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Post by Kazreema on Feb 14, 2006 0:17:01 GMT
Does anyone remember the fanzine that ran in the early 90s called The Cool Cat? I was the editor of that, and I might be tempted to dust off my old copies and put some of the articles in Amnesia Lane if anyone's interested. Let me know, cos it'll mean retyping them, and I'm not going to bother if no-one's interested.
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MP
Paul Adey
Hail hurts and rain is cold. Summer in the mountains
Posts: 6,811
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Post by MP on Feb 14, 2006 8:51:13 GMT
I'd certainly be interested.
With the 60th anniversary coming up this seems a good time to be looking back over the history of the club.
I'll send you a PM when I get a minute.
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Post by ted on Feb 14, 2006 12:47:10 GMT
I hope they make something of 60 years mark.... not just let it slide with a couple of lines on the website....
Id be interested....
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DaveE
David Clarke
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Post by DaveE on Feb 14, 2006 13:34:15 GMT
Very interested here.
Also interested to see what the club does next season on the 60th anniversary. Hope they can do something to next seasons jerseys or something similar like do something to centre ice...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2006 17:27:13 GMT
Great idea, especially if it's the fab interview I did with Paul Adey.
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Post by P.G.F.I. on Feb 14, 2006 18:04:53 GMT
I guess Panthers will do something for the 60th,Il love the shirts to be like 99/00. ;D
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Post by thepride on Feb 14, 2006 20:20:54 GMT
I guess Panthers will do something for the 60th,Il love the shirts to be like 99/00. ;D The away ones would be awesome!!
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Post by Kazreema on Feb 14, 2006 20:31:48 GMT
Great idea, especially if it's the fab interview I did with Paul Adey. Did you do that interview Stef? I thought it was me and Jasp. Early senility, obviously
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Post by spik on Feb 14, 2006 23:54:29 GMT
It's 60 years since the start of hockey .14 seasons in the first era and 26 in this but it's only 40 seasons of Ice-Hockey being played.So celebrating 40 seasons is probably the best idea. Or I'll be celebrating many a year buying a drink.One back in 1989 and I think another this season.lol. I am still after a COOL CAT issue Number ONE if someone knows how I can get hold of one.
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Post by Kazreema on Feb 16, 2006 21:19:05 GMT
This is from the first issue of The Cool Cat. It was written by Andy Lowe (who was the Evening Post's hockey reporter for a spell during the 90s when Mick Holland took on another role).
From Issue 1, published Spring 1993
Those we have loved and lost… No. 1 in a series Tim Peacock
He wasn’t the perfect hero. Not by a long way. He was prone to the odd tantrum, more than prone to the odd fight and seemingly only turned it on when he felt like it. But as an impressionable 12 year old I tended to overlook the lesser ‘attributes’ to his game and see only the brilliant stick handling, the great goals and, yes, the fact that he won the majority of the fights he was involved in. I’m getting on a bit now, and don’t really go in for having heroes anymore. Sure, I can appreciate the likes of Selmar Odelein and Paul Adey for being the fine players that they undoubtedly are, but I don’t look upon them as heroes. Then again, there was that game against Whitley Bay when Selmar flattened Mike Row… But no I digress.
As a 12 year old NHS bespectacled, parker-wearing urchin I did have a hero and his name was Tim Peacock. The diminutive No. 12 could do no wrong in my eyes. Missed opportunities were put down to nastily bouncing pucks and when the time came to drop the gloves and indulge in a spot of knuckle bashing it was always a premeditated attack by the opposition’s ‘hit-man’, jealous of Tim’s mesmerising hold over the puck. (Actually, I still stand by that last excuse!) His strange almost slouched way of skating was deceptively quick and coupled with superb stick handling often led to opposition defencemen being made to look stupid before the puck was despatched past an equally bemused netminder. His arrival from Ayr Bruins coincided with an upturn in the team’s fortunes. A superb rink length effort at Streatham saw him win a new helmet for the ‘Goal of the Game’ (no cases of lager then - times were hard!) and the 1981-82 season saw him finish with 101 (64+37) points from 37 games. (And 135 minutes in penalties!)
