EIHL – Page 4

Coventry Blaze earn first win for new bench boss Marc Lefebvre

Who the heck is this team?!

Some kind of Blaze was lit underneath Coventry last night down in Wales. Coventry came out the gates hard and thumped the Cardiff Devils 7-3 all underneath the watchful eyes of new head coach Marc Lefebvre.

Earlier in the week Lefebvre had issued the ultimatum that the players were in fact playing for their jobs. It was time to man up and be held accountable for their actions. To say they answered that call is a bit of an understatement. This was not the same team we saw earlier in the year under the guidance of Matt Soderstrom. Lefebvre juggled some lines and brought Michael Henrich from defence up onto a offensive line and it worked wonders as he netted two goals. It will be interesting to see if Henrich stays in that position.

The unstoppable and beauty to watch Ryan Ginand continued his league leading ways adding his own two goals to the bunch

Granted, I know it’s only been one game and it was an away game at that. Most teams don’t feel the brunt of the pressure that’s on them until they are in front of their own fans in their own barn. That test will come this Sunday as the Braehead Clan come to town.

Marc Lefebvre, a native of Kanata, Ontario, started his career off spending three season in the Ontario Hockey League before heading across the pond. His crack at coaching didn’t come until 2011 when he was hired as GM and head coach of the now defunct 1000 Island Privateers of the Federal Hockey League. The next year, he was hired on by the Dayton Demonz.

I’ve heard numerous stories about Lefebvre surrounding his time in the FHL and most aren’t very good and very encouraging. However with this first game and win under his belt, the jitters are gone. The team is has responded and understood the message that’s been clearly sent.

You want to keep playing for Coventry, you need to Bleed Blue.

Coventry Blaze woes continue as season looms on

The Coventry Blaze weekend road trip to Braehead and Sheffield ended in losses with their second and third in 8 eight games. Those losses end up knocking them down a notch in the standings to 8^th position. As the sadness continues, fans have taken up arms to decide whose fault this is and why this season has been such a disastrous one.

If there’s one thing we can take out of this season is the Blaze’s ability to adapt to the situation when things take the down slope. I’ve seen teams come out way worse with the injuries and politics that Coventry have endured. That being said, where do you start pointing the finger? Do you point it behind the bench at Matt Soderstorm? Do you point it at the brass? Do you point it at the players themselves? It’s a combination of everything one would think.

However, I might be a little naïve but it’s only one season. The 2012-2013 season might have been under different circumstances but the Blaze did finish a very respectable 4^th in the league standings and ended up 3^rd in the playoffs. That’s not a shabby finish I’d say. So what if things have taken a bit of a downfall? After this season, there’s nothing to do but regroup, take a look at the good and bad while making the appropriate changes.

(Photo: Scott Wiggins. www.scottwiggins.co.uk) — (Photo: Scott Wiggins. http://www.scottwiggins.co.uk)

Do I think Matty Soderstorm is right for the job behind the bench? Given the hand he’s been dealt, I can’t really make a fair assumption. He’s doing what he can with what he’s got. It’s only his first season as Head Coach. Give him a bit of a break.

While I agree that there’s no reason why a team like the Coventry Blaze should be that far down in the standings in the 8^th spot, come next season, they’ll turn it around. You’re not the Edmonton Oilers for crying out loud.

Belfast Giants on the hunt to secure Regular Season Champ nods; rest of league in close

The Belfast Giants squad headed by Paul Adey has run away with it. His Giants lead league with an impressible 64 points; 19 ahead of the second place tied Sheffield Steelers and Dundee Stars. To say they have it in the bag it pretty much a lock in statement. It’s also safe to say they’ll be the 2013/2014 Erdhardt Conference champions for the second year in a row.

That being said, there’s a ridiculously close fight for second. The Sheffield Steelers and Dundee Stars are tied for 2^nd with 45 points. Following them are the Braehead Clan and Nottingham Panthers who are only a couple of points each away. The race to the top in these last few crucial weeks is going to play out for some exciting hockey.

