Possible 2020-21 Season Structures

In this blog post, I take a look at some possible season structures for the EIHL, depending on when play can actually start.

Last season Sheffield, Nottingham, Dundee and Glasgow had 33 weekends from the start to the finish of the season and everyone else had 32 weekends. The EIHL recently announced that the 2020-21 season is currently scheduled to start on 2 October and finish on 24 April, which is only 30 weekends.

Whilst 2 October is the slated start date, we don’t know if it will actually start then. Let’s explore some possibilities.

I’m basing my structures on the following criteria, up to the point they are still viable:

• The cup will continue to exist. It’s sponsored. It’s on TV. Cardiff pay money to host it.
• The playoffs will exist as usual. No, we aren’t going to go to 5 game playoff series.
• There will be a weekend off for internationals.
• The Magic 5 weekend will happen. The league probably can’t afford for it not to.
• Fixture densities can’t go much above 2.5 games per week – ie, clubs must have around half of the midweeks spare. Player welfare is important.
• I’m counting every weekend as two possible fixtures for clubs. Yes, I know that there can be triple headers but players need a rest. They can’t play 3 games per week all season. Some of the midweek dates could be triple headers but there’s still only so many you can put into a season.
• I’m largely ignoring that Cardiff and Sheffield are in Europe. Clubs in Europe always have a tougher time with fixtures. “It is what it is.”
• I know that not all clubs play the same number of games now (6 or 8 cup group games, and it depends on how far clubs get in the cup and playoffs) but I believe the structures need to be worked out on the maximum number of games – Again, players can’t be expected to play 3 times per week all season.
• Once we go past 2 October, nothing is ideal. There is no perfect solution.

Starts 2 October

Let’s assume that we have exactly the same season structure as last season. 54 league games, a maximum of 13 cup games and a maximum of 4 playoffs games. That’s a maximum of a 71 game season. Add in the Magic 5 weekend and it’s 72 games.

The first weekend of the season sees a lost game date due to the Magic 5 weekend (each club only plays once) and there is the international break. That leaves 28.5 weekends and 29 midweeks.

28.5 weekends is 57 game dates and half of the 29 midweeks is 15 game dates. That’s 72 game dates for a maximum 72 game season. This means that the existing structure is doable.

However, it is clear from the above that for the existing structure to happen, the league cannot start late.

Starts 30 October

A 30 October start gives 24.5 weekends and 25 midweeks, which is 62 game dates (keeping the Magic 5 and international break). To fit in a 72 game season would require teams playing 23 out of 25 midweeks and that is never going to happen.

62 games dates and a 54 game league season (plus the Magic 5 game) would leave 7 dates for the cup and playoffs. The playoffs will continue to be 4 games, so that’s 3 dates for the cup.

Can the cup be played in 3 dates? No, but it can be played in 5 to 7 dates. Scrap the cup groups. The top 6 teams from last season qualify for the quarter finals (Cardiff, Sheffield, Coventry, Belfast, Nottingham and Guildford). The bottom 4 then have home and away knockout ties to get the final two quarter final clubs (Glasgow v Fife, Manchester v Dundee).

This gives a maximum 66 game season in 62 game dates (which means 17 games in 25 midweeks). It’s not ideal but it will just about work.

Starts 27 November

A 27 November start gives 20.5 weekends and 21 midweeks (keeping the Magic 5 and international break), which is 52 game dates.

The cup remains with the 4 team play-in for the quarter finals, as per the 30 October scenario. The playoffs continue to be 4 games. Magic 5 weekend is 1 game. That’s 12 dates, which leaves 40 dates for the league.

It is clear now that there would need to be a substantial change to the league structure. Playing each club four times would be 36 games. Two 5 teams conferences, with one home and one away game would add in 8 more games. That’s a 44 game league season (plus the Magic 5 game).

A maximum 56 games in 52 games dates.

Starts 25 December

I know we aren’t going to play on Christmas Day but it’s 4 weeks on from the previous date, just go with it.

A 25 December start gives 16.5 weekends and 17 midweeks (keeping the Magic 5 and international break), which is 42 game dates.

The cup remains with the 4 team play-in for the quarter finals, as per the 30 October scenario. The playoffs continue to be 4 games. Magic 5 weekend is 1 game. That’s 12 dates, which leaves 30 dates for the league.

Playing each club twice would be 18 games. Two 5 teams conferences, with two home and two away games would add in 16 more games. That’s a 34 game league season (plus the Magic 5 game).

A maximum 46 games in 42 games dates.

Starts 22 January

A 22 January start gives 12.5 weekends and 13 midweeks (keeping the Magic 5 and international break), which is 32 game dates.

I think this is the point where you have to say that the cup is no longer viable and I would cancel it. The playoffs continue to be 4 games. Magic 5 weekend is 1 game. That’s 5 dates, which leaves 27 dates for the league.

Playing each club twice would be 18 games. Two 5 teams conferences, with one home and one away games would add in 8 more games. That’s a 26 game league season (plus the Magic 5 game).

A maximum 31 games in 32 games dates.

Starts 22 February

A 22 February start gives 8.5 weekends and 9 midweeks (keeping the Magic 5 and international break), which is 22 game dates.

The playoffs continue to be 4 games. Magic 5 weekend is 1 game. That’s 5 dates, which leaves 17 dates for the league.

Playing each club twice would be 18 games.

A maximum 23 games in 22 games dates.

There’s no viable season after this date.

Overview

2 October – Full season
30 October – Full league season, usual playoffs, no cup groups
27 November – League x4 games, 5 team conferences x2 games, usual playoffs, no cup groups
25 December – League x2 games, 5 team conferences x4 games, usual playoffs, no cup group
22 January – League x2 games, 5 team conferences x2 games, usual playoffs, cup cancelled
19 February – League x2 games, usual playoffs, cup cancelled

Summing up the 2019-20 season and who to retain for next season

The EIHL came to a sudden halt this week due to the Coronavirus outbreak, with the league announcing that all the remaining games had been cancelled.

