Stingrays

[stu122]

The story starts at the end of the 2006/2007 campaign in the British Elite Ice Hockey League. The playffs have just started and both The Edinburgh Capitals and Hull Stingrays have failed to qualify for the playoffs. In a bid to change the fortunes of the club, owner of the Hull Stingrays Mike Pack has released General Manager Paul Adey of his duties at the Hull Stingrays and bought in myself to help the club. My story begins on March 30th 2007 a week after the players last game and three days after the ten import players flew back to the respected countries. Officially I will be announced on the 1st of May 2007 to the fans, and the next few weeks will be scouting for next season. Budget wise Mike has told me he will give me around £6000 a week on players, with the wage cap being £7000 per week. I am happy with that, Hull are a lower team financially and Im pleased I got that much. As of yet there are no players signed for next season, so I have a clean slate to work with.

March 30th 2007

My first day in the office and its an eye opener, I arrived at the rink at around 7.30am and decided to have a quick look around. The rink itself is on the small side but its my new home for the next couple of seasons hopefully. I walk into the locker room which is a medium sized room with stalls along the side, there is a big white board on one wall and a television in the corner. A big pile of last seasons shirts are in crumpled heap on the floor, I later learn that these are auctioned off to the fans!

I walk into my office and on a post it note on my desk is a message from Mike, meeting at 3pm in his office. I dont know what thats about but Ill go with it. As I look in to my office it seems pretty run of the mill, its got a filing cabinet in the corner with a fax machine on top. My desk is towards the back of the room which as a phone, computer on top. I noticed a television in the room with a dvd player. This should let me watch some of my teams games and analyse them.

At 3pm I walk to Mikes office, its close to mine so its not too bad. In my hand I have a copy of Powerplay magazine, A british magazine that has all the news and stats in. I sit in his office while he finishes a phone call, looking around theres pictures on the wall of past players and memorable moments. As he finishes his call I glance at the standings of the league, and its not a pretty picture for Hull. Bottom of the league winnings 13 games and losing 29, the team play a 54 game schedule in the regular season so thats pretty bad. Scoring seems to be the problem hitting the back of the net only 99 times whilst letting in 156 goals.

Mike hung up the phone and shaked my hand, he went on to say that he expected the team to make the playoffs this season and failed to do so. I was warned that if I didnt make the play offs that I would probably be out of a job! Due to the poor standings Mike has asked me not to sign back many of the players from last year, which to be fair I wasnt going to do anyway. The team was a mix of poor Canadian players and semi skilled Europeans, there was a few British players who did well and I will look at them. I assured Mike I would not let him down, now I had to look through the players from last season to see if anybody was actually worth keeping.

I started to look at players stats from last season, but I cant help writing players names down who I want on the team. I decided to look around on the internet to see a couple of leagues stats and see who is performing in the leagues abroad. At the moment most players are still in contract as the leagues have not even finished yet so I can only scout players instead of approaching them. I have planned a trip to Manchester to scout two players I am interested in.

Two players from last seasons team have impressed me whilst watching last seasons DVD's. James Knight is young forward who played last season. He had previously played in the WHL for the Moose Jaw Warriors and is classed as a British player, so he may be worth talking to. Bari McKenzie is another British player who interests me he led the team in goals with 15. I have contacted both players and will meet with them tomorrow to discuss terms.

The clock in my office reached 7.30pm and I am gonna call it a day. I am back in early tomorrow to speak to Knight and McKenzie is coming mid day.

[stu122]

March 31st 2007

I get to the rink early to prepare for my meeting with the two British players. Tonight I will be attending the Manchester Phoenix v Basingstoke Bison playoff game, I have a few players in mind that I want to look at and this will be a great game for me to scout them in.

The first player is a real veteran of the game Mark Desantis of the Basingstoke Bison. Hes 6 ft 1 inch tall and weighs 216 lbs. At 35 he is a real leader for the Bison and there captain. The next player is his team mate 32 year old Blair Manning has had a great career in the minor leagues and regarded as one of the best playmakers in the league. The final player is Manchester defenceman Radoslav Hecl, a former NHL defenceman who has been a rock at the back for Manchester. I will scout these players tonight and see who catches my eye.

Knight arrived at my office as planned and we discussed his future, finishing 7+13 in 54 games I was happy to bring him into the team for another year. I asked him what kind of wages he felt he should have, I didnt want to over offer to him but then didnt want to seem like I was mocking him. He asked for a part time contract for £90 a week for 1 season, Knight is a kid who is hard to come by. Not many Brits play in the Canadian league and 20 points is good for a 20 year old. I tell him I want to develop his skills full time and offer him a 2 year full time contract for £90 going up to £100 a week in his second season. I told him to go away and think about it but I want an answer by the fifth of April. McKenzie came in at lunch time and we discussed terms, he was happy to sign straight away for a full time contract for one season for £120 a week. I was happy with this as it was my first signing and 15 goals last season felt that it was a good signing. I shaked McKenzies hand and welcome him to the team, I felt good about myself and looked forward to the summer of recruiting.

