Guildford Flames Apply for EIHL

[Ocko]

Confirmed that Guildford have made an application for the EIHL that will almost certainly be approved. Great news.

https://eliteleague.co.uk/january-board-meeting-update/

 

[Wannabe2]

12 teams next season, does that mean still 2 Conferences if so who in what, or 1 Conference. Could it be.
Devils
Flames
Lightning
Blaze
Panthers
Steelers.

Storm
Giants
Flyers
Stars
Clan
Capitals.

 

[kettdevil1]

I would guess they would go with three conferences of four:

Devils
Blaze
MK
Guildford

Clan
Caps
Flyers
Stars

Giants
Steelers
Panthers
Storm

The losers there look like the Storm although that would be balanced by the increased attendances they would get

 

[Wannabe2]

The losers there to me are us, also we will be playing the same teams too often, surely either two conferences or one.

 

[jimmy snels]

Why not just one league title? Make challenge cup more "local", league season shorter and a proper play offs?

 

[BillytheWiz]

How about ....
Challenge cup 2 groups of 6 based on league positions from previous season.
So group A &B
1 4 6 8 10 + flames
2 3 5 7 9 + lightning

Play all group challenge cup matches over first 5 weeks and then start league season.

Just do top 2 from each group into challenge cup finals weekend instead of play off weekend maybe have a pre or post Christmas challenge cup finals weekend ?

Then for the league .......Play everybody 2 X home , 2 X away.

Top 8 in league play best of 3 for play offs , advantage to higher placed team same for semis and final ?

I know this makes it harder for Teams with less funding but the conference titles don't seem to mean anything at the moment.
Thoughts ??

 

[jimmy snels]

Id like a 5 game series for later playoffs but absolutely fine with me that one

 

[Kal]

Conference system should stay at 2 maybe once we hit 16 teams introduce 4 4 team divisions to break it down further hopefully by that point we will have evolved the playoff system to something more similar to other leagues and can use the divisions to decide some of the playoff places like they do in the NHL.

I'd happily see the Challenge Cup scrapped completely in favour of a longer and better playoff series.

 

[osh]

Good news as far as I am concerned. I have ice hockey friends in both MK and Guildford who have been crying out to see better teams play in their rinks for years. It raises the sport up a notch as well. As for how often we play each other ? I would prefer 2 home and 2 away against all teams ( 44 games ) that to me is the only way to determine the team at the top of the league table at the end of the season are worthy champions. As for the cups and play offs, CC could be split into 2 groups of 6 (10 games each ) North and South and the top 2 in each group enter into 2 semi final groups and then a final. As for the play offs, top 8 in the league as present, 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5 to gualify for final play off weekend.
Interesting times.

 

[James]

The losers there to me are us, also we will be playing the same teams too often, surely either two conferences or one.

a three conference system would mean we have more teams to play out of conference so will have more games against other teams than now. Currently its
4(opposing conference teams)x2(home and away)x4(times) = 32 in conference and 5(other teams)x2(home and away)x2(times)=20
whereas 3 conferences is
3(opposing conference teams)x2(home and away)x4(times) = 24 in conference and 8(other teams)x2(home and away)x2(times)=32
for 56 games as opposed to 52 currently

 

[Finny]

The problem with 2 conferences of 6 is that Belfast would have to do into the Northern Conference. I can't imagine their fans would be happy with less games against the bigger teams and it would make the league title a procession for them. I'd prefer to see three conferences:
Scottish: Braehead, Dundee, Edinburgh, Fife
Northern: Belfast, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield
Southern: Cardiff, Coventry, Guildford, MK (aka the Conference of Fire)
Twice home and away against other conferences. Four home and away against same conference. 56 game league season.

Manchester would have it tougher but they'd save a lot of travelling compared to now and the extra income from more home games v Sheffield and Nottingham might allow them to put together an even better team than this year.

There would be suggestions that we might have it too easy in our conference but Coventry seem to be getting stronger again this season and you never know what teams MK or Guildford put together. One other negative might be the loss of games against Belfast, Nottingham and Sheffield but the fact we're selling out so many games without needing big crowds I think is less of an issue now that it might have been previously.

I'd also revamp the CC. Scrap the current groups and go to 4 groups of 3. The semi-finalists from the previous year are seeded and the other 8 teams are drawn randomly. 1 home and 1 away against your two rivals. Top 2 qualify for the Quarter-Finals.

It will be interesting to see if the introduction of two more rink teams could see us finally move to a playoff series. But I doubt it.
If we are to keep the current format I'd make one addition. The four teams who miss out on the playoffs go into an EIHL Plate competition. Home and Away Semi-Finals on the same weekend as the PO QFs. The Final is then on Playoffs Sunday in the afternoon instead of the 3rd/4th Playoff game.

