Coventry Blaze

Paul Wheeler of The Breakaway British Hockey Blog previews the 2009/10 season for the Blaze

After a season considered disappointing by many in the West Midlands last season, Blaze coach Paul Thompson has dispensed with many of his imports and put together a roster that is clearly designed to excite the demanding Skydome crowd this season, although I’m not sure “demanding” is a strong enough word for a fan-base that can consider finishing second in the Elite League a “disappointment”, but that’s just the way things are in Coventry-every team is, to some degree, a victim of their predecessors’ success.

Let’s take a look at the players hoping to win over the Coventry public this season, and assess their chances…

NETMINDERS

This, more than any other position in the team, is the area which will be most under the fans’ scrutiny…many have argued that JF Perras, while a very good goalie on his day, was perhaps affected by the glare of expectation placed on him last season-the Skydome crowd have been spoiled for goalies in their time in Coventry, with the likes of Lehman and Koenig earning legend status and the slightly-less-fortunate Ian Burt, Henrik Sjodin and Perras himself perhaps suffering under the pressure of the Skydome spotlight.

This season, however, the Blaze will have another potential gem between the pipes-I’ve never been so excited about a Blaze goalie, ever. Danish international goalie Peter Hirsch joins from Aalborg BK after first coming to Thompson’s notice with some stellar performances against the Blaze in the Continental Cup-after financial wrangling stopped him coming in as a mid-season replacement for Perras last season, he takes his place on Skydome ice this season with the pedigree to be the best goalie in the league-certainly among the top three. Judging by the Breakaway’s interview with him back in May, soon after his signing (which you can read here: http://throughtheplexi.blogspot.com/2009/05/tuesdays-with-peter-in-conversation.html) he also has the fire in his belly that distinguishes the great goalies from the merely good in the EIHL…)

Backing him up is young North-Easterner Thomas Murdy, who is considered one of the brightest teenage prospects in Britain after already impressing in the ENL for Whitley Bay despite his tender age.

DEFENCE

The Blaze defence was questioned time and again by their home crowd last season, and is sporting a brand-new look this time out, with only silky-smooth Jon Weaver (expected to provide the main offensive punch) and calm, steady stay-at-home Swede and crowd favourite Matty Soderstrom remaining from last year. That’s not a bad pairing to start with, but many fans felt the defence lacked a genuine big-bodied, crease-clearing defensive rock…

Enter ex-London Racer, Newcastle Viper and Sheffield Steeler Jason Robinson. The Canadian has had the gift of making any defensive unit he joins seem instantly stronger, and his signing could be one of the most crucial of the off-season for the Blaze. His love of physical play is well known to British crowds, and he seems the perfect foil to Weaver, especially as the two spent time on the ice together at Newcastle.

Most likely pairing with Soderstrom is big American Brian Lee-the Michigan-born blueliner will be expected to contribute at both ends of the ice after scoring 34 points for Stockton Thunder in the ECHL before moving to France last season, and use his 6′2, 210lb frame as effectively as possible while he’s doing it. Tom Watkins rounds out the defence as he comes back for yet another season-a season which he’ll share with his younger brother Jack. More on him later.

FORWARDS

We all know about the one-two punch of Calder and Carlson, but aside from them the Blaze forward unit, too, has a significantly different look to that of last year, although many of the “new” Blaze faces will already be familiar to the Skydome crowds. Greg Owen and Greg Chambers join from Briancon in France and Basingstoke Bison respectively, while silent assassin Luke Fulghum comes in from Manchester, the irritant-par-excellence Derek Campbell comes to play in front of possibly one of his most hostile opposition crowds (we really didn’t like him at the Skydome in a Vipers shirt), and Russ Cowley, Joe Henry and Danny Stewart return, as well as Tom Ledgard stepping up from the ENL side.

Perhaps the most interesting signings from a long-term point of view, though, are two youngsters-Aaron Nell from Swindon Wildcats on a two-way and Jack Watkins from Whitley Bay. Both are big, powerful young men who are still in their teens-Jack Watkins in particular looks to be becoming a monster, given that he’s already 6′0 and 190lbs despite only being 16 years old-while the nineteen-year-old Nell is three inches taller and ten pounds heavier. Expect Joe Henry to quickly become the odd-man-out compared to these two unless he seriously ups his game…up until now, the first product of the Blaze youth system has made the tenth forward spot his own, but with Tom Ledgard also snapping at his heels for a third-line spot alongside these two, competition for ice-time will be dog-eat-dog for the Brit forwards, with only Cowley and, if he plays there, Tom Watkins assured of a regular shift. Four into one simply doesn’t go…

PREDICTION

Well, the Blaze certainly look strong-but then, this has become something of a trademark of Coventry rosters. With the EIHL becoming far stronger across the board this season (you only have to look at the Cloutier revolution in Hull or the strides being made in Edinburgh, never mind the run-and-gun, offense-first posturing of Belfast, the calm confidence of tried-and-tested formulae in Sheffield, before you think that everyone is much closer together than they’ve been for a while-and that’s before you consider the mix of skill and grit in Cardiff or the clear determination to finally win it all in Nottingham. I honestly think that, depending on just how good other teams are, Blaze could finish anywhere from first to fourth. However, if Peter Hirsch lives up to his pedigree, they will be very, very hard to get a result against-the mix of scoring bark and physical bite seems, at first glance, very good indeed. On paper.

Unfortunately, as we all know, the game is played on ice. And so we can only wait and see.

Although-if pushed, I shall say this:

Silverware coming to the Skydome this season? It’s a definite possibility-I haven’t been this optimistic about a team since 04/05. And that wasn’t a bad season, all told…

I really hate this bit…it’s genuinely too close to call. If I’m picking, though…

Coventry
Nottingham
Belfast
Cardiff
Sheffield
Hull
Edinburgh
Newcastle.

I do predict that there will be no more than 20 points between first and eighth, though…