Hull Stingrays

Christian Ward from the F Block Blog previews the season for the Rays

The Hull Stingrays are back! The Rays thankfully came out on the right side of an incredibly turbulent summer, a summer which at one point looked like it would wipe the seven year old club off the map. But they are back for a fifth kick at the Elite League can and this time they are ready to earn their playoff stripes. Back but not without sacrifice. Founding owners Mike and Sue Pack, the very essence of the Stingrays, have been forced to give up their club and have departed with a heavy heart, a tear in their eye and at least a £150,000 sized hole in their pocket.
Coventry Blaze coach Paul Thompson, General Manager James Pease, Chairman Andy Buxton and Director Mike Cowley have taken over the running of the club in the hope that they can build a stable club for the future from the somewhat solid foundations set in place by the Packs during their seven year stay in the city.
Naturally, their first move was to reinstall former Blaze forward Sylvain Cloutier as player-coach, a very popular move with fans after a solid second half showing last year. Their second move was to request that the club starts its season in October, a sensible move since the club collapsed just two weeks before pre-season face-off, the late start will give the new owners chance to prepare both on and off the ice for the new season.
On the ice, that time has given Cloutier a chance to re-build a 17 man roster that he thought he had completed with the signing of Guillaume Lepine in early August. Lumbering defenceman Lepine has now moved to Nottingham, while tough guy Matt Suderman has joined Dundee, key forward signing Chris Korchinski has decided to remain in North America and Brit James Archer jumped ship to sign for EPL side Manchester. Prior to the rollercoaster really kicking into gear, Curtis Huppe and Stephen Burns bailed halfway through two-year deals, whilst Martins Raitums, George Halkidis, Adam Knight, Jeff Glowa and Pavel Gomenyuk were not offered new deals. Since the clubs revival, however, Cloutier’s squad has begun to reform with some expected holes. First to return were homegrown forwards Lee Esders and Matty Davies as well as backup netminder Andrew Jaszczyk.
Consistent 20+ EIHL goalscorer Jason Silverthorn then reaffirmed his commitment to the club by re-signing after registering 47 points in 43 games last season and, crucially, British brothers Lee and Craig Mitchell followed suit just days later.
Another important part of the puzzle saw Christian Boucher, a netminder that last season won the double in Holland and previously impressed in the CHL, also recommitted having initially been signed in July to replace Latvian Raitums.
Of the initially signed 17 man squad, just captain to be Joshua Mizerek, former Basingstoke D-man Trevor Read, young rookie forward Andrew Coburn and returning goalscoring forward Konstantin Kalmikov have yet to recommit with the latter easily most concerning and irreplaceable of the lot. Cloutier will have to sign a minimum of three defencemen and four forwards, comprising of at most five imports, before the Rays can start their season in earnest. Thankfully that start will come a month later than most of the league on October 3 against Cardiff, but whenever the opening fixture, you can be sure for Stingrays fans it will be a moment to saviour, a moment they never thought they would see.

As for the rest of the league, this is how I see it shaping up.

1.Belfast
Unstoppable and irresistible. AHL talent, the Hemmingway brothers, Colin Shields and more. Give it to them now.

2.Coventry
Fussey, Zanon and Jaeger are upgrades in all areas but it will be roles reversed this season as Belfast look to just have too much.

3.Nottingham
Top netty Kowalski and the freescoring Beauregard, Zion, Galbraith and Clarke will have to make up for lack of Panthers defensive D, Stevie Lee aside.

4.Cardiff
Again improved and Matzka, Pelle and the Smith brothers look like very good acquisitions but they probably won’t have the resources to compete if injury hits.

5.Sheffield
Write the season off. Enjoy the hockey but don’t expect a title Steelers fans, Simon and netminder Mustukovs look exciting but away from that it is more of the same.

6.Braehead
I envision a good inaugural season for the Clan. Richardson has put together a promising squad with the likes of Landry, Cook and Wedderburn. Guaranteed they will surprise if they keep their full side in tact.

7.Edinburgh
New coach and fresh ideas, Taylor up front, Reid in net and their remaining few import signings will be key.

8.Stingrays
If Cloutier can get together a squad he believes in ahead of the late October start, a playoff finish may be on the cards. Kalmikov is a must to return though.

9.Newcastle
Young and willing, or at least that’s what the Vipers hope. It could go very right, it could go very wrong, only time will tell. Effinger and Sibley look good signings, the rest are very unknown and quite young.

10.Dundee
Small forwards, tough guys and solid blueline sum up the Stars. Cartwright, Ceman and Hughes will need to contribute as will freescoring defencemen Makway and Lomanno. A bottom finish looks likely though.