In his latest blog our hockey man Neil talks about Hull's bad luck and catches up with Doug Christiansen.
In his latest blog our hockey reporter Neil Chiplen talks about Hull's bad luck and catches up with Doug Christiansen to preview the Gardiner Cup.
Remember last year when the Hull Stingrays had their season ruined by injuries?
Well, so far nothing's changed.
Hull are bottom of the Elite League table and the balloons that greeted the arrival of new-player coach Sylvain Cloutier have well and truly burst.
Now that D-man Ryan Jorde is out for six weeks with a broken arm alongside injured forward Lee Mitchell, arguably Hull's best British player, and Curtis Huppe and Adam Knight are sitting around waiting for their suspensions to end, the optimism that welcomed the new campaign in Humberside is quickly circling the drain.
Cloutier was brought in to lift the spirits in Hull after a couple of drab years with Rick Strachan at the helm. Strachan did what he could with the limited resources at his disposal, playing a style of hockey that wasn't easy on the eye but did bring some big results. Last year he was powerless as Stingray after Stingray after Stingray made an appointment with the doctor and the roster became thinner every week. Even if Brian Burke was the Hull GM and Mike Babcock was the head coach they still wouldn't have made the playoffs with bad luck like that.
And unfortunately for Hull, and the Elite League in general, the bad luck's back. Knight and Huppe will be back soon, but these are not good omens. When you're shipping five goals a game on average and playing short-benched against teams with better rosters, on paper at least, it's tough to hang in there. With the Basingstoke Bison having migrated to the EPL, the last thing the Elite League needs is another team to tank. The Stingrays need points from their next two league games against the Devils and Capitals, because after that they run into the big four in mid-October. Unless the Stingrays can find a way to stay in touch with the rest of the league, beginning on Saturday against Cardiff, it could be a very long season for them.
Hull are not the only team in need of a dose of good fortune though. It seems that they transferred some of their bad luck to the Edinburgh Capitals last weekend. The Caps have lost player-coach Doug Christiansen (knee) for possibly the rest of the season, and it's a blow that couldn't have come at a worse time.
Following a great start with a 9-2 beat-down of Hull before taking the Panthers into overtime, the Capitals go into this weekend's Gardiner Cup tournament without big Doug.
The Gardiner Cup, which is named after Edinburgh-born Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Charlie "Chuck" Gardiner, will see the Elite League go up against the AHL as the Capitals and Belfast Giants take on the visiting Toronto Marlies and Hamilton Bulldogs in Edinburgh's festival of hockey. It got underway on Thursday when the Bulldogs picked up a 1-0 victory over the Marlies in an entertaining game in front of a good crowd at Murrayfield Ice Rink.
The Capitals had it tough enough last year when Zoom Airlines went bust days before the season started. Now Christiansen gets hurt just when the Caps were riding high and with hockey's homecoming days away. How unlucky can you get?
Before Christiansen suffered his injury, however, I caught up with him to discuss the event.
"The other teams are going to have millions of dollars on the ice against us," Christiansen said.
"It'll be great for our fans and great for the league and it's been something that has expanded the coverage in the area. Compared to last year, with the Zoom Airlines problem and some of the other situations, this is a real positive. We have gone out there and organised an event that will be memorable for a long time for Edinburgh hockey fans and for fans from all over."
Millions of dollars on the ice? Tell me about it...
In the autumn of 2004 I was on holiday in New York. And of course, I just couldn't wait to get my hands on some tickets to see the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. There was a problem with that, however, because the NHL was locked out. Gutted.
To get my hockey fix, I took the train up along the coastline to the small town of Bridgeport, Connecticut to watch the local AHL team. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers were hosting the Binghamton Senators and because of the lockout there was plenty of NHL-level talent on display.
While the Sound Tigers didn't really have anyone outstanding on the books at the time, the Senators boasted a true future NHL star. A former number two overall draft pick by the name of Jason Spezza had been sent to play the season in Binghamton after a year and a half in the NHL. Result! Watching the game at a stunning venue like Bridgeport's "Arena at Harbor Yard" and seeing talented players like Spezza more than made up for my disappointment of missing the real thing in New York.
Spezza went on to lead the AHL in points that season and when I look at how his career has turned out since, it's great to know that I got to see an NHL All Star play before he had really made it big-time.
And that leads us to the Gardiner Cup, where fans have the opportunity to watch future NHL stars, without having to go all the way to Connecticut, USA.
"There will be first round picks and guys who will be career starters in the NHL and they're just grooming them to be the future stars of the National Hockey League," Christiansen continued.
"It'll be exciting for hockey fans to be able to say: "I saw that guy way back when." The interaction you can have at a place like Murrayfield Ice Rink with players of that magnitude is second to none. They're not hiding in some massive coliseum, they'll be right around the fans and that's something that gives it a special appeal."
Christiansen revealed later this week that he was making calls from his hospital bed to find a replacement and to finalise the team's tenth import. No time like the present, is there? And while Edinburgh will lose his presence on the ice, at least they'll have him around as a full-time bench coach.
Although some of the top dogs in the EIHL are dealing with injuries as well, they always seem to hurt the "smaller" teams more. Here's hoping that this is as bad as it gets for the Caps and Rays, and that Jorde, Mitchell and Christiansen are back on the ice sooner rather than later. After all, not everybody has Johan Molin on speed dial.
Will you be attending the Gardiner Cup? Can the Stingrays hang in there? Have you seen an upcoming player before they made it big in the NHL? Post all your views on the form below...
