Haringey season of woe

HARINGEY, UK –  Okay, go on, I’ll admit it, I’m a Greyhounds fan!   There, I’ve said it, and it feels good, but I’ve got to admit it could, and it should feel better. If it weren’t for the weekly antics of the much documented Dave “The Mouth” Richards, the sublime skating and sheer energy of Nick Gallagher or even the, until recently, goaltending prowess of Laura Saunders, the north London faithful and myself would have been having a miserable old time of it up in Alexandra Palace.
To put things in perspective though, the fortunes of the ‘Hounds off-ice have hardly been smooth as Jan Bestic recently handed his control over to TV hockey pundit Nick Rothwell who seems to have a clear vision for the team’s progression and despite the initial setbacks of a few bad results is keen to implement his plans.
 
The games themselves have not always been inspiring affairs either. The Hounds have a tendency to lose urgency and spirit when the scoreboard goes against them, and opposing teams pick up on it too readily which has resulted in too many scores heavily against Haringey but don’t actually reflect the game itself.
The talent that is Dave Richards has spent so much time in the penalty box

I suggest we rename it “Dave’s Office” and there’s been a couple of times where there’s so many players in there you’d be forgiven for thinking that they were holding a hockey themed party in it.
When Haringey skate clean, they skate good, and when they skate good they are a force to be reckoned with for any team on any given day.   Gary Dodds has also been vital in holding the team together during its darker times and without his ever-present energy and drive, Haringey would certainly have crumbled long ago.
You see, the Hounds have a tendency to get drawn into needless squabbles that, in turn, lead to needless penalties. Let’s face it, hockey’s a game that involves penalties as a part of its natural cycle, but good games have fewer penalties (okay the odd scrap’s part of the fun too, but hey, we’re only human) and Haringey would do better to stay out of the penalty box purely because it’s far too disruptive to their game. I may be speaking the obvious, but the Hounds can’t rely on Laura to fend off unwanted advances anymore despite an obvious talent in James Tipple, and Sergei Smollenko (coach) and Tim Partington (manager) have certainly got their work to do to get the Hounds into the upper echelons of the league where they can definitely hold their own against the Cardiff ENL Devils and Invictas of this world (okay Kent then!) It was 15–4 to the Dynamos in our last meeting I’ll give you that, but our time will come, just watch!
Contact the author comment@prohockeynews.com