I was asked an interesting question recently, which I’m still not sure I can answer:

“Has the season been a success for Sheffield?”

On the face of it, this is an easy question. We won the Challenge Cup and we still had a great chance at winning the league going into March. Put that into the context of the last couple of seasons and it’s been a very good season for the Steelers.

BUT, and this is a big one for me…

We are a club that is built around winning the league. The league is everything. Nottingham can win all the cups they want but we want to win the league.

We’ll never know what might have happened over the remaining three weeks of the season but it was likely that Cardiff would have won the league. We needed to win all our remaining 5 games and Cardiff needed to lose 4 of their remaining 8 for us to finish above them.

Not to take anything away from Cardiff but we blew it.

The back-to-back defeats against Dundee and Fife were unacceptable. They were embarrassing. Too many players played like they didn’t care or they thought it would be easy.

Cardiff also had their ups and downs, but, frankly, I don’t care what they do. Those two games were unacceptable for a team chasing the title.

We had the destiny of the title in our own hands, and we blew it.

Would I have accepted the outcome of the season last summer?

That doesn’t take into account changing circumstances throughout the season. The Cup Final win showed what we were capable of, up against the best in the league. I’ll never be satisfied with blowing a chance at a league title when we were in pole position.

The way the league season went and how we played in some games is the reason why I think we need significant roster changes over the summer. I’ll come to this later.

I’m not going to pretend though that this season hasn’t been a big step in the right direction.

We won the Challenge Cup for the first time since I’ve been watching the Steelers and it was a great final. The two best teams in the league slugged it out and we came out on top. Connolly’s spin-o-rama for Vallerand’s goal will stay long in the memory. The players should be very proud of the performance they put in.

The hockey we have played at times has been thrilling to watch. We have so many game winners (mavericks?) in the team that we rarely ever seemed out of games and there was always hope that we might come back from losing situations.

The biggest thing from this season, along with the Cup win, is that the Steelers are back. We. Are. Back. And we should be incredibly grateful to Aaron Fox and Tony Smith for that.

I would like to say how impressed I’ve been with Fox. He’s got the right attitude, can clearly bring in great players and I’m sure he’ll make us better in the summer.

On to who I’d retain and release for next season. One of the things I think we have a problem with is that we have too many individuals in the squad, too many game winners and not enough game grinders. We didn’t have the right balance.

Retain – Brits,  Troncinsky, Armstong, Connolly, DeLuca, Eberle, Sandstrom, Vallerand

Release – Duba, Bettauer, Johnson, Liwing, Kolehmainen, Lemtyugov

Not sure – Brodeur, Hrabal, Davies

Reasons below:

I’d obviously keep all the Brits, so there’s not a lot to discuss there. I’ve said before that I have great worries about Robert Dowd’s injuries and I proved right again this season. We have to find a back up plan for him for when it happens again. That doesn’t necessarily mean having a Brit who can come in for him but it does mean having flexibility in the line up so that we can try to mitigate as much as possible him being missing.

Retain:

Troncinsky  – Easily the best D-Man we had this season other than Kuukka. He’s  real threat up the ice too.

Armstrong – I said in the summer that I wanted him to be a third liner and that’s still where I’d want him. As a third liner, I definitely keep him next season.

Connolly – Unbelievably frustrating during the first 6 weeks of the season, when he continually kept being an idiot. Once he settled down a bit he was regularly outstanding. I want the Connolly from the last 3 months.

DeLuca – A game winner. Stick him on the third line with the Rupert brothers and he’d still win you games.

Eberle – The man is a machine and future captain material. His workrate every game is through the roof and he contributes with goals and points too.

Sandstrom – I love his attitude. He works really hard and deserves a spot in the team next season.

Vallerand – He’s top quality goalscorer in this league. There’s no way I want him playing elsewhere next season,

Release:

Duba – He was fantastic at times. His performance in the cup final was stunning. He’s not going to win us the league though. His rebounds from shots out wide are brutal.

Bettauer – I know he has a university deal, so I don’t know if we would release him but I would do so. If he isn’t good enough to get into the line up regularly this season, why would he be next season? If we do keep him then it has to be as a spare import.

Brocklehurst – He’s too soft and commits some silly penalties at times. We need to upgrade.

Johnson – He looked poor after returning from injury. I’d love to keep him on as a coach and perhaps an emergency back up player but he doesn’t get a roster spot for me.

Liwing – Similar to Bettauer. If he can’t get in the line up regularly this season then why would he be good enough next season?

Kolehmainen – I think we can get the defensive work he does from someone else but with more production. A disappointment really.

Lemtyugov – I know so many people like him and when he wants to play, he’s great. He goes missing far too often though and is a liability defensively.

Not sure:

Brodeur – I have no way of knowing how good he is

Hrabal – I think he’s good enough for us but his injuries worry me. He was injured twice in a short spell. Will he be reliable?

Davies – I’m just not sure about him. It seems like at times as though he wants to be the class clown. His talent is without question. If we didn’t have Connolly, DeLuca and Vallerand then he might move into the retain category, but I think we might already have enough of his kind of player.

Lies, Threats and Learning Difficulties

As I’m sure you’re aware, the last couple of days have been eventful for me. Here’s what actually happened. I’ve no doubt that those who have already made up their minds will pick holes in this, there’s nothing I can do about that.

The Start

I tweet the above tweet. We’ve just lost to Guildford following recently having back-to-back defeats against Dundee and Fife, which we somehow followed up with back-to-back wins against Belfast and Nottingham.