The following season, however, was to be Tim’s last in the Black & Gold thanks to the infamous imports debacle. The BIHA chopped and changed its mind and Tim was finally released by the club as a final ruling of 3 imports per club was decided upon.
Tim Peacock played his last game for the club on November 7th 1982, just over 18 months after making his debut. He was by no means the greatest player to grace the Black & Gold, but to me he was a hero. Enigmatic maybe, but a hero nonetheless.
Stats:
GP G A PTS PIMS 1980/81 9 9 6 15 22 1982/82 37 64 37 101 135 1982/83 5 7 2 9 2 51 80 45 125 159
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Post by Kazreema on Feb 16, 2006 21:25:50 GMT
And another one - from issue 2. For anyone who doesn't know, Nico Toemen was the chief ref for a few years - and a top bloke.
From Issue 2, published Autumn 1993
Facing off with: Nico Toemen From Hard Man to Head Man
When you were a player in Holland, were you clean or did you cause referees a few problems? I caused referees a lot of trouble. A lot of trouble, I can tell you that. I was the most penalised player in the league almost.
Why and when did you stop playing? I started playing when I was 13 years old, I played 3 years until work, then I stopped playing and started refereeing. I refereed for about 6 years, then I went and played in Eindhoven for about 1 and a half seasons and then back into refereeing again.
Why did you decide to go into refereeing rather than coaching? I didn’t like the coaching because you couldn’t skate. I like the skating. I was spending 6, 7 hours a day at the ice rink. All I did was skating, skating, skating. In refereeing, you get a lot of skating so that’s why I did it.
Do you think ex players make good officials? Some do, some don’t. It’s an advantage if you used to play because you know when the players are going through the motions and everything. But there’s no real need for it.
Weren’t you a linesman in the Miracle on Ice Olympic Games in Lake Placid, and was this the highpoint of your career so far? I did that Russia/US game and the US/Finland game. I did about 8 or 9 games in the Olympics in 1980. It’s a highpoint of my career, but I think my biggest highpoint was when I worked for the first time in the A Pool in 1977 as a linesman. The first year the pro’s came in. That was one of the biggest games I did.
What is the standard of officiating in Britain compared to other countries? What you’ve got to do is ask the teams that come back from a tournament. They first thing they say is “I’m never going to bitch about our referees again.” Our standard is very high. Nobody believes it but now we have 16 international referees and 11 of them go to world championships. They all come back with good reports and I think we’re doing pretty good.
What sort of training do referees get, and do you think more is needed? There’s a lot more training needed, but the thing is, they’re all amateurs, and we have to do it at weekends. A lot of them won’t do it in the summer because that’s the time they want off. You only get 2/3 months off in the summer time anyway. So, we need more, but we don’t have enough bodies to cover all the games yet. We cover most of them but it’s difficult for us to do a seminar on the Sunday because we’ve got referees doing games in Fife, Murrayfield, Streatham, Bracknell, whatever. It’s very difficult. We need more training. We’re gonna run a summer training camp for 3 or 4 weekends for the premier division guys for next season.
How do you attempt to standardise officiating? There is no consistency in referees. You never get 2 the same. Everyone says consistency. You might get consistency in one referee, but you never get consistency in 7, 8 referees. You never get them at the same line. It’s up to the coach from each individual team to play in on the referee you got on the night. I mean, I referee a completely different game than John Moore does. If John Moore’s trying to referee the same game that I used to do, every game will get out of control. If I referee the same as John Moore does, call it very tight, my games will run out of control. Every referee has his own style, and he can bring consistency into the game, but you never get 6, 7 referees on the same level. You’ll never get it, you won’t get it here, you won’t get it in the NHL, you won’t get it anywhere. You won’t even get it in the World Championships, and they’re about the most consistent, closest together, and there’s still a lot of differences.
Do you think referees get a fair deal from the BIHA? They get a fair deal from the BIHA at the moment. I’m looking to increase the game fees dramatically for next season. I think it’s about time that we increased it when you see the wages the players get and everything. A couple of years ago we provided them with cars. We provide them with shirts. They get a mileage rate. They get hotel accommodation paid. I think its better than most other countries yes.