England native, Craig Peacock lead the charge this past Sunday as he rallied for four points in the Giants win over the Sheffield Steelers. A bright hockey star from Peterborough, England, he has a bright future with the Giants or hell, the Elite league in general. A proud moment for a team that’s made half of its roster Canadian players.

Clearly, nobody is going to give the Giants a run for their money this late in the season. For the rest of the league, it’s time to battle down and start playing some offensive hockey. Personally, I see Sheffield taking aim at second and locking it in.

We are getting into the thick of it hockey fans. Now is where it’s going to get interesting.

Belfast are down in Wales tonight taking on the Cardiff Devils before the swing back home on Friday for a two night foray against the Hull Stingrays and Fife Flyers

Ryan Ginand’s performace should make Blaze brass think long and hard

The league’s leading scorer opened up the length of his domination this weekend after a Blaze dismantling of the Edinburgh Capitals and Nottingham Panthers. Now at 42 goals on the season with four coming this past weekend, brass of the Blaze now have to start looking at their prized possession seriously in order to keep him attached for next season.

The 27 year old American is in his first campaign in the Elite league and is proving to be a force. He spent last year floating around the East Coat and American leagues with the majority suiting up for the Orlando Solar Bears and Houston Aeroes. Of course there’s more of a competition in North America so he only registered 25 points. His Elite league totals now sit at 77.

With everything’s that happened with Coventry so far this season, it would be wise of them to think up a substantial offer to keep Ginand happy. Unless of course there’s family issues, or a desire for him to be back home in North America, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t. He has been a godsend for them this season through all the politics and injuries.

Ginand's impeccable penalty shot. Photo: Scott Wiggins. www.scottwiggins.co.uk — Ginand’s impeccable penalty shot. Photo: Scott Wiggins. http://www.scottwiggins.co.uk

He’s not the only Ginand out there with hockey skills. His brother, Phil Ginand, skated a bit in the New York Islanders system with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers and spent some time down under with the Perth Thunder in the Austrailian Ice Hockey League.

This weekend the Blaze look to keep the momentum going as they head into Scotland to take on the Purple Army in the Braehead Clan. Saturday’s puck drop is at 7pm local time. The following Sunday they head to Sheffield to take on Jeff Legue and the Steelers.

The 2013/2014 Coventry Blaze and the Series of Unfortunate Events

Being a resident of North America, I have never had the chance to fully enthrall myself with the hockey of the EIHL. I knew it existed, players from my hometown have excelled there (I.E. Jeff Legue), and it’s one of the better leagues on the planet. Thanks to the power of modern technology, I have been able to catch a few of the Coventry Blaze home games. While most of what I watched is talented and entertaining hockey, a very frightening percentage of it was just god awful.

Now, I might go out on a limb here and say that this season is probably not a usual one for the Blaze. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong but I would like to think the Blaze ice a pretty competitive team. I also like to think a series of unfortunate events have led to their immediate downfall.

A 5 game losing streak at the beginning of the season may have attributed to goaltender Mike Zacharias and his ensuing Twitter scandal. May have been a lot on his mind. That being said, he has seemed to return to form but a lack of strong defence is what is keeping pucks in the net.

Shea Guthrie. (Photo: Scott Wiggins. www.scottwiggins.co.uk) — Shea Guthrie. (Photo: Scott Wiggins. http://www.scottwiggins.co.uk)

This is hockey and unfortunately injuries do happen. Sometimes they happen at the worst possible time as well which seems to be an unadulterated plague to the Blaze. Benn Olson missed 17 games with a broken finger. (Which has since forced him to drop the 2014 campaign). Gerome Giudice missed 8 games from what I can only assume was a concussion. However just when they seemed to be down and out, they emerge with the signing of fan favourites Mike Egener and Shea Guthrie. Finally, a ray of hope seemed to beckon down on the faceoff circle at the SkyDome.

