Uncertain.
For those of you who are aware of its history, but British Ice Hockey, as a very small minority sport, has a wonderful ability to be a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because you meet the most wonderful, dedicated people, and share a camaraderie that you just do not find in any other sport.
However, it is also a curse. We are forever doomed to follow a minority sport that loses out to Rugby and Cricket, and is totally swamped by Football. Though there are those in the media who share our passion for the game and are doing the best they can. Though I fear that they are lonely voices trying to shout over the torrent that is Football.
Also, British Ice Hockey manages to careen from glorious highlight, to crashing crisis with frightening regularity and a degree of frequency that would tire lesser mortals. But for us Hockey fans, this is nothing! Bring on the pain! We relish it! (Mostly)
So, way back in the early 2000's, we had the death of Ice Hockey Superleague in the UK. An arena based league, with unrestrained budgets, then later, un-policed budget caps that led to financial hardship for many teams. Ayr was forced out of its building and relocated to Glasgow, but never got the numbers to work. Manchester Storm, playing out of the MEN Arena, once Ogdens was sold to SMG and SMG decided to cut them loose, it was always going to be a monumental fight for the Storm to pay for the squad, as well as rent for the building, and astronomical running costs from playing out of the arena. In its last year, the ISL finished with 6 teams.
So, after a re-writing of the rules to work in some financial constraint, the Elite League was born, with a re-launched Manchester team as part of it.
The EIHL started out pretty well, but the arena teams where still very reliant on imports to keep the standard of Hockey up, and finances still proved to be somewhat difficult to control.
After several years, rumours abound of teams breaking the wage cap. This came to something of a head in the 2008/2009 season, when Basingstoke announced they will drop to the EPL for the next season, financial hardships where striking Edinburgh, making life difficult for Newcastle and Hull, and Neil Morris was wondering if he could keep funding the Phoenix at this level.
The next round of rumours where that the top 4 teams where, yet again, way over the wage cap. A rumour only accelerated when "a member" of the Panthers organisation voiced his disdain for the wage cap, and would basically ignore it. The previous season had seen the 4 major clubs take something of a penalty, by limiting themselves to 10 imports whilst the rest could go up to 11. However, this proved to be pretty much useless as a method for parity as the same 4 teams ran away with the league again.
So, rounds of meetings, with the smaller teams, with the bigger teams, without either party, etc. Eventually, something of a deal was agreed for the running of the EIHL in the 2009/2010 season. Unfortunately, Neil Morris said that he would decide to accept this once he had heard the reaction from the club owners who had not been party to the negotiations.
Obviously, their reaction to tougher cap controls, etc, was not what Neil wanted to hear, and so he pulled the Phoenix out, and we have since found a new home in the English Premier League.
So, the Phoenix and the Bison move leagues, leaving 8 teams in the EIHL. Belfast, Sheffield, Nottingham, Coventry, Newcastle, Hull, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.
Only that deijavu strikes again! Edinburgh has announced that they need to secure further funding in order to really survive, and Newcastle needs the switch from the convenient but expensive Newcastle Arena to the cheaper, but far less convenient Whitley Bay Arena, in order to pay their bills.
It makes it look decidedly shaky about those 2 teams making it to the end of the season. Also, Hull, it is rumoured, is supported by understanding owners as well as being backed by Neil Black, the owner of the Panthers. Though this has not been proven. Given his personal success, and his desire to keep the EIHL going in its current format, I would not be surprised! Also, this rumour has been circulating for a long time and has simply refused to die.
However, if Edinburgh and Newcastle fold or walk, leaving 6 teams, will Hull stay? It is unlikely. They will end up as league whipping boys and I dont think they would welcome that!
So, if the EIHL is drawing to a close, what will it be replaced with?
This is a tough one. The easiest option would be a new league, and seeing if they could entice some of the top EPL clubs to join them, such as Manchester. However, there is a history of bad blood between the top EIHL teams, and the EPL.
Also, Manchester and Basingstoke have found a comfy home in the EPL, and until Manchester has a more secure footing, and its new building, looks unlikely the Phoenix will be moving any time soon!
Another problem of course, is what about Edinburgh? Since they are in Scotland, they are not under the EPL's jurisdiction.
What I would like to see is something that has been mooted. A new BPL. Take the EPL, and expand it. Absorb in Hull, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and make it nation-wide. We could also pull in Fife, who have voiced a desire to be playing at a higher level than the SNL can allow. It would also be possible to bring in Dundee, but not so sure how that would go down for the teams in the south of England!
If we also brought in a couple more teams, we could split the league into 2 conferences of 8 teams. So, 2 games away and home in your conference, and 1 against the other conference. Split it north and south, and it allows for a great opportunity for an NHL style playoff system for the end of season trophy.
But what about Nottingham, Sheffield, Belfast and Coventry? Well, if they are willing to buckle down, and put themselves under the EPL, and its rules, maybe including a wage cap that would be independently monitored to prevent breaches, then maybe we can let them in. Sheffield are mooted to be maybe moving to a new smaller rink in Rotheram, and Coventry's size does make it likely they could in theory benefit from the lower cost base in the EPL. Belfast and Nottingham are something else. Both are genuine arena teams. Difficult to fit them in to the small-rink based EPL!
Ah well. At the moment, the EPL seems a little more stable, so we may be ok. So, er, good luck to the rest! I dont want you to fold for the sake of your fans, but are we seeing the final death of arena hockey in the UK?
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