10 imports next season

[DevilDom]

Re: Re: 10 imports next season

If they drop to 8 imports i would say thats the end of the arena teams (maybe not nottingham) but Belfast almost certainly.

If that is true then the end of Belfast in the Elite league may be better for the league as a whole going forward. Add the additional travel costs of going to Belfast which may also play a part in discouraging other teams to make the step up and I think you wouldn't be missed that much.

No probably not be missed at all, but if Belfast do sink expect more to follow

Like who? I can't think of any team in the Elite league that benefits from Belfast being in it. It's not as if you take a load of travelling fans with you everywhere and the cost of travelling to Belfast 3 or 4 times a year far out weighs the benefit other clubs get form those fans you do take.

 

[kettdevil1]

Re: Re: 10 imports next season

[Your probably right. Its my opinion that 8 import hockey or less would not be substainable in Belfast or any arena based team.

Genuine question - why? The increase in imports this season hasn't seen a noticeable increase in standards (apart from at the BBT obviously )

Would a drop to 8 really have Giants fans leaving in droves?

 

[WapCap]

Re: Re: 10 imports next season

If they drop to 8 imports i would say thats the end of the arena teams (maybe not nottingham) but Belfast almost certainly.

If that is true then the end of Belfast in the Elite league may be better for the league as a whole going forward. Add the additional travel costs of going to Belfast which may also play a part in discouraging other teams to make the step up and I think you wouldn't be missed that much.

Spot on.

Why should most of the teams bust a gut, require bailing out and go to the wall every few years to keep up with Nottingham and Belfast? For the good of ice hockey in the UK as a whole, the EIHL must find the middle ground and cater for the majority of teams and not the minority. The bar is set far too high atm but maybe the current recession will sort it out for them.

 

[ASHIPP]

With the Devils shortbenched for parts of the season with injury and suspension, it looks and feels like they have been playing with less than 10 imports........and had a fantastic season. 8-
)
The drop to 10 is going to have a bigger impact on teams with 11/12 imports and an import netminder. Stevie in goal gives G options on the roster.

However, would love to see a couple more quality Brits signed for next season. Tim has already impressed the club and the fans - don't know about his university commitments. :? And what about young Joe Miller at Phoenix? The EIHL teams will be very keen to hold on to the Brits they have already .....although it would be fantastic to imagine that players like Matt Myers or Greg Owen might be open to a move?

As for losing our own fantastic players - it is inevitable some of the guys will want to move on to other challenges/develop their career elsewhere. Wrong time right now to start speculating which players those are going to be until the season is completely over.

 

[jimmy snels]

i find it amazing that people think its a benifit having lyle in net still. i hate to say it but if we'd benched G for the season and had osaer in nets we'd have won this league by 10 points. thats not ment to be a dig at G because he's bin very good this season but we'd need an import slot to bring in a top netminder.

So you would have played that February spell with a 3 man D of Weller, Richardson and Symonds when the two Smith brothers were injured? :lol:

as usual finny you critise others suggestions without making any of your own. With G on the bench when we had an injury to a IMPORT G would be able to step up and take their place OBVIOUSLY :roll: also tylor plays D on special plays and would easily step in if a crisis happened. you would keep everything the same? if you put the same in everytime, dont be suprised when you always get the same result........

 

[jester]

To try to answer the above posts (IMO)

I would suspect the Giants take more fans to Dundee, Braehead and Edinburgh than any other team maybe with the exception of the panthers.

yes get rid of the panthers and Giants to benifit the majority, Ah hold on majority of fans hmm well you have just lost over half straight away, also the way things are going in Shuff at the moment they dont seem to keen on renewing season tickets.

8 imports =more brits and I dont think there is enough quality brits to fill the gaps, therefore drop in standards and with higher ticket prices less people.

The travell costs i dont see as an issue, I would imagine for the devils to travel to scotland wouldnt be much more than travelling to Belfast, and obviously for the Scottish based teams its easier than travelling to Cardiff.

