"Michelle, my belle.
Sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble,
tres bien ensemble."
- The Beatles - "Michelle"Two weeks ago elite hockey today originally broke the story that Michel Robinson had been released by the Capitals. Well, two weeks are up.But Robinson's not going anywhere just yet.The Capitals have announced that Robinson will remain with the team to enable his replacement Pasi Raitanen to make the transition to Edinburgh.Last year it was Sylvain Deschatelets, now Robinson. These French Canadians just don't want to leave!However, it's doubtful that Robinson will repeat Deschatelets' feat. Unless Raitanen or another EIHL stopper gets injured, it's very unlikely that Robinson will remain in the league too long, purely for cost reasons. Given his previous numbers and success in Italy, Robinson was expected to be a top tier goalie in the EIHL. However, the struggling Capitals and injury concerns haven't done him any favours. He's clearly got the talent to be a number one in the league, but sometimes things just don't work out.
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.”
