EIHL Fan Forum

[Vartel]

I am not at the fan forum, but they have posted live updates of key points on twitter, which i thought i would share here to get a discussion going.

https://twitter.com/officialEIHL

It seems to have been confirmed that the teams next year will have a size limit of 22, being 14 imports, 3 brits under 23 and the rest being older brits. This is going to cause lots of changes for the teams. Are any of the Devils current Brits under 23?

 

[Gospel]

that will cause huge problems and will no doubt mean the return to 3 line hockey. None of our current Brits are under 23 so we'll need 3! who then goes? I guess it would be between Piggsy, Jones, Murdy.

Cant see the EPL teams happy with that either as their Brit group will no diminish massively.

Long term, potentially good though as the brits will be with high end calibre imports so in theory improving their skill set. Tell will tell though.

Cant see any mention of any EU players, any one have info on that?

 

[Ocko]

I don't see how it will it mean a return to 3 line hockey?

It just means that unfortunately 2 of Piggot, CJ or Murdy have to make way for a player under 23 (Callum Buglass?) And two spares. Our 14 imports and 5 top Brits (Myers, Bowns, Richie, Batch and one of the others above) remain largely unaffected.

I don't see how it's that bad a move really.

 

[backrow]

Realistically, are there 36 Brit players under 23 that have close to EIHL skill level? Also, if players simply sit at the end of the bench does it help them to develop?

 

[august04]

I would think 14 imports, plus Bowns, Murdy, Richie, Batch and Myers (if we can keep hold of them all) plus 3 under 23’s (Buglass plus two others). Unfortunate for Piggott and Jones but I'd rather see this than a reduced roster size.

 

[ASHIPP]

IIIAge limit of 23 for 3 British players will be problematic. There are, however, young British players out there....the question is whether they can be persuaded to join the Elite League teams. Would love to see someone like Ivan Antonov or Owen Griffiths on a two-way or development deal with the Devils.

As it stands, one of our existing Brits would be lost - a great shame. If rumours are true that Murds might be going as the No1 goalie to another team in this league, the issue might be resolved naturally. Tom certainly more than proved he is ready.

 

[Milky]

Not really a shame though. Piggot and Jones didn't get much (if any) ice time this weekend.

The EU rule is now irrelevant. It's 14 imports full stop. They can be from anywhere, no restrictions.

 

[osh]

I would imagine if its 14 imports, plus 5 Brits and 3 under 23 Brits making up a squad of 22, then a priority for Lord would be to look at which young Brits are available and try and get them onboard soon as poss. Also, whilst it seems a good idea to have 3 under 23's per team, if they spend most of the time on the bench, it becomes a wasted experiment and of course would mean very few teams would be playing 4 line hockey. I would imagine we will do our utmost to re sign Bowns, Murdy, Richardson, Batch & Myers which obviously means no Jones or Piggott, however, I would hope both of them get picked up by another team and given more ice time than they have had with us.
Based upon what has been stated by others ( i.e 14 imports, 5 Brits plus 3 under 23 Brits ) we will certainly struggle in European Cup competition against sides with no such restrictions unless we are able to sign a few imports on short term contracts which is highly unlikely.

 

[mazza03]

I don't think the rule applies to the Continental cup does it?

 

[osh]

I don't think the rule applies to the Continental cup does it?

You may well be right, but knowing how well we look after players we sign, I can't see us bringing in an additional 3 or 4 imports - to enable 4 line hockey - just to play in the CHL cup and then gas them.

 

[bdevil]

You may well be right, but knowing how well we look after players we sign, I can't see us bringing in an additional 3 or 4 imports - to enable 4 line hockey - just to play in the CHL cup and then gas them.

Agreed, but say there are certain players planning on retirement they may be happy yo retire after CHL is over. It's a longshot but I guess it's possible.

 

[matbur]

I don't see how a roster limit of 22 means three line hockey: G2, D6, F12 = 20 with two spare spaces.

Not sure if my views fall in line with the general consensus of hockey fans, but I pay to watch the best quality EIHL possible. First and foremost, making sure that the league and clubs are financially sustainable is obviously fundamental but preferably I really don't want to see three line hockey or a weakened product to accommodate players just because they're young and British.

If the objective of the EIHL is to reach the highest quality possible, then it's going fail on the basis of this.

Imagine the Premier League suddenly forced clubs to play x amount of English players, the standard of quality within the league would be take a hit immediately and lose credibility.

I've only been following UK hockey for around two years but feel pretty strongly about this. Yes, there has to be a development strategy for Brit players which the league and clubs should have a role in, but it seems to me that the EIHL is suffering from an identity crisis; is its purpose to develop British talent or does it want to become the highest standard possible?

