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    Great stuff BSF.

    We've gone through the north east saga on other threads - I was an occasional spectator during the Vipers' death rattle stint at Whitley Bay - but in short I can't see the north east being represented at EIHL level again for a very long time, if at all. As you suggest the Arena in Newcastle isn't going to give over 30 or so weekend slots to ice hockey, it is too well used for other, more lucrative events. As much as I loved going to Whitley Bay it is ancient, isolated and (as you suggest about other places) it isn't the standard people have come to expect for family entertainment. That leaves the only route being a new purpose built facility but that has been raised and dashed previously (at Gateshead for example).

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      Bergevin successfully runs Subban, Galchenyuk and now Pacioretty out of town.

      Nine more and he'll match Heracles.

      I expect Pacioretty to thrive playing with Stasny in Vegas.

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        Freesports is turning into the dream hockey channel for UK fans. Live KHL tonight was a decent match after a slow start (Slovan Bratislava vs Dynamo Moscow). Tomorrow evening is the SHL, then Saturday has the Bruins game in China at 7.30am and EIHL action Cardiff vs MK Lightning.

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          The Canucks maybe bad, but the Senators are worser. How dysfunctional do you have be to trade away the only player anyone will pay money to see?

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            Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
            The Canucks maybe bad, but the Senators are worser. How dysfunctional do you have be to trade away the only player anyone will pay money to see?
            They're in a rebuild period.

            They got buttons for Karlsson but their idea will be to tank for the next couple of years, pick up a couple of really early first round draft picks (maybe even a first overall) and try to build with some young guys. Anybody who comes through who is already in their farm system will be a bonus.

            They could have got more for Karlsson but they were always going to trade him. Right now the Sens need to lose games.

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              Their collapse has been so sudden though, it's only two seasons ago they were a single game away from a Stanley Cup final. It seems more like full-on demolition than a rebuild, though obviously that's how they'll try to sell it

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                I seem to remember a team that was one game away from the actual Cup . . .

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                  You're right, my error

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                    A piece in today's Observer about Ice Hockey in the UK. Pretty shallow stuff, to be honest, but there are grains of interest in it https://www.theguardian.com/global/2...ish-ice-hockey

                    (I baulked somewhat at the sentence "The Steelers are owned by Tony Smith, a Sheffield-born businessman who more than a few people consider to be the saviour of championship ice hockey in the UK." knowing from people here that many other people have different feelings about him... )

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                      Originally posted by ad hoc View Post
                      A piece in today's Observer about Ice Hockey in the UK. Pretty shallow stuff, to be honest, but there are grains of interest in it https://www.theguardian.com/global/2...ish-ice-hockey

                      (I baulked somewhat at the sentence "The Steelers are owned by Tony Smith, a Sheffield-born businessman who more than a few people consider to be the saviour of championship ice hockey in the UK." knowing from people here that many other people have different feelings about him... )
                      Dear god. That sentence has to have been written by Two Point Tony himself.

                      It was a horrific article. Almost nothing of any substance about UK hockey. It did nothing to improve awareness of the EIHL, or even the NIHL, for non-hockey people.

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                        https://twitter.com/petesohlhockey/status/1043940660594839557?s=21

                        https://twitter.com/petesohlhockey/s...594839557?s=21

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                          My home town team Csikszereda have put aside some years of mediocrity (and specifically terrible starts to the season recently) to go out of the blocks on fire this season, and have won their first 8 games in the Erste Liga (one of them, actually the season opener, was in overtime so they don't get 3 points for it, but even so. Plus an average of 6 goals per game. Unfortunately through being away I haven;t yet been able to go along, and this coming weekend when there are another 2 home games will be the same too, but sooner or later I hope to go and see this goal fest (they've conceded a fair number too)

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                            For those who have not noticed, and there's no good reason to, the Islanders are more or less splitting their home games between Brooklyn and the renovated Nassau Coliseum.

                            Which makes NO sense.

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                              It does when you realise that the Witness Protection Program turned them down

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                                I thought they had a plan to build on an old racetrack.

                                Maybe they should just move to Quebec.

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                                  They've had lots of plans . . .

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                                    Seattle presents it's proposal for a franchise to the NHL today. Probably a gimme.

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                                      Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                                      They've had lots of plans . . .
                                      The Belmont thing seems to be happening, though there are questions about the LIRR, parking, and other parts of the overall development project.

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                                        All of which are key to its success

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                                          Sure. But it looks like it’s going to be built, regardless.

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                                            And Barclays demonstrates what happens when you do that.

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                                              Originally posted by jefe View Post
                                              For those who have not noticed, and there's no good reason to, the Islanders are more or less splitting their home games between Brooklyn and the renovated Nassau Coliseum.

                                              Which makes NO sense.
                                              Playing half their games at Barclays makes no sense, a renovated Nassau absolutely does. Barclays is a lemon.

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                                                Presumably they have some kind of contractual obligation to do so and/or make more money per game at Barclays because of the luxury suites and what not.

                                                I think the Islanders could do really well if they had a good place to play and were a well-run organization. That's been too much to ask for decades, but maybe it will change. I suspect that if the Belmont thing falls through, the team will be sold again and they will move. There might be another billionaire-led, publicly subsidized, rink/development boondoggle to be had on Long Island, but they've tried a lot of them and at some point the already built buildings in Quebec or Kansas City are a better option.

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                                                  Barclays claims to lose money on every Islanders home game and has been lobbying for them to play fewer games there going forward. This is the last year of the current lease, which gives the arena more than a little bit of leverage.

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                                                    Prokhorov and Ratner also operate the Nassau Coliseum, so it actually works for them and the team if they go to Long Island more often.

                                                    Belmont has to be the Isles's last chance. They're owned by competent billionaires, not Wang. It seems like a pretty decent place to put a team. They have a decent young roster and the defending Cup-winning coach. If they can't garner support and put the team on solid foundations then it'll never happen.

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