Comings and goings
Southern Conference
It’s time to break the silence – I will take you through team by team the comings, goings, or stayings in the Elite League as I round up the state of play in the transfer market – starting with the big hitters of the Southern Conference.
Belfast Giants – Poker Face Christiansen
Doug Christiansen has been holding his cards close to his chest so far this close season, and he undoubtedly has some aces up his sleeve still to play. The defence of last season’s league title will be uppermost in the mind of the Giants’ coach and his early moves involved re-signing some of the players most instrumental in securing that title, including netminder Stephen Murphy, and tough forwards Adam Keefe and Darryl Lloyd, who will continue to make a major physical impact on the league.
Christiansen may have lost the services of key Brit Rob Dowd to the Swedish Elite league, but in retaining high-scoring Craig Peacock as well as a clutch of other solid squad players, he has opted for stability in his Brit pack and will look to his imports to provide the injection of fire they will need to stay competitive in what looks to be a bigger, tougher clutch of rival sides this year. However Doug has nothing to fear – whilst the teams around him have all but completed their rosters, he still has most of his big plays to make – and judging by his first major new signing, that of 33-year-old left wing Noah Clarke from the DEL in Germany, he is going to be causing Finnerty, Neilson et al a few sleepless nights as they wait to see what else he has in his back pocket. Clarke comes with real NHL experience and a raft of AHL games behind him, and is arguably one of the top Elite League signings of the summer so far. With a startling 8 imports still to sign, just what level of talent will Doug Christiansen turn over when he finally shows his cards?
THE FACTS SO FAR:
In: D Phillips (Sweden), Matt Towe (EPL), Noah Clarke (DEL)
Staying: Murphy, Keefe, Lloyd, Garside, Peacock, Walton, Roberts, Dickson
Out: Doucet, Dowd, Pelle (retired)
Total signed: 11 – 9 skaters, 2 netminders (8 Brit, 3 import)
Still to sign: 9 skaters (8 import)
Cardiff Devils – Rear Guard Reliability
Gerad Adam’s first signing of the new season was all but lost in the clamour of the post-play-off media frenzy, but it could arguably be one of the most influential in the league, let alone in the Devils’ organisation overall. Netminder Phil Osaer is no stranger to Cardiff, having played there for two seasons from 2006-8, but he returns to the Welsh side off the back of a winning season in Norway, and looks set to become one of the top goaltenders in the league.
Outside of this Adams has been maintaining a steady ship, re-signing a core of key imports such as Max Birbraer and Mark and Kenton Smith, and promising British players Josh Batch and Ben Davies, to try and achieve some consistency within his group, whilst adding strength in all areas with the addition of a trio of new imports, all poached from the Italian Elite league. Tyson Marsh, Mac Faulkner and Chris Blight come with a wealth of experience, and size and toughness to back it up, and Cardiff have the makings of a side who are going to be difficult to break down this season – the hallmark of all Devils sides in recent years.
Despite recently securing the services of the consistent Phil Hill for a sixth consecutive season, one of Adams’ remaining challenges is to try and attract some of the upper echelon of British players, as with only two imports left to acquire, and defenceman Mark Richardson having been tempted to a big money contract in Kazakhstan, the Welsh side’s British presence is somewhat lacking at this stage. However, if he can select a couple of solid additions from the pool of potential import talent available, they may get away with relying on the youngsters to bolster the ranks this season.
THE FACTS SO FAR:
In: Phil Osaer, Tyson Marsh, Mac Faulkner, Chris Blight (Italy), Piggott (ENL Devils), Bari McKenzie (Edinburgh)
Staying: Adams, Birbraer, Batch, Hill, Harding, K Smith, M Smith, Davies
Out: Lyle, Matzka (retired), Richardson
Total signed: 14 – 13 skaters, 1 netminder (6 Brit, 8 import)
Still to sign: 5 skaters, 1 netminder (3 import)
Coventry Blaze – Grabbing Headlines
After a disappointing 2010/11 campaign fraught with financial woes and an underperforming side, there’s no doubt that free from the shackles of Hull Stingrays ownership, coach Paul Thompson is enjoying the extra finances available and has begun in earnest building a side to be reckoned with. One of the key areas of weakness last season was in front of goal and Thommo has immediately gone about shoring up his defences, adding an intimidating combination of experience and size, and significantly toughening up in the process. He has added the likes of Benn Olson and Mike Egener who are big, tough guys not afraid to drop the gloves, and who possess between them a good deal of high level experience, Olson with a large number of AHL games under his belt, and a history with Belfast’s Adam Keefe which will whet the appetities of the fight fans among us.
Blaze were perhaps responsible for making the biggest waves so far this summer when they made an early move for former NHL’er Mike Danton, who, with a chequered past to put it mildly, comes fresh from a season in Europe. He has a wealth of experience and will arrive in the Elite League with the most top level experience of any current import. Combine this with an already significant Twitter presence, where he has regularly exchanged good-natured banter with Keefe, and we appear to. have the makings of a fan favourite and a personality who will steal headlines this season.
