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Firefox1001
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Nice piece here previewing the season - https://hoggingthece.wordpress.com/2026 ... n-preview/ from Hogging The Ice.
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Doom
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It's certainly a very well written and well thought out article.
I can't say I share the authors enthusiasm though.
On paper I see us having the worst netminding duo of the big 4. Brine maybe one for the future, but we're talking about the hear and now and expectation has to be 90% max for him.
Defensively I like the look of the team and feel excited to see what Steele can do.
The forwards look to have plenty of creativity, but someone has to be on the end of the chances created. Apart from Balmas, I'm not sure where the goals will come from. Hopefully a few players will produce beyond expectation.
I'm also concerned with the age of the forwards. Too many past their best and on the downward slope.
I am looking forward to watching what Teissala can do this season. He's the new forward who excites me most based on the description from Fox. He doesn't have the speed of Juusola, but sounds like he's highly skilled and hopefully will score some highlight reel goals. Also has a very good +/- in Finland, so I'd assume he plays a strong two way game.
I really hope that the Author is right and I'm wrong, because that would mean a very good season, but I've got us down for 3rd.
Regards
Doom
I can't say I share the authors enthusiasm though.
On paper I see us having the worst netminding duo of the big 4. Brine maybe one for the future, but we're talking about the hear and now and expectation has to be 90% max for him.
Defensively I like the look of the team and feel excited to see what Steele can do.
The forwards look to have plenty of creativity, but someone has to be on the end of the chances created. Apart from Balmas, I'm not sure where the goals will come from. Hopefully a few players will produce beyond expectation.
I'm also concerned with the age of the forwards. Too many past their best and on the downward slope.
I am looking forward to watching what Teissala can do this season. He's the new forward who excites me most based on the description from Fox. He doesn't have the speed of Juusola, but sounds like he's highly skilled and hopefully will score some highlight reel goals. Also has a very good +/- in Finland, so I'd assume he plays a strong two way game.
I really hope that the Author is right and I'm wrong, because that would mean a very good season, but I've got us down for 3rd.
Regards
Doom
Last edited by Doom on Sat Aug 22, 2026 7:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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ginger
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Good summary and basically pretty close to my thoughts. I'm less confident on predicting trophies, but only due to there being a number of teams on paper who look like trophy challengers. But the point about addressing the issues seen last season is spot on.
I still don't see forwards who are on a downward spiral - can maybe argue that with Collins but he's also clearly signed in a bottom 6 role.
The top 6 looks likely to be Balmas, Rockwood, Archambault, Gettinger, Teissala and then 1 of Juusola or Jasper (my view is Juusola). Assuming it is Juusola, then 4 are under 30, one is 30, and one is 34 (but scored at roughly a PPG in Slovakia last year for part of the season). Again, age doesn't look like a problem.
There's some tougher reads there in terms of points translation with Teissala and Gettinger but the other 4 all have stats that suggests quality in higher end EIHL teams (with 2 proven quality in the league including the league MVP).
The only question for me is potentially lacking the obvious sniper to help Balmas, but Juusola has put up 20 before, so having Teissala down to do so is not out of the question and Gettinger has a CV which could easily translate to 20+
It's a question mark for sure, but there's nothing to suggest we've signed a top 6 that looks past it's best
I still don't see forwards who are on a downward spiral - can maybe argue that with Collins but he's also clearly signed in a bottom 6 role.
The top 6 looks likely to be Balmas, Rockwood, Archambault, Gettinger, Teissala and then 1 of Juusola or Jasper (my view is Juusola). Assuming it is Juusola, then 4 are under 30, one is 30, and one is 34 (but scored at roughly a PPG in Slovakia last year for part of the season). Again, age doesn't look like a problem.
There's some tougher reads there in terms of points translation with Teissala and Gettinger but the other 4 all have stats that suggests quality in higher end EIHL teams (with 2 proven quality in the league including the league MVP).
The only question for me is potentially lacking the obvious sniper to help Balmas, but Juusola has put up 20 before, so having Teissala down to do so is not out of the question and Gettinger has a CV which could easily translate to 20+
It's a question mark for sure, but there's nothing to suggest we've signed a top 6 that looks past it's best
This is my concern too - I feel like we're missing one (ideally two) high quality goalscorers.Doom wrote: The forwards look to have plenty of creativity, but someone has to be on the end of the chances created. Apart from Balmas, I'm not sure where the goals will come from. Hopefully a few players will produce beyond expectation.
I usually find that players that aren't historically out-and-out goalscorers usually perform well against lower table teams, but can struggle against league challenging opposition.
At the end of the season, this can result in stats that might look decent (for instance 25 goals), but this doesn't really capture whether goals are padded out by playing lower quality teams.
This pre-seaon reminds me a little of the 18/19 pre-season (although not as drastic as the Rupert brothers left us in a difficult position), but I remember a lot of *hoping* that players who weren't known goalscorers were suddenly going to come to the EIHL and score against high quality teams, despite only scoring a handful of goals in other (albeit better) leagues.
But then again, this is the beauty of armchair coaching, and nobody will truly know until the season starts - in Fox we trust!
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paul johnston
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I'm with Doom on many thoughts
Concerns.
-Netminding weaker.
-Have we enough goals/finishers
-endurance
-have we enough grit/physicality
-going with no change/or additions to coaches, systems/plans all be the same/predictable
-coaching adaptability or lack of
Concerns.
-Netminding weaker.
-Have we enough goals/finishers
-endurance
-have we enough grit/physicality
-going with no change/or additions to coaches, systems/plans all be the same/predictable
-coaching adaptability or lack of