Great Britain: EIHL discussion thread

[varsaku]

I attended the Belfast Giants/Nottingham Panthers game on Saturday while visiting N.Ireland and I have to say, it blew away my expectations. First off, my girlfriend and I couldn't buy two seats beside each other due to demand (looked like a sellout with almost no empty seats) although they did mention that it was the largest crowd they've had in 12 years. Gameplay was obviously not NHL quality, but for a game where Kevin Westgarth is the only recognizable name, there were spots of pretty good play. Reffing was pretty lax as well from a NA standpoint, lots of hooks and slashes gone uncalled, but they generally kept order and let the game flow. The best part however, was the energy in the arena ... fans seemed very knowledgeable and Nottingham had a really vocal group of traveling supporters. Good time all around.

Wow that's so cool to hear they can get that kind of a crowd. Wish they had supporters section for NHL games.

Where is hockey popular in the UK? Is it growing in other parts of the country too? How organized is youth hockey and development of them?

 

[SubyDubyTML]

Hey guys,
Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but i'll give it a shot.
I'm moving to England in the coming months, are there any garage leagues for ice hockey or even ball hockey? I'll need to find a way to get my hockey fix while down there

 

[frank16]

Wow that's so cool to hear they can get that kind of a crowd. Wish they had supporters section for NHL games.

Where is hockey popular in the UK? Is it growing in other parts of the country too? How organized is youth hockey and development of them?

Hockey in the UK from a development point of view and participation basis is pretty poor but as a spectator sport it is pretty popular where there are teams and its the most attended indoor sport in the UK.

The Belfast Giants are the 2nd best supported sports club in the whole of Northern Ireland. In Scotland there are 4 professional teams attracting around 7-8,000 a week combined with the most popular team being Glasgow who sell out their 4,000 arena pretty much every game. Apparently they are moving to a new 8,000 arena soon.

In England their are big teams in Nottingham and Sheffield (both get 5,000 - 6,000 a game). Nottingham are in the top 50 attended clubs in Europe. In Wales there is the Cardiff Devils who sell out their small 2,300 capacity temporary arena. They are moving to a new 3,500 capacity permanent arena next season.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Hey guys,
Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but i'll give it a shot.
I'm moving to England in the coming months, are there any garage leagues for ice hockey or even ball hockey? I'll need to find a way to get my hockey fix while down there

Where exactly are you moving to?

 

[SubyDubyTML]

Where exactly are you moving to?

That hasn't exactly been decided yet. I'm going to be doing agency work and as of right now there's plenty of opportunities all over England, with a lot of openings in Central London so that's a a possibility. However, for discussion purposes we'll say London is where i'm potentially targeting.

 

[Siamese Dream]

That hasn't exactly been decided yet. I'm going to be doing agency work and as of right now there's plenty of opportunities all over England, with a lot of openings in Central London so that's a a possibility. However, for discussion purposes we'll say London is where i'm potentially targeting.

Ok again it's going to depend where. There are 3 rinks with hockey in London: Lee Valley, Alexandra Palace, and Streatham

Each rink will have rec ice hockey teams you can join

You can find information about rec hockey in England here http://www.eiharec.co.uk/

 

[varsaku]

Hockey in the UK from a development point of view and participation basis is pretty poor but as a spectator sport it is pretty popular where there are teams and its the most attended indoor sport in the UK.

The Belfast Giants are the 2nd best supported sports club in the whole of Northern Ireland. In Scotland there are 4 professional teams attracting around 7-8,000 a week combined with the most popular team being Glasgow who sell out their 4,000 arena pretty much every game. Apparently they are moving to a new 8,000 arena soon.

In England their are big teams in Nottingham and Sheffield (both get 5,000 - 6,000 a game). Nottingham are in the top 50 attended clubs in Europe. In Wales there is the Cardiff Devils who sell out their small 2,300 capacity temporary arena. They are moving to a new 3,500 capacity permanent arena next season.