 

[MartyA]

IF murdy moves on (and would understand) then back-up goal tender would be a good spot for one of the brit U-23s?

 

[Gaz G]

IF murdy moves on (and would understand) then back-up goal tender would be a good spot for one of the brit U-23s?

Until the Steelers run Bownsy and put him out for a month.

 

[august04]

IF murdy moves on (and would understand) then back-up goal tender would be a good spot for one of the brit U-23s?

Any back up netminder needs to have the ability to win games at EIHL level. Look what happened to Nottingham when Wiikman was targeted - Green came in and the game was lost. If a good U-23 goalie is out there, great - but he's got to be good enough, otherwise we're on dangerous ground.

 

[osh]

I don't see how a roster limit of 22 means three line hockey: G2, D6, F12 = 20 with two spare spaces.

Yes, ideally a roster of 22 in theory allows us to play 4 line hockey, however, we hardly played much real 4 line hockey this season, more like 3 1/2 lines at best, so I don't see how having 3 under 23 Brits in a roster next season would give a coach the confidence to play them much. Take yesterday for example, Jones and Piggott - 2 over 23 of age Brits - didn't get any ice time and other senior imports had very limited ice time as well. At best we played 3 line hockey in the last game of the season. One criticism of our play yesterday - and it's tough to criticise such a great effort - is to ask the question why when we were leading 3 - 1 didn't we get Jones and Piggott on to give others more time to recover.
4 line hockey equates to 4 sets of five plus 2 net minders, we won't be playing any under 23's unless they are of a very high calibre ( equal or thereabouts to an average import ) and I don't think there are that many out there to recruit, hence my comment that it is more likely to be 3 line hockey in the EIHL games, might be different for CHL cup games.

 

[Mooney#16]

I don't see how a roster limit of 22 means three line hockey: G2, D6, F12 = 20 with two spare spaces.

I don't know if my views fall in line with the general consensus of hockey fans, but I pay as I want to watch the best quality EIHL hockey possible. First and foremost, making sure that the league and clubs are financially viable and have stability is obviously fundamental but preferably I don't want to see three line hockey or a weakened product to accommodate players just because they're young and British.

I get the development aspect but if the league's mission statement is to be the highest quality domestic standard possible then it's going fail.

I know it's a different sport but the affects are essentially the same, imagine the Premier League forced clubs to play x amount of English players, the league would be weakened and not seen as credible when compared alongside other leagues.

I've only been following UK hockey for around two years closely but feel pretty strongly about this. Yes, there has to be a development strategy which the league and clubs should recognise but it seems to me that the EIHL is suffering from an identity crisis; is its purpose to develop British talent or does it want to become the highest standard possible?

I get where you're coming from but I also think the penny has dropped with the league about mainstream funding and sponsorship and the fortunes of the Eliteleague being tightly matched to that of the national team. The national team still gains more mainstream media than the domestic league so the better you can make it the more outside finance can be pulled into the sport as a whole including the top league. This U23 rule will help this situation along with it now being a 12 team league. Give it a few years the GB talent pool will be far increased and hopefully you'll see better GB performance and potential investment from real blue chip companies. It's a one step back two steps forward for me and one of the most progressive moves in many an off season.

 

[Wannabe2]

The bench size is 19, not 22, with 14 imports limit which can all be Nth Americans.

 

[Wannabe2]

Sorry my bad read it wrong, 22 correct.

 

[matbur]

Yes, ideally a roster of 22 in theory allows us to play 4 line hockey, however, we hardly played much real 4 line hockey this season, more like 3 1/2 lines at best, so I don't see how having 3 under 23 Brits in a roster next season would give a coach the confidence to play them much. Take yesterday for example, Jones and Piggott - 2 over 23 of age Brits - didn't get any ice time and other senior imports had very limited ice time as well. At best we played 3 line hockey in the last game of the season. One criticism of our play yesterday - and it's tough to criticise such a great effort - is to ask the question why when we were leading 3 - 1 didn't we get Jones and Piggott on to give others more time to recover.
4 line hockey equates to 4 sets of five plus 2 net minders, we won't be playing any under 23's unless they are of a very high calibre ( equal or thereabouts to an average import ) and I don't think there are that many out there to recruit, hence my comment that it is more likely to be 3 line hockey in the EIHL games, might be different for CHL cup games.

I take your point here and perhaps you're right, especially about the 3 1/2 line stuff, but unless I'm misinterpreting it, your last sentence is wrong - four-line hockey isn't four sets of five players, they only roll three D pairings along the four forward lines.

I'm just of the opinion that four-line hockey is a better product than watching three. Maybe I'm wrong.