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Post by Dirty Lyle on Apr 26, 2017 7:54:03 GMT
Crowds are done because the rivalries are dying, less games will mean bigger crowds when the games come round, if Tam spent his budget properly and brought some excitement to the rink then he wouldn't have to worry about crowds, they're shooting themselves in the foot at every turn, Tam and Todd are completely to blame for falling crowds and less profit It's not the amount of times we play or rivals that make it boring..More the three of us are the most boring teams in the league, it's the aggro between your teams that used to sell it, and you went to see. There is no real rivalry or animosity no more, just another boring game. |
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Post by swarfiga on Apr 26, 2017 8:10:45 GMT
Crowds are done because the rivalries are dying, less games will mean bigger crowds when the games come round, if Tam spent his budget properly and brought some excitement to the rink then he wouldn't have to worry about crowds, they're shooting themselves in the foot at every turn, Tam and Todd are completely to blame for falling crowds and less profit It's not the amount of times we play or rivals that make it boring..More the three of us are the most boring teams in the league, it's the aggro between your teams that used to sell it, and you went to see. There is no real rivalry or animosity no more, just another boring game. You've got a point on the style of play us 3 teams bring but personally I really think it's got a lot to do with seeing them every week it feels like aswell. |
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ronniemac
Pro
Posts: 1,520
NHL Team: Chicago Blackhawks
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Post by ronniemac on Apr 26, 2017 9:00:45 GMT
From a spectating point of view the Conference system is not good I feel.....far too much repetition but I suppose the players will be happy to not do hundreds of bus miles every weekend and the likes of Dundee & Edinburgh rubbing their hands with Fife fans visiting numbers and cash flow.
At the end of the day it seems to be what Neil Black wants is the order of the day, it's his baw and we have to lump it....bit like the local scenario to a lesser degree.
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drwho
Rookie
Posts: 141 
EIHL Team: Fife Flyers
NHL Team: Philadelphia Flyers
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Post by drwho on Apr 26, 2017 10:38:04 GMT
I have it on good authority that 3 x 4 has been agreed for next season.
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Post by waterboy on Apr 26, 2017 14:55:55 GMT
I have it on good authority that 3 x 4 has been agreed for next season. Unless your authority is Neil Black I doubt that very much. |
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Post by coloradoflyer on Apr 27, 2017 7:51:49 GMT
statement from the caps in the paper
Edinburgh Capitals may have to withdraw from Britain’s top ice hockey league unless “sensible compromise can be achieved”, according to co-owner Scott Neil. The UK-wide Elite League – presently divided into two Conferences of five teams – expands to 12 next season after Milton Keynes Lightning and Guildford Flames joined from the now-defunct English Ice Hockey Premier League. Clubs have so far failed to agree to a new structure, with Edinburgh – along with Fife Flyers and Dundee Stars – pushing for three conferences of four teams including an all-Scottish division. However, the majority of clubs, including bigger-budget teams such as Nottingham Panthers and Braehead Clan, both owned my millionaire businessman Neil Black, are in favour of two conferences of six. No proposed league structures have been published but it is widely believed Belfast Giants would join the Gardiner Conference alongside the four Scottish clubs and Manchester Storm. Edinburgh would play their Scottish rivals six times in a league season, compared to eight currently, and would also play an additional home and away game with Belfast. Traditionally, Edinburgh’s Scottish derbies draw their biggest crowds, and the proposed changes could cost the club a substantial amount in lost revenue while increasing its travel expenditure. The three-conference proposal would protect the eight games a season between the Scottish clubs. The other eight teams would be tackled four times, completing a 56-game regular season.Black has described a planned board meeting to be held at East Midlands Airport today as “the absolute end date”, claiming clubs would either be “in or out”.Capitals chief Neil was less dramatic, saying: “It’s like any other meeting. I’m hoping for a good discussion, some good thought processes and perhaps some compromises. We’ve come a long way as a league and we have to protect the clubs that are involved in it, listen and understand the different models that make up our league. We have a number of diverse clubs, each with their own issues and problems.“I’m hopeful once we give everyone a chance to talk, a sensible compromise for the league can be achieved.” Edinburgh have yet to publish season-ticket prices and plans for next season. The same applies to Fife and Dundee, who have both stated publicly that their participation in the Elite League next season is not guaranteed.Neil continued: “While it would be good to have some certainty and clarity, it’s important that we get this right for all clubs. In any situation where there is new structures or formats we need to make sure it is as right as it can be for everybody. This is an important meeting but, even after today, my experience tells me we still have a lot of time to resolve any other issues. We would like to see everything settled, but I don’t think today’s meeting is absolutely critical at this time.“Fife, Dundee, and Braehead are very important clubs for our business, not just from a financial point of view but from a logistical one too.“We hold a very high regard for our local competition and I think that’s key for a number of the teams in the league. Club’s geographical locations mean they are more important to some league members than they are to others.
Edinburgh have yet to publish season-ticket prices and plans for next season. The same applies to Fife and Dundee, who have both stated publicly that their participation in the Elite League next season is not guaranteed.Neil continued: “While it would be good to have some certainty and clarity, it’s important that we get this right for all clubs. In any situation where there is new structures or formats we need to make sure it is as right as it can be for everybody. This is an important meeting but, even after today, my experience tells me we still have a lot of time to resolve any other issues. We would like to see everything settled, but I don’t think today’s meeting is absolutely critical at this time.“Fife, Dundee, and Braehead are very important clubs for our business, not just from a financial point of view but from a logistical one too.“We hold a very high regard for our local competition and I think that’s key for a number of the teams in the league. Club’s geographical locations mean they are more important to some league members than they are to others.
