Fights, beards and players named after weaponry
It’s me again! And I’d like to think that after a few times flapping my lips here on this, my new soapbox, you, my lovely new readers, are starting to get to know me.
I’m a girl of simple pleasures, let’s face it. I love fights, beards, and players named after weaponry. And man, can I talk. I’ve not even seen any hockey this week and I’ve still got plenty to tell you. So let’s settle down and have a chinwag, shall we.
Without a live match for my poor, hockey-starved mind to devour, my thoughts turned to matters off-ice this week. And I’ll get to those in good time. But let’s start with some of the talking points from this week’s Elite League action. There was a thriller at the Odyssey as Braehead travelled to take on Belfast, and in an overly physical game there was yet more frustration for fight fans.
In the first meeting between Sam Zajac and Benoit Doucet since ‘that’ check which left Zajac sidelined with concussion, the gloves were dropped but the fight was unable to take place due to some over-enthusiastic officiating. A poor decision in my opinion and potentially a dangerous one: the guys clearly needed to air their grievances but were unable to do so; frustrations could have easily boiled over leading to more unsavoury outcomes being played out. In short, let them go*. If this wasn’t enough Adam Keefe tried to start a fight with half the Braehead team but no-one was game. ‘A’ for effort, lad. Belfast took the game by the horns with just three minutes to spare and continue to look dominant.
Coventry had a hairy bus ride home from Dundee after shutting out the home side and taking the two points back to the West Midlands. Thankfully they made it home safely despite the bus nearly being blown over. In other, more dramatic, and less hairy news, there were some sad losses in the world of British ice hockey as Matthew Myers (Nottingham Panthers) severed his enviable tresses and Chris Zarb (Dundee Stars) shaved off his frankly incredible beard. I’m still reeling from the shock of those unwelcome discoveries.
Absent from the weekend’s action were the Sheffield Steelers who were all busy joining Twitter. Oh, and playing the occasional game of hockey in Denmark during their spare moments. They didn’t fare well in the Intercontinental Cup, despite a promising start, and were subject to some seemingly over-sensitive refereeing. Apparently the Europeans don’t do physical ice hockey. Whereas we like a good bashing here in the UK. On a positive note, their entire squad are now on Twitter, so the trip to Denmark wasn’t a total waste of time.
On Sunday, only one ice hockey team turned up in the first period for the dead rubber Challenge Cup tie at Skydome Arena, and as the only team there, the Blaze found it relatively easy to take a 5-0 lead. In the second period only one ice hockey team turned up too – this time however it was Nottingham Panthers, who proceeded to score 5 goals of their own to level the scores. I’m led to believe that both teams were present in the final period. The score was nonetheless tied.
The Tweet Generation
So that’s the hockey dealt with. Now onto my ponderings from the week. I hardly need to point out that as a fan of ice hockey, if you have any interest in the deep and meaningful thoughts that travel through the grey matter of the players you watch and admire, accessing said thoughts is not as difficult (or stalkerish), as it may once have been. No longer do you need to creep around behind them on the street trying to listen in to their private telephone conversations (I’ve not done that by the way). Never again do you need to pen a desperate fan letter, asking them what their favourite colour is, or if they could be any superhero who would they be (I haven’t done that either. That I can recall). Instead, using the various social media that’s available, Robert is in fact your mother’s brother: instant access to a wealth of richness and diversity, courtesy of the collective brains of your favourite team(s).
By its very nature twitter is a voyeuristic medium. It allows you to read for yourself whatever little nuggets of wisdom anyone you happen to be intrigued by is sharing with the world at any given moment. For some this amounts to reams of material daily, for others just the choicest morsels will be drip-fed to the starving masses, to satisfy the aching chasm deep inside that could only possibly be filled by the knowledge that their favourite Canadian defenceman is going to the bowling alley for the afternoon. It’s different to Facebook. Facebook is for friends, and family. Twitter is the social network of strangers. You are safe, hidden behind your maximum 15-character username, to follow the people whom you choose to follow without fear of retribution. You never have to talk back. You can read a full conversation between team mates about where to meet for coffee without having to get involved. But – you know they’re meeting for coffee. And that’s something you didn’t know before. Stalkers 1, Privacy 0!
