Dundee to join the EIHL too???

[DevilDom]

Whilst the Scottish clubs appear to have a good batch of elidgible quality British players, it is suprising how many EIHL Brits have already stepped down to EPL level for next year. Can only hope that there must be some players who are ready to step up from the EPL. Will be interesting to see what announcements the clubs make. :?

As for Dundee, a great addition to the League if it goes ahead. More competition and at very least evens out the number of teams to 10(if Fife don't join). Hopefully this may even make match scheduling and tournament grouping easier...but that's probably wishful thinking. :roll: Lots more double-headers hoped for....but match scheduling didn't appear to be too generous to any team's travel arrangements last season!

Fife arent joining, their owner has already stated he has no desire to join and seems quite comfortable where he is in the Scottish leagues.

It will be interesting to see whether he maintains this view, particularly if Dundee and Braehead turn out to be a success.

Really good news that this seems to be going through and will be excellent to go back to 10 teams again.

 

[Ger-Devils]

Dundee have been confirmed as the 10th team for next season

http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/index.php? ... &Itemid=50

"Dundee Stars have joined the Elite League for 2010/11 meaning ten teams will battle it out in the top flight of UK ice hockey next season.

Dundee’s owners, Charlie and Steve Ward, have teamed-up with Alex Cram, director of Dundee Arena, to form a unique partnership in this joint venture.

The Elite League’s chairman, Eamon Convery, said: “This is a great day for the Elite League and for ice hockey in the UK. We are delighted to welcome Dundee into the Elite League and it proves the sport and the league is going from strength to strength.

“More teams means more people talking about the sport and we have seen over the last few years a huge increase in the sport’s popularity in the UK.

“It’s great there are now three teams in Scotland which means added rivalry. Ice Hockey is very much on the up in the UK at the moment and it’s a very exciting time to be a supporter of one of the now ten Elite League clubs.”

Charlie Ward, one of Dundee’s owners, added: “We are thrilled to be joining the Elite League and are already planning ahead for the new season.

“These are exciting times to be a Dundee ice hockey supporter and we hope our loyal fans will back us as we take the club in this exciting new direction.”

The Dundee Stars join Belfast Giants, Braehead Clan, Coventry Blaze, Cardiff Devils, Edinburgh Capitals, Hull Stingrays, Newcastle Vipers, Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers in the Elite League for the 2010/11 season.

The ten sides will play each other three times home and away, making for a 54-game regular season"

 

[James]

Very pleased for the league as a whole and for scottish hockey this has gone ahead. I don't think 8 teams was as bad as some feared, although we did seem to play Coventry every other week (just as well we had a good record against them last year), but 10 is better. My only vuage concern is as
a Cardiff fan, our club is increasingly on it's own down here in the south. It should make for some great fun double headers for us fans but the extra trips north are going to be a big burden on the club in time and travel expense / hotels. Any further expansion has to be in the south now. Noises in Guildford suggest they may be willing to step up in a year.
Onwards and upwards

 

[Finny]

Fantastic news for Dundee and for the league as a whole. Dundee Arena is a fantastic venue just about the right size for the EIHL, and the Wards have shown in the past that they will put out a competitive team.

As James said, 8 teams wasn't as bad last season as I had feared - though I'm not sure it would have been that way after several seasons. 10 teams for me is the minimum for a league with variety and I hope that both new teams will be successful off and on the ice - leading to more clubs joining.

If Dundee are successful hopefully it will encourage other existing teams to join. Fife would be the obvious example, though it would take their owners to rethink their view on the league.

Guildford do seem to be upping their spending and starting to form a team that wouldn't take massive changes to make it EIHL ready. Rumours are that they will again sign 6 or more imports - with one of them being Verner.

For Braehead to be a success as a brand new team I think it will be 3 years before we can judge them fairly. If it is a success, then the league will have a template and example of how to setup a new team in a small-ish arena and perhaps convince other councils to build of renovate arenas to include an ice pad.

 

[Koop11]

Welcoming news that Dundee have joined top flight British hockey. From a spectators point of view this can only be a good thing with the extension of Elite League fans and for existing fans more teams to see week in week out.

I personally look forward to seeing two news teams in this league and I am very thankful that the Scottish contingent is finally being built in the North as Scotland is arguably the biggest hot bed of ice hockey in this country. Great news for the Caps also. The local rivalries will only increase their revenue and build stability within their club and competitiveness within the league.

I do share the views that there needs to be some consideration for another team from the south so join this league for some balance within its structure. That said, the risk in bringing a Guilford in is that the lower leagues (developmental leagues for British players) will suffer. Any decision should be considered carefully and not rushed. We must be careful here and remember that this sport needs to invest and develop British players otherwise we’re leaning more to a Superleague style league and the British National side will suffer. We all know that system does not work in this country and some teams are still paying the price for the drastic changes that took place.