Unfortunately that spot of sunshine didn’t last too long. Guthrie broke his own finger and at the time of writing is still a couple weeks away from return. Kevin Harvey also decided to give his notice and head back to his native Canada. A very untimely decision but sometimes the cards don’t fall the way you want them too. Upon taking all of this information in, you can just imagine the moral of the team and how that would affect statistics. Shockingly, goals for and goals against are neck and neck. On the other hand, it’s no surprise that the Blaze are the most penalized team in the league. Frustration mounts over time.

That being said, from here on in the Coventry Blaze need to start playing defensive hockey. Not that they haven’t been before but it’s time the defence core turned it up a notch and delivered. Yes, there’s a gap to fill with Olson gone but it’s possible with the caliber of defencemen on this team.

I’d like to say that the forwards need to step it up but they have. Ryan Ginand is the leading the league with 71 points. In fact, the Blaze have 3 scorers in the top 15. The only other team that matches that is the league leading Belfast Giants.

There’s plenty of time left to mount somewhat of a comeback and recapture the season. There’s not one person to blame for the plunging in the standings, so don’t even start to point fingers at Matt Soderstrom as he was dealt a lame hand. It’s a combination of things. Thus the Coventry Blaze and the Series of Unfortunate Events will enter a rink near you.

Brampton Beast, the Central League and Matt Suderman

For a first year team, the Brampton Beast are proving themselves to be more than just a push over. Not that they intended to be but before today’s game against the Tulsa Oilers, they sit a game above .500 and 6^th in the 10 team league. That’s a pretty healthy position to be in as we come to mid-season’s Christmas break.

It’s a good learning year and I expect them to jump a little higher in the standings come season’s end. I suspect them to end up in the top five which will pay dividends for next year as the Central League is expected to acquire two new expansion teams and up their squads to 12. No cities have been named or areas of interest have been announced but I would expect another Canadian team as to play rivalry for the Beast. Central league is difficult to pin point though as they have franchises in the most oddest places but they make it work.

Although a circle of controversy has followed him in his Elite league past, Matt Suderman has decided to lace the skates right back up with the Beast at home in Canada. After sending the first half of the season with the Hull Stingrays in England, Suderman left with a bad taste in his mouth from the league’s officiating and the fans. While I can’t comment on the officiating as I haven’t seen enough games (although what I have seen, it’s terrible. However, it’s been most Coventry Blaze games), I can comment on the accusations of the fans.

I’ve seen it in plenty of leagues. Some fans think it’s their god given right to antagonize the players. While that’s okay in some respects to haggle the opposing team (and there’s a fine line to be crossed their as well), when it comes to the home team, they think that they work for them. They feel entitled to harass the individuals who entertain them night in and night out. Of course, that comes with the territory I suppose but Suderman’s quote of “The fans think that they know hockey, but they don’t.”, is true to many teams and leagues.

The only difference here is that Suderman is just expressing himself out in the public eye as I’m sure many other players would love to do. While that might be showing a black spot on the organization and league, it’s nothing new or shocking and people need to put on their big boy panties and suck it up. Keyboard warriors indeed.

That being said, Suderman is going to make a huge impact for the Beast. It’s not his first rodeo in the league. He won the Ray Miron (shoutout Cornwall), President’s Cup back in 2008 with the Arizona Sundogs so he knows the teams and league well. His big 6’3 frame will do wonders guarding the blueline alongside the other giants of Michael Couch and Andrew Darrigo.

The Beast take on the Oilers today at 2pm eastern before they resume after the Christmas break with a set with the Quad City Mallards.

Blaze welcome back Egener and Guthrie

By Ed Kimberley
Coventry, England

It has been an up and down season for the Blaze so far and although the roster has some game changing talent, there are other areas which have caused fans discomfort in their seats. The two issues highlighted by many, including current and former Blaze coaching staff are secondary scoring and a weak defence.