“It’s how a lot of North American sports work. They set up their structure in a geographical manner that make both commercial and logistical sense.“We’ve been there before as the only Scottish team in the league, and all the travel it involved. We’ve tasted that and we don’t want to go back to it. It’s important to protect your players from the burdens of excessive travel.“I want to see the safest option being utilised which protects the commercial incomes and expenditure of all clubs, as well as reducing the travel strains on the playing staff “My experience over the years is that if you don’t protect your weakest links, things will break.“Clubs have different ideas on the structure, the format, the playing staff. There is a lot to be discussed, but we’re not panicking. We feel we have a strong case for a different approach and we’re hopeful of resolving these issues for all clubs.”
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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 Apr 27, 2017 8:00:56 GMT
Holding elite league to ransom along with Dundee and someone else to get the conferences they want I think Looks like a game of brinkmanship, the "regarding our future" line is the bit they want taken notice of. Proves there is huge friction between the clique and rest in the league. This has literally always been the case. It's Nottingham and Sheffield's way or no way at all and it won't change until enough medium size teams like Flyers and Dundee refuse to play with them again. As such I am obviously happy they've taken this step. This is simply history repeating itself for me, which seems to happen a lot in British Ice Hockey. Almost 10 years ago since "the little 4" of Basingstoke, Edinburgh, Manchester and Newcastle were calling for changes to the league and they got nowhere. We all know how the rest went. |
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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 Apr 27, 2017 8:09:22 GMT
What needs to happen is get the import level down to 10 at most and bring on British players There's not enough British talent to fill 100 roster spots in the league, there would be far too much difference in quality between the imports and brits, even bigger a gulf than now. They should reduce it yes but over time 1 a year but cutting it to 10 now would completely dilute the quality of hockey we see, well maybe others fans see, not flyers fans this year anyway. I really hate these kind of arguments. Anyone who stops watching because of a small drop in the supposed quality is fickle as hell and the argument to an extent almost defeats itself because if you really buy that argument, then Nottingham should never have been able to increase attendances once the N.I.C was completed because the Super League folded around the same time and the EIHL is still to this day not even close to the on-ice quality of the old Super League. |
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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 Apr 27, 2017 8:22:53 GMT
There's too many team at too many different levels, the whole thing needs over hauled into a proper pyramid structure top to bottom something like, 8-10 imports max in the top league, then may be 6-8 max in the next league then may be max 4 in the next one then brits in the juniors up to snl and enl, promotion and relegation and all that jazz, proper national comps as well as comps in your own league I honestly don't understand the obsession with import numbers as it's almost entirely irrelevant to the quality of the on-ice product - there is only one thing that dictates the quality of the on-ice product and that's a team's budget. 8 import top league - why does that matter? Fife will just have 8 average imports instead of 15 average imports. Nottingham on the other hand will have 8 Jason Williams... These arguments really just don't stand up. Take a look Nottingham's team from an experience stand point versus Fife's. NottinghamNHL experience: 817 GP WC experience: 69 GP SHL experience: 599 GP Allsvenskan experience: 252 GP Liiga experience: 614 GP KHL experience: 134 GP Czech experience: 60 GP AHL experience: 2582 GP DEL experience: 96 GP NLA experience: 97 GP FifeNHL experience: 231 GP Allsvenskan experience: 181 GP Czech experience: 30 GP AHL experience: 543 GP DEL experience: 73 GP NLA experience: 144 GP This won't change by lowering the imports because the budgets remain the same. |
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ronniemac
Pro
Posts: 1,520
NHL Team: Chicago Blackhawks
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Post by ronniemac on Apr 27, 2017 9:06:52 GMT
I have had 2 favourite sports in my life, Ice Hockey and Motor Sport, the amazing coincidence is the fact that both were better imo in the 80's than they are now. In the hockey world back then there were 3 imports and local lads with teams like Durham, Whitley and Nottingham in the mix along with Racers,Rockets and the Flyers.......we can't turn back the clock but surely a bench full of imports does not make it The Great Game,we should also consider the fact that we need a GB team which requires players who have had loads of ice-time honing their skills with a target to aspire to (ie Belfast this week).
Money they say is the root of all evil but one thing is for sure if you have it you can flaunt it but why does it have to be the Neil Black league surely at worst there would be a 50/50 split at these board meetings unless the likes of Manchester have ideas well above their station.
Perhaps this is why there are plans for expansions in London and other venues in the wing with the Scottish clubs being viewed as stocking fillers until a preferred set-up is in place.
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drwho
Rookie
Posts: 141
EIHL Team: Fife Flyers
NHL Team: Philadelphia Flyers
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Post by drwho on Apr 27, 2017 12:05:01 GMT
I have it on good authority that 3 x 4 has been agreed for next season. Unless your authority is Neil Black I doubt that very much. Doubt it as much as you want |
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Post by acer20 on Apr 27, 2017 12:28:59 GMT
No matter what the outcome, 14 imports is just a farce
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Post by bencameron on Apr 27, 2017 13:02:27 GMT
Unless your authority is Neil Black I doubt that very much. Doubt it as much as you want Is this a 'i know something but not telling where the information came from' statement |
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Post by coloradoflyer on Apr 27, 2017 13:13:10 GMT
the way black was speaking it was defo 2 x 6 or beat it
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Post by swarfiga on Apr 27, 2017 18:19:47 GMT
So were all staying 3X4 conferences, big 4, Scottish 4, other 4, doing conferences without making it geographical looks dumb
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