One of the major changes this off season is to do with officials. It was announced just a few weeks ago that the Elite League would go N.H.L. style with two referees per game instead of the usual one. This has caused mix reactions among fans of all teams, some in favour, some not. Me, well I am still on the fence. I think if done right it can be a good thing as the league intends to pair experienced referee’s with inexperienced ones. If it more a work shadowing thing for the inexperienced referee’s then it can be a good thing so long as they do not get too involved in the action. If it just a free for all then we’ll have a lot of men in the penalty box and a lot of angry fans. This is definitely going to be one to watch in the early weeks of the season especially when Nigel Boniface is paired with Mike Hicks . . . expect fireworks.

So that is the referee’s preview I guess you could say and that is the only serious rule change that I know about. Below is a quick look at how the standings finished up at the end of last season:

                      ----------- Regular Season ----------
TEAM                  GP    W    L   OT  PTS   GF   GA  +/-
-----------------------------------------------------------
Coventry Blaze        54   41   11    2   84  217  127  +90
Sheffield Steelers    54   38   14    2   78  190  128  +62
Nottingham Panthers   54   33   18    3   69  172  133  +39
Belfast Giants        54   33   19    2   68  184  150  +34
Newcastle Vipers      54   28   22    4   60  159  174  -15
Cardiff Devils        54   26   25    3   55  164  174  -10
Manchester Phoenix    54   23   28    3   49  162  179  -17
Edinburgh Capitals    54   19   32    3   41  155  208  -53
-----------------------------------------------------------
Basingstoke Bison     54   16   33    5   37  172  224  -52
Hull Stingrays        54   13   34    7   33  119  197  -78
-----------------------------------------------------------

So what about the teams going into this year?

Basingstoke Bison:
Well this team underachieved big time after much hope of making some noise last year. They have made more changes this term and again will look to get back into the playoff qualifiers at least. They have lost one of their star players Steve Thornton to the Giants.

Belfast Giants:
Well this is the biggest overhaul of any Giants side that I can remember. Few old faces are returning and the team is going into a new era so it is really hard to predict what is going to happen. Fans will be hoping for the title and in some cases expecting nothing less, but improvements upon last years 4th place finish are a must in almost everyone’s eyes though looking at the numbers of those new faces they have signed there is no reason not to be very positive about the new term.

Cardiff Devils:
They started strong last year and people where talking about a potential title but they eventually slipped back finishing in 6th place. This year like everyone I suppose they will be looking to move forward. Brad Voth is back as captain and as one of the toughest players in the league and he will be looking to challenge for some silverware.

Coventry Blaze:
Every-one’s hated team, unless of course you are actually from Coventry. Why do they get this tag? Well in most cases it is because they are so efficient and so good. They are the reigning champions and the most successful team of the Elite League era but coming off the back of a disappointing end to last season when they lost the playoffs final against Sheffield. They are the bench mark going into the season yet again and everyone will be looking to take a scalp of them. It is possible but there is no reason to suggest they won’t be there or there abouts through the entire season.

Edinburgh Capitals:
At the time of writing I believe they still have places to fill in their line-up andalthough I haven’t scanned their line-up to closely there isn’t much to inspire me to say they are going to turn things around and suddenly be competitive at the top end of the league. Finances are a big reason why this is of course but they definitely took a step in the right direction when they cracked the top 8 last season and played some post-season hockey (even if it did only last two games!)  It is hard not to like the Capitals though, they have a small but fun little arena and it provides one of the weekends of the season during the Caps/Giants double header in December and nobody out there wouldn’t like to see them up there in the top four competing with the big-boys.

Hull Stingrays:
This year the Stingrays will be taking up the roll of the EIHL’s Slapshot team. Fans have been unhappy with the slick skillful hockey they have been playing in recent years that has only brought them defeats. They haven’t had the talent to play soft hockey and turn it into wins so the fans have had their say and the management have responded in fine fashion. They have signed some skill but a lot of grit and toughness. The Stingrays will be booed often and hated by many after being one of the likeable losers for many years. They never were arena fillers when they went out on the road but if reputations are upheld that could very well change in the coming months. They aim to bully their way to success but there is nothing wrong with that, it is up to everyone else to not let it happen.

Manchester Phoenix:
Tony Hand is back again with Manchester andso you know exactly what kind of hockey you are going to get. They play offensive hockey, fast hockey andthey will punish you if you aren’t on your game as the Giants have found out in the past. They finished 7th last year and obviously will look to improve on it. I haven’t seen everyone they have signed but no doubt Hand will use every resource possible to him to bring them up into a competitive position.

