British ice hockey – dying on its feet?

NOTTINGHAM, UK – British ice hockey has for decades been on a spin cycle in all directions and every few years it seems a league folds or teams drop out to lower levels. On occasions some move up a level, but without much in the way of structure between senior leagues, it’s hard for players to find a way out of junior ice hockey to the top table in the UK and beyond. Fans, generally, are sick of the problems going on year in year out, but it seems that there are plenty of talkers and few doers. There are fan groups set up to try and put pressure on the various governing bodies across the UK for change for the better, but there has been limited success.
British ice hockey has a simple structure on paper. Junior age groups from under-10s to under-18s then there is English National League 1 and 2/Scottish National League, English Premier League and then Elite Ice Hockey League which is the top league in the UK and where the majority of the best British players play. There is also an Northern Premier League that crosses some of the northern ENL sides with Scottish teams. However, the only way for clubs to move up via league promotion is between the two ENL leagues, that are split into two conferences north and south, with no crossover games. If a club wants to move from ENL to EPL they have to apply and be accepted. It’s a similar situation with the EIHL and the EPL, although the EIHL is it’s own governing body, completely separate from the English Ice Hockey Association who govern all junior hockey right up to EPL and the vast array of rec, women’s and university teams. All come under one covering body IHUK which is made up of representatives of all parties, although it’s hard to see at times just what IHUK do other than look after the national sides. From the brief description, you can see why the sport is in the mess it is. Try explaining that to a new fan and see how quickly they lose interest in what you’re saying to them and not just with the ‘alphabet soup’ of information…

 In recent times though, more and more players and characters within the sport are beginning to voice their opinions and most believe that change can only come from within. Just recently Jeremy Cornish, Wightlink Raiders player-coach, spoke to Pro Hockey News about his dreams and plans for junior ice hockey on the Isle of Wight and how he plans to progress kids from u-10s to ENL level and beyond. Article here
Now former Nottingham Panthers star Marc Twaite, who had his career cut short by injury, has come out with his opinion on the structure of British ice hockey. Twaite gave his views on the current structure and problems in the sport
“One of the biggest problems we have with British ice hockey, and always will have, is that the Elite League is self-governed, therefore those in charge are only looking towards how it benefits them individually and not looking at the whole picture. We now have 3 directors running 6 out of the 10 clubs, and with a possibility of there only being 8 clubs in the Elite League next season due to the situations with Newcastle and Edinburgh (Both are struggling on and off the ice and there are no firm plans for next season yet) it makes it more of a 3 horse race and the league being very predictable. The only independent sides would be Dundee Stars and Belfast Giants. It would be interesting to see Neil Black (Owner of Nottingham Panthers and Braehead Clan) or Paul Ragan (Cardiff Devils and Sheffield Steelers) run an EIHL franchise out of the likes of Whitley Bay or the old Murrayfield rink in Edinburgh. It’s ok for them having the big arenas and the best facilities in the city centres. They’ve got it good and are very fortunate they have these facilities to promote their club and to market their business. Not everyone has those luxuries and have to make do in rinks that don’t match up to the facilities that are similar to the likes of the National Ice Centre or the Motorpoint Arena. It’s not just limited to the Elite League though. There are problems up and down the sport, but as the Elite is the biggest league, it gets the biggest scrutiny and it’s looked to to be the showpiece of the sport. Which is fine and great, but only if you have a firm foundation leading up to that level. You can’t build a cathedral without first putting the foundations in place.”
“I don’t agree with the richer owners of the bigger clubs bullying the smaller clubs in smaller rinks into a vulnerable place and that’s the bottom of the league and on the brink of existence. 18-2, 15-0 and similar score lines are not good for ice hockey or any supporter watching it. What the Elite League has done to Newcastle and Edinburgh this season is disgusting and eventually this will come back and bite them. ”
Twaite continued “The salary cap is broken time and time again in favour of those who choose to ignore the importance of the smaller rinks and clubs in British ice hockey, that have been the grassroots for many years again just to benefit themselves. Recently speaking with former director Paddy O’Connor, Chief Referee Simon Kirkham and several long serving supporters there comes across a great deal of frustration towards how the sport is being run and them knowing it’s not going forward the way it should. If the sport wants a bright stable future, then those in control at present require a sensible business plan and structure from an independent governing body and stick to it. If rules are broken they should be penalised and fined and this has to come from a board of directors that can’t manipulate the situation as and when it suits them. I cant see the current structure being a way forward for British ice hockey and it’s not fair on the supporters that week in week out somehow find the money to support there home team, when this season there’s been 2 or 3 home games at times due to the crazy fixture list. Everyone is suffering financially at the moment, so to ask families to spend out nigh on £100 for a weekend sporting event at our level is just ludicrous.”
