The British Hockey Thread 2015-2016

[Tasku]

Even amateurs want to win.

[marksbros6]

Hah! Well, as it is amateur hockey, I guess it's not that serious. At the same time, being just an amateur game, you would've thought the other team could've spared some of their equipment.

The netminder without the equipment had been signed/'poached' mid season from the opposition, so this might have influenced their decision not to lend any equipment

For amateur hockey, it's pretty competitive

Hmmm, yeah, MK Thunder weren't happy about King being 'poached' (though guessing they can afford to may him more than he was getting at MK and the contracts aren't worth the paper they are printed on)!

Were you at the game Calv?

Edit: More to the point... How did MK not win it playing against an empty-net for 18 mins???

[Calv]

Were you at the game Calv?

Nope, I just saw all of the commotion online about it during the game

Not sure I'll be able to get to many games before the playoffs now unfortunately (in the UK, I'm in Helsinki for a week this month so am trying to get to 2 games whilst I'm there)

[marksbros6]

Were you at the game Calv?

Nope, I just saw all of the commotion online about it during the game

Not sure I'll be able to get to many games before the playoffs now unfortunately (in the UK, I'm in Helsinki for a week this month so am trying to get to 2 games whilst I'm there)

Would have thought having the Estonian National netminder and playing and empty net for an entire period would have allowed MK to run up the score but must have been like a 6-man Penalty-kill unit through all that. Bizarre set of circumstances anyway.

I was going to go to Oxford this weekend but was just too pooped last night, so ended up passing on it and missed a 13-0 demolition of Cardiff (NIHL)!

Have fun in Helsinki anyway, who you going to watch over there?

[A9L3E]

I'm in Helsinki for a week this month so am trying to get to 2 games whilst I'm there

Going to watch the better team in Helsinki, I hope?

[Tasku]

I'm in Helsinki for a week this month so am trying to get to 2 games whilst I'm there

Going to watch the better team in Helsinki, I hope?

Nah, he's going to watch the Espoo Blues. Wants to see the world famous team before their collapse. (Not that it's going to happen, but Calv just wants to be sure.)

[Calv]

I have tickets to Jokerit - SKA on 16th Feb and HIFK - Tappara on 18th Feb (one of my colleagues over there is a Tappara fan).

I'm visiting our Finnish office, previously they were a separate company and they used to have a company season ticket for the Blues. Unfortunately, the company I work for bought them out and decided to get rid of it

[Tasku]

Stupid big corporations

[Calv]

Stupid big corporations

My thoughts exactly!

Interesting set of tweets

Aivis Kalniņš ‏@Shakcc 14m14 minutes ago
Multiple sources tell me that the person who's pushing for a KHL franchise in the UK is the owner of Panthers and Clan - Neil Black.

Aivis Kalniņš ‏@Shakcc 12m12 minutes ago
@Shakcc A league source tells me that the expansion to United Kingdom won't be rushed and looks to be made towards the 2018.

Aivis Kalniņš ‏@Shakcc 11m11 minutes ago
@Shakcc Mr Black as I'm told is highly interested in exhabition games with teams from KHL's Bobrov division (SKA, Dinamo Riga etc)

Aivis Kalniņš ‏@Shakcc 10m10 minutes ago
@Shakcc I also hear that there's a project on building a new arena for the said KHL franchise.

Didn't think Black had the finances to sustain a KHL team.

[archibalduk]

I didn't think there was any oil in Nottingham...

I guess Nottingham and Sheffield are the best placed for a franchise, but that's some serious money they'd need in order to be remotely competitive. I can't imagine it to be honest.

[Tasku]

I'm no expert on the KHL, but seems like it's quite an uneven league as a whole. You have a team like Yugra with an average attendance of around 2500 and at the other end you have Dynamo Minsk and SKA at 14000 and 12000 spectators per game. I guess you could fit in a British team there just as well.

[Calv]

I don't see it either really, only place I could maybe see it happening in London and only with a lot of sponsorship.

[archibalduk]

I'm no expert on the KHL, but seems like it's quite an uneven league as a whole. You have a team like Yugra with an average attendance of around 2500 and at the other end you have Dynamo Minsk and SKA at 14000 and 12000 spectators per game. I guess you could fit in a British team there just as well.

IMO attendances wouldn't be a problem from Nottingham or Sheffield. They get decent average attendances and I couldn't imagine somewhere like London getting better attendances than that because they'd be starting from scratch with their fanbase - and there are so many sports teams there competing for fans (and even more so if an NFL team starts up). Nottingham were far from competitive in the CHL so surely it would cost a fortune to upgrade their entire roster to the level required. It's probably beyond even ISL level salaries...

[Tasku]

Yeah attendances aren't the most reliable of indicators, especially with the KHL. Many teams in the KHL are running bad finances -- high wages, low income. Even Jokerit, who can lure in close to 11 000 spectators per game, are mostly selling cheap tickets and are losing money. As long as the team has a rich "sponsor" behind them, they can manage and survive, pay high wages and lure in stars. If KHL teams would aim for financial stability, or even profit, the league's quality would drop.

Well, that's the perception I've gathered over the years at least. Like I said, I'm no expert.