Sorry if i missed anybody out

 

[jimmy snels]

im with you too jester, it seems amazing to suggest binning the 2 biggest teams for the benifit of the league :? these teams bring a massive amount of fans to the sport and im sure the kids watching them will want to get involved in the sport and bring more players to the ice in the long term. i just think if the wage cap is set at a managable level and everyone sticks to it the over all quality may drop slightly (possibly) but with most teams having injuries along the way at the current level im sure u wont notice it

 

[jester]

im with you too jester, it seems amazing to suggest binning the 2 biggest teams for the benifit of the league :? these teams bring a massive amount of fans to the sport and im sure the kids watching them will want to get involved in the sport and bring more players to the ice in the long term. i just think if the wage cap is set at a managable level and everyone sticks to it the over all quality may drop slightly (possibly) but with most teams having injuries along the way at the current level im sure u wont notice it

I would rather see a set wage cap and no import restriction.

Then Brits wouldnt price themselves too high and good brit players can/would develop. :idea:

 

[devil_hammer]

However, would love to see a couple more quality Brits signed for next season. Tim has already impressed the club and the fans - don't know about his university commitments. :?

FYI:

Tim Burrows is at Bristol university BUT graduates in 2 months.

 

[DevilDom]

yes get rid of the panthers and Giants to benifit the majority, Ah hold on majority of fans hmm well you have just lost over half straight away, also the way things are going in Shuff at the moment they dont seem to keen on renewing season tickets.

Jester you are tieing yourself up in knots here. :roll: Nobody suggested getting rid of the giants or the panthers. It was you who said if the import levels dropped that would be the end of the giants. You then went onto say the panthers would be ok, so I don't see why your now saying they won't be? My response was that if losing the giants was better for the league as a whole then so be it.

The travel costs argument was an additional point to that of the cost of carrying 10 imports rather than 8. It may be an additional factor as to why some clubs, for example guildford, bracknell, bision etc. (i.e. South East UK) won't make the step up.

 

[Finny]

as usual finny you critise others suggestions without making any of your own. With G on the bench when we had an injury to a IMPORT G would be able to step up and take their place OBVIOUSLY :roll: also tylor plays D on special plays and would easily step in if a crisis happened. you would keep everything the same? if you put the same in everytime, dont be suprised when you always get the same result........

Not sure what the last comment is supposed to mean, but I find it highly amusing that you reckon by losing a player and replacing Lyle with Osaer we would instantly have gained an extra 10 points. Lyle had some poor games but also some very good games. You yourself admitted that G had a good season - but you reckon that by him not playing we wouldn't have lost anything? What about all the assists, goals and fights he had?
Wasn't Tylor banned during the same period that Kenton and Mark were injured? Bringing in Adams would be fine but he wouldn't be match sharp straight away.

IMO the less imports in the league the more impact a british netminder will have - so if Lyle is staying for next year that will be key for us.

 

[Finny]

With the Devils shortbenched for parts of the season with injury and suspension, it looks and feels like they have been playing with less than 10 imports........and had a fantastic season.

I'd actually forgotten that we had been playing the last couple of games with only 10 imports - and 9 before that.

I think a major reason for that has been the introduction of Burrows but also a vast improvement by Symo. Midway through the season when he was struggling to recover from his injury I wondered whether he may have to go back to the EPL again. In the last month though I have been very impressed with him and see no reason why he shouldn't be one of the first players re-signed along with all the other brits.

 

[jester]

No i'm not,

Its my opinion that 8 imports would see the demise of the giants and arena based teams, i said i didnt know about the panthers.

Wage cap in his post insinuated why should teams try to keep up with Belfast/Notts , and went on about majority and minority !!

Not sure where this is coming from as according to Sports illustrated the Giants were under the wage cap this year and i doubt anyone here knows what the panthers spent

The travel costs argument was an additional point to that of the cost of carrying 10 imports rather than 8. It may be an additional factor as to why some clubs, for example guildford, bracknell, bision etc. (i.e. South East UK) won't make the step up.

