The Printed Word

Michal Gutwald in the media room after Sunday's game Michal Gutwald ended Sunday’s game with  a man of the match award, stitches above and below his eye, and something else - the respect of the fans and his team-mates. When Fife Flyers’ defenceman squared up to Belfast Giants’ Matt Pelech he probably knew it wasn’t going to end well. It was an instinctive thing to do. It was also the right thing to do. Pelech’s elbow to the back of Paul Crowder’s head was cheap, lazy and crude. The very sort of action that DOPS never tires of reminding players have no place in the modern game - and that they are responsible for their own actions. On the basis of that mantra, supplementary discipline ought to follow as logically as night follows day. The  2+10 penalty called by the officials was largely viewed as inadequate, with most observers going for a clear cut, stonewall five plus game. The Giants’ player will simply swallow any suspension - it comes with the ...

There is a clear line between opinion and abuse. Sport thrives on one, is buckled by the other. The echo chamber that is Twitter is filled with the thunder of outrage after so many hockey games - a sound and fury that is harsh in tone, and, too often,  spiteful in its delivery. One fan recently started a petition to try to remove referee Stefan Hogarth. It has a mighty 38 signatures after a full week online. And, at the weekend,  one fan hurled a foam Chuck-A-Puck over the plexi as the stripeys left the ice at Sheffield after a stormy period of hockey. The petition and the foam puck may be blunt, juvenile weapons, but there is a much bigger issue here which cannot be ignored. At what stage does the sport say enough is enough? Clearly it was a horrible night at the office in Sheffield. Steelers obviously weren’t much better, slumping to a 7-3 home loss to Cardiff Devils. Pretty sure that wasn’t all down to some rubbish calls from the officials eithe...

Joe Grimaldi - now there’s a name from the past. It’s four years since the  helmet throwing, spearing, fighting coda to his EIHL career which resulted in an 18-game ban and his contract with Edinburgh Capitals being torn up. This week he featured on a podcast broadcast by Fourth Line Voice, and listening to him was a bit like hearing a dinosaur roar. It also sparked a Twitter spat with Dave Simms who was angry enough to call him out for his derogatory comments on British hockey, the refs, coaches and fans.  It was difficult not to compare Grimaldi’s narrative with another podcast featuring Matt Nickerson, a player who would have eaten him for breakfast. The former Fife enforcer spoke with humour and warmth and a clear love for the game, even when things all got a bit crazy. There was no joy whatsoever listening to Grimaldi’s tales of life on the road. Littered with obscene language which drained the life out of everystory, he belittled the UK ...

Sheffield Steelers moved back to the top of the Elite League this weekend, but the title race remains wide open as the margins between each team narrow with every passing set of fixtures. Steelers were just one of two teams to enjoy a four-point weekend. They started with a 5-4 OT win over great rivals Nottingham Panthers, and then posted  a fine 8-3 road win at Coventry Blaze. That result knocked Clan into second spot, one point behind Steelers, but with two games in hand. Glasgow Clan, who have made much of the early running, had a one-game weekend and home ice advantage, but still couldn’t cash in, going down 4-2 at home to Guildford Blaze - their second loss of the season at the hands of Paul Dixon’s side. Belfast Giants, another side which has found consistency elusive - and this week shook up the dressing room by releasing two players, and bringing in forward  David Goodwin from Mora IK of Sweden. Coach Adam Keefe clearly saw the moves as crucial...

There is surely nothing more absurd than a play-off play-in game. Well, unless you count a ‘pick your quarter-final opponents’ novelty factor. Only ice hockey could combine them into the same  cup competition and think they’d struck on something unique. The Elite League’s Challenge Cup has been kicked around more often than an empty juice tin rattling around rinkside. Placed next to all the other trophies, it’s the slightly  scuffed one at the end - a bit like that family relative no-one really likes, but no-one has the heart to ask to leave  the party. And so,  we get plain daft ideas bubbling to the surface on how to  breathe new life into its stagnant format - ideas which really ought to be laughed out of the room with a hearty snort of derision.  The play-off play-in is neat title for a truly dumb idea. It rewards failure. The two teams which finished bottom of qualifying groups of just three were handed a lifeline -...

It’s strange how a text message can not only jolt you, but also spark memories from years back . News of the death of Mike Lindley took me back 30 years. In the Heineken era, he and Jan were at the helm of the Supporters Club, and organised travel to away games for thousands of fans. Their Wembley excursions saw a convoy of buses depart the car park whether or not the team had qualified - in fact, in many ways it was more fun if you didn’t have to fret over possible semi-final elimination. Sure it was a different era, travel was cheaper, and time was perhaps in greater supply, but there is no doubt that this rink rocked. The official Supporters Club was packed with weel-kent faces, and then there were the Three Ds, whose road trips have rightly passed into hockey folklore. There are still a few of ‘em around these days too ... Mike was just a young man back then. He was still young when he passed away after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. He...