Watched the Prague v Dynamo Moscow game yesterday, as expected far less physical than north american or dare i say British game but high skill level due to the extra time players get on the puck. Very wierd watching Chara of Boston in a Prague jersey and NHL superstar Ovechkin of Washington in a Dynamo one. Comedy moment was the US commentators (Barry Melrose for any hockey fans) talking about the massive travel times in the league (which is actually split into east and west conferences). "when you think, heres a team in Prague and another right over by Japan you realise how vast the USSR really is".


NHL lockout is at a stalemate appartantly, there having discusions but only on minor issues, probably what loo roll goes in the locker room. Those in the know reckon its most likely to end at the end of the year, largely because the showcase Winter Classic outdoor game on Jan 1st (i think, it usually is then) is a huge thing for the league. The 1st two weeks of the season were due to start now and are officially cancelled. The league calculate the loss to them and the players to be $140 million for the fortnight.

France v. Wales on BBC2 yesterday. Helps fill the off-season gap.

Talking of ice hockey whatever happend to the London Racers?

They folded part way through the 2004/5 season citing the rink at Lee Valley being too dangerous and the owners not willing to carry out suitable repairs. A player had got bad facial injurys on the boards. Many believe this was a front and the real reason was there wasnt anough bums on seats (lets not go there) due to location and pretty naff rink for pro ice hockey. Putting a pro team in London aint easy. You go from a few hundred seat rinks like Ally Pally and Lee Valley too the too big like O2 Arena. The inbetween would be the Handball arena at Stratford holding a couple thousand but thats been given to a friggin basketball team. Still a glimmer of hope at the Excell Centre appartently.

Not to mention the Lea Valley Lions.
Was a regular attender a few moons ago.
Though in Essex cant say ive ever seen the teams at Romford or Chelmsford.
I assume they are still going,

I used to watch the Knights fairly regularly for two or three seasons around the turn of the century. A friend, who would now be aged around 80 were he still alive, had watched the game since the early post-war era and reckoned this was the best standard of league hockey ever played in this country, but as you say almost all the players were imports. I'm sure there was at least one team with no British players in a squad of 18-20. I remember counting up all the British players in the entire roster for the league and it averaged less than two per club.

In fact that standard was probably briefly surpassed around 2004 when there was an NHL lock-out and some of the first line NHL players came over to play. I remember seeing London Racers v Coventry at Lea Valley. (Knights had folded by then after the London Arena closed down.) Racers had an enormous goon called Jeremy Cornish (an NHL forward) whose role was essentially to pick a fight with the best opposition player as soon as possible after the face off, get them both sin-binned, then the other bloke would be too scared to play properly for the rest of the match. I've never seen such unashamed thuggery in any sport.

I watched Streatham Redskins regularly during the early 90's until they folded in 1994. Then again when they reformed almost a decade later. I lost interest around five years ago though, and haven't seen a game since. If people think RL is badly run then ice hockey is far more amateurish. Whole leagues disband or amalgamate with new ones forming to take their place, clubs routinely fold then reform, matches often face off up to half an hour late. An increasingly dilapidated rink at Streatham, unpredictable finish times, erratic late Sunday evening bus service and waiting in the freezing cold on Streatham High Road in the middle of winter all took their toll, along with a drop in the standard of the Streatham team. I keep intending to take in a game at their temporary home at Brixton Recreation Centre but haven't managed it yet. At least they're due to move back to a modern rink in Streatham eventually, on the old bus garage site adjacent to the previous rink.

These days it's just football for me during the winter months, principally Dulwich Hamlet in the Isthmian (Ryman) League Division 1 South.

I went to Maidstone vs Dulwich the other week, very enjoyable, your lot were dreadful. That said, from what I've seen, I expect Maidstone to walk the League.

Tidy little ground at Maidstone now, they've got potential to push up the leagues you'd think.

Agreed. Getting decent crowds too, usually in the top 10 of the whole of non league football when we are at home. Should break 2000 soon I hope.

Very good, my team (Dagenham) struggle for that number in L2!

That was our worst performance for almost three years. I felt embarrassed watching it. Seven days earlier we'd convincingly defeated Folkestone who were unbeaten and top of the table, yet for some reason our manager made wholesale team changes for Maidstone and it backfired spectacularly. We've since won three on the spin and I expect us to make the top five (play offs) with something to spare.

The league table is pretty tight after ten games or so, but Maidstone seem to be on a bit of a roll now after losing two of their first three. They ought to win that division with the crowds (and revenue) they're pulling in, as well as corporate facilities for midweek hire and a 3G pitch that can be repeatedly hired out without wear and tear being a problem. I believe they budgeted for average crowds of 800-900 and so far they're exceeding that by around 50%. (Dulwich are the next biggest club in the division with an average of 350.) You don't need Gutterfax to do the sums here!

I enjoyed the day out apart from the result (Rifle Volunteers before the match, Flower Pot afterwards) although I suspect Hamlet won't be visiting many more times as Maidstone inevitably progress up the leagues. I remember us playing them in an FA Trophy match at the old London Road greyhound stadium thirty years ago, which was fairly abysmal for watching football, so the Stones are very fortunate to get a modern purpose built football ground so close to the town centre after two decades in exile, and crowds are already as high as when they last played in the town three divisions higher. Only problem is that the ground already looks a bit too small for them. 1,989 was the attendance for Maidstone v Dulwich, with about 100 away supporters. That's the eighth level of English football, and a larger crowd than some of Broncos' Superleague fixtures this year.