Christiansen gives his Elite League verdict

Yes, it is that time of year again with the start of another season just around the corner.

For Doug Christiansen, the title winning inspirational Head Coach of the Belfast Giants it is going to be a gritty battle to try and repeat last season’s success.

Following the new structure of the Elite League,   the following changes have been made. Belfast Giants, Cardiff Devils, Coventry Blaze, Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers compete in the Erhardt Conference. This is named after Carl Erhardt who captained Great Britain to their Olympic gold in 1936. The winners are awarded the Erhardt Trophy.

Braehead Clan, Edinburgh Capitals, Dundee Stars, Fife Flyers and Hull Stingrays make up the Gardiner Conference. This is named after Charlie Gardiner – the Edinburgh-born net minder who captained Chicago Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup in 1934. The winners are awarded the Gardiner Trophy.

Doug has recently flown in from the USA to start the Giants training period before an exhibition game against the Tilburg Trappers from Holland.

Christiansen had the following thoughts for UK American Sports Fans on the noteworthy impact of new and significant import players in the upcoming campaign within the Elite League’s two new divisions, starting with the Belfast Giants last season’s Elite League titleholders.

“Belfast lost all but two of their import players with the exception of Adam Keefe and Darryl Lloyd who must be the hardest working forwards in the league.

 

Belfast’s signing of two former NHL players in Noah Clarke (L.A. Kings) who is going to be one of the swiftest skaters in the Elite League together with the no nonsense, non-shy former Montreal Canadien Gregory Stewart. He will certainly feature heavily in the Giants’ offence.   

 

Linking with the legendary Robby Sandrock and his rock-steady slap shot from the blue line and the signing of playmaker Scott Champagne will make Belfast a real contender.  

 

Braehead Clan who are in the Gardiner Conference are the preseason champions elect of the Division. The Clan has not signed a huge number of new players however a returning import has to be mentioned. That player is Jade Galbraith, who can turn a game the Clan’s way with any one of his outstanding displays as per last season’s performance.  Elite League Player of the year also has to be noted.

 

If you do not you could be looking at a result you had not anticipated. A new signing that could be the cornerstone of Braehead’s offence is Ash Goldie obtained from the Las Vegas Wranglers. 

 

The Clan, under new player coach Jordan Krestanovich will have their hands full this season depending on the puck stopping abilities of Canadian Goalie Garrett Zemlak who will steal a few games when things get tight.     

 

Cardiff Devils, looking to find a replacement for Brad Voth may just have come up with the answer in Devin DiDiomete, who is not afraid to drop the gloves. Yet he has all round skills and skates very well. Then there is Chris Blight, who holds a British passport and who could well finish high in the Elite League goal-scoring chart. After two years in the league he could well find himself chosen for the GB National Team. 

 

The Devils have had more money to spend on imports many of which other Elite League squads also looked at, but Cardiff managed to secure them through skillful negotiations from their established playing coach Gerad Adams. 

 

The departure of Stevie Lyle leaves the burden of last stop defence to newcomer Phil Osaer from Livonia USA. However with six solid “Dmen” to stop and block shots plus clear the defensive zone, Osaer might be just the keeper the Devils have been looking for and take their end of season stepping stone one further to that of the Playoff Championship level.   

 

Coventry Blaze’s fan base had to suffer two seasons of indifferent hockey through no fault of coach Paul Thompson.

 

These types of circumstances just happen in hockey no matter how good a team looks on paper. 

 

Devoid of his responsibilities of coaching the GB team, and restructuring their sole commitment to that of the Blaze after the sale of Hull Stingrays coach Thompson has rolled up his sleeves to put a formidable hockey team together for the Skydome’s fans.    

 

The Blaze is a whole new ball of wax this season and you could see that Thomo has spent considerable time researching new blood. A player likely to ice a lot of time is Michael Schutte in order to assist the Blaze’s retained puck stopper in Peter Hirsch.   

 

They all knew the risk regarding signing Mike Denton and should he obtain the necessary paperwork to play in the league he will be a great impact player for Coach Thompson and his team not forgetting the league itself. 

 

Two brothers may be just the other two imports that turn the tide for the Blaze. Greg Leeb and his bro Brad both from Red Deer, Alberta could be the dual firepower Thomo has been looking for.

 

If a good old hockey rumble is what the fans want then two defensemen come to mind in Mike Egener and Benn Olson.

 

There will not be many opposition forwards crossing the Blaze’s blue line with their head down, as stars might be the next logical things they see.  

