So, what’s on my mind currently….
Well, the Phoenix launched the jersey collection for the forthcoming season. As usual, this was a very well attended event, with many of the usual suspects present and correct. The jerseys themselves were the normal collection of League/Cup/Warm up styles, and seemed to go down relatively well. As is almost always the case, some folks couldn’t wait to get online and criticise the designs. ‘Too busy’, ‘Ugly’, and ‘Awful’ sprang up (again, from a bunch of the usual suspects). Certainly, the club has a tendency to jersey designs which incorporate more detail than most, but to call them ‘awful is a tad harsh. And of course, if the club produced a collection of ‘traditional’ plain jerseys there would be the inevitable complaints about them being ‘boring’ and ‘dull’, so from the clubs perspective I guess it is a no-win situation. From my perspective, I reckon we will see a lot of the League Home and Cup Away jerseys around the rink. For myself, I will be (finances permitting) be purchasing the Cup Away. Always liked Black/Purple as a colour combo. (there are no photos of the jerseys on here, as I didn’t take any, and I am not about to ‘borrow’ the official ones as some Facebook pages did).
And we got a couple of player announcements too. Joe Graham has returned, much to the disgust of a small but vocal section of the fanbase. Yes, he isn’t the most skilled playe ron the ice, but he fills the role he is asked to. Not every player can be a ‘star’, and Joe will likely be the first to admit he isn’t. More excitingly was the confirmation that Shaun Thompson has joined the club from Bracknell. Possibly one of the worst kept secrets of the summer, his signing was supposed to remain secret for 2 day further after the launch… however, the official twitter feed let the cat out of the bag, and mean’t the embargo was lifted. D’oh!
Other snippets from the launch: Tony Hand confirmed this is his final season as an active player. British Ice Hockey will never be the same onc ehe hangs up the skates for the final time (hopefully after winning the Play off Final, eh?). Neil morris announced that due to ongoing finacial pressures, the shirt launch was to be the final ever free event, and the club will be asking for donations at all future events, with a £3 figure mooted. Needless to say, some folks have already said they will attend events, but not donate. Great support there, folks.
Other bits:
Telford finally confirmed the signing of long time Cardiff Devils EIHL player Max Birbraer. Now, recently Telford have tried to claim that they only have the 4th ot 5th highest budget in the league.
Bullshit.
Max won’t come cheap, stepping down from the EIHL. And given some of the other name son the roster down in Telford, there is no fucking chance they are spending less than us, Guildford of Basingstoke. Anyone who believes that bullshit is either deluding themselves, or has a serious problem. Telford may not wish to admit it, but they are spending big money. But you know what? Fuck em. If they want to persist with this charade, then it will be far sweeter when we beat them. I don’t care if this attitude pisses off some Telford (or Manchester) fans. British Ice Hockey is far too full of bullshit merchants, and after over a decade of pretty deep involvement, I have grown weary of it.
See y’all at the War of The Roses game!