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Post by wgray on May 18, 2019 19:54:01 GMT
If GB take anything from this tournament it is the fact that every single player needs to improve themselves physically prior to next year, even if we get relegated.
In terms of physical ability, the gap between GB and the rest is massive. In terms of technical ability, I don’t think the gap is as big. The intensity and physical level required in the EIHL, when compared to the rest of the leagues around the world, is much lower. The British players have got to push themselves if they are serious about next year.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2019 19:57:45 GMT
And I doubt that you will ever post anything about GB that isn't unremittingly negative and downright miserable. All you do is niggle and moan. Come to think of it, that covers more than just GB where you're concerned. Just give it a rest for once... Freedom of speech but guess what . Most is legit you just dont like hearing the truth. I said GB would tire as the tourney got old. They tried to give Bowns another game and now hes risked getting injured for the game on Monday even though they will be harder than what most think . Shaggy the GB team isn't very good for all the trying they do. Accept it and stop taking it personal You call somebody out personally and ask them to not take it personally...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2019 20:11:00 GMT
And I doubt that you will ever post anything about GB that isn't unremittingly negative and downright miserable. All you do is niggle and moan. Come to think of it, that covers more than just GB where you're concerned. Just give it a rest for once... Freedom of speech but guess what . Most is legit you just dont like hearing the truth. I said GB would tire as the tourney got old. They tried to give Bowns another game and now hes risked getting injured for the game on Monday even though they will be harder than what most think . Shaggy the GB team isn't very good for all the trying they do. Accept it and stop taking it personal Idiom! You could start an argument in an empty room.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2019 20:15:57 GMT
Freedom of speech but guess what . Most is legit you just dont like hearing the truth. I said GB would tire as the tourney got old. They tried to give Bowns another game and now hes risked getting injured for the game on Monday even though they will be harder than what most think . Shaggy the GB team isn't very good for all the trying they do. Accept it and stop taking it personal Idiom! You could start an argument in an empty room. Hardly .. but hey ho.
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Yotes
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Post by Yotes on May 18, 2019 20:57:41 GMT
Have to hope Finland do us a job tomorrow.
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Discoray
Robert Lachowicz
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Post by Discoray on May 18, 2019 21:20:23 GMT
Another hammering on the cards and we haven't learned anything from last week. Well at least we get a rest before France but it won't be easy against them Genuinely, what is it you’re expecting GB hockey to “learn” in the space of one week? Will the players magically learn conditioning and speed skating to KHL/NHL level? Will IHUK learn get TV deals measured in hundreds of millions? Will IHUK learn to get 18,000+ arenas built & paid for by the government? Will the players learn get multi-million contracts? Unless the answer to all those questions is yes, you're not going to see much different!
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Post by spik on May 18, 2019 21:29:24 GMT
If GB stay up....will we still be barracking each other about what we all know? We are off the pace, we are here just to beat France to stay up in the top tier. Now let's just cut the bickering and either hope we win or go on a blasted holiday.
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grumpy
Jade Galbraith
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Post by grumpy on May 18, 2019 21:41:41 GMT
I do find some of the negativity on here baffling - what do people expect of the GB team?. The Denmark game was disappointing but in every other we have battled hard and never let our heads drop, whatever the score - personally, I don`t think we can ask for more than that. We are playing the worlds best, and there is a huge gulf between them and the rest, which is why teams promoted from 1a are invariably relegated the following season. We are up against players who are, bigger, faster (Mosey looks almost pedestrian in comparison), more skilled, and better conditioned. They come from countries with more and better facilities,well funded youth development programmes with professional coaching,and, in most cases, ice hockey is either the national sport or at least a major one attracting large sums in sponsorship.Players from the NHL and KHL are on multi-million dollar contracts and even those from the mid-ranking leagues like EBEL are being pais six figure sums, whereas most of ours are probably earning around 30K - as Matty Myers commented "Bet I`m the only builder playing here". The French league is probably on a par or weaker that the EIHL but the government has invested millions in the national team. We have over-achieved by even getting to the top table so let`s be realistic and give the guys the credit they deserve.With hindsight, we might have been better off with the silver medal last season - from what I have seen of the games in group B we would have every chance against Austria, and possibly Norway.
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Post by DonClaneone on May 18, 2019 23:35:16 GMT
People didn't expect anything, that's the point.
Perhaps we underestimated the strength of Denmark but we're up against stronger teams than ourselves and our level isn't the top.
Something fundamentally needs to change for Great Britain to take that step up to the Elite, pardon the pun, level. We put up a decent fight against the USA and Denmark got battered by them. We need more players playing outwith the UK in order for us to make significant steps.
