Simms interview

[moggy#9]

An interesting pre match talk with Simms and Franny. Some interesting points about new entrants to the league and the costs of setting up arena teams. I even found myself agreeing with him on some subjects, particularly on the consistency of officials. I did however think his comments about DOPS were somewhat bitter and twisted.

 

[CDevilsFan666]

Could I ask what his comments on dops were as I wasn’t at the game.

 

[moggy#9]

I can't remember the precise comments, but the gist seemed to be that Steelers recent suspensions were excessive and that DOPS are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. He also seemed to insinuate that the devils get an easier ride from DOPS than the Steelers do.

 

[august04]

Well, he was right about the officials. The current crop ain’t good enough, ship them out and get new import officials in. After seeing Hogarth again tonight, I couldn’t agree more!

 

[moggy#9]

Well, he was right about the officials. The current crop ain’t good enough, ship them out and get new import officials in. After seeing Hogarth again tonight, I couldn’t agree more!

I certainly think that the first period supported that assertion. If you bring in officials though, firstly where do you get them, and secondly how much is it going to cost? A dozen or so top officials are not going to be easy to come by.

 

[august04]

I certainly think that the first period supported that assertion. If you bring in officials though, firstly where do you get them, and secondly how much is it going to cost? A dozen or so top officials are not going to be easy to come by.

Well the league is cutting the import level by 1 I think next year. If each team pooled the money saved, that could recruit a few imported officials.

 

[pjj365]

I can't remember the precise comments, but the gist seemed to be that Steelers recent suspensions were excessive and that DOPS are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. He also seemed to insinuate that the devils get an easier ride from DOPS than the Steelers do.[/QUOTE
I will rarely defend Simmsey but to put the Devils benefiting into context
He jokingly tried to pass part of a question off to the Head of the Welsh branch of DOPS.His friend Todd who was in the room

 

[CaldicotDevil]

I certainly think that the first period supported that assertion. If you bring in officials though, firstly where do you get them, and secondly how much is it going to cost? A dozen or so top officials are not going to be easy to come by.

Surely we can strike some kind of deal with the bigger leagues to help develop officials. For example young ex hockey player wants to become an AHL officials. Does all the training in NA and then had 3/4 months of reffing in the EIHL to gain experience before going back to NA to ref at a higher standard.

 

[moggy#9]

Surely we can strike some kind of deal with the bigger leagues to help develop officials. For example young ex hockey player wants to become an AHL officials. Does all the training in NA and then had 3/4 months of reffing in the EIHL to gain experience before going back to NA to ref at a higher standard.

I like your thinking, but I wonder how it would work with the slightly different rule sets and approach to the game. I think that a partnership with perhaps the DEL or SHL would be interesting.

 

[Imp]

Could I ask what his comments on dops were as I wasn’t at the game.

Two specific references:

1. “Punch vs Crosscheck” re: Steelers at Flames
2. Do you really believe the Storm vs Steelers incident warranted ELEVEN GAMES of suspensions?

In both cases, I felt it was a very particular way of viewing what happened. There’s an argument there, but not sure it holds a great deal of water in either case.

The larger part of his DOPS comments was more about the nature of the process and the imposition of external (European) values, where the EIHL itself is quite different ... because it’s a “bums on seats” league. Where Euro leagues play to half empty rooms, financed by TV and sponsorship money (results driven), EIHL relies heavily on the audience filling the arenas, so is and must be allowed to remain, more on-ice entertainment driven. Benching players on principle hurts the product.

Agree or disagree, he presents an argument that makes sense from a specific point of view.

 

[Kevin roog]

He also joked “there’s the head of dops over there with his new haircut “ pointing at Todd Kelman . And Todd said to let the interview carry on after the doors were open because it was entertaining. I think it went on til 6.20 ish

 

[kettdevil1]

Two specific references:

1. “Punch vs Crosscheck” re: Steelers at Flames
2. Do you really believe the Storm vs Steelers incident warranted ELEVEN GAMES of suspensions?

In both cases, I felt it was a very particular way of viewing what happened. There’s an argument there, but not sure it holds a great deal of water in either case.

