More teams please

[steelertim]

A large factor to do with the demise of my hockey interest this season has been the distinct lack of teams in the league.
I hate playing panthers every two weeks, theres nothing special about the games, how many times have we already played them this season?! and still loads to come, maybe we'll even draw them in the playoffs!
My point being is that i used to get excited about games, seeing different players etc etc and i used to bring large amounts of newbies to panthers games/coventry games and a variety of others. But when i asked a mate if he wanted to come the panthers game this weekend the answer was 'wow, you play them every week'. I agree, it is boring! No wonder there was only 2,900 in the building last wednesday when they can just wait another week for the next one to come around. And no doubt that is why the club will have to do alot of promotion on this saturdays game to drag fans through the door to see the most commonly played rivalry in british ice hockey. I think i'll give it a miss.

I know it is difficult to sustain teams in the league, but surely there is someone, anyone!, capable of making the step up.
I feel essentially something has to be done.

[neilb]

Its simple maths. Even under the wage cap this year the salary bill plus costs of rink rental, staff salaries, cars, homes etc mean that to be able to compete for the league you have to average approximately 4000 crowds. This is why the the only teams to win/finish second in the EIHL have been Sheffield, Belfast, Coventry, Newcastle and Nottingham. Coventry punch above their weight in this respect and I can only put this down to them being extremely well managed/marketed. The other clubs, Hull, Edinburgh and Cardiff (and Basingstoke in the past) struggle to compete for the top prizes, although Cardiff have picked up a couple of cups in the last 4 years. Most clubs would rather drop down to the EPL where they have a chance of winning rather than regularly finish in the bottom 4. Even the clubs with bigger arenas find it difficult to make a profit, hence Manchester moving out ot the MEN and the Steelers moving out of Sheffield Arena. The ISL and the EIHL both had the intention of being based on a number of clubs playing out of 4000+ arena but there are only 4 of them and there is no critical mass to sustain the league with those numbers. It would really take probably another 6 arena teams for this to become reality and in the current climate I can't see this happening. There were opportunities with both the Liverpool Echo and new Leeds arenas to put in ice pads but I believe neither has/will have. The country's two biggest arenas (the O2 and the MEN) both have ice pads but they are too big to currently support an Ice Hockey team. To be honest I think many people believe the EIHL is living on borrowed time. Newcastle nearly left last year and I can see the likes of Hull and Cardiff following them if they go.

[Matthew Webb]

A large factor to do with the demise of my hockey interest this season has been the distinct lack of teams in the league.
I hate playing panthers every two weeks, theres nothing special about the games, how many times have we already played them this season?! and still loads to come, maybe we'll even draw them in the playoffs!
My point being is that i used to get excited about games, seeing different players etc etc and i used to bring large amounts of newbies to panthers games/coventry games and a variety of others. But when i asked a mate if he wanted to come the panthers game this weekend the answer was 'wow, you play them every week'. I agree, it is boring! No wonder there was only 2,900 in the building last wednesday when they can just wait another week for the next one to come around. And no doubt that is why the club will have to do alot of promotion on this saturdays game to drag fans through the door to see the most commonly played rivalry in british ice hockey. I think i'll give it a miss.

I know it is difficult to sustain teams in the league, but surely there is someone, anyone!, capable of making the step up.
I feel essentially something has to be done.

Not sure when you are referring to. I can't remember a season in recent times when we have had any more than 10 teams in the league (8 now). I can also remember a time when we had 5 teams.

As things stand, I believe that the optimum number of sustainable teams is 10; the current 8 plus Manchester and A.N. Other. But we also have Newcastle and Edinburgh making noises about financial difficulties. \it will be a difficult time keeping the league to 8!!

[SteelerAndy]

But we also have Newcastle and Edinburgh making noises about financial difficulties. \it will be a difficult time keeping the league to 8!!

especially as the cap levels they agreed to (and have struggled with financially) have been abolished mid-season ! i can see both of them dropping a league next year, even if all the teams promise to keep to the cap next year will anybody ever believe them again after this years fiasco of a wage cap ?

funny thing is when we broke the cap we had all our silverware taken off us, will anybody who wins anything this year and breaks the cap suffer the same fate ?

[born_steeler]

can't the billionaire who owns Man City buy the Phoenix?
Would sort the money problems.

Seriously though, i miss the variation of having 10 teams, meant more new players to the league, more surprises.
Like Tony Hand bringing in a new top points/goal scorer in every year (Molin, Beauregard). Can be argued he assisted on a load of the goals but they still scored.
I miss playing the Bison also, even with their problems they had some of the most faithful fans ever, driving up to watch them play us with about 11 players, to keep them going.

It was brilliant having more teams IMO but like it's been said, not likely in this financial climate. Unless of course some rich tycoon with more money than sense steps in.

[Matthew Webb]

But we also have Newcastle and Edinburgh making noises about financial difficulties. \it will be a difficult time keeping the league to 8!!

funny thing is when we broke the cap we had all our silverware taken off us, will anybody who wins anything this year and breaks the cap suffer the same fate ?

No we didn't...at least not to my knowledge. Most of the other teams broke it too, so no action was taken.

And there isn't a cap anymore this year, so no action would be taken this year, either

[elliott hall]

funny thing is when we broke the cap we had all our silverware taken off us

The league took the trophies into "safe keeping" - thus giving rise to the suspicion that we had broken the wage-cap and that the team that came second would be awarded those trophies.

The trophies (and titles) were returned thus implying 1 of 2 possible conclusions:

1 we didn't breach the wage cap
2 we did breach the wage cap but so did other teams and therefore the trophies could not be re-assigned.

I have no knowledge of the truth of any of this, EXCEPT that the taken trophies were returned.

Reach you own conclusion.

[Grandma]

So does anyone know the real story behind the mid - season change of wage cap rules? I can't see many of the teams wanting to scrap the 'cap' as it could mean their demise, so what was the reasoning? I would love to know.

[Mart]

So does anyone know the real story behind the mid - season change of wage cap rules? I can't see many of the teams wanting to scrap the 'cap' as it could mean their demise, so what was the reasoning? I would love to know.

Panthers wanted to "buy" the league.

[Happy Gilmour]

I'd love to see a 10 team league, playing a 3 home 3 away fixture list giving 54 games. Getting boring playing the panthers every other week. But realistically who are the extra teams? And are the teams currently in the EIHL going to want to return next year.
Unless their are clear rules, a strict wage cap and an appointed external figure running the league then I can't see anyone wanting to join the shambles that it currently is.