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Same, I find it so sad how far Manchester ice hockey has fallen with no ambition of ever really recovering.

To be fair I think the Phoenix have some great ambitions. They've set up what appears from the outside to be a reasonably stable and self-sustaining organisation, they've invested heavily in a youth and ENL programme which means they can bring through their own products and they have a solid commercial team putting on events, half a dozen kits, etc etc

 

It's a shame they're not playing at the top level - but with the turmoil, debt and madness that goes on in places like Cardiff and Sheffield I would rather stay out of it until the club is ready - and with ~3000 a game that's not going to be any time soon!

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Do they get 3k a game?

 

Haven't been for a long time (have been twice to the Dome, both playoff QF defeats (and IIRC both to Cardiff)) but thinking of popping along again in the next few weeks.

 

The Storm folding and the Phoenix mothballing coincided with me going far more often to watch Latics (I'd go with my dad to the ice hockey every week but Latics perhaps once or twice a season) and I've struggled to sustain more than a fleeting check of the website to see how they're getting on since they restarted.

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Well it could be a good year as they were beaten by Guildford (second) the other day and then won the next day against them in a home and home series - Guildford have also had a rocketing start!

 

Attendance wise I was way off : http://www.hockeyarenas.net/index.php?page=4000&ctID=gb&show=10000&tmID=717

 

Also I learnt in looking for that stat that Hand has a whopping 587 points in 349 games!

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Well it could be a good year as they were beaten by Guildford (second) the other day and then won the next day against them in a home and home series - Guildford have also had a rocketing start!

 

Attendance wise I was way off : http://www.hockeyarenas.net/index.php?page=4000&ctID=gb&show=10000&tmID=717

 

Also I learnt in looking for that stat that Hand has a whopping 587 points in 349 games!

 

The rink at Alty holds about 2,000 I think. Whenever me and Ack have been it has been about half full. Except for the night they won the league. It was pretty much a sell out and it was ace.

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To be fair I think the Phoenix have some great ambitions. They've set up what appears from the outside to be a reasonably stable and self-sustaining organisation, they've invested heavily in a youth and ENL programme which means they can bring through their own products and they have a solid commercial team putting on events, half a dozen kits, etc etc

 

Thats what it appears to be. I'm on a hiatus from Altrincham as I've got sick of quite a few things there. I was at the playoff win in April and it felt so underwhelming for me personally. I remember having a conversation with a fellow Phoenix fan years before they dropped down where we argued Guildford shouldn't be in the EPL and only dropped down as its an easy option that allows them to win regularly and be big fish in the league. Thats the route we have gone down. It does make sense financially, but Mancunian Ice Hockey has so much potential which is not being realised for various reasons.

 

Crowds tend to be 1000 or so.

Edited by joncurtis199
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It's a shame they're not playing at the top level - but with the turmoil, debt and madness that goes on in places like Cardiff and Sheffield I would rather stay out of it until the club is ready - and with ~3000 a game that's not going to be any time soon!

 

Say what you want, the EPL has historially got more teams dropping out per year than the EIHL has :tongue1: Those teams are just doing what Phoenix did and decided to jump ship to a lower lever where they could pay less and be competitive and win rather than be the whipping boys at the bottom. Invicta, Chelmsford and Romford have all done it. Teams have even passed up promotion due to not wanting to the same reason. The whole sport here is a mess and nobody is pulling in the same direction.

 

(Can't you tell its a touchy subject? haha)

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Went to Phoenix a lot in the last few years, and as the only other British hockey i have ever watched was a few Storm games when i was 9-10 years old i had no frame of reference for what a game should be like live so the standard didn't bother me too much, although i felt that the game experience got steadily worse and worse. After watching NHL and CHL last season i couldn't face going back this season. They'v gotton off to a brilliant start but i have no interest in watching my team winning 12-0 week in week out. I can't think of anything more boring. At least if we were losing by a goal or just winning by a goal it would give us something to talk about, make me feel something about the result. Phoenix are too big for the EPL and too small for the upper half of the EIHL. I'l go back at some point this season i suppose. I always like going away to Sheffield.

Edited by BJBlue
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It's looking like Gonchar has hit the age barrier at last, he's been poor so far, some awful mistakes. In fact the amount of unforced errors the Stars defence are committing is criminal, and it's the older vets rather than the young inexperienced guys. It's a good job we've got good prospects on the verge of stepping up. Happily it looks as though Ray Whitney is once again sticking two fingers up at his early 40s and playing like he always has.