As a Devils support, I do have a small worry that if we are unsuccessful in the bid to build, and more importantly, run our own rink then there is potential risk of us suffering from a top heavy (geographically) league. This is arguably the most important summer in the clubs history. I understand that final bids are due in sometime during June/July. I’m not sure when the council will announce their decision but let’s hope they look at the bids from all angles and not simply base it on revenue alone.

Welcome to the Elite League Dundee.

 

[DevilDom]

Excellent news. Welcome Dundee.

10 teams this year will add some much needed variety and i'm looking forward to a a few weekend breaks up in Scotland.

Let's hope this will also encourage other teams to make the step up in the future and the league can be expanded further. I beleive that a tie-up with the EPL at a suitable point in the future would complete the UK hockey league jigsaw, however this is obviously some way off.

An extra reason to look forward to the new season though, we just need a couple more signing annoucements to keep the juices flowing.......................

 

[wildthing74]

Wonder where we stand regarding season tickets?If the club want us to cough up for 3 more games then its another £100 or so for my family ticket that I have already paid for.
I would understand the charge but not sure some fans will want to part with more money even though they are getting extra games and would no doubt expect to get refunded if a team pulled out and we lost 3 games.
Hope the club turn this into a good bit of PR and keep prices the same and push this as extra added value in buying a season ticket.This would be the sensible thing to do I think as would help promote season tickets even more.After all the club will still get extra income from 3 more match nights and even if they did not charge extra now,season ticket holders would still be spending on the night at the rink.

 

[DevilDom]

Wonder where we stand regarding season tickets?If the club want us to cough up for 3 more games then its another £100 or so for my family ticket that I have already paid for.
I would understand the charge but not sure some fans will want to part with more money even though they are getting extra games and would no doubt expect to get refunded if a team pulled out and we lost 3 games.
Hope the club turn this into a good bit of PR and keep prices the same and push this as extra added value in buying a season ticket.This would be the sensible thing to do I think as would help promote season tickets even more.After all the club will still get extra income from 3 more match nights and even if they did not charge extra now,season ticket holders would still be spending on the night at the rink.

I believe the season ticket includes 3 challenge cup games. This would probably mean these are converted to non-season ticket games and the prices will remain the same. It would be an administrative nightmare otherwise!

 

[wildthing74]

Thats a good point Dom.Would probably be the easiest way to do it.

 

[ASHIPP]

Welcome to Dundee! Great news for the League and a chance to really showcase Scottish ice hockey and very encouraging news in terms of increased revenue from rivalry clashes between 3 Scottish teams.

Looking to the future, I am also thinking about Cardiff's isolation in the South, especially if potential clubs like MK Lightening or Guildford or Basingstoke stay at EPL level. Will the Devils' organisation eventually face a Giants' type situation with increased travel expense/pressure? :?

Could there even be a North and South Conference eventually with interconference playoffs and cups? :?

 

[DevilDom]

Welcome to Dundee! Great news for the League and a chance to really showcase Scottish ice hockey and very encouraging news in terms of increased revenue from rivalry clashes between 3 Scottish teams.

Looking to the future, I am also thinking about Cardiff's isolation in the South, especially if potential clubs like MK Lightening or Guildford or Basingstoke stay at EPL level. Will the Devils' organisation eventually face a Giants' type situation with increased travel expense/pressure? :?

Could there even be a North and South Conference eventually with interconference playoffs and cups? :?

I certainly hope not, but it would be nice to see some more expansion in the South.

Anyway, I don't think we are really that isolated - its less than 2 hours to Coventry, and only just over 3 to Nottingham and Sheffield.

 

[Finny]

I believe the season ticket includes 3 challenge cup games. This would probably mean these are converted to non-season ticket games and the prices will remain the same. It would be an administrative nightmare otherwise!

I'd agree with that. The best solution would then be to offer a Challenge Cup package at a reduced rate for season ticket holders - perhaps at the same rate that they paid their season tickets at.

However, the Challenge Cup format may now change with the addition of Dundee - and we might only play two home games instead of three.

 

[DevilDom]

I'd agree with that.
.

:shock:

However, the Challenge Cup format may now change with the addition of Dundee - and we might only play two home games instead of three.

Good point

 

[Davestar]

Well we are in!!! Bring on the season! Hope to get down to your rink at some point and look forward to perhaps seeing some of you in DIA.

 

[Ghost Dog]

Yup, it's confirmed! Congrats to any Stars fans on here.

 

[Ger-Devils]

Well we are in!!! Bring on the season! Hope to get down to your rink at some point and look forward to perhaps seeing some of you in DIA.

I'm sure you will. Looking at trips for it at the moment. Worse thing is, the fixtures don't come out until July!

 

[Davestar]

I was wondering that - July sucks! I was hoping about june - The 1st of june lol
Need to start planning the trips away! lol