I arrived in Manchester who play at the 2500 seat Altrincham Ice Arena, I luckily booked my ticket the day before as the game was a sell out. I took some paper and scribbled some notes whilst I watched the teams, I was very impressed with DeSantis. He was a very calm defenceman who looked very dangerous offensively. Manning was quick skater and good playmaker. Basingstoke went 1-0 down in the second period and at 46:54 Mark DeSantis took the puck from the face off and wristed it top corner to tie the game. A minute later DeSantis unleashed a big shot from the point that rebounded to Greg Chambers who slotted it home. In the space of a minute DeSantis was 1+1, I wanted to sign this guy ASAP. Hecl played well as did Manning but DeSantis was the guy I wanted for my team. The game finished 2-1 and I noted that DeSantis won the Man of the match award. I got home late so I decided the next day I would take it easy and look at some players who were already available.

April 1st 2007

Not a great deal available on the market at the moment, may look more but I could be doing better things with my time. I tweak my systems a bit and look at my practice schedules but its going to be a case of waiting until some players are released.

April 14th 2007

I got to the rink at about 9am, decided to have a bit of a chilled morning. I got a coffee and started contacting some agents to find out who was available. Having scribbled down a broad criteria of the budget and a description of the players I spoke to a few agents in depth about the leagues who was becoming available and who would come to the league. I was speaking to a North American agent who was talking about Dennis Packard, a player he had just signed to his agency, he was a part of the Boston Bruins system and got released at the end of March. He had spent the season with the Long Beach Ice Dogs in the ECHL scoring 15+39 in 58 games. I said to the agent to speak to his player and see how he felt about coming to Europe, Dennis had spent his whole career in the US. He started out at the USA National Development Team and won a scholarship to Harvard where he spent four seasons. He was drafted 219th overall in the 2001 draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. I hung up the phone and decided to look further in to this player, I went to the hockeysfuture.com website and searched him and came up with this:

Listed at 6'5" Packard is a mammoth winger who possesses very strong skating ability. Lauded for his passing ability, Packard continues to prove he has equally solid goal scoring ability. In his first two seasons at Harvard he has a total of 13 goals and 14 assists. Packard is very willing to take the body and is strong along the boards and in front of the net, but is also very intelligent and plays with a high degree of discipline. A coaches dream, Dennis plays well in all phases of the game: even strength, power play, and penalty kill. The adjustment to college life, playing against older players in the NCAA, and the slower maturation process for power forwards are all contributing factors to why Packard slipped as far as the 7th round. However, with time and patience he is capable of showing through as a very talented all-around player who, at the very least, will be an NHL 3rd liner, with the possibility of blooming into a scoring line player.

I decided to act quick on this guy, this could be a top line player for me and I wanted him on the team. I called the agent back straight away and said to offer him terms. His agent said that the player wanted to earn around £550 a week, I offered him £510 a week for a 1 year deal. His agent said he would offer that to Dennis and get back to me.

I decided to carry on with my search and looked at defenceman available, one caught my eye on a European agents website. I called the agent up but he wasnt available I left a message saying I wanted some more information on Swedish defenceman Jonathan Ericsson.

I decided it would be a good idea to move the white board from the locker room to my office, I started jotting players names down with wages next to it. I had to becareful that I didnt go over my budget for wages, I need to bring some top players in for as little as possible.

[stu122]

April 28th 2007

Been studying past games DVDS to try and get a grip for the league and spot any decent players. I attended the playoff finals weekend which the Coventry Blaze won, was impressed with some players but May 1st is approaching and a lot of players will be released then.

I finally got a call back from the agent regarding Jonathan Ericsson, he has had offers from two Swedish sides and I had to make the agent an offer there and then if I wanted the player. I had done some research on him and he seemed a good player. He had played last season in the American Hockey League for the Grand Rapids Griffins scoring 8 goals and 27 assists in 60 games. He is a big defenceman standing at 6"5 and weighing 205lbs, he played most of his hockey in Sweden sharing his time between the Allsvenskan and Swedish Elitserien. He can play either LD or RD and didnt want big money, his agent was asking for a one year deal for £400 a week. I offered him that contract and said I would wait to hear from him.

I officially get announced to the fans on the 1st of May, so will look forward to that.