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Just getting into NHL this season. Always been a fan but have struggled finding it regular on tele somewhere. The last I saw it regular was when I would come in pissed up from a student night out and the game would be on in the early morning on Channel 5. After going America early this year and seeing it regularly on the tele while there it's given me the hunger back to watch regular again and i've now signed up to Premier Sports and seen it fairly regular since the beginning of the season. Not got a team yet (don't know whether to remain neutral or not) but i'm geussing off this thread don't go for the Devils? ha Not figured out who the supposed good players are yet but i'm hoping that will evenutally come with watching it over the course of the season! I'm geussing Patrick Kane at the Blackhawks is one of the main guys from what i have seen so far? Saw what i thought was a class goal the other night too, a guy for San Jose against the Rangers i think? He flicked it back between his legs in the process of skating past the keeper diagonally the hit it up past the keepers far side. It looked good anyway!

 

Yeah, that goal was Hertl, he looks a real prospect. Sidney Crosby at Pittsburgh is widely acknowledged as the best player in the world.

 

When I was first getting into it, I found myself following the Vancouver Canucks, and ended up visiting a blog covering the team which helped me understand more and more about the game, and they're a fun bunch of people there as well.

 

Beware choosing a Western Conference team though, it could mean 3am starts for a lot of games!

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Yeah, that goal was Hertl, he looks a real prospect. Sidney Crosby at Pittsburgh is widely acknowledged as the best player in the world.

 

When I was first getting into it, I found myself following the Vancouver Canucks, and ended up visiting a blog covering the team which helped me understand more and more about the game, and they're a fun bunch of people there as well.

 

Beware choosing a Western Conference team though, it could mean 3am starts for a lot of games!

 

Right, Crosby, that's another i'll keep an eye out for. Once i have a handle on a few i'm hoping i'll pick more up as i go.

 

Thanks for the blog tip too!

 

Good shout, for now i'm happy just watching whatever game is on at the time i tune into Prem sports.

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Right, Crosby, that's another i'll keep an eye out for. Once i have a handle on a few i'm hoping i'll pick more up as i go.

 

Thanks for the blog tip too!

 

Good shout, for now i'm happy just watching whatever game is on at the time i tune into Prem sports.

 

Yeah, Crosby is the main man. Watch the Pens a lot as they have Malkin too, and he's pretty damn good. But Crosby, when fit, is just head and shoulders above the lot of them.

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If Sid can stay fit he'll break tonnes of records this season.

 

Congrats Devs.

Cheers - nothing better than coming off a :censored: start to smash the Rangers!

 

Also, I learnt just this weekend that;

1. Gretzky, as a teen, had to move to Toronto to get away from the abusive parents of other kids who thought he should be banned for being too good!

2. In his final season as a peewee he score 387 goals and pick up 110 assists in just 76 games! That's over 5 a game!

 

Just putting the Sid love-in where it belongs!

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Cheers - nothing better than coming off a :censored: start to smash the Rangers!

 

Also, I learnt just this weekend that;

1. Gretzky, as a teen, had to move to Toronto to get away from the abusive parents of other kids who thought he should be banned for being too good!

2. In his final season as a peewee he score 387 goals and pick up 110 assists in just 76 games! That's over 5 a game!

 

Just putting the Sid love-in where it belongs!

 

 

Yep. Wayne Gretzky was dead good when he was a kid. Which means you shouldn't give Sidney Crosby deserving praise.

 

Sidney Crosby moved to Minnesota when he was 15 for similar reasons.

Edited by dave_ragg1984
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Yep. Wayne Gretzky was dead good when he was a kid. Which means you shouldn't give Sidney Crosby deserving praise.

 

Sidney Crosby moved to Minnesota when he was 15 for similar reasons.

He's a class act - I'm just biased!

 

Think my NHL app must be broken this morning, it says both us and the Red Wings lost 1-0. Does anyone know the real scores?

Nope

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Anybody here still go to Phoenix (or whatever they're called now) games? I used to go often and had a shirt when they played at the MEN but only been once in the past 5 or so years.

 

Why was there such a demise and what league are they in now?

 

I used to go all the time but have yet to bother this season They play in the English Premier League which is the second tier of hockey in Britain. They overspent, went bust and reformed. Then decided that it would be better to win in a lower league than lose in the top tier so moved down.

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I used to go all the time but have yet to bother this season They play in the English Premier League which is the second tier of hockey in Britain. They overspent, went bust and reformed. Then decided that it would be better to win in a lower league than lose in the top tier so moved down.

The thing is they weren't losing every week and that gets lost on some of the Phoenix fans. They weren't challenging for trophies every season either, but its not as if they were getting romped week in week out. Thats the difference now, you expect Phoenix to challenge for trophies. Having to drop down to a league with the likes of Swindon and Bracknell cheapens the league and playoff win for me.

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