The Black and Gold Wire

As much as I've tried to weigh up the reasons both for and against the possibility of a 2020/21 EIHL season, I just can't see it happening with the ongoing coronavirus situation. It seems to me like there's simply too many factors affecting it that can't be ignored or combated at all. For a league that I feel has made a tone of progress in recent seasons, this will be a massive setback, possibly one not seen since the dramatic collapse of the BISL in 2002/03 which led to the formation of today's British top flight.  It's common knowledge that gate money is the main source of revenue for clubs, and without that, running the league just wouldn't be functional if we were to have games behind closed doors. British hockey absolutely needs crowds. This isn't like football, where teams continue to make obscene amounts through TV money, sponsorship and even merchandise in a sport which is a true global phenomena that hockey in this country will not come remotely...

Over the extended off season, I've been able to browse Elite Prospects in depth and look at potential players that the Panthers could sign for the new season. There's an almost endless list of players I could give you that have caught my eye, but I've decided to choose a line (1 goaltender, 2 defenceman, and 3 forwards) purely of players who played in the EIHL last season rather than just aimless selections from Elite Prospects. I've tried to select players outside of the so called 'big 4' (plus Guildford, who seem to retain every quality player they have these days) as poaching them isn't necessarily straightforward, so you won't be seeing a Brendan Connolly or a Joey Martin on this list.   This is somewhat hypothetical, as what is actually happening with next season is largely unknown, especially regarding imports.  Goaltender: Matt Ginn, Manchester Storm Manchester Storm goaltender Matt Ginn has consistently been one of the top goalies in the league o...

Having just seen a football version of this on YouTube, I wanted to try this with Elite League teams. I've picked each club's roster from their best season, including those no longer in the league, and predicted what the table would look like if all of them played against each other over the course of a season. I mainly based my choices on points tallies, but I've considered other factors too. To clarify, this is based on all seventeen EIHL era clubs since the league began in 2003/04.  17. Milton Keynes Lightning - 2017/18 I'm surprised I ended up coming to the conclusion Milton Keynes would be the worst team on this list. On paper, this roster should've done a LOT better. Stacked in offensive talent with the likes of Denny Kearney, Guillaume Doucet and Francis Verreault-Paul for a start, a top half finish should've been in sight.  With no home losses until November, it was looking possible, but the wheels flew off in the second part of the season rather drastic...

Craig Kowalski has become the benchmark for goaltending at the Panthers. I can count on one hand the amount of puck stoppers in the entire league who have managed to come close to, or reach his standards, and whenever the Panthers have announced a new arrival between the pipes, it's hard not to make comparisons between them and 'K-wall'.  Whilst no one has since managed to reach his heights, there has still been some great  (and not so great) players guarding the crease since his departure in 2015. I've decided to rank each of them. This is with the exception of those who have played less than 15 games in a single season because,let's be honest, explaining why Dan Green is bottom of my list isn't exactly groundbreaking reading material... 8. Henry Pacl, 2016-17  Youngster Henry Pacl wasn't exactly an established netminder when he came to Nottingham as a backup to Miika Wiikaman, but had experience in the well respected Czech junior system. It seemed t...

Arguably the biggest reason for Panthers turnaround in 2019/20 was Guillaume Doucet's ability find the right players in what was likely a limited market during the season, after the summer recruitment hadn't proved sufficient enough. When teams face adversity, there is an increased pressure on those in charge of recruitment to pick the best fish out of a smaller pond, and Doucet nailed it each time. I've decided to look at other times the Panthers have found a gem mid-season, specifically over the last decade.  2010/11- Jeff Heerema  Dustin Sproat's departure was very well addressed in early October 2010 with the signing of former NHL forward Jeff Heerema, who came in with an astounding CV, having put up solid numbers in the AHL, DEL and EBEL. He lived up to his pedigree, putting up 46 points (25+21) in 36 games, establishing himself as a key figure in the Panthers offence. With 7 of those points coming in the playoffs, Heerema led the Panthers in post season scor...

At the time of writing, no individual Elite League awards have been given out other than the 12 all star team spots, which had 2 Panthers included for the first time since 2012/13. Once again, there's been heaps of quality across every team, and I'd like to give my take on who deserves recognition for the best forward, defencemen, netminder, coach and British player if/when these awards are announced. As my predicted all star teams were quite different from the ones revealed last week, I'll also throw them in at the end.  Coach of the year: Danny Stewart, Coventry Blaze   If you'd told me at the start of the season that I'd be giving Danny Stewart this award without hesitation, then I'd have laughed, very hard. The Coventry boss wasn't exactly highly rated before this season started, but by the end of the season, the Blaze were borderline unbeatable and were considered by many to be title contenders.  Stewart got his troops playing outstanding hock...

As I write this, I'm sat in my garden taking in the hot summer weather, which is well balanced with a subtle breeze. In other words, playoff weather. Obviously, the leagues showpiece event isn't happening this year for the right reasons, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it stings to miss out on the ultimate hockey weekend. Intense hockey with a championship on the line, an electric atmosphere created by 10 sets of fans , people having vodka at breakfast, the list goes on as to what makes this weekend so special. For a Panthers fan, the last few finals weekends have provided some nightmare games though. Watching the Steelers who had brutally knocked us out go on to win it in 2017, then in 2018 watching the same team end Corey Neilson's Panthers tenure a day earlier than planned after dominating the majority of the game, and then there was 2019...let's not go there.  Instead, we'll go to the times when Panthers playoff performances peaked. We truly ...