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Post by Bagheera on Mar 29, 2016 20:11:52 GMT
Whilst Guildford have both a decent sized rink to play out of and a fairly decent fanbase they will not be suitable for the EIHL as long as Hepburn remains in charge down there. What's happening there then tt? Is Hepburn the Tony Smith of the EPL? Too much control/power? Big fish in a small pond and all that? I may be very wrong here but my understanding is that there are 2 very different camps. 1 or 2 EPL owners think that Black and Co ae the spawn on Satin. Probably vise versa too. On the back of any GB failure you usually here criptic quotes about it never being sorted with such egos around etc. Often EPL connections blaming EIHL. By enlarge just very different views on what is right for British hockey. Or more likely the best way to make as big a profit as possible. This is one of the main reasons you don't see teams come together for development opportunites/farm teams. And also why you won't see an FA cup style competition spanning different leagues any time soon. Some of the people currently in British hockey will never work together.
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Post by panthermatt on Mar 29, 2016 20:29:50 GMT
Looking on the Mk fans forum and their fans at the moment really do not appear to be very pleased about joining the Elite league
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Post by hockeyfan207 on Mar 29, 2016 20:35:17 GMT
As a Hull fan the standard of the EPL has exceeded my expectations- there are many Brits who are far better than some of the Brits on the teams of the lower Elite sides, and there are a few imports who would do very well at elite level. It's not BNL standard,buts it not a million miles away from that standard either. The standard between the EPL and the Elite is though certainly massive-the depth in quality in the elite is the most noticeable difference for me.
With regards who could step up- Bees, Phoneix and Steeldogs have no chance at this moment in time. Basingstoke could definitely though whether they would want to is a different matter. Guilford could easily but there is too much politics involved and they seem quite content as a big fish in a small pond. Telford have the money and setup behind them to move up, but not fanbase to sustain them-they would simply being bankrolled. Peterborough have the setup to move up but whether they have the finances or desire to move up I don't know. Swindon could probably move to a higher import league but I don't think could make the step to the elite-too much travel and to small a rink for them to consider the move IMO. Hull it's hard to say. Crowds seem to have held and the club is now run in a professional manner. If smith had been in charge over the last few years then I have no doubt we would still be in the elite. With our cheap ice and put in the right conference I think we could make it work.However I think the Elite would want to see us prove we are sustainable before considering whether to accept us. I can't therefore see us joining as the '12th' team but I could see us joining as a 13th or 14th team if the elite expanded further in a few years time.
If I a betting man I would say Basingstoke will most likely join MK in stepping up for the 2017 season. And if the EPL implodes,look for some of the others to apply also.
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Post by Bagheera on Mar 29, 2016 20:54:47 GMT
Looking on the Mk fans forum and their fans at the moment really do not appear to be very pleased about joining the Elite league Crikey. Your not wrong. Just had a read after your post, as I guess a few others might. 95% negative, like dealth of the club negative. 5% positive. The belief that 12 or so Brits playing with 4 imports is good for Brit development is baffling to me. At the top level it's about spot on in EIHL now(personally think next year is a step too far myself). 4-6 top quality Brits playing with much better players has to help them get better. Of course leagues where the balance is more like EPL helps them get ice time and develop but the cream rise to the top and develop futher in EIHL. A pool of 30 or 40 or so of the best Brits plying their trade in the EIHL with top draw(use of top draw loosely) players only helps GB in my eyes. As long as they don't go to far like Superleague era. Maybe some should see how much Brits are used at teams like Panthers before making comments about no Brits getting any ive time.
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Post by allingtonskates on Mar 29, 2016 21:08:51 GMT
although a lot of the fans say its the worst thing they have ever done after 5 years of joining the elite league I think they will wonder why they ever wanted to stay down there.
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Post by The Flying Shirt on Mar 29, 2016 21:11:07 GMT
My bet would be on MK replacing the Caps. There I've said it.
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Post by John Casey on Mar 29, 2016 23:02:42 GMT
I'd expect Caps to be a lot more sustainable than people expect. The league has said, this is an expansion, not a replacement. Caps haven't had success in a long time and an unsustainable team wouldn't have survived for so long. MK already have a decent Brit pack, to start from, with Cownie and Hook, Chamberlain, Luc Johnson and Griffin, as well as those, they have Blaze backup, Renny Marr's older brother, also a goalie, Jordan Marr. They've got a few decent imports too, Tahitinen and Bakrlik, both getting on a bit but it shouldn't take much to retain them and they'd probably be cheap too, possible 3rd or 4th liners. Great to see the league showing ambition in expanding, hopefully franchise number 12 is upon us sooner rather than later. I hope that it is an expansion, not a replacement however personally I just can't see how The Caps can survive given how they went performance wise since Hayes and others left.