What are they paid, and do you think it’s enough? A referee gets £25 in the premier division, and a linesman gets £20. And I don’t think it’s enough at the moment. I think we need a bit increase for next season. But the clubs don’t like to pay. They like to put a lot of money into an import, but they don’t like to keep paying out for referees. Not all the clubs, but most of the clubs are like that.
Do you think referees get a fair deal from players and fans? It’s getting better. The attitude of fans is changing a bit. There’s a lot more bad language in the stands than there was 2, 3 years ago. That’s the thing I don’t like. The press are pretty quiet about us. You only get something in the press once in a while. I don’t mind. As long as there’s nothing in the press I’m quite happy.
Players are alright. We had some seminars with the fan clubs. There were players there and they said the refereeing has improved dramatically in the last couple of years. So the players are pretty happy as well. Every player has got a referee he likes to referee his game. For example, Paul Adey likes Aarvala and Glen Meier. A lot of the crowd don’t like Glen Meier, but Paul Adey loves him. Paul says he’s consistent, he calls the game, he doesn’t care who it is, and that’s the thing.
Even after that 10 minute misconduct he gave Paul? I don’t think Paul minds. If he gets a 10 minute misconduct, he knows he deserves it, because Glen Meier’s not that quick with his 10 minute misconducts.
I think Paul’s shown that he’s not took many penalties since that first season. No, Paul doesn’t take a lot of penalties. Paul’s not that bothered about referees. For example, Paul didn’t like Micky Curry. A lot of players loved Micky Curry, loved Micky Curry on the ice, Paul didn’t like him. That’s his personal feelings against that referee. He might have had something with him, some effing and blinding on the ice, you don’t know because Micky didn’t keep his mouth shut.
I think most of the fans were coming to like Micky Curry a lot as well. Yes, they like Micky Curry when he was gone, but had a lot of stick coming in from lots of different fans about Micky Curry. But its always like that if a guy’s gone, only the good things come out.
What are your hopes and fears for the game in this country? Well my fears are that the payment of players is getting out of control. You hear the stories from the 50s. I think if we’re not very careful, we’ll go the same way. I think a lot of British players are terribly overpaid. I mean terribly overpaid, you hear of some wages that British players get, it’s an absolute joke. My hopes - I hope we’re going to expand the league next season [1993/94] to 16 teams. It helps me a lot with bringing new referees in because you’ve got a lot of games going on that evening. I think we’re going to end up next year with at least 5, 6 new referees. That’s my hope, that we’re going to have a lot more referees next season than we used to have.
Do you think there’s a place for fighting in hockey? Depends. I prefer a fight instead of a stick-fight. I don’t like the sticks swinging and I think that stick-swinging came in with the face masks for the juniors. I don’t mind a fight on the ice, but I don’t like the goons going for the imports and things like that, trying to fight the imports so they both get kicked out. That’s why I’m very anxious to kick one guy out and give the other a big penalty but don’t kick him out of the game. I don’t mind the fighting in the game. I think you get 5, 6 hundred fans walking into the rink to see a fight in the game so, why not?
Do you think it would help to reduce stick penalties if they reduced the age to 18 for compulsory face-masks? You might reduce stick penalties, but you can’t tell a kid to get his face-mask off when he’s 18 years old so most of them will keep them on anyway. Some take them off, but you get a lot of players who keep their face-masks on after 21.
Ian Cooper did, didn’t he? Well, to be honest with you, I can’t blame him because if he’s used to playing with a face-mask why should he take it off? I don’t see the reason for it.
Have you any advice for people thinking of taking up refereeing? You need to be a good skater. We used to take everybody on, and at the moment we’re being very strict - you’ve got to be a good skater. You’ve got to have a good head on your shoulders. You’ve got to look smart on the ice - I kicked 2 guys out last weekend with long hair. I want them to be good-looking, smart-dressing and everything on the ice.
Is that why Meier had his hair cut? Yes, Meier has his hair cut because we told him to. Everybody’s the same, everybody gets the same treatment. In Nottingham, we need another 4 or 5 referees to cover all the game we’ve got. We’ve got so many games, so many teams in Nottingham. There’s 2 women’s teams, a recreational team, an old-timer team, 2 or 3 junior sections, the under 21s, the first team. I mean, we need more referees in Nottingham. If anyone wants to take up refereeing all they’ve got to do is give me a call, and I’ll be very happy to get them in touch with the local supervisor.
