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Post by daviejojo on Jan 19, 2017 14:06:17 GMT
With the demise of Phoenix, and MK & Guildford Flames joining the Elite League next year, where does this leave the top 2 leagues, the EIHL and EPL.
My gut feel is we'll see the EPL changing to a conference based structure, probably a North & South, maybe with the addition of a few clubs perhaps from London, Whitley, Solway, Blackburn, Billingham etc. 4 or 5 imports probably, and would this be enough to tempt Fife, Edinburgh and Dundee back out the Elite?
I still doubt our enthusiasm for the Elite at a Board Level, and if there is a viable option, I suspect we'll jump.
Gut feel, with Panthers winning in Europe, Neil Black will now want to win the CHL (No chance I fear in reality), but I wonder if this will drive yet more import numbers to the league, I can see a situation where the import limit simply is removed, and you run as many as you want....tried and test as the Super League, and it will fail again I fear, so is now the time to really get Greiverson etc on board, work with the EPL, SNL and ENL, and put a proper 2 tiered structure together.
EIHL tries to run akin to the old Super League as pro, import led league, the EPL becomes the BNL again, but with 2 conferences, North & South, under which sits the SNL and ENL as development leagues etc, with Promotion & Relegation introduced (clubs could retain the right to refuse promotion if they felt it was beyond them financially)
What's your thoughts?
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superpatsy
Rookie
Posts: 310 
EIHL Team: Fife Flyers
NHL Team: Detroit Red Wings
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Post by superpatsy on Jan 19, 2017 14:42:29 GMT
What would happen if a team in the top flight is relegated due to financial difficulties and the team who won the 2nd tier refuses promotion to due financial constraints?
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Post by daviejojo on Jan 19, 2017 16:18:59 GMT
What would happen if a team in the top flight is relegated due to financial difficulties and the team who won the 2nd tier refuses promotion to due financial constraints? Obviously things like that would need to be discussed. I do think it is for the good of the game to live with the fear of relegation though, and likewise, to give the aspirations of a higher league too. Doesn't work today with the delta between leagues being so vast. There is a chance to try and fix this I guess with a new lower tier model. In the scenario above, if a team dropped out due to finances, and the winning team opted not to move up, you could argue the team next in line would be offered the place I suspect |
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Post by Dirty Lyle on Jan 19, 2017 17:13:40 GMT
EPL is full of teams going bust or jumping ship to go ELITE.
It shows that Elite is the only league to be in.
Why are people so obsessed with flyers being at EPL level....Cmon it's no where near the standard we are watching and has been proven nowhere near as stable.
If everyone who is shouting for a team full of local players turned up to watch the kestrels/falcons etc every week then maybe I could see the need or demand for low level local player dominated hockey, but they don't, it's the elite league and the imports that crowds are paying to watch.
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Post by zamboni on Jan 19, 2017 18:30:43 GMT
With the demise of Phoenix, and MK & Guildford Flames joining the Elite League next year, where does this leave the top 2 leagues, the EIHL and EPL. My gut feel is we'll see the EPL changing to a conference based structure, probably a North & South, maybe with the addition of a few clubs perhaps from London, Whitley, Solway, Blackburn, Billingham etc. 4 or 5 imports probably, and would this be enough to tempt Fife, Edinburgh and Dundee back out the Elite? I still doubt our enthusiasm for the Elite at a Board Level, and if there is a viable option, I suspect we'll jump. Gut feel, with Panthers winning in Europe, Neil Black will now want to win the CHL (No chance I fear in reality), but I wonder if this will drive yet more import numbers to the league, I can see a situation where the import limit simply is removed, and you run as many as you want....tried and test as the Super League, and it will fail again I fear, so is now the time to really get Greiverson etc on board, work with the EPL, SNL and ENL, and put a proper 2 tiered structure together. EIHL tries to run akin to the old Super League as pro, import led league, the EPL becomes the BNL again, but with 2 conferences, North & South, under which sits the SNL and ENL as development leagues etc, with Promotion & Relegation introduced (clubs could retain the right to refuse promotion if they felt it was beyond them financially) What's your thoughts? 12 Team Eihl is better that a 5 team eihl or no eihl why spoil what we currently have |
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Post by joestoyanovich on Jan 19, 2017 20:25:57 GMT
EPL is full of teams going bust or jumping ship to go ELITE. It shows that Elite is the only league to be in. Why are people so obsessed with flyers being at EPL level....Cmon it's no where near the standard we are watching and has been proven nowhere near as stable. If everyone who is shouting for a team full of local players turned up to watch the kestrels/falcons etc every week then maybe I could see the need or demand for low level local player dominated hockey, but they don't, it's the elite league and the imports that crowds are paying to watch. Nobody is obsessed with Flyers being an EPL team, its just your over reaction to something you don't agree with. And nobody is shouting for a team full off local players either, just a sensible import limit. |
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Post by harlan on Jan 20, 2017 6:47:26 GMT
Grieveson does seem to have some good ideas with his player points system for a Tier 2 system and he does seem to have the backing of the EIHA and SIH with it but 8 of the EPL clubs, Basingstoke, Bracknell, Guildford, Hull. MK, Peterborough, Sheffield and Swindon have said that they will not send representatives to the IHUK meeting on Jan 25th which will discuss the proposals for Tier 2.