There needs to be a restructuring of the League set up from top to bottom, have a JDL (Junior Developmental League) and have each top tier team assigned a JDL team, then create a national 2nd tier with promotion & relegation between the 2 Leagues. The Leagues would be split into 2 divisions each of Northern based teams and Southern based teams. The 2nd tier would follow the same structure. At the end of the regular season in the top division the 2 teams that finish bottom of the respective conferences will have a 1 off playoff at a neutral venue with the loser being relegated and replaced by a team from the conference in the second tier that matches the one they were in in the top tier, this gets rid of the uneven number of teams issue.
There'll also be a pre season cup competition between winners of the top tier & Second tier.
I also forgot to add that JDL teams would play on the same day as their parent team does at home like a few hours before.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2019 23:40:04 GMT
That's just it.. will the powers that be change things so GB will compete better next time if they get promoted again in the future? This should be a wake up call from French etc
I wont hold my breath
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loupowell52
Robert Lachowicz
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Post by loupowell52 on May 19, 2019 6:47:42 GMT
And where exactly are all the rinks, players and money coming from ? No way could the sport in the UK support any promotion and relegation structure. No way do we have the number of players required to implement a genuine in-depth national development programme. NO WAY IS THERE THE REMOTEST CHANCE OF THE LEVEL OF FINANCE NEEDED TO CHALLENGE THE WORLD'S TOP HOCKEY NATIONS EVER BEING PUMPED INTO THE SPORT IN THESE SHORES. Oh, and by the way, where are the next wave of young Brits capable of stepping up into the Senior GB Team to replace the likes of Shields, Phillips, Dowd, Myers and Richardson ? The current team have done superbly to reach the top level but are finding out just how huge a gap there is between the top countries and ourselves.
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Post by spik on May 19, 2019 7:13:09 GMT
If by chance TV free sports goes down etc...BBC Radio 5 Live is doing commentary from 3pm of the French game.
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iginla
Chick Zamick
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Post by iginla on May 19, 2019 8:30:15 GMT
That's just it.. will the powers that be change things so GB will compete better next time if they get promoted again in the future? This should be a wake up call from French etc I wont hold my breath Of course they won’t Pidge. Because there’s no money to be made out of GB so EIHL team owners and other British hockey hierarchy really don’t care that much.
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Yotes
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Post by Yotes on May 19, 2019 8:39:50 GMT
With an odd exception, there's no money to be made in British ice hockey full stop. Certainly not enough to bankroll some of these pipe dreams.
Considering we're playing at the top level for the first time since God was a boy, I'd think it shows IHUK is actually doing something right at the moment?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2019 8:49:32 GMT
Getting into the top pool is the easy bit.. staying there is the hard bit!
Look at Hungary it was a fight between them at GB for promotion last April.. now Hungary got relegated to 1B ! It will be incredibly difficult to bounce back up again . Like someone else said. Who's replacing the older players who are nearing retirement. We have plenty of 3rd/4th gritty players but wheres our top level goalscorer brits apart from Dowd (who hasn't exacted pulled up any trees himself)
Wheres the next David Londstaff?
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Yotes
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Post by Yotes on May 19, 2019 9:00:52 GMT
Getting into the top pool is the easy bit.. Oh that's good, so we'll be back in a couple of years... It will be incredibly difficult to bounce back up again . Huh? I thought that was the easy bit!? You really do talk some twaddle on here at times. You appear to have started this thread with the sole intention of moaning about what almost everyone else had happily accepted as a bridge much too far, but an exciting, fun (heaven forbid) experience. Wheres the next David Londstaff? Playing for Newcastle United I think.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2019 9:40:33 GMT
Wheres the next David Londstaff? Playing for Newcastle United I think.[/quote] You ain't funny. The first part obviously I need to spell it out for you is it will be difficult to get back in the top pool as lot will be coming to the end of their careers and are a year older. It's still a valid point it's easier to get up than stay there. I created the thread as thers would be world champ talk somewhere. I've said on most threads they tried their best but the fact remains they are no where near good enough. For Myers to come out and say they can compete with these teams is laughable! P.s. not as much twaddle as some of those who say we may get a win here and there that statement pretty much highlights the lack of knowledge of some of these teams GB are facing!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2019 10:12:57 GMT
Oh, and by the way, where are the next wave of young Brits capable of stepping up into the Senior GB Team to replace the likes of Shields, Phillips, Dowd, Myers and Richardson ? I understand the point raised here so this one isn't a slight on you Pidge but actually thinking about these names I actually think most of the above have had poor/quiet tournaments so far. Shields and Dowd for sure haven't had a good one. Myers and Richardson quiet. Phillips(both of them) possibly a little better. For me it's actually some of the younger players who have taken to the spotlight with greater ease. Kirk had a slow start but improving now, Ollie has been Ollie. Although not really a youngster Hammond now has 2 more goals than Ovi playing against arguably tougher teams than Russia have come up against. There's a group of players around the 27-30 mark who will probably be here for the next few years and I'd say they've done themselves justice. Worth noting also that we left Ciaren Long behind who showed bags of potential last season and unlucky to not be in Slovakia. Assuming it's to be 1A next year I think we'll have enough to at least challenge for top 2 again. I accept the point that there needs to be a new wave of players coming in but there's enough of this roster who will be around for the next 4-5 years so no panic stations on mass retirements just yet. For a country with our limited resources, talent pool and money the best we should really hope for is 1A but here we are. I hope they are soaking it all up.