In light of the second problem, it largely hasn’t been the current line-ups fault. The Blaze have battled injuries at the blueline all year and without the likes of Benn Olson (who has sat for a lengthy period following injury), the toughness at the back has suffered. Opposing players on the power-play are encroaching deeper towards Mike Zacharias in net, causing a lot of problems for the talented American netminder. Former coach Luc Chabot attributed this to the defence “not playing tough enough” in an interview during the Blaze loss to Sheffield on Saturday. Opposing skaters weren’t scared to play against the Blaze defence and that they need to stamp their authority in the zone they were defending.

Enter Mike Egener.

I wrote about the hole Egener would leave following his fight with guillain-barré syndrome and they never really replaced him like for like. While I expect he will be a few weeks away from the full Egener who terrified opposing players and was a rock in his own end, it is a good move by Coventry to bring him back. Who better to replace Egener then…well, Mike Egener. There has been talk about even giving him the Captaincy that he would have worn had he been able to come to Coventry. Doing this, however nice a gesture would be a massive show of disrespect to Ashley Tait, currently wearing the Captains badge and currently very much in form playing with the top line of Ginand and top Blaze point scorer Adam Henrich.

Shea Guthrie. (Photo: eliteleague.co.uk)

The first problem was secondary scoring. The Blaze are relying heavily on the above-mentioned top line who have combined brilliantly. Bringing in Shea Guthrie is simply superb. Rumours were that he was Sheffield bound to further increase their frightening strike force. Guthrie is very much the missing piece in the Blaze offensive puzzle. He is a smart playmaker who possesses good hands and is a good passer. He also can shoot the puck which he proved when he scored 35 goals in his first year with the team. Having a player as versatile as Guthrie will undoubtedly provide the Blaze that missing link as his versatility can work with players the Blaze already have.

The one drawback would be Guthries injuries. However, on a line with grinder Kevin Harvey to do the physical work, watch Guthries’ back and be able to keep up with the Carelton Place, Ontario natives blistering speed will be a force to be reckoned with. Their other partner in crime is a moot point. Now that the Blaze have added Egener and Guthrie, they are either carrying spare imports or will have to cut someone when Olson returns. Personally I would have Harvey on a versatile line with Guthrie and Tanaka, a speedy 2^nd unit to back up Tait, Henrich and Ginand that plays with grit, is solid on the forecheck and will undoubtedly boost the secondary scoring numbers.

Blaze Challenge Cup chances downed as Erickson leaves

By Ed Kimberley
Coventry, England

The Coventry Blaze went crashing out of the Challenge Cup race on Wednesday following a 5-2 loss to the Hull Stingrays. It was a reverse of the score line that saw them down Hull in the league competition. Ryan Ginand scored twice in both games but it was Ashley Tait who was the star of Sundays meeting with a 5 point night.

Sundays game was also the last for Blaze Defenceman Sean Erickson who announced he would be leaving the club shortly after the game. In fairness to Erickson, who never looked totally settled in Coventry, he stuck with the team through their injury crisis which ravaged their defence. It was a shame that Erickson has left the club as his 3 point night and generally solid defensive play was indicative of what the American had done while playing in Tulsa of the CHL. However, likely because he was never entirely settled witht the Blaze, he didn’t live up to many fans expectations. Although the Blaze are searching for a replacement it has been stated on a BBC CWR interview that there wasn’t much out their suitable. This seemed an interesting comment as at the same time the Nottingham Panthers secured the signing of Finnish Defenceman Tuukka Makela. Erickson is heading back to the Central league with the Rapid City Rush.

Wednesdays game was won by the Stingrays largely thanks to their special teams. They went 3 for7 on the powerplay and they also tallied shorthanded through Jereme Tendler. Their performance on the penalty kill was terrific. They killed 6/7 powerplays and the Blaze lack of secondary scoring cost them; both goals came from Ryan Ginand, his 20^th+21^ST goals of the season.