[Calv]

I saw somewhere that Jokerit had lost 10 million euros, seems crazy

The thing about Nottingham and Sheffield is, they get great crowds against each other and a few other elite league teams but they got rubbish crowds when Frolunda, JYP, Lulea, Lukko & Hamburg came over for the CHL. I can't imagine there'd be much appetite

I think that London might be the only place that could draw the sort of sponsorship that would be required to ice a competitive (to a certain extent) team. Also I think there's a lower limit on the number of home grown players, so there'd be 5 brits playing in the KHL!

Edit: The tickets for the Jokerit game against Neftehimik were pretty cheap, even for the pretty decent seats I had close to the ice around £20 (30 euros I think). The equivalent tickets against SKA were over 60 euros

[Calv]

Article saying the same thing as the tweets: https://onepuckshort.wordpress.com/2016 ... nd-the-uk/

[Tasku]

CHL has received bad attendances all over Europe, although I'm not really sure why, because to me it sounds like an interesting idea seeing teams from other leagues and nations come play against your familiar hometown team -- and not just as exhibition games. Jokerit fans were also hesitant at first, when the move from Liiga to KHL was announced. One of my friends, a long time fan, said he'd be more interested in watching a game against one of the less interesting Finnish teams (not mentioning which one here) than watch a game against some "never heard team from Siberia", but now he has turned around. And the same can be seen with Jokerit attendances, which have gone up from around 8000 where they were when playing in the Finnish SM-liiga, to the current average of around 11000.

But, I see what you mean about London. Seems like the best place to lure in big money, for sure.

I sure hope some rich Russian billionaire would buy Espoo Blues out of their financial trouble and bring them to the KHL. That would be very interesting! No such rumors have come to me, though.

[Calv]

Courtesy of Alessandro on twitter

http://rsport.ru/hockey/20160201/893301083.html

Google translated

MOSCOW, February 1 - R-Sport, Roman Solovyev. British hockey clubs would like to spend a few friendly matches with teams from the KHL, said, "F-Sport" Neil Black, the owner of "Nottingham Panthers" acting in Elite Hockey League UK.
Earlier, President of the KHL, Dmitry Chernyshenko, in an interview with Russian media reported that the league has applied for membership from several countries, including Britain.
"Now, I think it is difficult to say that we in the near future may start in the KHL, though, because we have no place to play, and logistic issues look very complicated. In fact, our five teams would soon host home exhibition games with KHL clubs, particularly with teams Bobrov Division, where he plays the SKA, "- Black said by telephone.

"A suitable arena in our country can only appear in 2018, and I think that only then can we talk about the possibility of joining the club in the KHL. But a lot of time to this," - said Black.

Probably a better translation: https://twitter.com/vorkywh24/status/694217581289422848

Black has been trying to start a team in London, however it looks like there's been some difficulties with the arena floor (at Wembley) that has been delaying things.

I sure hope some rich Russian billionaire would buy Espoo Blues out of their financial trouble and bring them to the KHL. That would be very interesting! No such rumors have come to me, though.

I keep meanign to get to a Blues game when I go to Helsinki, but not managed it yet

[Tasku]

I sure hope some rich Russian billionaire would buy Espoo Blues out of their financial trouble and bring them to the KHL. That would be very interesting! No such rumors have come to me, though.

I keep meanign to get to a Blues game when I go to Helsinki, but not managed it yet

People like you are exactly why the Blues is in trouble!

No, I kid.

The problem is lack of tradition. Many Espoonians (is that a real word?) are fans of Jokerit and HIFK, not their hometown team. I'm the opposite. Never lived in Espoo, but fan nonetheless.

[A9L3E]

Even Jokerit, who can lure in close to 11 000 spectators per game, are mostly selling cheap tickets and are losing money.

I do not know about the cheap... I think the prices are not noticeably different from the Liiga days. What Jokerit have done this season that differs from the previous ones is giving sizeable discounts for specific matches, or selling tickets in bundles.

[Tasku]

Yah, could be. There just was an article on it one day on how they are losing money and how they are filling the seats with cheap tickets. I don't know. I don't watch Jokru-games.

[MWE]

Ryan Hayes has left the Steelers after 7 games

[Calv]

Ryan Hayes has left the Steelers after 7 games

Sounds like he was bad for the locker room.

Also, must have been one of the first ever trades in British Ice hockey the other day, with Trimm going to Braehead and Bruton going to Blaze. Sounds as though Bruton had some off-ice problems and talk of him being bad in the locker room too (which surprises me for a former AHL captain)

Finally, the new Cardiff rink looks awesome, will try to make a trip there next season

[MWE]

As awesome as it looks why only a 3200 capacity? Could they expand looking at this picture no.

Surely as populations get bigger there would be more demand a few years down the line seems very short sighted to me

[Calv]

It probably comes down to money and space available. By the sounds of it, extra capacity would have meant there would not have been a second ice pad which was one of the main aims of the development. Also, bare in mind that this arena was built to service all ice users, not just the Devils and extra seating would only have helped the Devils, not the curling teams or figure skaters etc etc.

The Devils' owners offered to buy the arena (for £16 million), but were rejected. If they do buy it in the future then I think there is a possibility of expanding the capacity.

Also, Devils are not paying anything for ice rental, so 3,000 spectators is a lot of money every game. Probably on similar levels to Nottingham & Sheffield average gate receipts, once their ice time has been taken in to account.