Surely everyone got the point of my tweet? I was having a laugh at my own team continuing to blow its title chances against the smaller clubs. It certainly wasn’t an actual prediction of the future.

Well, I thought so anyway…

Anne

EIHL Rep picked up on my tweet (and another tweet that was actually a prediction, I really did think Nottingham were going to win the league). I don’t know if the person behind the account really thought it was a prediction or was tweeting it as a joke.

Note – I’ve anonymised the screenshots from the woman in question. My outstanding issue isn’t with her and I don’t think it is fair to bring her into this again but the timeline is important.

Anne (not her real name) replied saying that it was arrogant to know that a their team is going to win and isn’t a real hockey fan. Reminder – I “predicted” my team would lose (not an actual prediction in the first place, but anyway…), a point I made clear to her in a reply.

Anne then tweeted that I had previously said, until the day before, that the Steelers had the title in the bag. That’s a lie. I’ve never said this or anything like it.

OK, it’s hardly a great character assassination. I accept that.

Am I petty? Undoubtedly.

But something just annoyed me about it. Someone who I’ve literally never had an interaction pops up and says I said something I didn’t.

I think we can all agree that I’m one of the most pessimistic hockey fans there is. The most I’ve said at any point is that the title was in our own hands (as in, if we win every game we’d be the champions), nothing more than that.

I calmly and politely corrected the record.

I retweeted her tweet, asking for anyone to provide any evidence of me having said what Anne is accusing me of. No evidence has been provided.

There then followed the above exchange. She must have deleted a couple of tweets because they aren’t appearing now, or at least I can’t find them.

From memory, one of the tweets was her saying that I had been replying to Cardiff fans saying we’d win the league. Here are my final two tweets to her.

I wasn’t threatening. I started polite and calm. Yes, I became increasingly forthright but I didn’t threaten her. All I did was try to correct her lie and get her to stop saying it.

She then blocked me.

We’re going to skip forward in the timeline for a second, because this relates to what happened above.

Anne confirms that I did not threaten her before she blocked me.

Timeline Reminder

1. Anne and I have had a ding dong over me saying the Steelers would blow it (as a joke about my own club?) and her saying I said the Steelers had the title in the bag
2. Anne has blocked me
3. I wasn’t abusive
4. Anne confirms that the “threat” happened after she had blocked me

Threat Tweet

This is where the story gets difficult to tell. I know some of you will pick holes here and I can understand why but I’ll do my best anyway. I deleted the tweet I refer to below, so I cannot get a screenshot.

When I noticed that Anne had blocked me, I took a screenshot of her profile showing I was blocked and tweeted it along with a message. The tweet was not aimed at anyone in particular and hadn’t tagged anyone. It simply had the screenshot of her profile to show that she had blocked me, and something along the following lines:

“Blocked me because I didn’t like her telling lies. Tell lies about me and I’ll go after you”

I can’t remember the exact wording. If you remember me saying something else, please tell me. If you have a screenshot, please share it. I’m not only happy to correct the record, I actively want to.

The tweet was not meant as a threat to Anne (she’d already blocked me, so how could she see it?). What I meant was that if you tell lies about me, I’ll call you out on it like I did with her and you might not like it.

Mark Wale

Mark is a harmless guy – But we just do not get along. He has always looked for things to have a go at me about. Honestly, it’s exasperating to deal with. He often seems to misunderstand what I meant when I sent a tweet; whether that’s because I’m not good at communicating (although most others don’t seem to have this problem) or it’s deliberate? I don’t know.

Keep the above in mind when you see my responses to him below. I thought he was just on another wind up mission or just misunderstanding what I’d written (as usual).

Bully? What is he on about? Anne had told a lie about me, refused to listen to what I had to say, doubled-down on the lie and then blocked me. I’ll play along being dumb.

By which time, I’d had enough. Years of this kind of conversation with Mark where he’d misunderstood what I’d meant in a tweet and I blocked him.

I didn’t think anymore about it. Mark is usually wrong (my opinion, of course) and he’s wrong now. There was nothing wrong with my tweet, he’s just being daft.

Clarification

Following the conversation with Mark, I had a think and maybe he did have a point in how it was coming across, so I tweeted a clarification to the tweet.

I made it clear what I meant: You lie about me and I’ll call you out on it. I think that’s fair and most of you will agree with that.

That isn’t a “threat”, not in the way EIHL Sit Rep and Gareth mean it sound.

This was at 4:07pm

EIHL SitRep

EIHL SitRep replied to my clarification at 4:31pm.

Erm… yeah, that’s why I clarified the tweet. Obviously.

Not good enough for him apparently.

I make it clear here that the only threat I’m making is to call out lies and the only thing I’m apologising for is the wording of the tweet.

I am certainly not admitting to threatening Anne nor apologising for it.

I went a bit too far here. Anne wasn’t bullying me.

But… “Come out of it a better person”? Who on earth do you think you are?!

And now we get insults.

And more insults and I’ve had enough of that. I blocked EIHL SitRep.

At 5:13pm, EIHL SitRep notices that I’ve blocked him, saying I’d threatened someone (which I have already denied). The screenshot he uses is not of the original “threat” tweet but a tweet where I make it perfectly clear as to what I meant.

5:43pm Annoyed, I probably went slightly over the top here but anyway, it is what it is.

Recap

Anne blocks me after I call her out for lying about me (she admits the “threat” was after she blocked me so she cannot have blocked me for threatening her).

I’ve admitted that the wording of my tweet could have been better and I apologise, but I do not admit to threatening Anne and I clarify that I meant I’d call you out if you lie about me.

Gareth

To say that Gareth and I do not get along is an understatement. He has a clear agenda against the Steelers and me as one of their most vocal and controversial fans.

Gareth then pops up. He says Anne blocked me for threatening.

Reminder – This is a lie, this tweet from Anne proves it. She makes it clear that she did not block me for threatening her.