It isn't clear whether there will be EPL league representation in the form of interim chairman Harry Howton or whether any of the Scottish teams intend to make the meeting in Manchester though.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of it as I think it could be something Flyers would listen to
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ronniemac
Pro
Posts: 1,520
NHL Team: Chicago Blackhawks
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Post by ronniemac on Jan 20, 2017 10:53:10 GMT
Personally I would like Fife Flyers to be competing at the highest level the UK has to offer, at the moment that is the EIHL but I believe we do not need a full squad of imports to achieve The Great Night Out scenario, that is up to the owners of all teams to decide and hopefully lead to a league with longevity that sponsors and fans alike can have some faith in.
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Post by daviejojo on Jan 20, 2017 16:53:12 GMT
I'm not calling for any change of direction from us, I am merely looking at it objectively, I don't believe as a club, we really want to be in the Elite, and if there was a viable option, I reckon we'd look very closely at it. There is a huge gulf between the leagues, but, that said, EPL games are generally pretty competitive, and yes, they lack the speed and skill perhaps of a 14 import team, but, what you do see, is generally a pretty high standard of British player.
The Elite League is as stable as a top flight league has been for a while, but, I would urge caution on it, I suspect it's only as stable as one of two owners allow it to be. Whatever Mssrs Black and Smith want....they get, and there is very little we can do about it I fear
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spudeeelad
Junior
Posts: 949
EIHL Team: Manchester Storm
NHL Team: Tampa Bay Lightning
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Post by spudeeelad on Jan 21, 2017 23:31:47 GMT
DavieJojo has hit the nail on the head here with several rhings.
Firstly, it will indeed be a new era and one that I hope will be a very exciting one. It will, assuming no shock departures, that the top league in the UK has had more than 10 teams for as long as I can remember and this is unquestionably a positive step.
Secondly, I do not think anyone will be leaving the Elite League and I sincerely hope that is not the case and genuinely cannot see it, which conveniently leads on to Joey's point. I don't read/follow this forum much, but I really don't think anyone is, or has, been calling for the Flyers to be playing at a lower/EPL level at all. However, what I do believe is that the Scottish teams do need a need league between the SNL and the Elite League. The gap between SNL and EPL is high enough, SNL > Elite, as you Scots say, nae chance.
Lastly, the Elite League is indeed looking more stable than it has ever since it's inception. I now call for what I believe, at least personally, to be a common sense approach to next season which would be to extend the conference system to 3 conferences - Scotland (as is now), Arena (Belfast, Cardiff, Steelers & Panthers) and a newbie/southern conference consisting of Storm, Coventry, MKL & Guildford. This should be 4 home and 4 away vs own conference (24 games) and 2 home and 2 away vs other conferences (also 24 games total). This frees up 3 weekends to either eliminate mid-week cup games so it can be better attended and taken more seriously, or an extended playoff series.
The CC cup should also be re-worked and mixed up every season. This would work as follows;
Group 1;
Arena Team 1
Scottish Team 1
Southern Team 1
Group 2;
Arena Team 2
Scottish Team 2
Southern Team 2
And so on until 4 groups created. Top 2 from each group progress to Q finals. The teams in each group should be drawn randomly each season to prevent it going stale.
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Post by daviejojo on Jan 23, 2017 10:37:16 GMT
DavieJojo has hit the nail on the head here with several rhings. Firstly, it will indeed be a new era and one that I hope will be a very exciting one. It will, assuming no shock departures, that the top league in the UK has had more than 10 teams for as long as I can remember and this is unquestionably a positive step. Secondly, I do not think anyone will be leaving the Elite League and I sincerely hope that is not the case and genuinely cannot see it, which conveniently leads on to Joey's point. I don't read/follow this forum much, but I really don't think anyone is, or has, been calling for the Flyers to be playing at a lower/EPL level at all. However, what I do believe is that the Scottish teams do need a need league between the SNL and the Elite League. The gap between SNL and EPL is high enough, SNL > Elite, as you Scots say, nae chance. Lastly, the Elite League is indeed looking more stable than it has ever since it's inception. I now call for what I believe, at least personally, to be a common sense approach to next season which would be to extend the conference system to 3 conferences - Scotland (as is now), Arena (Belfast, Cardiff, Steelers & Panthers) and a newbie/southern conference consisting of Storm, Coventry, MKL & Guildford. This should be 4 home and 4 away vs own conference (24 games) and 2 home and 2 away vs other conferences (also 24 games total). This frees up 3 weekends to either eliminate mid-week cup games so it can be better attended and taken more seriously, or an extended playoff series. The CC cup should also be re-worked and mixed up every season. This would work as follows; Group 1; Arena Team 1 Scottish Team 1 Southern Team 1 Group 2; Arena Team 2 Scottish Team 2 Southern Team 2 And so on until 4 groups created. Top 2 from each group progress to Q finals. The teams in each group should be drawn randomly each season to prevent it going stale. Far too sensible a post for this Forum, hang your head in shame :-) |
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