Those that seen the game - that is both sets of fans - were extremely critical of the referee who botched a number of calls including one where a Edinburgh powerplay goal was ruled out when the referee realised he had given the Caps a two man advantage when it should have been a 5-on-4 powerplay.

It’s easy to be very critical of some referee’s at the Elite League level who sometimes seem a little out of their depth, but then the same could be said for some players. Of course fans have a right to vent their fury towards the referee after coughing up their hard earned money. It’s always worth remembering though that the EIHL hasn’t got a back log of people wanting to referee in it’s league and without some of these guys you mightn’t have a league. It’s unfortunate there isn’t more refereeing talent in which to be critical of, but that’s the league we’re in.

The title isn’t officially gone for the Giants yet but they are going to need Coventry to fall apart soon. Coventry haven’t taken massive advantage of the Giants defeats in the run-in to the title and the same could be said for the Giants, but while the gap isn’t too huge there is always a chance.

And if now? Well, there’s always the playoffs.

“We’re backing him 100 per cent until we find out otherwise,” said Kelman, who had yet to speak directly to McMorrow as of Sunday afternoon.

“He’s innocent until proven guilty in my eyes, and until I hear differently then I’ll back Sean. I know him well enough to know he’s an outstanding guy and has been great for us in the community.

“He’s been an outstanding individual and a great part of the team. I’m sure it’s been a shock to him as well, it came out of nowhere from our end.”

— Todd Kelman talking to Sky Sports

I’m glad to hear this and I hope McMorrow is able to clear his name sooner than later and get back to playing though at this late stage in the season, who knows if he’ll make it back in time for the playoffs or not?

Whether McMorrow has flown back to the States already or whether he is in communication with his lawyer from Northern Ireland is not known though Kelman did seem to hit that McMorrow was talking to his lawyer from Belfast.

NEW FORMAT REVEALED FOR 2010/11 ELITE LEAGUE SEASON
An exciting new format for the 2010/11 Elite League season has been revealed with changes to both the league and play-offs.

The Braehead Clan have just been announced as the latest side to enter the Elite League, and they will join Belfast Giants, Cardiff Devils, Coventry Blaze, Edinburgh Capitals, Hull Stingrays, Newcastle Vipers, Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers in a nine-team league.

Each side will play three home and three away against the other teams in the league for a 48-game season. The Elite League campaign will begin on the weekend of 4th/5th September 2010 and end on 12th/13th March 2011.

The top six teams will qualify for the 2010/11 play-offs and will face each other in the round robin format. This will see the sides finishing first, second and third having the incentive of playing three home games and two away, with teams in fourth, fifth and six playing two homes games and three away. Matches will take place between the 14th and 27th March.

The top four will meet in the traditional play-off finals weekend on 2nd and 3rd April 2011, with the two semi-finals on the Saturday and the play-off final taking place on the Sunday.

Elite League chairman, Eamon Convery, said: “We are very excited by the new format for the 2010/11 season. The addition of Braehead is great for the sport and I am sure supporters will be thrilled with the changes we’ve made.

“Play-offs are always one of the most important and exciting times in the season and this new longer format is sure to excite every hockey fan. There’s now added emphasis on the league season with nine teams battling it out for six spots and then jostling for position in the top three, to claim that all important extra home game.”

A further press release will be issued in due course with regards to the 20-20 HockeyFest and the Challenge Cup.

I like it. Especially the playoff format though to be fair it couldn’t have gotten much worse than the format for the past few years were you could effectively win the playoffs without winning a game (tie you two leg qualifier game and go through in a shootout, tie your semi-final and win in a shootout and do the same in the final!). Hopefully the Giants finish better in the standings though than the last time it was a nine team league when they came 6th - their worst ever league finish, though granted in their first ever year.

Sean McMorrow is accused of nasty, untrue allegations - number one priority is to clear my family name - I am shocked and very upset about this…thanks to everyone for their support and patience for me to clear my name of this

No word as of yet from the Belfast Giants though I would assume they will stand beside him while he is still innocent until proven guilty. When or if we seen McMorrow again I would assume will come down to how quickly this process runs.

I wish him well and hope he does indeed clear his name. It just seems so strange that allegations from over five years ago have suddenly come out now.