Earlier this week, elite hockey today discovered that Stephen Murphy was in the dark as to who would start for Team GB in the upcoming Olympic qualifiers - himself, or Stevie Lyle?
Murphy's apparently not the only one who doesn't know.
In an interview with skysports.com, head coach Paul Thompson said that he's not made up his mind yet and will be keeping an eye on the two netminders this weekend.
Lyle only has one game (home vs Hull on Saturday), but Murphy has a more difficult challenge ahead (away vs Nottingham on Saturday, home vs Cardiff on Sunday).
Will the tougher schedule hurt or harm Murphy's chances? Or is Thompson just keeping his cards close to his chest?
“We’ve got a weekend of games to go and anything can happen in that time,” Thompson said.
“I’m not a man who is afraid to make a decision and I’d rather have a hard decision to make than an easy one. They’re both playing well and by having that healthy competition it means we have a better national team.”
Murphy is the only Phoenix player in the squad, but Lyle is one of six Giants.
“I’m delighted with the form of both of them,” Thompson added.
“Goaltending is a crucial part of every team and it helps when you have two guys in competition for that number one spot.”
In the World Championships in April it was Murphy who played the majority of minutes, starting the team’s final three games. Lyle played in the shootout defeat against Poland and was pulled in the third period of the 10-5 loss to Austria.
Both goalies have experience of playing in Europe and Thompson has been impressed by Murphy’s development after he iced in Norway last year.
“When Murphy came back halfway through last year in France (at the Mont Blanc Euro Challenge Tournament), I saw a different netminder,” he said.
“He was playing in the Norwegian league on a poor team and doing really well. With him being back in the Elite League and Manchester and near the top of the table it’s great, just as it is for Lyle at Belfast.”
Thompson’s squad travel to Sanok, a town in south-eastern Poland, to play the host country (Nov 6), Japan (Nov 7) and Romania (Nov 9) in Group D of the pre-qualification tournament.
The group winners will advance to the final qualification round in February 2009.
Full Team GB squad here.
The goalie carousel has grinded to a sudden halt in Edinburgh...
In an interview with skysports.com, Caps player coach Doug Christiansen revealed that Michel Robinson has been given two weeks notice.
The Capitals have replaced Robinson with Finnish goalie Pasi Raitanen, who played in Thursday’s 4-1 win over the Newcastle Vipers.
Edinburgh have used three foreign netminders this season, including backup goalie Jacey Moore.
“Pasi is signed with the club and Michel Robinson has been given his two weeks notice,” Christiansen confirmed.
“Michel will be here for the next two weeks and he and Pasi will be working on the goaltending duties. Moore has been de-activated.”
Raitanen’s performance on Thursday gave the Capitals their first win in October and moved them off the bottom of the Elite League table.
Raitanen, 37, has won two out of three starts for the Capitals this season, including a huge upset in the season opener against Sheffield, and Christiansen believes that his presence will give the struggling Scottish club the boost they need.
“It’s a big lift for us,” Christiansen added.
“Things didn’t go well for Robinson at times and he struggled, but a lot of times we struggled in front of him. It wasn’t just him it was our team defence. Sometimes there isn’t a rhyme or reason, but Pasi’s done well when he’s played and we’re looking forward to going forward with him in net.”
Raitanen has played for a host of teams in Britain and has also spent time this season working with former Edinburgh netminder JF Perras in Coventry.
Christiansen, who added import forward Jeff Hutchins to the Capitals roster this week, said that he was still considering making further changes to the squad.
“Right now we’re going to see how things go,” Christiansen said.
“You don’t want to change everything overnight but there could be a couple more transactions. There are a lot of good players and good characters on this team and we’re feeling better going into this weekend’s games.”
Tony Hand is still the elder statesman of the EIHL, but he's now got more company in the 40-plus club.
After the Newcastle Vipers today confirmed the long-rumoured signing of veteran import Ed Courtenay there's another 40-year old in the league. Courtenay will be teaming up with Vipers player-coach Rob Wilson, who can also be counted in the grey-haired gentleman category.