Adam Henrich (Photo: coventryobserver.co.uk)

The Blaze 1^st line of Ginand, A. Henrich and Tait have combined for 90 points this year however secondary scoring, and production offensively from the Blueline has been sparse. There are rumours of further changes in the Blaze camp, many speculating that Erickson will not be the only player to leave in the coming weeks. Erickson’s replacement, in my mind needs to be a player in the mould of Mike Schutte, who iced for the Blaze last year (and went 12+46 in 57GP), an offensive defenceman who can make and finish plays. This would hopefully kick-start some secondary scoring for the Blaze.

Braehead Clan add to their arsenal

By Ed Kimberley
Coventry, England

It’s been an active fortnight in the EIHL in regards to transfers with Braehead being at the centre of action.

Last week they brought in Neil Trimm, a versatile Canadian forward who had a career year last season in terms of goals with the Wichita Thunder of the Central Hockey League. This week they have added a pair of players in Dan Nycholat who will help shore up the understrength Clan blueline, who are without Kenton Smith and Ray Macais for the time being.

The other addition is a very exciting one bringing in Joe Cullen who can play on the wing but also has been used as a centre, giving Ryan Finnerty many options going forward. Cullen is quite the capture, having spent come to the Clan following some successful years in the Italian Serie A winning the Italian Cup and the SuperCup. He has comparable numbers to Sirianni and DiCasmirro in Italy. The pair who recently signed for Sheffield have had a massive positive impact in the ‘House of Steel.’ Cullen has strong hockey lineage, his brother Matt is a career NHLer, currently with Nashville and won a Stanley Cup back in 05-06 with Carolina. His lineage goes back further, his Grandpa played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and his Uncle John was a two time NHL Allstar and Masterson Trophy winner.

The Clan and Ryan Finnerty are under pressure. They are behind their conference rivals the Dundee Stars who were quick out of the blocks however have 4 games-in-hand while being 6 points behind, adding Nycholat and Cullen will go a long way towards closing the gap. Winning all the games in hand will help Braehead leapfrog the Stars to the top of the conference and lofty heights in the EIHL league table.

This weekend the two teams will duke it out on Sunday, a game that will set the tone between the two rivals going forward, with Cullen and Nycholat in the side, it looks like Braehead will be ready for the toe to toe battle that will ensue.

One on One with Braehead Clan’s Chris Frank

By Ed Kimberley
Coventry, England

(Photo: www.sheffieldsteelers.co.uk) — (Photo: http://www.sheffieldsteelers.co.uk)

EIHL fans first saw Chris Frank during the 2011-2012 season when he joined the Cardiff Devils. Frank has a reputation as a hard hitting, no nonsense defenceman and a fierce competitor. Chris is also an ambassador for “Hockey Players Assemble” and he is currently hosting a ‘Movember’ event for the charity, more details are available by following the link: http://www.thehpassemble.org/projects/movember/. Chris took the time to catch up with me and chat about his hockey career thus far.

Ed Kimberley: You’re known as a physical defenceman. What was it like playing in the NCAA where there is traditionally less hitting than the CHL and Junior leagues?

Chris Frank: Playing NCAA hockey was great. It gave me four extra years to develop and and mature before I headed off to play professionally. While the NCAA doesn’t have any fighting the league is known for their huge hits. We had to wear cages and without fighting people just ran around 100 mph trying to crush people; because there was no repercussions.

EK: You were made Captain of Western Michigan University, how did the leadership role affect your game?

CF: I was honored to be a captain of WMU. I met so many great people through that organization, many of which I am still great friends with. Over the past few seasons the program has seen some real success and I’m proud to say I was at one point part of that top caliber program. Playing wise, my game stayed the same. Off the ice I had a lot more responsibility. Continue reading “One on One with Braehead Clan’s Chris Frank”