Coventry Blaze (1 Viewer)

Tad

Member
Anyone managed to make it to the pre seasons the last two weeks?

We already seem far better than last season with a stronger defence and more of a team based mentality. Valabik is probably going to be the toughest fighter this season and Ned Lukacevic seems like a real talent. Lawrence stands out as a good player to put in front of the opponents net to block the sight of the goalie. Our PP and PK did well too.

My only real concerns coming out of the pre seasons were the lack of individual talent to score when it's handed to them. They created many chances, but failed to hit the net. We were a bit slow cycling the puck out of our own zone too, but, this is only the pre seasons and they've had little training so far. Overall though, I'm really confident in this team going forward. :)
 

Tad

Member
Cheers. It's been a tough few seasons compared to our trophy a season from before, but Webber walked in last season and brought us a trophy again. Hopefully more to follow.
 

no_loyalty

Well-Known Member
Not been to the Blaze since the Thommo days, might get down with the missus and daughter this season, and also to the Speedway for the Elite league playoffs
 

CJ_covblaze

Well-Known Member
Not been to the Blaze since the Thommo days, might get down with the missus and daughter this season, and also to the Speedway for the Elite league playoffs

He'll be back this year. Now that will be weird to see! The equivalent of Oggy getting a job at the Villa and then seeing him on the away bench at the Ricoh if we got them in the cup.
 
I wouldn't say squeelers would be blazes villa, that for me would be Cardiff and panties would be like Leicester, lol.

Haven't been yet looking forward to seeing noble chirp away, obviously Boris and a couple of Slovak lads at work say he's a very good player as well as fighter.

The Cardiff games as ever will be the ones to go to, noble v salters has to happen.

All in all once the team gels, this could be our best season for a few years.

C'MON YOU BLAZE

He'll be back this year. Now that will be weird to see! The equivalent of Oggy getting a job at the Villa and then seeing him on the away bench at the Ricoh if we got them in the cup.
 

CJ_covblaze

Well-Known Member
I'd say Notts are more like Fester and Cardiff are more like Wolves.
 

CCFCKirky

New Member
Blaze opened their season with an embarrassing 6-0 loss away to Fife on Saturday but avenged that defeat the next night with a 4-1 home win with goals coming from Ashley Tait, Ned Lukacevic, Mike Quesnele and Cale Tanaka.
 

chiefdave

Well-Known Member
What on earth is going on? Admittedly I'm only following from afar but it seems a total shambles. The 6-0 loss to Fife Kirky mentioned followed by 4-0 defeat at home to Sheffield and they're currently losing 5-0 in the return game at Sheffield.

There seemed to be a fair bit of optimism before the season started but its been shambolic so far, what has happened?
 

chiefdave

Well-Known Member
Blaze have signed Rod Stewarts son. They're missing a trick if they don't get Rod to do the anthem singing!
 

CJ_covblaze

Well-Known Member
I'm wondering if he'll bring Mum.
 

Tad

Member
It's been difficult to watch the Blaze the last few seasons and I'm not sure we really have the money to push for much anymore. The others have copied our uni deals while also having room to improve due to bigger rinks etc. Cups are probably our only chance now.

We've signed Robbo and Pietrus back and we're hoping to get Bruton, which is a great foundation to build off. I'm not sure why we kept Godfrey as he's been really poor. Fisher and Noble are two I'm not sure on either. The new signing though...Robin Bergman. He's going to be quality if he plays like his CV suggests. He's up there with Jake Morissette and Moisenko.
 

chiefdave

Well-Known Member
The others have copied our uni deals while also having room to improve due to bigger rinks etc.
Think someone at the top needs to get a grip on this. Having a league where only 2 or 3 teams can ice competitive teams is not going to do the sport any favours.
 

Tad

Member
I don't think it's the league itself at fault as the newer conference system has done wonders to make it more competitive. Belfast, Cardiff, Braehead, Steelers and Nottingham are all capable of winning the league thanks to it.

However, what they have done that's annoyed me is increased the import limit. This had lead to the bigger teams running with 4 lines of forwards, while the rest struggle to make up 3 - resulting in them having to work harder and double shifts up. This also heavily effects British development as the teams can now run with no Brits if they choose to only use 3 lines.
 
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chiefdave

Well-Known Member
I'm far from an expert on UK hockey but there seems to be a lot of empire building rather than everyone working together for the benefit of the sport overall.

How can you have a pro league with no clubs south of Coventry and expect to interest the national media who are pretty much all based in London?

Heard people make the argument that less imports would cause crowds to drop. Not sure I buy that. Its not like these are 'name' players who are shifting tickets. How many Blaze fans would stop going if there was less imports and more chance of clubs like Blaze being successful?
 

Tad

Member
Ice hockey in the UK is very...weird. In short, there are two companies that operate it. One runs the EPL and rec etc, (lower than elite) and the other is elite. They don't agree with each other is the easiest way to explain it.

The elite league is getting far better, but it's not there yet. Milton Keynes Lighting are moving from the EPL to the elite league soon and London are getting a team once the rink is able. So, in two years time, we should have two new teams and there's talk of another one soon too.
 

Tad

Member
I actually agree with you on the imports. Unless you really keep an eye out, most people probably won't know who players are in till they go digging for stats etc on eliteprospects.com.

We do need imports as they do add quality and let Brits learn at a higher level, but 14 is too much. I've always thought 8/10 would be better.
 

Tad

Member
Going by the recent interview, we might have the ability to go to 4 line hockey which is great. I'm guessing it'll go as followed:

1st line: Bergman - import - power forward (Bruton please)
2nd line: Fisher - Robinson - Pietrus
3rd line: Venus - Cowley - Tait
4th line: Selby - Import - Stewart

We still have two import defence men to sign too.
 

Earlsdon_Skyblue1

Well-Known Member
What's happened with them this season?

Saw tons of people going mental on Facebook asking for the manager to go.

Never seen such a thing in British Ice Hockey.
 

covcity4life

Well-Known Member
i absolutley love NHL

go to handful of blaze games a year but never enough to get to know many player names tbh

it is a bit of a superiority complex but as i love nhl so much it annoys me in the skydome when you have people saying things like "square it" lol

thats my issue though, i should go more. maybe this season. bit expensive though
 

Earlsdon_Skyblue1

Well-Known Member
i absolutley love NHL

go to handful of blaze games a year but never enough to get to know many player names tbh

it is a bit of a superiority complex but as i love nhl so much it annoys me in the skydome when you have people saying things like "square it" lol

thats my issue though, i should go more. maybe this season. bit expensive though

That's the same for me.

When it was cheaper it felt a lot better. Plus as you can drink in the stand I always end up having about 5 pints minimum.

Really good activity to do on a depressing Sunday evening, just wish they'd bring the price down.
 

covcity4life

Well-Known Member
just under 20 quid to stand or something isnt it?

tenner a ticket and im in

often feel the crowd feels like geek squad though, i imagine they bitch about football fans before the PA goes off and they start doing a choreographed clap lol
 

scottccfc

Well-Known Member
i've loved the few times I've been but the prices really put me off especially considering the kids tickets are £9 too (adults are £17)
I think with the demise of the bees this year may mean an upturn in attendances next season for the blaze
 

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