The larger part of his DOPS comments was more about the nature of the process and the imposition of external (European) values, where the EIHL itself is quite different ... because it’s a “bums on seats” league. Where Euro leagues play to half empty rooms, financed by TV and sponsorship money (results driven), EIHL relies heavily on the audience filling the arenas, so is and must be allowed to remain, more on-ice entertainment driven. Benching players on principle hurts the product.

Agree or disagree, he presents an argument that makes sense from a specific point of view.

If the first one was the Vallerand incident then I struggled to disagree with DOPS on that one but I did think the Gagnon incident was dealt with in a very heavy handed manner. For sure it warranted suspensions but 11 games seems excessive.

I actually have a lot of sympathy with the latter part of the post but I can see the dichotomy.... the CHL games were magnificent but that was mostly due to the pace and skill level..... week in, week out, Coventry (plucking a team out of the air) are not going to be Frolunda-esque in their approach and so the result, where CHL officiating meets a slower paced game, is a more sterile form of hockey that feels less interesting than it has before. The balance of course is that there is a general trend away from fighting and general Gongshow mentality and whilst it is important that the EIHL reflects this.... my feeling is that it has gone too far the other way.

Aside from the CHL I would argue our best performance has been Nottingham away, the Panthers supporters confirmed that was the best they have played, yet we won comfortably. It should have been one to get the pulses racing but in reality it felt mildly diverting. Hopefully the all-action game from last night is a portent of things to come....

 

[Temme]

On the subject of EIHL, officials and over the pond,

Ex Capital Kyle Flemington: https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/37714/kyle-flemington iced his first game in the NHL a couple of weeks back, albeit as a linesman!

 

[moggy#9]

On the subject of EIHL, officials and over the pond,

Ex Capital Kyle Flemington: https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/37714/kyle-flemington iced his first game in the NHL a couple of weeks back, albeit as a linesman!

It's an interesting point. I think that much of the criticism of the current generation of officials stems from them not having played at a high level. I seem to recall moray Hanson and Mike Rowe making excellent refs simply because they knew the game from the other side, so to speak.

 

[bb1]

I posted this on the other thread but maybe it's more relevant on this one!




What I really want to know is who govern and makes all the big decisions in this league???

Simmse apparently pointed at Kelman the other night re DOPs and ppl may think that is tongue in cheek but knowing Simms and his care free attitude he may have a bit of a point as to how influential Todd and other GMs are.

I have no doubt that the GMs and owners have some if not all the influence on decisions on the league and the way it's ran and Todd always seems to be the spokesperson when there is a change.

If this is the case then surely the owners and GMs must take responsibility as to why officiating is poor and why the league is losing its physical edge and appeal to the masses. If they are trying to make it more family friendly by trying to stamp out fighting and physical play then im certain this will have huge consequences in years to come and not for the better.

We must not forget than ice hockey in the UK is a niche market and compared to football and rugby it's fan base is tiny. I'm all for inclusiveness and making it available to families etc...but to change its IDENTITY for this.....it's crazy esp for a business point of view. Yes North America have been the cog in the wheel of the change with the instigator rule etc...but they have millions that follow ice hockey not just 30-50k in the U.K. (At a guess). Its their national sport in Canada etc....in the U.K.....WE DON'T have the luxury of it being our no1 sport. There are many other sports in the UK people can drop ice hockey for and follow, in fact we are spoilt for choice.

I'm not saying here we need to see the revival ofenforcers everywhere btw. Our owners have openly said how they love old school hockey...If hockey in the U.K. became less and less physical and more like the REC leagues (for arguments sake) how long would they want to stay in Cardiff and run a team? If rugby became touch rugby in years to come would it have the same attraction.....NO.

I know I may be sounding a little OTT here but week in week out fan bases league wide are complaining about the officiating. Our own fan base has given Lordo a hard time with our lack of physical play....I for one openly admit I thought it was all his doing as he never complained about officiating in any interview until yesterday. He openly said how every hit seems to get penalised and he didn't know what to do!!!.....That's a problem when someone who rarely says a bad word about league officials comes out with this! This frustration he showed is aimed directly at the league and at this rate it will slowly choke the game here unless it's dealt with.

If it is the case that the GMs and owners are influential in how the game is going then I really hope they take a minute to think of the negative impact it could have a few years down the line.

Just my 2p worth.