Would you encourage women to take up refereeing? Yes, we’ve got 6 or 7 female referees now. The one in Cardiff is an international linesman. So, the women get the same chance from me as the men.
What’s the best game you’ve ever seen? I’ve seen a lot of good games. In this country?
Anywhere. Oh, anywhere. The best game I saw was Russia/Sweden once in Stockholm. I was a linesman. A challenge game. It was the best game of hockey I saw. There was hardly any hitting and it was just up and down for 60 minutes. It was beautiful.
What was the score? I don’t know. I never remember the scores after games anyway. I’m not bothered! Whenever anyone asks me the score after the game, I don’t know. I tell you, I don’t know.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2006 11:14:16 GMT
That's a REALLY interesting interview with Nico. Many words of wisdom and experience in there.
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Post by Kazreema on Feb 17, 2006 20:32:31 GMT
Yeah, the interview with Nico has always been one of my favourites as it gives a completely different take on the game to what fans usually hear.
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MP
Paul Adey
Hail hurts and rain is cold. Summer in the mountains
Posts: 6,811
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Post by MP on Feb 17, 2006 23:51:47 GMT
That's fascinating Kaz - thanks very much for taking the time to type it all in. Further installments will be anticipated and appreciated. Very interesting piece with Nico - much of the insight is equally valid today. Great stuff!
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Post by Kazreema on Feb 18, 2006 11:17:31 GMT
Thanks for the kind words MP. I'm planning on getting a scanner in the near future, so will have a go at putting some of the covers, excellent cartoons by Sketch and other stuff on as well. Every season I think 'wouldn't it be good to do a new edition' but never actually get round to it. It's a hell of a lot of work to do, and one of the reasons it died was the fast turnover of players in the late 90s. A lot of the funny stuff was based on perceived characteristics of opposition (and at times, Panthers) players, and there were a lot of runnng jokes about them and also teams' characteristics (Bracknell are boring, Sheffield full of woo-woos etc). It got to the point where you hardly got used to a player before he was off again and it was too late to take the michael. I still think that's the case, that there aren't that many players around for more than one season, particularly those with a bit of personality. Still, I might do another edition one of these days...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2006 13:55:12 GMT
And another one - from issue 2. For anyone who doesn't know, Nico Toemen was the chief ref for a few years - and a top bloke. From Issue 2, published Autumn 1993 Facing off with: Nico Toemen From Hard Man to Head ManPlayers are alright. We had some seminars with the fan clubs. There were players there and they said the refereeing has improved dramatically in the last couple of years. So the players are pretty happy as well. Every player has got a referee he likes to referee his game. For example, Paul Adey likes Aarvala and Glen Meier. A lot of the crowd don’t like Glen Meier, but Paul Adey loves him. Paul says he’s consistent, he calls the game, he doesn’t care who it is, and that’s the thing. Even after that 10 minute misconduct he gave Paul? I don’t think Paul minds. If he gets a 10 minute misconduct, he knows he deserves it, because Glen Meier’s not that quick with his 10 minute misconducts. I have to say that the article brought back a lot of fond memories for me. Refereeing in the old Notts Ice Stadium was always a thrill as the atmosphere and players were fantastic. The imports were always classy and hard-working and nobody could Knock the British Talent or the supporters in the game. In the Heineken days a supporter felt more like an "owner" with a stake in the club and how it was run. They could really get behind a British team. I think we have hurt the game moving to so many imports and a lack of homegrown talent.Is that why Meier had his hair cut? Yes, Meier has his hair cut because we told him to. Everybody’s the same, everybody gets the same treatment. As much as Nico told me to cut my hair, it wasnt Nico that convinced me to do it... It was a pretty lady and my friend Jack Daniels that convinced me to do it one weekend in London. Nico was over the moon. At the time Taggart had the skin condition alopeshia (sp?) and Nico would always be giving us stick at Referee seminars..."Meier get your hair cut! Taggart, grow some hair!" These were fun times for officials. Despite all the rumours and conjecture surrounding Nico's departure, he did take care of the Stripeys and always stuck up for us when the **it hit the fan.
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