His very first tweet on this is a lie and he knows it. My “threat” tweet included a screenshot of her having blocked me. Doesn’t take a genius to work out in which order they must have happened.

I made it clear that she had blocked me before the “threat” and that I didn’t deny the wording (Actually, this wording is wrong it was “I’ll go after you” not “I’ll come after you”, same difference anyway).

Gareth then tells a second lie. He says I admitted to threatening her.

It’s quite clear that I didn’t do that. I admitted the wording could be interpreted that way but that isn’t what I meant. That’s a big, big difference. One implies intent, one implies carelessness.

Within two minutes of Gareth joining in, he’s already into telling multiple lies and twisting the story to suit his agenda against me.

There’s a load of nonsense tweets that don’t really develop the story and this is already long enough.

He again lies talking about threats and why Anne blocked me.

You get the idea.

I stand by this. I think he actually hates me. That’s fine. He never denies it, by the way.

I actually offered this up at one point. Let’s sort it out properly, like adults. He didn’t bother to reply.

Eventually I had enough of his proven lies and blocked him. I’m not sure why I even gave him so much time, to be honest. He’d told two lies in the first two minutes.

Mental Health

Here is where it gets really bad, as far as I’m concerned anyway.

Gareth and Michaela (his wife) decide to start posting harmful, hurtful and offensive comments about my mental health and wellbeing.

Gareth started it before I’d actually blocked him and I was tagged in this one.

I have a profoundly damaged psyche and need a slow process of observation.

I’ve apparently admitted to mental health problems in the past (two weeks off work due to work related stress, left Twitter for a bit as it was stressing me out).

It’s massive jump from there to saying I have mental health problems.

I’m a grotesque freakshow? A pathetic worm like creature?

Narcissistic personality disorder

Again using mental health against me, a tiny violin and saying I need to see a psychologist.

Again bringing up mental health and a bonus repeated lie about me admitting to threatening Anne.

Here’s his wife saying she suspected I had a learning disability.

WHAT?!

I’ve got a porfolio of undiagnosed condition. I need to seek medical help.

And I should go to the GP.

You know what? None of this is OK. This is nothing short of disgraceful.

Here’s the kicker with Gareth. He’s tweeted about mental health in the past, I won’t go into the details. He was one of those tweeting about Caroline Flack and being nice to people.

Here he is, repeatedly lying about me and saying I have mental health issues, and his wife joins in.

This is not OK.

And On and On and On

Since then Gareth has continued to repeat the lies that I was blocked due to threatening Anne, that I threatened her, and that I have admitted threatening her

Summary

I have no issue with Anne other than the fact she told a lie about me and refused to accept what I was saying. I probably could have left that alone but I didn’t.

The wording of the “threat” tweet wasn’t great but I did quickly clarify what I meant by it.

Gareth having had a personal grudge against me (and the Steelers) saw an opportunity to attack me.

He deliberately mixed up the timeline by saying Anne blocked me for threatening her (when she makes it clear that she blocked me before), and he says I admitted threatening her (which I didn’t).

He then speculated about my mental health and his wife says she thought I had learning difficulties. This is unacceptable.

Gareth conducted a deliberately misleading campaign against me, changing the order of events to try to make it look worse and making up things that never happened. He then proceeded to make harmful, offensive and damaging comments about my mental health.

Is Gareth EIHL SitRep? I don’t know for sure but that would put another spin on this.

There’s a word for someone who does this…

Update

I’m certain that Gareth is also EIHL SitRep

In this thread he replied with his personal account to a comment made by the EIHL SitRep account.

Which means he used multiple accounts to attack me. Even when I blocked the EIHL SitRep account, he came back at me with his personal account.

Repeated lies?
Wild accusations about my mental health?
Attacking me with multiple accounts?

That’s harassment.

 

 

Midweek Mailbag #1

This is the first in what I hope is a regular series of my Midweek Mailbag.

The idea is that you send me queestions and comments and I pick a few to response to.

Let’s get at it.

Most people seem to really like our current squad of players. Although, some still say us and games are a bit tame at times. What ingredient/type of player would you like to see us add into the mix next season? Mark Pashley @steelermark

I like our squad too. It’s got to be he most exicting one that we’ve put together for the best part of a decade. I do think we need a bit of toughness in the team as we are susceptible to rough stuff from the opposition and, let’s be honest, people like to see phyiscal play. I’d like us to have a Zack Fitzgerald/Colt King type of player again but they have to be able to play too. It doesn’t harm Cardiff to have Mark Louis and Belfast always have some tough guys too.

Given the past 2 years at Steelers, what would be considered as success for Fox this year? Silverware, Playoff Final?Considering the above answer, again, what does success look like in 20/21? Jake @jakeshfsteelers

I think in some ways that this season has already been a success. We feel like the Sheffield Steelers again.

The last two years have been awful. I said at the start of the season that my hope this year was that we would still have a chance of winning the league going into March. I didn’t expect us to win the league and I still don’t, I think Cardiff will edge it. I’d like to think that we also get the cup final or playoffs final.

Next season? We must win a trophy. Can I say that must be the league? It’s tough but we know the expectations at this club. If we don’t win it then we must be very, very close.

What are your thoughts on the rule that dual nationals can play for GB but cant play at club level as a Brit if they didnt train here? Mal @mal19541

I think it is right that you must have trained here as a junior to not count as an import, but once you’ve qualified to play for GB then you shouldn’t count as an import anymore. Take the example of Liam Stewart, he’s probably having his career harmed, as he would take up an import slot. I don’t see how that benefits British ice hockey.

Next year with the import numbers going down and more under 25 players to be added,do you think this will effect the talent and style of play? Also this year has been miles better will it effect the game across the board? Victoria Smethhurst @funkyv_vikki

I think this is a misguided rule change and I could write an entire blog post about it! There are a number of points to the roster changes to look at.