Ahh but thats the import limit you dont have to have that ammount you could go with 6 and sign top end brits to fill the rest.

I think Guilford are happy to be a big fish in a little pond and it seems that the London area just wont sustain EIHL teams

 

[fried egg]

I must be missing something.How will import levels see the back of Arena teams?
As for Ben Davies I'd be quite happy never to see him in a Devils shirt again.Caused the Devils serious problems by throwing his tantrum.Burrows has shown he can play a bit and for me Fisher is a step up on him.Give these two a chance first.

 

[freddieb]

No i'm not,

Its my opinion that 8 imports would see the demise of the giants and arena based teams, i said i didnt know about the panthers.

Wage cap in his post insinuated why should teams try to keep up with Belfast[/color]/Notts , and went on about majority and minority !!

(im not sure where this is coming from as according to Sports illustrated the Giants were under the wage cap this year and i doubt anyone here knows what the panthers spent)

The travel costs argument was an additional point to that of the cost of carrying 10 imports rather than 8. It may be an additional factor as to why some clubs, for example guildford, bracknell, bision etc. (i.e. South East UK) won't make the step up.

Ahh but thats the import limit you dont have to have that ammount you could go with 6 and sign top end brits to fill the rest.

I think Guilford are happy to be a big fish in a little pond and it seems that the London area just wont sustain EIHL teams

i'm almost positive that sheffield and nottingham would easily survive if the imports went down to 8 but your right about belfast, they are the only team I could see struggling with the drop of imports

 

[ASHIPP]

Whilst on the subject of recruiting British players, the Cage forum states that Clarke and Lachowicz have already confirmed a return next season ( although I can't find any official news of this). Panthers' fans speculating already whether Matt Myers might be coming to Cardiff because no announcement of him at Panthers - what a great thought but it's way to early to be guessing anything. Season isn't over yet.

 

[TheStub]

The thing is, we don't have to drop to 8 in one stop. What is wrong with a season at 10, see where the British pool of talent is, drop to 9... rinse and repeat.

If there are more jobs at the top level, then there will be more incentive for Brits to make a go of playing hockey. 8 imports is a reduction of 20 imports from where the league will be with ten. 2-4 years to find 20 players over the 15 extra we have to find this year.

We already look to our development system and see talent coning through. It must be the same for most the other team before we look to the EPL rosters and their development teams. It isn't a huge commitment of man power over a relatively long number of years.

Belfast won't struggle to recruit IMHO, as they can tempt Brits with the lifestyle - throw in the flats and other incentives that would have gone to imports and I think they will go over there.

What a lower import limit may prompt is more British netminders.

Also - who is to say the wage cap wont give a little breathing room to recruit Brits in future seasons?

I'm with Dom - if the Giants can't make a go of it in a way that is sustainable to other teams in the league we may be better off sacrificing them.

 

[BLOCK 3 DEVIL]

Less imports

More Brits

Less quality

Less fans

Hockey implodes !

This is my opinion and I'm entitled to it.

 

[TheStub]

In my opinion lots of fans won't notice the "drop" in quality. More so if slowly slowly.

Your opinion, you're entitled to it - but dogmatism isn't a great character trait.

 

[BLOCK 3 DEVIL]

In my opinion lots of fans won't notice the "drop" in quality. More so if slowly slowly.

Your opinion, you're entitled to it - but dogmatism isn't a great character trait.

Have we ever met ? How would you know what my character is like ?

Anyway..... getting back to the hockey.......

The considerable amount of money we are asked to invest in season tickets is only justified if the best possible quality product is delivered by those taking our hard earned cash.

I sincerely believe that should the import quota continue to drop people will not want to pay the current prices and so the potential downward spiral commences. However, should we remain at 10 imports we have a chance.