 

Talking of stars, Dundee Stars have hung their hat on franchise goalie Nicola Riopel from St Pie Quebec; a young puck stopper at the age of just twenty-three. So a lot will depend on his skills between the pipes for the Stars as to how far up the Gardiner Conference they finish. 

 

Dundee’s new player coach Jeff Hutchins has recruited well in this his first season as a Head Coach. Hutchins is expecting big things from Bill Bagron from Eagle River AK USA. 

 

Edinburgh Capitals had to find a solid goal tender to develop a new squad based on an East European core. Player coach Richard Hartmann hopes he has done just that with twenty-three year old Tomas Hiadliovsky brought in from Hockey Club Dukla Trencin. Thomas is Slovakian and Hartmann rates him very highly after representing his country as an International on their National Junior team. 

 

With more players to sign at the time of writing this article Michal Benadik could be the rock on defence along with other new Eastern European signings. As the season progresses we will find out the strength of the Capitals who rose high in league tables before faltering at the end. 

 

Fife Flyers start this season as the second term in the Elite League but are still the oldest hockey club in the United Kingdom. Todd Dutiaume will try to strengthen his club this season with key signings to lift them out of the basement of the league standings. 

 

Another pair of siblings in Bryan Pitton and brother Jason from Brampton Ontario could be just the answer.  They both come with great pedigrees. First up is Bryan a twenty-four year old goalie coming fresh from Bakersfield Condors where he had rave reviews between the pipes. 

 

A lot will depend on his shot stopping skills together with the goal scoring abilities of his brother Jason who has joined the Flyers from his Italian team Asiago. 

 

Jeff Caiser is another “D man” that will have to log a shed load to ice minutes each game to drive the team up the Gardiner Conference table. 

 

Hull Stingrays, under new ownership from former noteworthy player Bobby Ewan plus the return of player coach Sylvain Clouthier will bring stability to the outfit. Clouthier managed to recruit GB’s back up goalie Ben Bowns who is an emerging talent. He is learning quickly and looks the part. Bowns represents a large target to put the puck into the Stingrays’ nets, which is a good thing for Hull as they leaked goals last season. 

 

A pugnacious two-way player, icing either as a forward or D man is Ryan Hand from the Texas Brahmas. This is one player who does not need an invitation to dance. This guy is ready and able to square up to anyone in order to protect his teammates. 

 

Hull has not signed a number of new imports but retained their strike force from the previous campaign. However the recruiting of Scott Robson and Jeff Smith should shore up their defence plus Cale Tanaka should add zest to the forward line. 

 

Nottingham Panthers’ projected playing skills and triumphs feature in the hockey media as the “Year of the Cat” 

‘Terrifying’ is the term I would use for the Panthers this season as they are just loaded with talent. They are deep in every department starting with Craig Kowalski returning to the Lace City between the pipes for the Panthers. 

 

Patrick Galivan a forward acquired from Gwinnett Gladiators is one to watch along with the larger than life Bruce Graham measuring six foot six inches of solid ice hockey muscle recruited from the CHL’s Allen Americans. 

 

Then there is Eric Werner, another new import defensive talent there to slow the opposition’s driving forwards trying to reach Kowalski in the Panthers’ nets. Finally Dave Ling has been recruited from the Italian league squad Val Pusteria. He has a huge scoring pedigree so Nottingham are just crammed full of talent and will certainly be hard to beat. 

 

Finally and certainly not last in the league tables are the Sheffield Steelers under playing coach Ryan Finnerty. 

They have also stacked their squad with talent starting with Drew Fata a very tough, mean, solid blue liner who has all the skills. Steven Goertzen, the former NHLer will certain put some numbers on both the scoring and points charts of the Erhardt Conference. 

 

Now a real signing is Tyler Michel – the former Cardiff Devil goal snipe – playing centre and recruited from the Swedish Division one club Bjorkleven. There is a real talent but finally you have to look at Cory Pecker the signing from the Swiss Second Division, that of EHC Olten. I think he will surprise a lot of Elite League team campaigns. 

 

The Erhardt Conference or ‘Division of Death’ contains Belfast, Cardiff, Coventry, Nottingham and Sheffield where there is certainly no outright winner elect at this point. It will not be a battle but a war of attrition between these differing squads. Whoever can end the season in the best of health, and survive the toil of injuries they are likely to accrue will most likely lift the Divisional Title over the long haul. 

 

In the Gardiner Conference, hockey forecasters predict Braehead should be the favourites for this Division, however that is all speculation at this time of the season.”