Under 25s instead of under 23s – I agree with this. There aren’t many 23 year old imports in the league, yet British players are only given until that age to prove themselves.

13 imports – This is where there is a going to be an issue and I don’t think it will improve anything, even the competitiveness of the league. The small clubs already don’t play a full contingent of Brits, so why asking them to play an extra one is going to help, I’ve no idea. The big clubs will now need an extra Brit, where are they going to come from? The small clubs.

20 man game squads – This just means that young players won’t get as much opportunity to be on the bench and possibly get a few minutes here and there (although some of them may play more due to the reduciton in imports).

Will the quality of the league go down?I think all it will do is make the big clubs even more stronger compared to the small clubs. I think generally there won’t be a huge decrease in quality though.

Leeds Chiefs Fundraising

What follows is frankly one of the strangest things I’ve ever had to write.

First, a bit of background: I used to be on the committee at Liversedge FC. In 2017 we suffered a similar loss of vital equipment. I set up a Just Giving page and was able to raise £1,181 for the club. Not only that but Leeds United invited us a training session at Elland Road, donated some training gear and we got to meet Thomas Christiansen, who was the manager at the time!

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/liversedge-fc

We've been at @LUFC today. They've kindly made a donation of training kit, tracksuits and bench coats following our recent burglary.

Many thanks to James Mooney and @andrearadri for their help. They are a great credit to their club. We are a touched by their kindness.#lufc pic.twitter.com/uAqUmFlX1G

— Liversedge FC (@Liversedge_FC) December 14, 2017

It’s easier if I write the events that have happened over the last few days as a timeline.

19 November

11:00pm: I saw a message from Sam Zajac, head coach of the Leeds Chiefs, saying that the Chiefs had had a lot of equipment stolen.

Given the loss the Leeds Chiefs had suffered, and my previous experience with Liversedge FC, I thought it would be a good idea to set up a Just Giving page to see if I could put my Twitter account to good use and drum up some donations from my 2,000 followers.

I deliberately did this using my @steelers_1991 Twitter account details on the Just Giving page, rather than my @leedschiefsfan account, so as to not have any confusion that it might be endorsed by the club.

11:20pm: The Just Giving page went live and I posted links to it with both my Twitter accounts.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/leedschiefsequipment

11:39pm: I copied the club into a reply on my @leedschiefsfan account, so that they could see that I had set up the Just Giving page.

https://twitter.com/LeedsChiefsFan/status/1196936079246594050

20th November

3:41pm: Matt Lloyd (Planet Ice) sent a tweet implying that I could be a fraudster and that the club was unaware of the campaign (see above).

The Chiefs are completely unaware of the JustGiving campaign so there is no guarantee any money donated would end up with the Chiefs

— Matt Lloyd PLY (@MattLloyd_UK) November 20, 2019

4:25pm: I phoned Planet Ice and spoke with Heather McDermott (formerly/currently involved with Planet Ice Leeds). She said that I should email Simon McGuinness (I believe he runs Planet Ice Leeds) about the Just Giving page and confirmed that Matt Lloyd works for Planet Ice.

4:37pm: I emailed Simon McGuinness explaining what had happened. Unfortunately the email bounced as I got his email address wrong.

6:46pm: Matt Lloyd again tweeted implying that I could be a fraudster.

They are aware of the equipment being stolen but they were not aware of the fundraising. Any money donated will be going to a third party who then may or may not pass the money onto the club.

— Matt Lloyd PLY (@MattLloyd_UK) November 20, 2019

I replied saying that I had spoken with Heather McDermott.

6:53pm: Matt Lloyd sent me a direct message saying that Heather no longer works for the Chiefs. I replied to say that I’d contacted Simon McGuinness and that he should refrain from publicly implying that I’m a fraudster.

7pm: I got the most bizarre of responses. Matt Lloyd said that I should have asked permission to set up the Just Giving page.

During this time, the Leeds Chiefs Supporters Club, who I’m not a part of but am known to, were tweeting Matt Lloyd to tell him that they know me and that I can be trusted. This clearly had no effect.

7:57pm: Having seen that the email to Simon McGuinness had bounced, I tweeted him and messaged him on Twitter.

21 November

1:34pm: I was finally able to find the correct email address to Simon McGuinness and email him again to explain who I am and what I’d done.

7:03pm: I direct messaged Matt Lloyd on Twitter, the message was read but I received no reply.

7:20pm: The Leeds Chiefs put out the following statement

pic.twitter.com/hxaYLkuNn7

— Leeds Knights (@Leedsknights) November 21, 2019

8:04pm: I contacted Matt Lloyd to say that I needed to speak with some that night. Probably unreasonable but if the club are still tweeting at night time, there’s someone who can talk to me. He said he would talk to me the next day in office hours. I told him that I would speak to anyone at Planet Ice except him and gave him my phone number. He told me that someone would call me on the 22nd.

22 November

7:21pm: This is the time now as I’m writing this. I’ve not had any calls, messages, tweets or emails from anyone at Planet Ice or the Leeds Chiefs, other than Matt Lloyd on the 20th and 21st.

All I’ve done is to set up a Just Giving page to try to help out the Leeds Chiefs, a Planet Ice team. A private company. Why? Because I care about hockey in this country and I want the Leeds Chiefs to be a success.

I’ve phoned, emailed, tweeted and messaged various people at Planet Ice and the Leeds Chiefs to try to sort this out.

What did I get in return? Matt Lloyd of Planet Ice publicly implied that could be a fraudster. He then tried to belittle me by saying that I should have asked for permission to try to help out. Then I was ignored. I’ve not had an apology from Matt Lloyd for implying I could be a fraudster. I’ve had no thanks for Planet Ice for trying to help them out.