Of course it’s hardly a place to reveal your innermost secrets if you don’t want anyone else to know about them, but there’s just something about twitter. That sense that maybe, probably, no-one’s really listening (reading) tempts you into giving up just a little more information than you would if you were speaking to a group of people you barely knew in person. It’s the genuine candour adopted by sportsmen, celebrities and the like that makes following them on Twitter so appealing. That sense that you’re catching a glimpse into their everyday lives. Twitter obviously feeds one’s propensity to stalkerishness; but at least I’m not afraid to admit it!
Anyway I promised myself this wouldn’t descend (ascend?!) into a ponderous philosophical commentary on the vicarious nature of social media, so let’s cut to the chase. Ice hockey players: they really do love twitter, don’t they? And while I concede that a lot of what they dribble on about is no more interesting than any of the rest of the inanity spouted by your average twitter user, they do make for an entertaining follow. To support this week’s column and to find out just how many of them frequent the site, I set about compiling a twitter list of EIHL players (available now for any user to follow – @ktdude/eihl-ice-hockey-players). I basically adopted the role of electronic shepherd, herding the lovely big lugs together in one easy to manage pen – and I am surprised to tell you that it contains just shy of 100 of the hairy creatures already. Basically half of the possible number of players contained in the league right now. Surprised? I was.
The variety of inane fripperies they supply is astounding; I have in recent weeks given Sam Zajac directions, asked Danny Meyers a question about his sideburns (he grows them because otherwise he’d look really young), seen pictures of the Belfast Giants’ Halloween party, viewed a wide selection of Movember moustaches, and discovered that Jeff Pierce really loves his own hair. They aren’t shy about voicing their opinions on games, either. It’s a whole added dimension to the dynamics that already exist between players, teams, coaches, managers, referees, fans, commentators and everyone else involved in our beautiful game. The NHL has banned the use of twitter on game days. I don’t think the Elite League would ever have the faintest notion of doing similar and I for one hope it stays that way.
And viewing them all together in one list is priceless. It’s taking on a life of its own. Sheffield Steelers used their trip to Denmark as an opportunity to ensure that every single squad member was signed up and the resultant (presumably drunken – I’m allowed to say that, right?) nonsense has been quite amusing if not somewhat baffling to follow. It’s interesting what they choose to say, and not to say. For the most part they seem content to share a great deal – to the extent of possibly having boundary issues. Of course the majority of it is ‘in’ jokes and banter between team mates, but there is some genuinely fun content if you can get through this. My top 3 suggestions of players to follow:
1) Adam Keefe – self-appointed spokesperson for the Belfast Giants this season, Keefe has not wasted any time in throwing himself into life in Northern Ireland, and the Elite League in general. He tweets regularly, but there’s plenty of substance in there, and he’s not afraid to bite back if someone tries to wind him up. He also made me come over all unnecessary following recent comments about his moustache. Top bloke.
2) Danny Meyers – speaking of top blokes, the Nottingham Panthers captain has surely got to be up there with the best of them. One of my first hockey player follows, Danny is just an all round good egg and is the perfect spokes model for Great British hockey. He loves his wife and kids, he enjoys a bit of banter with Simmsey, and he is happy to answer questions once in a while, even the more bizarre ones about sideburns!
3) Ryan Finnerty – Finner16 is a sound dude with a wry sense of humour and although he displays the restraint that a good leader should, he’s not afraid to engage in the banter and is clearly well-liked throughout the game and not just by his own team, or fans.
So to conclude: if you actually care about what goes on between the ears of your favourite hockey players, follow my list. If you don’t really care, follow it anyway, purely for the amusement factor. If you’re not even on twitter, check it out. It’s ridiculously addictive. And a few weeks down the line, you’ll wonder how you lived without knowing about Jade Galbraith’s trip to the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet.
*STOP PRESS: The fallout from the Zajac/Doucet non-fight is more serious than first thought. Doucet is out for the season, due to being wrestled to the ice by the two linesmen who landed on him and causing his knee to twist the wrong way. A sickening injury, which raises further questions over the way the game was officiated. It’s a massive blow to the Giants and more so to the player himself. A great shame.