 

[ASHIPP]

r

The losers there to me are us, also we will be playing the same teams too often, surely either two conferences or one.

Agree with this. The strongest mini conference would be the one with Giants, Panthers etc.Ours would be very weak . The prospect of playing 2 rookie EIHL teams possibly more than opponents in other groups would not be a true test of the team's ability. Or really be particularly entertaining.

It's the games against the big teams that really challenge the Devils....and attract the biggest crowds. TheClan have been a dominent force in the other conference for the previous two seasons but have struggled against the Erhardt teams - they don't play them enough.
If a conference system is to be continued, it needs to be balanced representation of clubs.

 

[Kal]

Really glad that we're getting 2 more southern teams but i don't really see the point in having a conference system the only way it can stay is for Belfast to move or for it to become 3. Both solutions aren't really fair, also while the league remains the big title shouldn't we all be playing each other an equal number of times?

While I'd like to see the Challenge Cup scrapped eventually I think for now it would be a great platform to experiment with different formats for the playoffs. Have a season where the CC is decided in best of series' instead of the 2 leagues and 10 games to eliminate 2 teams crap. Use the previous seasons standings to seed teams and have them faceoff in a best of 3 series knockout style tournament to see how it goes down with fans. If anything it adds something different.

 

[Devil_Abroad]

Well I will be seeing more Devils next season if Guildford are voted in - already looking forward to popping over to MK


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[DevilDom]

Really pleased Guildford have applied as I think its a good distance for an away trip (and my brother lives there!), so hopefully they will get voted in so we can keep even numbers. In terms of how the conferences are set up - it doesn't bother me too much whether its 3 of 4 or 2 of 6, however I think I'd prefer 2 of 6 with Belfast going North and MK and Flames joining us in the South. Also another thing to consider is that with 4 teams conferences there will actually be more outer conference games than inner conference games (32 v 24) assuming 4/4 inner conference and 2/2 outer conference. That may actually increase travel costs for some of the already struggling Scottish teams such as Caps and Stars.

Just to add - with 2 conferences of 6 games would be 3/3 inner conference and 2/2 outer conference so 54 in total (2 more than now) and would arguably make the league fairer.

 

[devils2001uk]

Conference 1 is the 4 Scottish teams, conference 2 giants, steelers, Panthers, devils, , conference 3 flames, lightning, storm, blaze

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[youngbob]

For me, no conference system, simply play the other 11 2 x home, 2 x away, total 44 games in regular season

Change the Play-Off format to go back the old 2 groups of 4 teams, top 2 from each group go on to NIC

I like Finny's idea of an EIHL plate for the the other 4 teams, and that would mean all 12 teams have a further 6 guaranteed games to bring it to 50 games in total (and as a bonus we don't need the 3rd and 4th Play-Off game!)

Which leaves LESS games than currently, so keep a modified Challenge Cup, complete before the league starts, allowing a weekend for semis and final early in the season, 2 groups of 6, maybe based on geographical groupings to reduce costs, gives another 10 guaranteed games for a total of at least 60 for all 12 teams, more for the teams that progress in Challenge Cup and Play-Offs

Which matches the current 52 league + 8 Challenge Cup first round!

 

[jenks33]

It's positive that MK and Guildford are joining the league but I'll be very frustrated if we're chucked in a 4 team conference with them. They're likely to be two of the weaker teams for the first year or two and to be honest I've got no interest in watching us play them a dozen times a season ( including probable pre season games against them)

 

[Earnie]

Let us try and remember why the Conferance system was set up in the first place.
I think it was to reduce the travel costs and wear and tear on the players and travelling fans. If they wish to continue with the Conferance system then it should be North and South. To make it more than two would bore us all to death with seeing the same team again and again and attendances would dwindle as a consequence. Draw a line in the sand - the six most Northerly versus the rest.

 

[Hotdog]

I would like the two conference system to stay. However to keep it balanced each conference should have two of the big four (Gardiner - Belfast & Sheffield, Erhardt - Nottingham and Cardiff) one each of the "potentially" should be doing better teams (G - Braehead, E - Coventry) and three each of the smaller teams (G - Edinburgh, Dundee and Fife; E - MK, Manchester and Guildford). 6 games against teams in own conference, 4 against teams in opposite. 54 in total. Main team who prob won't like this is Sheffield, and maybe to an extent Nottingham due to less steelers games however two extra games per season should ease the lost revenue. For the playoffs, top four in each conference qualify, 1v4 and 2v3 before playing a conference final (playoff weekend Saturday) and then the Monteith bowl final between conference champions on the Sunday. I also quite like the idea someone suggested of the non playoff teams going into a bracket with two legged semis and then the final of it replacing the 3/4 playoff game on the Sunday


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