Season Preview: Coventry Blaze
August 31st, 2007This summer may already feel like winter but it’s not quite hockey time yet. However, with the season only a few weeks one week away and without knowing how much blogging time I will have I guess it’s about time to look into the season and preview each of the teams with as much knowledge as I actually have of them anyway! Next up it’s the Chavs Blaze:
THE VIEW
What to expect:
Coventry has been super successful since making the jump to the Elite League. Probably the most successful team over the past lot of years they won the grand-slam in 04-05, had a sloppy year in 05-06 but bounced back to win the title yet again last season. Coached by Paul Thompson they are a team that make few mistakes and at home are almost unbeatable, at least for the Giants anyway; our record against them is far from pretty. In the past few years thanks to Theo’s year in Belfast the Blaze have become arguably the biggest rival of the Giants and an 8-0 defeat by the Blaze late last year still hurts the Giants fans. There’s little doubt the Blaze will be contenders this year.
Key Player:
Curtis Huppe: He definitely left under a cloud in Belfast but there is no doubting he is one of the most natural finishers in British Hockey. His goals will be clutch for the Blaze and he will be expected to put away 30+ goals over the course of the season. The Giants fans will hope those goals won’t come against their team but you can imagine it’ll be the games in Belfast that he’ll be most motivated for.
Odds for the Gambler:
2 to 1: To frustrate the Giants fans at least once this season in the Odyssey.
5 to 1: For Curtis Huppe to score a hat-trick against us.
1 to 1: For the Giants/Blaze rivalry between the fans to continue to grow.
If they were and NHL team they would be the:
New Jersey Devils - They always find a way to grind out the wins and are so hard to break down.
A Prediction that means nothing: 3rd
STATS AND FACTS
Previous 3 seasons:
04-05: 1st in Elite League with 33 wins and 6 defeats.
05-06: 4th in Elite League with 23 wins and 12 defeats.
06-07: 1st in Elite League with 36 wins and 15 defeats.
06-07 vs Giants (W-L-T): 4-2-0
In 30 games against the Giants in their history the Blaze have won 15, lost 7, tied 6 and 2 have been settled in OT. They have scored 103 goals and let in 81.
ON THE WEB
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