doug
Robert Lachowicz
Posts: 586
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Post by doug on Oct 27, 2017 10:29:40 GMT
Can I genuinely ask without partisan answers, what do long time fans think of the standard and passion of the hockey you are watching every week?
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Post by panthersdave on Oct 27, 2017 10:50:19 GMT
Can I genuinely ask without partisan answers, what do long time fans think of the standard and passion of the hockey you are watching every week? Hard to comment with regards passion because that is subjective. The standard is certainly higher though.
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Post by The Flying Shirt on Oct 27, 2017 10:58:14 GMT
Not sure about long term but even compared to last years Panthers team the entertainment value is through the roof now.
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Post by tootootrain on Oct 27, 2017 11:18:48 GMT
As someone brought up in Michigan, when I was first introduced to British hockey whilst living down south (in the form of Basingstoke Bisons, Guildford Flames, Slough Jets and Bracknell Bees) I thought it was, at best, jumped up beer league. The game play was nothing special, it featured a few 'imports' who just peppered the woefully poor British NM's week in, week out and eventually I gave up going because it really wasn't worth the effort, let alone the money, for the product on display.
When I moved to Nottingham my Nottingham-born wife encouraged me to give the Panthers a go, but in those early seasons of the EIHL it was more of the same to my eyes. A few journeyman imports 'dicking' everyone else, with a handful of halfway decent Brits trying their best whilst dragging about other Brits that had no place being paid for their services, let alone being on the ice.
Fast forward to now and I'm quite content with the product. I regularly go home to Michigan and pick up ECHL (Kalamazoo Wings and Toledo Walleye), AHL (Grand Rapid Griffins) and of course NHL (Detroit Red Wings) games. Whilst the product in the EIHL is nowhere near the standard of the NHL, at times it is as entertaining as AHL games (though overall team depth is lacking compared to AHL teams) and is regularly on a par with ECHL teams.
So entertainment wise I'm generally happy with the EIHL, although lack of squad depth can occasionally turn the season into a battle of attrition which isn't entertaining. Where the EIHL falls down though is in the governance aspect as a whole and the attitudes of individual teams towards their fans etc.
As a league the governance is still pretty poor and the attitude of teams towards their own fanbases is, at times, baffling. The attitude of Neil Black towards the Supporters Trust is laughably out-dated, with even teams at the lowest levels of professional (and often at amateur level) in NA actively trying to involve the fans through the establishment of 'Booster Clubs'. To be openly hostile towards elements of your own fanbase is insane as it creates division which, ultimately can affect the bottom line. The expression "better inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in" seems lost on Neil Black et al!
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Post by wgray on Oct 27, 2017 12:22:08 GMT
Can I genuinely ask without partisan answers, what do long time fans think of the standard and passion of the hockey you are watching every week? in terms of the standard of hockey we've seen this season this is some of the best I've seen since starting as a young lad in 03/04. But I think the passion has dropped off and I believe that is due to the lack of characters we have in the game, and I think that reflects in all leagues. I think back to Bruce Richardson, he was a real player, he could score, make plays, fight, he wore his heart on his sleeve and he was adored by the fans. He'd be going to war with Finnerty every game, another player I'd have loved to have had at Nottingham. I'd always be excited for Steelers games because the passion was there and you could feel the dislike towards each other. Another character such as Linger who brought everything, I'm sure as a Sheffield fan you hated him but that brought out your passion. These are the players which Ice Hockey is missing but they've been weeded out and for the worse I feel.
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doug
Robert Lachowicz
Posts: 586
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Post by doug on Oct 27, 2017 13:47:46 GMT
As someone brought up in Michigan, when I was first introduced to British hockey whilst living down south (in the form of Basingstoke Bisons, Guildford Flames, Slough Jets and Bracknell Bees) I thought it was, at best, jumped up beer league. The game play was nothing special, it featured a few 'imports' who just peppered the woefully poor British NM's week in, week out and eventually I gave up going because it really wasn't worth the effort, let alone the money, for the product on display. When I moved to Nottingham my Nottingham-born wife encouraged me to give the Panthers a go, but in those early seasons of the EIHL it was more of the same to my eyes. A few journeyman imports 'dicking' everyone else, with a handful of halfway decent Brits trying their best whilst dragging about other Brits that had no place being paid for their services, let alone being on the ice. Fast forward to now and I'm quite content with the product. I regularly go home to Michigan and pick up ECHL (Kalamazoo Wings and Toledo Walleye), AHL (Grand Rapid Griffins) and of course NHL (Detroit Red Wings) games. Whilst the product in the EIHL is nowhere near the standard of the NHL, at times it is as entertaining as AHL games (though overall team depth is lacking compared to AHL teams) and is regularly on a par with ECHL teams. So entertainment wise I'm generally happy with the EIHL, although lack of squad depth can occasionally turn the season into a battle of attrition which isn't entertaining. Where the EIHL falls down though is in the governance aspect as a whole and the attitudes of individual teams towards their fans etc. As a league the governance is still pretty poor and the attitude of teams towards their own fanbases is, at times, baffling. The attitude of Neil Black towards the Supporters Trust is laughably out-dated, with even teams at the lowest levels of professional (and often at amateur level) in NA actively trying to involve the fans through the establishment of 'Booster Clubs'. To be openly hostile towards elements of your own fanbase is insane as it creates division which, ultimately can affect the bottom line. The expression "better inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in" seems lost on Neil Black et al! Do you think the EIHL is as entertaining as the NHL even though the standard of play isn't as good?
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Post by tootootrain on Oct 27, 2017 14:04:25 GMT
Do you think the EIHL is as entertaining as the NHL even though the standard of play isn't as good? Hmmm, interesting question. I obviously feel the EIHL is entertaining because otherwise I wouldn't go but I also find watching rec hockey entertaining so... Is it as entertaining as the NHL? I'd say it's entertaining in other ways. Perhaps not the answer you want but it's the only one I've got.
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