The Leeds Chiefs are a brand new team. They still don’t have a rink to play in. It’s not difficult to imagine that their income is low. They need all the support they can get. It makes the way they’ve treated me, a potential fan and someone trying to help them, all the more frustrating.

Anyway, I’ve now had enough of all this and I wish I hadn’t bothered. I’ve sent an email to Just Giving asking them to close the page and refund the donations. The donations had reached £282, what a great pity.

Twitter and Me

Some of you may have noticed that I recently left Twitter for a little while. I probably will again soon for a bit.

I see there has been a bit of speculation about why I left, with some supporting me and others not.

I’m sat on the train on the way home from London and thought it might be worthwhile if I explained some things. Even if it’s not worthwhile, I’ve started now, so I might as well continue.

1) Taking A Break

I primarily deactivated my Twitter account because it was starting to take over my life too much. I’m actually far busier than it may seem sometimes, especially so over the last month and going into August. Twitter can become addictive and I need to take a break from it. Someone I respect advised me to take a break and I listened to them.

2) Abuse

Can it be hard to deal with the abuse people lash out sometimes? Yeah, I guess so. More in that it gets me annoyed rather than upset. It makes me want to argue back and it’s hard not to do so. The thing is though, unless we already have an amicable relationship and you’re someone I’m respect, it really does mean nothing. What would you do if someone you don’t know and don’t speak to popped up on one of your tweets saying you shouldn’t have posted something? You probably wouldn’t listen to them. If that was someone you respect then it might be different.

3) Blocking

It’s my account. I’ll block who I like. It doesn’t mean you’ve “won”. It means I don’t want to waste my time dealing with you. Having said that, I’ve unblocked most people I’d previously blocked. Start being an idiot again and I won’t hesitate to block again. You won’t be missed.

4) Ben O’Connor

I never once said I wanted Ben O’Connor to be injured. I said I hoped someone “smashes” him. As in, “treat him like any other opposition player”. It was in response to the club promoting a game based on him playing against us rather than our own new players playing for us. Having seen how those players did last year, maybe they had a point! I notice Simms recently said that Wallace and Matheson are “the enemy” and should be “put to the sword”. I meant it in exactly the same way.

5) David Simms

I don’t like him. He doesn’t like me. Yes, he drags me down to his level and I should try to avoid that but it’s difficult.

6) Brandon Tweet

I meant it as a joke, one that obviously didn’t land. Fair enough. I’ve no real issues with him personally other than I hope he’s playing elsewhere next season.

7) Criticism of Players

It’s my account. I’ll criticise the players’ performances as much as I like. Last year was completely unacceptable in every way. I’ll equally praise them if I see fit.

8) Players’ Personal Lives

I’ll try to not comment on this anymore. However, there are a number of players who should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves as human beings.

9) Criticism of the Club

It’s my account. If the club does something stupid or idiotic, then expect me to comment on it.

10) Criticism of League

Again, it’s my account. If the league does something stupid or idiotic, then expect me to comment on it.

11) Paul Thompson

You cannot believe the amount of abuse I received because I stuck my head above the parapet and said I wanted Thompson to be sacked. You may not forgive me for looking back at Thompson’s reign but it’s my account. I’ll use it as I like.

12) Leaks

Where do I get my info from? Well, I obviously can’t tell you. It wouldn’t be fair on those who give it to me. I can confirm though that I’ve never hacked anyone’s emails and I haven’t betrayed any confidences. I have no direct access to private information. If the club and the league want leaks to stop then they need to stop telling everyone news that hasn’t been announced. Why do I pass on news and rumours I’ve been given? Because a big sport has those things. They’re talking points. Look at any newspaper about football.

13) You Don’t Like Me

If you don’t like what I post that’s fine. You don’t have to. You really don’t. I honestly don’t mind. Block, mute, unfollow. Whatever you want to do.

14) Other Clubs

It’s my account. I’ll comment on what other clubs are doing. It doesn’t mean I’m obsessed (especially you, Coventry). It means I’m an EIHL fan.

15) Idiots

No, I’m not going to meet up in person with you to have the same argument we’ve had on twitter or to have a fight. Grow up.

16) Caricature

I think I may have allowed my account to become a bit of a caricature of me. I definitely don’t think it represents who I am as a real life person.

17) Future

I’m not entirely sure what the future of the account is or what I should use it for. Time will tell, I guess.

Anyway, I’m nearly home now. Let’s Go Steelers

Imports vs Brits

Fife Flyers coach Todd Dutiaume said yesterday that 14 imports in the EIHL is “far too much.” Here are my thoughts.

First a reminder of the rules – Clubs can name 22 players in their game day squad. A maximum of 14 of those can be imports and if there are more than 19 players named then the balance up to 22 must be under 23 Brits (ie if 20 players are named then there must be at least 1 under 23 Brit).

There are often three claims made to justify reducing the import numbers in the EIHL:

1. It is cheaper
2. It will increase the competitiveness within the league
3. It will increase the opportunities for British players to play

Cheaper

It is often said that an average import is cheaper than an average Brit. If Brits were cheaper then why is it only the “big” clubs that properly play 5 or 6 of them every night? If they are so cheap, why aren’t Dutiaume’s Fife playing 15 of them every night? There is nothing in the rules to stop them.

Simple economics dictates that the more you limit the supply of a commodity or increase the demand for it then prices go up. If there are 35 quality Brits for 80 places then those players will be in more demand and they can ask for higher salaries. If you then increased the number of required Brits to 120 the demand becomes even greater and the salaries become greater.

Competitiveness

Reducing the number of imports wouldn’t improve competitiveness, it would actually make it worse.