Having played most of his hand already when it comes to imports, Thompson, like Adams, will be looking to secure the signatures of a few influential British players having lost young talent Rob Farmer, as well as finding some real fire power going forward to back up the re-signed Shea Guthrie, who with the right players around him deserves to have a much better season this time around, his relatively modest stats belying the incredible talent the kid has at his disposal.
THE FACTS SO FAR:
In: S Smith (Cardiff), Mike Danton (Sweden/Austria), Gerome Giudice (CHL), Mike Egener (Denmark), Benn Olson (AHL/ECHL), Greg Leeb (DEL)
Staying: Venus, Griffin, Guthrie, Cowley, Hirsch, Domish
Out: Owen, Weaver, Farmer, Dustin Wood (unconfirmed)
Total signed: 12 – 11 skaters, 1 netminder (4 Brit, 8 import)
Still to sign: 7 skaters, 1 netminder (3 import)
Nottingham Panthers – A Perfect Fit?
The Panthers have become a bit like a big, ice hockey team-shaped jigsaw puzzle. Every season coach Corey Neilson attempts to find the correct pieces to fit those final few gaps but for some reason or other, they never quite fit together properly, and once again he will look to achieve the ultimate prize of the league title, playing his hand early to secure a number of key players, particularly his gifted Brit-pack, with the notable exception of former captain Danny Meyers, who was mysteriously let go early in the summer. Netminder Kowalski retains his place to the relief of the Panthers faithful who appreciate his stability in net, and key Brits David Clarke, Marc Levers and Rob Lachowicz return along with some of the favoured import players from last season, including forwards Matt Francis, Jordan Fox and Brandon Benedict.
Coventry’s Jonathan Weaver has been brought in as a replacement for Meyers although it remains to be seen if he can win over the fans in the same way, and Neilson has added a small number of new faces to the sizeable band of regulars, including his trump card so far, 6’6″ centre Bruce Graham, a player with youth, skill and size on his side and with considerable experience in North America to boot. He will definitely be one to watch this season and comes with some pedigree, having been drafted 50th overall by the New York Rangers in the 2004 NHL entry draft. Into defence somes Jason Beckett, another reliable bet with years of AHL and European experience behind him. With just three imports left to sign it remains to be seen if there are any more cards up Corey’s sleeve, and if this will finally be the right set of pieces for his championship-winning jigsaw to click into place.
THE FACTS SO FAR:
In: Weaver (Coventry), Jason Beckett, Pat Galivan (ECHL), Norton (EPL), Bruce Graham (CHL)
Staying: Neilson, Kowalski, Benedict, Francis, Green, Clarke, Fox, Levers, Myers, Lachowicz, Ward, Lee
Out: Meyers, Beauregard, Lepine (?)
Total signed: 17 – 15 skaters, 2 netminders (9 Brit, 8 import)
Still to sign: 3 skaters (3 import)
Sheffield Steelers – A Mixed Bag
In Finnerty’s first year as coach he learned some valuable lessons, and now he has hung up his skates he has spent the early part of the off-season embracing his coaching-only role and has begun rebuilding his team for a second shot at the league title. He’s retained the services of a number of last season’s squad, including long-time Steelers Ashley Tait, Jason Hewitt, Jeff Legue and Rod Sarich, and in a surprising u-turn, last season’s first choice netminder John DeCaro returns to the Yorkshire side having been previously rumoured to have signed for a club in Europe. In a season in which netminding will be of the utmost importance, Steelers fans are unsurprisingly nervous following DeCaro’s less than convincing first season, however his experience of the league may play in his favour this time around.
For Finnerty his Brit-pack may be his trump card, as in addition to his already numerous GB internationals he has snapped up Danny Meyers from rivals the Nottingham Panthers as well as adding the services of highly rated Colin Shields from Morzine Avoriaz in the French Ligue Magnus. He seems to have selected a variety of new imports rather than focussing on one key area, adding the attacking defensive talents of Jim Jorgenson from Braehead as well as talismanic tough cookie Tylor Michel of former Cardiff Devils fame. He has also added the fabulously named Cory Pecker who brings with him a wealth of experience from both the AHL and Europe.
With three imports still to sign the Steelers remain short of perhaps a tough defenceman or two but Finnerty will be relying on a combination of the tried and tested with a smattering of new talent to bring home the bacon this season.
THE FACTS SO FAR:
In: Meyers (Nottingham), Shields (France), Jorgenson (Braehead), Danny Wood (US college), Cory Pecker (Switzerland), Tylor Michel (Sweden)
Staying: DeCaro, Hewitt, J Phillips, Esders, Thomas, Tait, Woolhouse, Stephenson, Legue, Sarich
Out: Fulghum, Squires, Ramsay, Finnerty (coaching only)
Total signed: 16 – 14 skaters, 2 netminders (9 Brit, 7 import)
Still to sign: 4 skaters (4 import)