a shirt for every occasion, Christmas, Valentines Day, St Patricks Day, St David’s Day and each and every tournament that takes place (even pre-season competitions) finds a game worn shirt available for your favourite player. One player might find up they were over ten jerseys throughout the season – and that will exclude the play-off jerseys that the league now organises. Are all these game-worn shirts thrown into the market each season a necessary evil, or just another excuse for clubs to milk the resource that they know will produce the goods each and every time? From a business aspect, it would be difficult for clubs to ignore the financial benefits that having a game worn auction bring to a club. I have heard club owners’ brag that a particular shirt auction fetched in over £5,000 in just one auction; the sort of money no-one can turn down, especially in the current economic climate that we find ourselves in. With those amounts of figures raised, you have to ask how on earth a sporting jersey can bring in so much money, in a sport that is not one of the major sports in the UK. The game-worn shirt culture that has come over from North America, where game worn shirts are sold by professional organisations, owning the shirt of your favourite player gives you a piece of memorabilia that no one else will own. However, the problem that can be created, is the resentment by fans who cannot afford to pay £200, £300 maybe even £400 that some of the auctions end up getting to, and finding the same people buying the same shirts in a ‘look at me’ type attitude. In no way can the clubs can be at fault for this resentment being caused within their own fan bases, however they can help by reverting to special raffles where a ticket costs £5 (for example) and you choose the shirt that you want, and it is great to see clubs starting to adopt this method of distributing game worn shirts albeit very slowly. This is not to suggest that clubs should adopt a ‘community project’ in terms of selling the shirts, however if you were to sell 2,000 tickets at £5 a ticket, this would make more money for the club, than an auction. If clubs are reliant upon game worn shirts to help them get through the season, then maybe five or six raffles at the figures above, would not only be financially beneficial, but also allow the fan base a fair chance to get a game worn shirt.

What a ten days for the Edinburgh Capitals; taking on the Sheffield Steelers and the Nottingham Panthers, and not only winning two of the 3 games (with the other game a very tight loss in Nottingham) but also lighting the lamp on no fewer than 13 occasions. I am a big fan of Doug Christiansen, and the team that he has brought to Scotland this season. Forget the fact that the Capitals have the most ex-NHL’ers in their roster compared to any of the other teams, his team this season has a hidden depth about them which will get them through games which they would not have come through in previous campaigns. It’s a big shame that Doug was injured in Edinburgh’s first game of the season, and it looks like he will be out for the vast majority, if not the whole of the campaign. Not only is he a good player, but he is a character as well, something which the league is very short of. Watching him on-ice, listening to his interviews on the radio, and seeing how he interacts off the ice is clear that Edinburgh have found a gem of a character that has been lacking north of the boarder. Not only will I look forward to seeing him again in Sheffield soon, but I also wish him a full and speedy recovery. Seeing all the players that I have so far, I am going to already chuck in one nomination for Elite League MVP in Cody Rudkowsky. I believe him to have the potential to be MVP because he makes a massive difference to his team, and he gives his side a chance to win every game, and although this Edinburgh team is more gifted than previous campaigns, he is the one player that I believe turns them from an ok side, to a good side. If you are reading this north of the border, and you have nothing to do on a Sunday night, check out the Capitals, I’m confident that you will not be disappointed. This weekend sees the second edition of the biggest rivalry in UK Ice Hockey at the National Ice Centre, between the Nottingham Panthers and the Sheffield Steelers. These fixtures are normally high paced, full of action and full of noise from both the home and away fans. What also comes with these fixtures is the publicity which at times can move it away from what it is, and that is just a game. The last time these two teams met in the NIC for a league fixture was March 7th, and the build up I felt for that game was how this fixture should be (minus the circumstances) Maybe because I was unfortunate to have an emotional attachment to that particular fixture, but for me, the build up from both clubs rightfully spoke about respect. Respect for both clubs, respecting the fact that they wanted to win this fixture but also not showing any disrespect or cheap point scoring. In turn this allowed the fans to build up the rivalry part of this fixture, and in my opinion created an atmosphere and moments before during and after that fixture, which will go down in the history of the Sheffield Nottingham rivalry as one of greatest games that ever took place. For me, it’s important that it’s the fans that build up the rivalry, and not the PR from either camp. It is the fans who want our respective clubs to win, and will gloat as and when we do get the win. We will also be the worst person to talk to, if the result does not go our way. What both set of fans will appreciate and respect is the game of hockey, more so than any attempts to energise the fan base by a PR. Both sides will want big hits, both sides will want the gloves to drop, and both sides will want goals galore, but at the end of it both sides will have their moment of gloating/sulking (dependant upon the result) but then RESPECT the opposition fan base. At times I feel that PR’s from both camps moves away from showing the right level of respect that keeps everything on an even keel. I don’t know how the build up will take place, but I really do hope in next week’s column that we talk about how they’ve got it right for once. As for a prediction, my heart obviously says an away win, but my head is not sure, let’s just hope that it’s an entertaining game for all the fans. Hope you enjoy your game at the rink and until next weekend. Big Dave Contact the author Dave.grant@prohockeynews.com EDITOR’S NOTE: Since going to publication, the Steelers lost to Nottingham Panthers and prior to tonight’s games were in fact 8th of 8 teams in the EIHL.