Lets imagine a scenario where we reduce the imports to 10. The “big” clubs lose their 4 worst imports and need to replace them with 4 Brits. Where are they getting the Brits from? The NIHL? No, they are going to get them from other EIHL clubs and they aren’t going to be signing those clubs’ worst Brits, they’ll be taking the best Brits they have.

The “big” clubs are probably near the standard they were before the import reduction. They’ve had to replace 4 imports with 4 Brits but at least they are Brits with EIHL experience.

However, lets think what situation Fife might be in. They may have now lost 4 imports (due to the reduction to 10) and their 4 best Brits who have gone to the “big” clubs. They now need to sign 8 Brits. Where are they getting them from? The SNL and NIHL. They’ve replaced 8 players with EIHL experience with 8 players from the SNL and NIHL. Good luck with that.

Opportunities To Play

The current game day squad rules mean that if every club named a full squad every night there would be at least 80 Brits named with at least 30 of them being under 23s.

It is a myth that there aren’t opportunities for British players in the EIHL Are there 30 under 23 Brits good enough to play in the EIHL? Can anyone name the 81st best Brit who is apparently missing out on playing in the league?

The fact we aren’t getting 80 Brits playing regularly in the league goes back to the two previous points – They aren’t cheaper than imports and it isn’t like there are 30 Brits not playing in the league who should be.

The EIHL is not a development league. It is (supposed) to be a professional full time league. The top league in the country. Just putting in players that aren’t good enough won’t help anyone.

Reducing the quality isn’t the answer. No sport improves by making itself worse.

Final Thoughts

I understand why people want the import limit reducing. However, I don’t believe the arguments that it will solve the issues the EIHL has around financial sustainability and competitiveness. I myself would like to see the import limit reduced in time but only when the supply of players is there to support it.

The thing that we really need to see is the EIHL, NIHL, SNL and the various UK ice hockey authorities to work together to come up with a long term plan and structure to develop British junior talent and provide a conveyor belt of players into the EIHL who are good enough to compete for a place. Unfortunately, I won’t be holding my breath.

Who To Retain? 2019

Now our season is over, I take a look at who we should retain and release this summer. When looking at my choices, you have to keep in mind that we’ve had one of our worst seasons ever, we’re miles behind Belfast and Cardiff and players have to fit into positions – we can’t have three 3rd line centres.

Retain

Deluca – The most exciting Steelers player since Jeff Legue. I believe that he’s already signed for next season. I have him on the 3rd line still.
Dowd – Probably the best British forward there is but he is injury prone. I have him back down on the 2nd line for next season.
Armstrong – He’s signed for next season anyway. He has been hampered since his return by never having regular line mates. I’d have him on the 3rd line.
Neiley – Hasn’t had as much of an impact as I’d hoped since he returned but he’s a no brainer for me. 3rd line.
Eberle – One of the few players we have who has a physical impact on games. I’m told he has signed for next season too. I’d have him on the 4th line due to his lack of offensive production.
Westerling – I don’t think we can ask for much more from a 4th liner. He puts in a lot of effort and is great on the penalty kill.
J Phillips – Captain Fantastic. He’s just had his best goal scoring season for 11 years. He’s down on the 4th line for next season.
J Whistle – He has a contract for next season. He is inconsistent, sometimes he’s brilliant and sometimes terrible. I wouldn’t trust him to be a starter for a championship contending team. I’d consider bringing in an import to start if we can get a Brit elsewhere.
Johnson – Our best defenceman and he has a contract already for next season.
O’Connor – One of the better GB defencemen, easy decision.
D Phillips – British
Brown – We have to find a way to give him some ice time but I’m not sure where. He showed last year that he has a lot of potential.
Griffin – No idea how good he can be but why not keep him on.

Release

Matheson – This was one season too many for him. Time to hang up the skates and move to being a permanent assistant.
Martinelli – Not good enough as an import, watches the puck too much, too soft at clearing out the crease.
McFadden – Improved as the season went on but he’s just not good enough.
McGrath – I actually think he’s done alright on the 3rd line but I doubt he’s on 3rd line money. It would have been a tough decision if we hadn’t already got Armstrong for next season.
Pitt – He scored quite a lot at the start of the season but hasn’t contributed much recently. He’s prone to making stupid mistakes and decisions. Not good enough to be a top 6 player.
Owens – I’d have him as a 4th liner but I already have those positions filled.
Zanoski – Hasn’t done enough since he came in.
B Whistle – He tries hard but I just don’t think he’s up to the standard.
Chubak – No point in him being here.
Day – Not a player I really want us to lose but it’s probably for the best for his career if he moves on.
Fredriksson – Not good enough to use an import spot on.

Line Up

That leaves us looking like this for next season

New – New – New
New – New – Dowd
DeLuca – Armstrong  – Neiley
Eberle – Westerling – J Phillips

Johnson – New
O’Connor – D Phillips
New – New

J Whistle
New

That’s 5 new forwards, all in the top 6, and 3 new defencemen that we’d need. I think that’s fair based on this season. There’s no way our top 6 gets into Cardiff or Belfast’s top 6. We’ve fallen a long way behind in recruitment and having a sensible clear out now is the start of fixing that.

 

Player of the Year

@steelthepuck opened an interesting debate today by asking who would be your choice for player of the year.

Jackson Whistle, Anthony DeLuca, Aaron Johnson, Tanner Eberle, Jonathan Phillips, Ryan Martinelli and Jonas Westerling were all mentioned as candidates. I take a look at each of them.

Jackson Whistle – GK – 48 games – 3.18 GAA – 89.93 SV% – Started the season inconsistently, sometimes he was brilliant and sometimes he was terrible, occasionally within the same game. He then became an unofficial number two to Matt Climie. Whistle has clearly grown in confidence since Climie left and he’s has been a standout player over the last 6 weeks, producing stats far above his season average. He’s deservedly won multiple man of the match awards and has single-handedly kept the Steelers in some games.