While the three old timers have all remained productive, often showing younger import players how it's done in the Elite League, there comes a time when they'd like to finally hang 'em up.
And for Wilson, it's arrived.
But due to the Vipers' financial position, he's not going to be leaving his patrol on the blueline at the Metro Radio Arena anytime soon.
Ahead of Thursday's game against the Edinburgh Capitals, Wilson admitted that he'd rather be watching the Vipers from the bench and not the blueline.
“For myself, I’d rather be behind the bench if I was being 100% honest,” Wilson said in an interview with skysports.com.
“But right now our budget is not really allowing us to do that. I just want to try and do the best I can, as I’m a very competitive person. If you want something bad enough you’ll keep chasing it and I like competing. We’re playing well so right now it’s been going ok.”
With Wilson continuing to play because of financial reasons, Courtenay also cited money as a reason for his return to the EIHL.
“I had planned to retire from playing but the Vipers have given me a good offer to come back and I’m really looking forward to getting back on the ice,” Courtenay told the Newcastle Vipers website.
As the old saying goes: “Age ain’t nothin’ but a number.”
And the Vipers' number was good enough for Courtenay's age.elite hockey today can now be accessed via elitehockeytoday.co.uk
With only a week until Team GB travel to Poland for the Pre Olympic Qualification Tournament, head coach Paul Thompson is facing a selection dilemma.
Thompson’s already named his squad for the games against Poland (Nov 6), Japan (Nov 7) and Romania (Nov 9), but he’s yet to name his starting goalie. It comes down to either Belfast's Stevie Lyle or Manchester's Stephen Murphy.
If Thompson has made up his mind, he hasn’t told Murphy yet.
“I’m not sure which way he’s going to go at the moment.” Murphy told the Manchester Phoenix game programme.
“I think it’ll be a tough one for him. For myself, obviously I want to play the games and I’ve played the last three games for the national team going back to the world championships earlier this year.”
Who would you pick?
You can read the entire article in this week's Phoenix game night programme.
The Elite League table doesn't lie.
There is a clear divide between the haves and the have nots.
On one hand there are those with solid financial backing, sponsorship deals and high attendances. And on the other there are the clubs still reeling from the collapse of Zoom airlines, failed agreements and relatively low crowds.
The Basingstoke Bison are clearly in the latter, but at least they won't be heading into the third category, which is reserved for teams not in the Elite League.
After Planet Ice stepped in to save the Herd, Basingstoke player-coach Eric Braff told skysports.com just how desperate things had become for the ailing team in recent days before the takeover.
A statement released on Monday confirmed that Planet Ice have taken control of the Bison, securing the club’s future for at least the remainder of the season.
“Players were coming up three of four times a week asking: “What’s going on – are we even going to make it through the weekend?” Braff told skysports.com.
“The mental side of it takes a toll and having to worry about your pay cheque and getting evicted from your houses is tough because we all had eviction letters.”
Braff, who became player coach following the resignation of Ryan Aldridge earlier this month, knows that there are still a lot of matters to resolve despite the team’s new ownership.
“Planet Ice may have announced that they have taken over, but there’s still going to be a lot of unsettled business for the players and staff,” Braff added.
“It will be an interesting couple of weeks but by mid November we should be a smooth running ship and all of this will be behind us and we can concentrate on playing hockey.”
In addition to the financial worries, Braff’s job has been made even harder following the departure of three key players.
Captain Brad Cruikshank left last week to join the Sheffield Steelers, British forward Mark Richardson has asked to be released from his contract and Canadian defenceman Jason Goulet decided to return home.
Following the initial press release, Braff also confirmed further details regarding the takeover and the position of former owner Tomas Enerston.
“Tomas is now out of the picture completely,” Braff said.
“Planet Ice have taken over and they are here for the year. We’re going to be here for the remainder of the season, which is a huge relief for the players, fans and town of Basingstoke.”