If development is poor, they should enlist the help of bigger hockey nations to help build a system to at least start off. Do these big teams have youth academies?

 

[Siamese Dream]

EIHL final underway

Coventry lead Sheffield 1-0 after 1

 

[Siamese Dream]

End 2nd

Coventry 4 - 0 Sheffield

 

[Siamese Dream]

Final score Coventry 4 - 2 Sheffield

Coventry are EIHL playoff champions, congratulations to them

 

[EvilDead]

on a more positive note, there are rumours of the Echo Arena in liverpool getting an ice plant and playing host to a hockey team. And obviously Cardiff upgrading from the Tent will be good.

So hopefully more teams will be able to compete soon, and a London team surely can't be too far away

Would this ice plant in Echo Arena lead to the possibility of a EIHL team playing in Liverpool?

 

[DerbyCoyote]

Hull Stingrays have folded this morning:
http://www.hullstingrays.net/article/549/Thank you for all your support

Apparently some sort of "exciting" announcement coming from the league later today in the wake of this.

 

[Siamese Dream]

They've been replaced by Manchester Storm

 

[DerbyCoyote]

Will be interesting to see if they can make Elite League hockey work in Altrincham this time (unlike the Phoenix). Can't say I'm convinced.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Apparently in the Challenge Cup game between Belfast and Edinburgh tonight the game ended in a draw as the referee forgot that OT is played

You couldn't make this stuff up

Only in the EIHL

 

[Siamese Dream]

It has been announced that Milton Keynes Lightning will join the EIHL in the 17/18 season

 

[AlanHUK]

11 team league? or is there another on the way?

 

[Kiev the Great]

11 team league? or is there another on the way?

There will be more to come as they'll almost certainly be keeping the conference system which requires an even number.

 

[Rigafan]

12 Team EIHL for 2017/18

Milton Keynes Lightning is already confirmed and now Guildford Flames have requested to join the league for the coming season. Obviously the league will want to keep the conferences even so it seems a certain (amongst fans also) that they are in.

Guildford have been a big fish in the EPL for a while. Good owners who have a good business model in place and have good support.. but can this be carried over into the EIHL? Ticket prices will surely rise as now they need to fund 15 instead of 4 or 5 import players, and ones of better quality.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Is EIHL a physical league? Or is it like a typical euro-league?

 

[3 Minute Minor]

Is EIHL a physical league? Or is it like a typical euro-league?

Definitely more physical than the typical Euro-leagues...

But that also means there's less skill than a typical Euro league

 

[Rigafan]

Manchester Storm have announced they are now under new ownership (http://manchesterstorm.com/new-ownership-at-the-manchester-storm/) They were owned by the rink its self but they've decided to sell the team. I don't see this as a very positive step. The rink is rubbish and small so once the new owner realises he may not make much, if any, money surely he will soon leave?

Sheffield Steelers sign ex NHLer Tim Wallace (http://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/ice-...hes-into-sheffield-steelers-line-up-1-8559873)

 

[AnAceOfKidneys]

Manchester Storm have announced they are now under new ownership (http://manchesterstorm.com/new-ownership-at-the-manchester-storm/) They were owned by the rink its self but they've decided to sell the team. I don't see this as a very positive step. The rink is rubbish and small so once the new owner realises he may not make much, if any, money surely he will soon leave?

Sheffield Steelers sign ex NHLer Tim Wallace (http://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/ice-...hes-into-sheffield-steelers-line-up-1-8559873)

are you talking about this place?

better than Basingstoke and Bracknell....

 

[Rigafan]

are you talking about this place?

better than Basingstoke and Bracknell....

Should there be a link? Its Altrincham Ice Dome - http://www.hockeyarenas.net/index.php?page=3000&strSearch=altrincham&arID=1295

Sure its not the worst rink in the world. But its not a comfortable one nor does it have the real capacity to work in the EIHL.. Plus Storm just released Season ticket prices for £542.50!

 

[AnAceOfKidneys]

more than 500 quid, wow. That will be a tough sell.