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Yotes
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Post by Yotes on May 19, 2019 10:21:21 GMT
And you ain't interesting. Yes, you've continually clogged the thread with the same comment about how we're not good enough, as if it is in some way coming as a surprise revelation from the fount of all knowledge to the rest of us who didn't even know they played hockey in Canada, despite the fact everyone said we'd almost certainly lose every game and get relegated before it started. Some people have a slightly raised hope that we might get closer to teams lower down the rankings - appalling of course to show even a hint of optimism on here - but there's you and your boorish posting style to set everyone right. Enjoyment must be quashed. And as for David Longstaff, his successors are currently playing in the top level of the World Championships, something he only managed the once.
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Post by The Flying Shirt on May 19, 2019 10:56:27 GMT
Even if we had excellent facilities I don't believe we have youngsters in the numbers needed who are interested. The % of those coming in to quality coming out at the other end would still mean very few making an impression.
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grumpy
Jade Galbraith
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Post by grumpy on May 19, 2019 11:51:29 GMT
For pity`s sake can we PLEASE have a few positive posts. As Yotes and others have pointed out, the UK doesn`t have the facilities, the number of players, the infrastructure,or the money, to compete with the top dozen or so teams - Denmark are in that number but they were thrashed by USA, and Germany, Olympic silver medalists, were given an even bigger tanning by Canada. Let`s just celebrate the achievement of getting to the top table, the spirit of our team in giving their best every game, and the enthusiasm of our travelling fans, who, as always, have been unstinting in their support, made friends everywhere, and filled the coffers of the local bars.We still have a chance - just a chance - of staying there and when it`s all over we can look forward to another season in the EIHL. It may not be the NHL but it`s a long way from being a beer league. Whatever the state of Panthers team, the sport is fast, skillful, entertaining, and we are lucky to have the opportunity to watch it in an arena which can compete with most of Europes best.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2019 12:57:38 GMT
the sport is fast, skillful, entertaining 😂😂😂 That alcohol must be strong in Slovakia
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Post by humbucker on May 19, 2019 14:22:20 GMT
Some interesting points and some that might be considered as over emphasizing points that are obvious to the long suffering hockey buffs. A number of players with the present GB set up are nearing their collective sell by dates with a number seeking berths, possibly in the new set up at the tier below the Elite League. Now that is where the problem of youth development can come unstuck as teams seeking silverware set ice hockey development as a low priority and becomes sacrificed at the altar of success and that is understandable. Keeping the punters happy is a club's priority to ensure that the sound of the cash register remains sufficiently loud enough to keep the management happy and ultimately a viable product. So where do your new crop of players come from to feed both domestically at EIHL level and at national level? A number of Brits do travel abroad as part of their overall education to include their hockey skill development and that is a positive for those able to afford that particular pathway. Maybe age restrictions might be required at the lower level clubs to make the space available for new talent. David Longstaff at 44 yrs of age is player coach at Whitley Warriors and his son, of course, plays for Newcastle United.
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Post by spik on May 19, 2019 16:39:56 GMT
Group A Germany 1 USA 3
Group B Austria 0 Czech Rep. 8
*******************
Group A France 0 Finland 3
Group B Switzerland 0 Russia 3
With two days to follow of this round robin series.
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Yotes
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Post by Yotes on May 19, 2019 17:21:13 GMT
Austria are an interesting comparison for us, having a virtually identical tournament to us (0 points, goals for & against), despite having miles more top level experience to us and, I think most would say, a better domestic setup.
They yo-yo between the levels, and occasionally cling on at the top for longer than one year. That should be the next goal for us, get to the level where we're not waiting 25 years for another go.
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