Well, who would have thought it! This time last year with all the bickering and unrest in the Elite League, resulting in the departure of Manchester and Basingstoke, that it has expanded! By two teams, in fact.

Some six months ago Sheffield Steelers’ owner Bob Phillips complained the wage cap wasn’t being enforced and had contributed to their poor form. Now, as we all know, the Steelers crises has deepened with the GM and head coach walking out and Phillips putting the team up for sale. Meanwhile, of course, what was the Scimitars have had their own share of problems.

Then in April Nottingham Panthers’ owner Neil Black said he could see a 14-team league in three years, including a Manchester return plus Dublin but no teams south of Coventry, with the exception of possibly London. ‘We have no interest in a team like Guildford,’ he added. Hmmm.

It should be remembered the Elite League described itself as being formed to improve home-grown talent and if you look at the recent successes of the national team then there is certainly a case to be argued, but is that a beneficial by-product rather than a planned policy because it has also claimed it is not really there for the benefit of developing the sport in the UK or British players so much as playing a high level of hockey on British soil.

Double, hmmm. A bit contradictory, so what is going on? And as far as the EPL goes, does it have any repercussions? Could be because the Elite League has also increased it limit on imported players to eleven, and twelve for the smaller teams, which obviously makes it easier for teams to reduce the number of British players on their books and does nothing to improve the standard of British players as a whole. And, as Black pointed out, the ‘EPL are paying good money to tempt players to drop down.’ Does this mean, then, that although the Elite League has always manned the GB team, the EPL might be about to encroach on that domain as it picks up more ex-EIHL players? Well, look no further than Aaron Nell, who achieved a peripheral selection this year, a first for an EPL player, to see this might be coming. And although he played some games for Coventry in the EIHL, and is not ‘ex-EIHL‘, he was first and foremost an EPL player and opened that door. What I am getting at is, the door is ajar now so will former EIHL players wedge it open?

A further indication this door may be opening comes from several comments so far this summer, albeit controversial ones I am sure, to the effect the Elite League might well be more technical than the EPL, but also, um, boring! One former EIHL player ex- Vipers and now a Phoenix Dean Holland, for example, said: ‘It doesn’t bother me playing in the EPL, the hockey is just as good.’

But back to imports, and don’t get me wrong, we need foreign players they are an important part of developing the sport in the UK, but not necessarily at the current level in the EIHL never mind an increase. And even with the increase it may be ‘elite’ in name but it will still not be on a level with the top European leagues, so is the claim it plays a ‘high level of hockey on British soil’ actually justified? More importantly, will any British league ever reach that elite European standard? If that is doubtful, is this not just a cloaked attempt to have a foreign league on British soil with token British representation? So while the EPL might well pick up the odd future GB place or two, if the top level Brit is being squeezed out, what of the GB team then?

It would be nice to think that any expansion, if maintainable, has to be good for the sport in general if for no other reasons than it indicates increased popularity, financial investment, more players employed, and hopefully and most importantly more development in youth programmes. But I just wonder if this where this is all really heading long term?

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As the year races on and the new season draws ever nearer, the Wildcats ended June with eleven players so far on the roster, including three imports. But first signing of the month was young British forward Loris Taylor, back for a second spell and who will be still just 17 when the season starts. Coach Ryan Aldridge told the local press. ‘His skill, shots & skating are second to none for his age.’ Pretty impressive stuff so I asked the coach if he could expand on that a bit and he told me, ‘Loris's future lies in his own hands. He has all the tools to take him to the next step. At his age its all about priorities, commitment, hunger and effort, He is getting to the level where he will have to fight for his spot every night and attitude and hunger can take people further than skill level alone.’

Days later the Wildcats signed another British forward and returnee, Jamie Hayes, who iced for the Wildcats two years ago and was recently released by Elite League Cardiff Devils where he had played for a year. Hayes has represented Great Britain in both the Under-18 and Under-20 World Championships, and as Coach Aldridge pointed out: ‘With a year of Elite hockey under his belt, his skill level and maturity continues to improve. He is the perfect power forward for this league.’ Hayes, still only 20, is a native of Cardiff from where the already signed and a tad older Jason Stone hails from. Why, I asked Coach Aldridge, did Stone leave his hometown club after over a decade and a record breaking number of appearances? He told me: ‘Jason has played with the Devils for years, and I think he wanted a change and to try the EPL for a few years. There can be a lot of reasons why older players want to drop down to our league. I am just happy he chose to come to us.’ And why not, two dollops of EIHL experience will not go wasted.

Then came two announcements within twenty-four hours. First, Slovakian power forward Jozef Liska joined as the second imported player of whom Coach Aldridge says his style will be 'perfect' for team he is building. Then came Estonian forward Toivo Suursooo who was playing in Russia when he was drafted by the NHL Detroit Redwings some years ago but has since played in several European countries, most recently in Sweden.

I was curious if Coach Aldridge considered either or both these players as a replacement for Aaron Nell, now on his way to EIHL Coventry. His response was both candid and enlightening. ‘There is no replacement for Aaron,’ he told me. ‘He was the best Brit in the league last year and there is not a Brit in our league that can shoot the puck like him. I also don’t think I can replace him with an import! There is no point looking to replace him as a replacement is not out there.’ High praise indeed for the departed Nell and I doubt few would disagree.

In that case, I wondered, where does the coach stand on imports? Again, his forthrightness was quite revealing. ‘If anything I have looked at replacing the imports with guys that are a little more hungry, team orientated, and I hope will put more numbers up. I should be able to look at my imports to change a game for me not a 20 year old Brit.’ 

Quite moving words, I felt, and put me in need of a minute’s reverence silence.

It’s always nice to end on a pleasant note if you can, so when in the final days of the month news came that backup netminder Glen Jackson, a product of the Romford Raiders’ junior programme and who stepped in to replace Oli Lansdowne and who has played backup to Carl Ambler, rejoined the ENL Romford side, I felt it a good move which would give him more ice time.

But then fate stepped in, as it does, and almost in the dying hours of the month it was announced former Wildcats' captain and stalwart D-man Wayne Fiddes, who lost nearly a season through injury two years ago, was on his way to the ENL Oxford Stars, followed by forward Gareth Endicott. Endicott had a spell as coach with ex-EPL Wightlink Raiders a while ago and wants to develop that side of his game so will become assistant to Oxford’s former Wildcats’ coach Ken Forshee as well as taking to the ice.

‘Fidds’, ‘Aza’ and Ryan Aldridge have deep roots in Swindon so there must have been a touch of poignancy in the discussions and decisions that led to this split. As the coach himself said: ‘They are both great lads and great friends of mine. I have played with Aza since we were eight and Fiddes since about ten and it was a great pleasure to play with them again.’

But time marches on and Ryan Aldridge has a team to build, and people to see, and time is money, and all that, so best let him wrap up this month’s review while I go and dab that tear from my eye. ‘I would like to thank Aza and Fidds for their time here. Aza took a tough injury last year and I think he found it a little hard to bounce back. Fiddes also did a huge job for us stepping back into the line up from his time off. There are reasons with both parties why they will not be returning to the Cats this year, but I wish them the very best of luck and I am sure they will make a huge impact for the Stars.’

Amen to that.

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