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Post by captainjack on May 5, 2009 14:31:22 GMT 1
IMHO the EIHL is going to be a bore next season with only eight teams competing. With such a small number of teams the league will be repetitive and the play-off and cup competitions will be just too meaningless to be taken seriously.
FWIW I think there is a lot to be said for joining the Bison and Phoenix in the EPL. Ok we might not get the big names but surely its entertainment value that counts.
The Elite League might have the name and the prestige but it won't stop it being boring!!!
What do we all think???
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Post by Steph Cowley on May 5, 2009 18:06:30 GMT 1
But part of that entertainment is having the big names, and the really skilled players. If Blaze joined the EPL I would seriously consider not going anymore. EPL games are no where near as entertaining as EIHL games IMO. Ok having an 8 team league might mean I don't want to go and see Hull for the 3rd time in 5 weeks, but if that's the case I'll just not go to that game and save myself £15 for something else. I'd rather miss the odd game but see entertaining games when I do go, than to just see boring games week in week out.
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Post by thfnick on May 5, 2009 19:01:23 GMT 1
I'd like to see the EIHL become a league that teams aspire to be in and not a league ran by a bunch of cowboys. Blaze to be a part of it.
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Post by Rich on May 5, 2009 20:47:17 GMT 1
Unfortunatly however poorly the Elite League is ran it is still reconised as the top tier of British Ice Hockey, so for that reason dropping into the EPL would be a step backwards.
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Post by captainjack on May 5, 2009 20:47:51 GMT 1
Interesting points by Steph, I'm so new to Hockey I didn't realise there is such a difference between the quality of the leagues.
I don't think I can be the only person that thinks such a limited number of teams is an issue. Try to imagine the English Premier League with 8 teams in it. Then imagine the FA Cup, contested by the same eight teams. Then imagine the League cup, contested by the same eight teams. Its making me yawn just saying it!!!
We need a league of around sixteen IMO.
a) We could play each other 4 times making 60 league fixtures each, and I've checked that there are enough weekends to fit it in. Lets face it a league of 10 would have had us playing 54 games so its not that much more
b) sixteen is a good number for a straight knock-out tournament
c) sixteen is also a good number for a group-based tournament (4 groups of 4, then knock-out stages)
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Post by Claret & Blue Army on May 6, 2009 19:01:03 GMT 1
The Elite league as we knew it is sick with a terminal disease.
Year on year others will drop until we are left with 5 again as in the death throes of the old ISL.
Back then the gap between the old BNL (Another R.I.P) was bridgeable after a fashion but now the EPL is way below the standard.
The EPL are having problems with Romford recently folding.
Therefore it is a huge folly to tr to run two unsustainable leagues due to the pig headedness of those who run the sport. People bemoan that ice hockey doesn't get enough coverage but when you consider what a joke it is in this country it is hardly surprising.
Somebody brave needs to come up with a blueprint that rips up all that has gone before otherwise in 5 years or so we will be left with little other than rec hockey
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Post by Rich on May 7, 2009 17:18:32 GMT 1
Theres a lot of talk about an 8 team league being a joke but although I would personally prefer more lets not forget their was only 8 teams in the league back in 2003-04 and only 7 in 2004-05 and them two season's were probably the most entertaining and exciting two season's since the Elite League was formed.
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Post by Claret & Blue Army on May 8, 2009 18:27:53 GMT 1
2004/05 benefited from the NHL lock out.
Nowadays a lot of the games are sterile with teams playing to not lose rather than to win. Take away the variation (8 will become 5 before too long) and the product looks very stale
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