May 1st 2007

The fans flock to a local bar for a fans forum, this is where fans find information about the team and kept up to date with the goings on in the team. Mike Pack comes to the stage and apoligises to the fans for the poor season, he answered a few questions and then announced the dismissal of Paul Adey which got a few sly claps. I was then announced to the fans which seemed a bit of a quiet clap. I introduced myself to the fans and spoke about my background, growing up in Canada playing minor league hockey. I spoke about my plans for the team and announced my first resignings Bari McKenzie and James Knight who had agreed terms earlier that day. The fans were pleased with these two signings and things looked good. I didnt want to stay long though, a lot of players were now available and I had enough time to go to the office and start talking to agents.

I knew who I wanted to speak to and called up an American agent based in Amarillo, this was the agent of my target defenceman Mark DeSantis. I spoke to him for awhile about players he had available and who he thought would fit my team well. He mentioned two players who I liked the sound of, the first player was Steve Saviano a 26 year old winger who had played in the German leagues. He had iced 36 games for ERC Ingolstadt Panthers in the DEL and scored 10 goals and 15 assists. Though he was a very small player standing at just 5"7 and weighing 169lbs his stats were great, scoring 70 points in 42 games in the ECHL the year before and spending some time in the AHL. I said for him to speak to Steve and see how he felt about coming to the EIHL as that was quite a drop from the DEL. I kept mentioning DeSantis and his agent said what he was looking for, Mark had already spoke to him about coming back to the UK but wanted big money. He was prepared to sign for nearly any team in the UK who could come up with £680 a week. I told his agent that I would offer him £620 but would make him an assistant coach on the team. His agent indicated that Mark was interested in coaching and that he would speak to his client.

I landed up talking to Blair Manning himself but he wanted £800 a week and I couldnt afford to give him that much money so I gave up on him. I tried speaking to Radoslav Hecl but I was told a Slovakian team had offered him over £1000 a week to play for them.

May 2nd 2007

I was on the hunt for some British players today, and I struck gold. I managed to negociate with a top British classed player called Steve Thornton who was playing last season in Sweden. He was looking to come back to the UK and at 34 I was delighted to agree terms with him. He will be playing for 1 season for £370 a week, a steal! I will announce him in the next few days.

Two more British players signed up the first is young netminder Stephen Fone who is 20 years old and iced for the Coventry Blaze last season. He spent most of his time on the bench and iced for two games where he had a GAA of 2.61. The second player to sign is defenceman Paul Hendry who joins the team from The Edinburgh Capitals, he has spent time in many European leagues and is classed as a dual national which means he counts as a Brit.

May 6th 2007

Its a big day in the office today and the fax machine is spilling paper like crazy! I walked into the office this morning ready to start looking at some more players when I recieved some emails from agents. Both Packard and Ericsson have agreed to play in the UK and the agents want contracts faxed over. I faxed them over straight away and within 2 hours they came back signed and sealed. My first two imports and I am thrilled Packard seems to be a great signing and Ericsson is a great defenceman straight from the AHL. The rest of the day is a bit of a blurr until the end when I am told that Steve Saviano is willing to play for the Stingrays. I offer a contract to him for £760 a week he will be my highest paid player, but he is worth it. I wait to hear from his agent.

[stu122]

May 10th 2007

Steve Saviano has signed and I have signed two other players as well today. Rory Rawlk is the first signing to be made. Hes a 23 year old left defenceman from Edmonton standing 6"4 198lbs. Played last season in Bofors in the Swedish Allsvenskan and has spent time in the ECHL and AHL. Physically he is strong and has a good shot on him. Mark DeSantis has finally agreed to sign and caps off a good day for the Stingrays. The veteran defenceman was my first target and will hopefully lead the team this year.

I made some offers to more imports today and will report on them soon.

May 23rd 2007

Two signings today one import and one British player. The British player is former Newcastle Vipers defenceman Jeremy Lundin. Jeremy is 19 years old and was voted rookie of the year. He got 3+10 in 49 games and was voted third best British defenceman. The second player is an all round who can play any forward positon Gregor Slak joins the team after a successful season with the Edinburgh Capitals scoring 35+25 in 52 games earning himself a spot in the Elite League second all star team. I was suprised that he only wanted £400 per week as this will free up some money on other players.

May 25th 2007

Finalised three signings today after long talks with agents. Have managed to sign British defenceman Danny Meyers from the Nottingham Panthers. The 24 year old defenceman is a top British defenceman and has plenty of experience. New to the league is Jonas Almqvist a 26 year old forward from Swedish side Orebro, scoring 25+20 in 30 games. He is described by his agent as a quick skater with good hands and good at deking. So I will use him on penalty shots. The final signing is 28 year old Brad Rooney who spent last season in Denmark. Brad is a good play maker and is a good leader.

I now only have two import spots left so I will be holding out to see who is available. I am still in need of a starting netminder but struggling to find one that I like. Still plenty of time though!

[laskey 16]

Hi Stu. Are you carrying on with this thread? Hope so, I manage in the UK too, and so far it's been a good read.