Granted The League did state that The Caps weren't in any financial difficulties, but given their results since the new year it's really hard to imagine them retaining many fans for the start of next season if those fans think that next season is just going to be a repeat of this season.
Remember Hull pulled out of The Elite League on relatively short notice this season and to be honest, I wouldn't be shocked if I read a post regarding The Caps leaving The Elite League.
The press announcement had to say expansion because no-one has left The League. But I'm suspicious on why have they announced it now and why can't M.K. Lightning join next season?
I honestly hope that The Caps stay as I believe that the more teams, the better but on the other hand I don't want a repeat of this season and The Caps are just the whipping boys of The League and that isn't good for anyone.
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Post by The Flying Shirt on Mar 29, 2016 23:22:00 GMT
I'd expect Caps to be a lot more sustainable than people expect. The league has said, this is an expansion, not a replacement. Caps haven't had success in a long time and an unsustainable team wouldn't have survived for so long. MK already have a decent Brit pack, to start from, with Cownie and Hook, Chamberlain, Luc Johnson and Griffin, as well as those, they have Blaze backup, Renny Marr's older brother, also a goalie, Jordan Marr. They've got a few decent imports too, Tahitinen and Bakrlik, both getting on a bit but it shouldn't take much to retain them and they'd probably be cheap too, possible 3rd or 4th liners. Great to see the league showing ambition in expanding, hopefully franchise number 12 is upon us sooner rather than later. I hope that it is an expansion, not a replacement however personally I just can't see how The Caps can survive given how they went performance wise since Hayes and others left.
Granted The League did state that The Caps weren't in any financial difficulties, but given their results since the new year it's really hard to imagine them retaining many fans for the start of next season if those fans think that next season is just going to be a repeat of this season.
Remember Hull pulled out of The Elite League on relatively short notice this season and to be honest, I wouldn't be shocked if I read a post regarding The Caps leaving The Elite League.
The press announcement had to say expansion because no-one has left The League. But I'm suspicious on why have they announced it now and why can't M.K. Lightning join next season?
I honestly hope that The Caps stay as I believe that the more teams, the better but on the other hand I don't want a repeat of this season and The Caps are just the whipping boys of The League and that isn't good for anyone.
They were whipping boys but only after all of our games against them then they gifted everyone else with two points a time.
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Post by ashfieldpanther on Mar 30, 2016 6:47:17 GMT
I hope they've sorted the sight lines out at the rink, there were security barriers everywhere, blocking the view. But it's very easy to get there.
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Post by Wolves 66 on Mar 30, 2016 11:23:09 GMT
I hope they've sorted the sight lines out at the rink, there were security barriers everywhere, blocking the view. But it's very easy to get there. I was there recently with the Nottingham U13's. Visibility from the seating was good. I assume the sight line issue was from before the refurbishment? My son also commented that the ice surface was really good One thing they do need to sort out is the external signage. The rink was very difficult to find for someone who didn't know exactly where it was
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Post by ashfieldpanther on Mar 30, 2016 11:57:50 GMT
I hope they've sorted the sight lines out at the rink, there were security barriers everywhere, blocking the view. But it's very easy to get there. I was there recently with the Nottingham U13's. Visibility from the seating was good. I assume the sight line issue was from before the refurbishment? My son also commented that the ice surface was really good One thing they do need to sort out is the external signage. The rink was very difficult to find for someone who didn't know exactly where it was Yes it going back a fair few years since I went, so I would hope they have made changes.
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Post by brodeurfan1993 on Mar 31, 2016 10:17:04 GMT
What's happening there then tt? Is Hepburn the Tony Smith of the EPL? Too much control/power? Big fish in a small pond and all that? VERY small pond Massive shame as the Guildford fan base is solid. The get good crowds a lot of the time. Financially I'd imagine they would make a very smooth transition into the EIHL
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Post by The Flying Shirt on Mar 31, 2016 10:24:37 GMT
Massive shame as the Guildford fan base is solid. The get good crowds a lot of the time. Financially I'd imagine they would make a very smooth transition into the EIHL Once their fanbase comes around they can get ready to watch hockey at an immensely higher standard and yes they will make it work just fine.
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Post by lucaseville on Mar 31, 2016 11:33:04 GMT
Looking on the Mk fans forum and their fans at the moment really do not appear to be very pleased about joining the Elite league Not really sure we can assume the forum is a fair, balanced and indicative view of their whole fan base. Twitter seems to have more positive feedback from MKL fans.
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gump
Pat Casey
Posts: 348
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Post by gump on Apr 1, 2016 13:39:43 GMT
As long as the Cap's owner pay their league fees and meet the financial responsibilities to their players the EIHL can not punt them. One other team will have to come in as league will not have an odd number of teams, suspect it will be a new franchise and not an existing EPL.
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