Anthony DeLuca – LW –  37 Games – 14 Goals – 5 Assists – DeLuca joined the Steelers on 6th November and it took him until 29th December and 14 games to score his first goal. Since then he’s been a revelation. He’s the team’s biggest threat going forward in most games and has become a firm fan favourite. He has been criticised more than once by the coach for his defence frailties. By the end of the season he’ll have played in about two thirds of our games this season. I think that’s on the borderline for eligibility, unless the player had had a major impact on turning the team around.

Aaron Johnson – D – 56 Games – 4 Goals – 16 Assists – Easily the best defenceman we have this season. Johnson stays calm, and does his job well and without fuss. He should be even better next season with some better teammates around him.

Tanner Eberle – LW – 57 Games – 12 Goals – 17 Assists – Tanner works hard every game. He’s often the only player bringing any physicality to our game and he’s a great on the forecheck. He’s a player you love to have on your team and hate to play against. His production hasn’t been good enough for someone playing on the second line but that’s more attributed to our poor recruitment as he shouldn’t be playing on that line.

Jonathan Phillips – RW – 60 Games – 10 Goals – 13 Assists – No one knows when Phillips was born but we’re fairly sure that the world was still in black and white. This year has seen him have his best goal tally since 2014 and he’s still got the speed to be a threat. He’s great on the penalty kill.

Ryan Martinelli – D – 60 Games – 6 Goals – 17 Assists – No.

Jonas Westerling – C – 48 Games – 7 Goals – 13 Assists – Jonas came back to the club on 4th October. It’s easy to see that he cares about performances and has a lot of pride. He’s a brilliant penalty killer and should get more ice time but is sometimes hampered by his fourth line teammates. I was critical of his re-signing but as a fourth liner I can see the value of having him. A player it’s very easy to like.

So who would my choice be? It’s a tough one but I’d probably go with a Jackson Whistle just ahead of Anthony DeLuca. We still hopefully have another month or so to go though and maybe someone will become the clear front runner.

What To Do With The Challenge Cup Final?

It’s the Challenge Cup final this weekend, with Belfast taking on Guildford in Cardiff. There has been much talk on social media about ticket prices and sales, and the merits of holding it in Cardiff.

This is the third year that the final has been played in Cardiff. It moved there after being in Sheffield for two years, presumably as a reaction to the poorly attended Nottingham v Cardiff final in 2016. I can understand the rationale behind the move. It limits the risk. However, it also limits the attendance and exposure.

Personally, I think it’s a great competition hampered by short-sightedness, and a lack of ambition and imagination. I appreciate that not everyone is a fan of it but we as a sport should be capable of so much more with this competition.

It currently looks like approximately 1,600 tickets have been sold for the final. This is nothing short of an embarrassment for the sport in this country. Here’s what I think we could do to improve that.

Venue

I would move the final back to Sheffield Arena.

8 of the 11 EIHL teams are closer to Sheffield (by drivetime) than Cardiff. Guildford is only marginally closer to Cardiff and it’s easier to get to Sheffield from Belfast than to Cardiff. This means that having the final in Cardiff is only good for Cardiff.

The Cardiff rink has a capacity of around 3,000. Whilst the attendance this year will be well under that, it would be seriously limiting should certain other teams make the final. Sheffield Arena has a capacity of 9,350.

Just moving the final to Sheffield is not enough though and the other measures below will need to be taken to fill as many of those seats as possible.

Scheduling

The final has to be played on a Saturday. This makes it much easier for those who can’t travel to the game and back in a day as it means they don’t need to take the Monday off work. Playing it on a Sunday makes no sense at all.

There were only 24 days between the second leg of the semi-finals and the final. This is no good for fans who need to book travel and hotels to be able to attend the game. I don’t have a problem with the final being in early March (we can’t play it in December or January due to Christmas financial pressures) but there should be a minimum of 8 weeks between the semis.

Ticket Prices

The price for a ticket to the year’s final is £22, regardless of whether you are 5 years old, 90 years old or a student. That’s a lot. For a family of 4 that’s £88 before you’ve even factored in travel, food and drink, and hotels. It will also be off-putting to any neutral fans who may have wanted to go (if they could afford to get there and on a Sunday).

The Sheffield Steelers can break even at Sheffield Arena with 4,000 fans paying £5 each. There would be no reason why the league couldn’t make a profit from a game at Sheffield Arena at £10 for adults and £5 for concessions.

Ticket Sales

Ticket sales should start much earlier than they currently do and neutral fans should be encouraged more to attend. Each club could be allocated a block similar to the the Playoffs weekend in Nottingham but with at least half of the tickets reserved for the eventual finalists.

Finishing the semi-finals more than 24 days before the final will also help with this.

Recap

• Move the final to Sheffield Arena
• Make it £10 for adults and £5 for concessions
• Play it on a Saturday
• Leave at least 8 weeks between the semis and the final
• Sell tickets earlier
• Sell tickets to all clubs and allocate them a block like the Playoffs weekend

It’s important to not just fixate on this year’s finalists and think that a Belfast v Guildford final would be a disaster in Sheffield. A longer term view needs to be taken and one poor year would be compensated by other good years. Look at the last 10 finals:

Cardiff v Nottingham
Nottingham v Belfast
Belfast v Nottingham
Sheffield v Nottingham
Belfast v Nottingham
Cardiff v Sheffield
Nottingham v Cardiff
Cardiff v Sheffield
Belfast v Cardiff
Belfast v Guildford

Play those games in Sheffield, with cheap tickets, better scheduling and encouraging neutrals to attend, and those games as a whole do far than they would in Cardiff. I would guess that the average attendance for those games could easily be 6,000 in Sheffield, which is double what the Cardiff rink can hold.