Newcastle Vipers:
Ah the old tough Newcastle have passed that mantle on to Hull as they look to go down a more skilled route. In fairness they started doing that last season and it showed in their play as they improved upon the previous seaosn but of course fell short of their playoff winning season a few years before. The coaching staff is the same and a lot of the core are back again so expect much of the same at the heart of the Vipers. The new players they have brought in will be expected to help make the jump that pushes them back into the silverware hunt.

Nottingham Panthers:
Wage Cap, Wage cap. Couldn’t help it. OK seriously, the Nottingham Panthers. Perennial underachievers (except for the 2006 playoffs), yet again they will go into the season as favourites to win the title in their own fans eyes, but still in everyone else’s a team not to be ruled out. They beat the Giants into 3rd place by a point last season but then went on to crash out of the playoffs before the final-four stage for the first time since I don’t know when at the hands of Cardiff. If I had to stick my neck out though from the signings they have made I would expect them to be one of the teams to beat. Ex-Steeler, ex-Panther, ex-Steeler, Dan Tessier has signed on for them again and will provide a serious scoring threat.

Sheffield Steelers:
Well they will be going into the season on a major high after winning the playoff championship and with coach Dave Matsos back at the helm will be looking to add the league title to that this term. The Steelers had a very interesting season, at one point their owner put the entire staff including players on a months notice because of performances but the ended up improving to finish 2nd and then win the playoffs.

So that is the teams and a little bit about each. I suppose at this stage I should actually stick my neck out and make predictions on how things are going to end up. As I mentioned at the top of the article this isn’t ever easy to do in hockey, it isn’t the Premier League, and it is especially hard in the Elite League but what-the-hell, here we go:

1. Belfast Giants
2. Nottingham Panthers
3. Coventry Blaze
4. Sheffield Steelers
5. Cardiff Devils
6. Newcastle Vipers
7. Hull Stingrays
8. Manchester Phoenix
9. Edinburgh Capitals
10. Basingstoke Bison

Enjoy the 2008-2009 Elite League season everyone. I know I will from afar (but more on that later).

It is the first time the Giants have had an assistant coach that wasn’t also playing, but he will provide a great asset for the Giants and especially Thornton in bouncing ideas and tactics back and forth.

Stewart has previously been assistant coach for the team when he played from 2000 until 2003, often taking practice, running drills and supporting Dave Whistle during the Golden years. He then took up the full-time coaching roll upon Dave Whistle leaving but that tenure only lasted one season when Stewart was let go in controversial circumstances. He never fell out with the Giants organisation and always remained popular amongst Giants fans, who will be glad to see him back with the team.

Who would have though that almost Eight years ago when we all went along to watch this new ‘fad’ for the first time and seen such players as Todd Kelman and Rob Stewart on the ice that one would become a future GM of the team and another the assistant coach.

The majority of the Giants home games come on the weekends with a number of back-to-back home games as well as a few three games in four night runs. There are fewer midweek games than ever and no competitive games in Dundalk this year.

All Friday and Saturday games start at 7:30 p.m. with mid-week games at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday games at 6:00 p.m.

The annual Edinburgh double header will take place on the weekend before Christmas on the 20th and 21st of December, in fact this year it is a triple header with a game against Edinburgh at home the weekend after.

The Giants will finish up the season on 22nd March with a road game in Manchester.

No playoff dates are available as of yet.

George Awada was a player I felt was a must to return. He has been the captain for the past three season, a go-to-player who gets points at important times and the kind of leadership that will keep the spirit of the Giants alive, especially with so many new faces. There is no doubt this is a changing of the guard, a new era of sorts, but there is enough of a core to make the transition smooth. George Awada should, in my opinion, carry on as team captain. It will be his forth year in that roll if he is selected and although he is yet to do what only Paul Kruse could do and captain the Giants to a playoff title, Awada still goes down as one of the best captains we have had.

Malcolm Macmillan is a player I know very little about other than he knows how to get into tripple digits in the penalty minutes count. He isn’t a huge man by enforcers standards but he doesn’t appear to back down from a fight if his fight card is anything to go by. He has been toiling in the minor leagues in North America for years now and with his size he wouldn’t have lasted this long if he could still produce the goods against the big men. Alongside Bobby Robbins the Giants will have more than one player willing to mix it up if the games turn nasty.

Macmillan is 26-years of age so carries youth on his side. His siging brings the total age of the Giants players to 481 years across the 18 man squad. That means an average age of 26.7 years.

I don’t know what the youngest ever Giants team is but I’m willing to bet this is right up there. I will look into it and report back. One thing is for certain — this team is much younger than last years and should carry more speed across the line-up and shouldn’t run out of steam come the nitty-gritty end of the season.

This is two very positive moves to complete a line-up that looks exciting. Unfortunately for the fans, they won’t see them in action for over a month!