Twaite went on “At the end of the day ice hockey is a minority sport and whether the supporters are watching 12 Brits and 6 imports doesn’t matter as long as they are entertained and they get value for money. It was fine with 3 imports and 15 Brits years ago in smaller rinks with average crowds of 2 to 3 thousand with all major sponsors like Cadburys, Smirnoff, Wella, BT, John Smiths, etc so what’s changed? The structure and mentality has changed and that’s down to those that are running it now only to benefit themselves. Twaite doesn’t just have those views. People within the set up have commented to him about things and how it’s run “Some of the emails I’ve received from within the Elite League make very interesting reading, but also shows the lack of organisation and forward thinking. It makes it all sound very amateurish, which in many respects it is. A lot of people give up their time to help run clubs, which is great, but if you want a professional league you need professional people involved on a day to day basis.”
Twaite has his own views on where changes need to be made and shared them with Pro Hockey News.
“Ice hockey in this country is not all about the Elite League, its about the EPL, ENL and Juniors and A and B teams at junior levels. People at all levels need to realise that to have a stable structure, everyone needs to be pulling together for the good of everyone else. There are small steps being made here and there between EIHA affiliated teams, but apart from between a couple of the EIHL sides and their local junior teams, there is little else going on. “There are several changes that need to happen starting with dropping the import limit in the Elite to 6 not 10 as they have done recently. This again shows lack of respect for our British players, but more importantly would help the smaller clubs to survive. A league like the old Heineken League of say 12-14 teams would be my idea of a way forward. Bringing back the likes of Fife, Manchester, Bracknell, Basingstoke, Milton Keynes and possibly Guildford and Slough. They need to understand that supporters want to watch different teams each and every week, not the same team back to back. That does nothing for the league, players and supporters at all. Why not spend the money of what 2-3 imports get at present and bring in 1 real stud that fans will love and our young British players will learn from? Their skills, experience and knowledge of the game will rub of on the younger players just like your Paul Adey’s, Rick Brebant’s, Steve Moria’s etc did for me and many others like me when I was learning my trade.
“A successful business whether that’s in sport of another industry starts at the top and in my opinion the mentality of those at the top at the moment is all wrong. How can a professional league that’s on Sky Sports not have a major league sponsor? Speculate to accumulate. In other words finance someone in that area and bring a major sponsor in to the league, time are hard but surely there’s a company out there will to pump in around 250k this would then be shared out equally amongst all clubs making it fair.
“Charity games, all star games, 20/20 tournaments and whatever else they decide to hold should go towards the cost of not just the senior teams but the juniors too. Said the former Great Britain international. “The British kids are there and making the difference, but we need to see more. The Elite League has brought in around 5 young British players in 3 seasons, maybe a few more but is this good enough? The likes of Craig Peacock, Stevie Lee, Robert Dowd, Robert Lachowitz and young Ross Venus in Coventry have made that step and look like real stars of the future because they were given the chance. Where were these guys 2-3 years ago? EPL, ENL and playing junior hockey and learning their trade. I’m sure there’s so many more out there that would make it if they got the chance and these need to be introduced as soon as possible. Can you imagine the headache Paul Thompson would have picking his final 23 for the world championships in a few years time if we had a mainly British league?”
It’s not all doom and gloom though. “By all accounts junior hockey has made massive strides in recent years and it shows with some of the young talent coming through. Not just those who eventually get the chance to shine at Elite League level but those who play in the EPL, ENL and junior leagues. These young guys must be treated with respect, must be fully insured and taken care of, just because they’re only 15-17 shouldn’t matter. The club should treat everybody the same and not cherry pick with insuring the best players only.”
“It wouldn’t go amiss having a School of Excellence program every summer in the off season at U14 and U16 level so the national coach Paul Thompson could see who’s coming through and if there’s a case of injuries, like his club side Coventry Blaze have had this term, who he and the other EIHL coaches could call up and give a chance to. I was fortunate along with many friends of mine that we were given the chance at the age of 14-16 to play for the seniors back then and due to only having 3 imports we all played regularly and got better through plenty of ice time. We had a full time job and were classed as semi-pro then but going into the likes of Durham, Whitley Bay, Billingham and Fife in those days made you grow into a young man very quick indeed!”
“All these young British players we spend years on training get to the age of 14 now and have nowhere to go apart from maybe rec hockey then retire. There’s been so many talented British guys wasted and now out of the game basically because there’s been an import in his way. This isn’t right and needs to be changed as soon as possible or in a few years time we won’t have the same standard of British players coming through. Look at the British team that looks like it will go to the World Championships this year. 3-4 of them are likely to be dual-nationals as it’s been deemed the British guys aren’t good enough. Why is that? Chances are a big reason is that when a game is tight a coach in the EIHL won’t trust an 18yr old British rookie. He’ll go with an old hand from abroad. How’s that kid meant to learn if you don’t give them the chance to play?”
Coming in part 2 we find out more about Marc Twaite and why British hockey should listen to him and people like him.
Pro Hockey News thanks Marc for his time and his honesty.
The views expressed in this interview are those of Marc Twaite and not necessarily those of the writer or Pro Hockey News.
Contact the author Pete.lewis@prohockeynews.com