Todd Kelman - EIHL better than the Superleague

[smbmetal]

https://youtu.be/dDNlIWUAEqI

Scrub to about 34 mins in “EIHL is better than the Superleague ever was”

I’ll have some of what he’s drinking. Sheffield’s ISL grand slam side would wipe the floor with any of the best of the EIHL.

He also mentions in this forum that Sheffield can’t have the playoffs cause there’s nowhere to stay near the arena.

What time is it Kelman? 5 past Cardiff on Saturday.

[paul johnston]

Is he talking about the league as a whole or individual team comparisons? If the latter, then he's talking a big dollop and been smoking something iffy.

No team in this current league would get within touching distance of the Steelers grand slam winning team.

[smbmetal]

I’d say the league as a whole justifying it by the game is faster and has more fans etc.

No way would any side in the EIHL beat any of the ISL sides from 1998 to 2002.

London Knights, Manchester Storm, Nottingham Panthers, Bracknell Bees and Cardiff Devils would beat any EIHL side. Only Newcastle & Ayr might struggle a bit against the very best in the EIHL.

Players like Frank Pietrangelo was probably one of the best goalies ever to grace these shores. Jimmy Paek an outstanding defender, PC Drouin with one the best one timers I’ve seen along with Beraldo. 17,000 fans was it at the MEN which was a European attendance record back then.

Then there was some proper toughness as well. Imagine McNally coming up against players like Mike Ware and Barry Nieckar.

[Nathan]

I never saw the Super League but if the EIHL is better as this chap is suggesting, based on what I've seen this season, the Super League must have been garbage.

[mark]

Is he talking about the league as a whole or individual team comparisons? If the latter, then he's talking a big dollop and been smoking something iffy.

No team in this current league would get within touching distance of the Steelers grand slam winning team.

I would add the Kleinendorst coached Manchester Storm team to that list especially.

[mark]

I’d say the league as a whole justifying it by the game is faster and has more fans etc.

No way would any side in the EIHL beat any of the ISL sides from 1998 to 2002.

London Knights, Manchester Storm, Nottingham Panthers, Bracknell Bees and Cardiff Devils would beat any EIHL side. Only Newcastle & Ayr might struggle a bit against the very best in the EIHL.

Players like Frank Pietrangelo was probably one of the best goalies ever to grace these shores. Jimmy Paek an outstanding defender, PC Drouin with one the best one timers I’ve seen along with Beraldo. 17,000 fans was it at the MEN which was a European attendance record back then.

Then there was some proper toughness as well. Imagine McNally coming up against players like Mike Ware and Barry Nieckar.

The ISL often recruited players with very recent NHL or other high level experience, we are a step or two down from that at this time simply because we cannot compete on wages with the likes of the top euro leagues. Off ice I'd say we are miles better now except for a poorer TV deal and less mainstream media coverage.

[DiscoRay]

That video was 3 and a half years ago.

[smbmetal]

That video was 3 and a half years ago.

It is indeed. May I politely ask what your point is with it being 3 and a half years old?

Could it be that the comments are no longer valid perhaps due to its age? The EIHL is now even better/worse than it was 3 and half years ago?

There’s still nowhere stay near the arena in Sheffield so we can’t host the playoff weekend?

[DiscoRay]

It is indeed. May I politely ask what your point is with it being 3 and a half years old?

Could it be that the comments are no longer valid perhaps due to its age? The EIHL is now even better/worse than it was 3 and half years ago?

There’s still nowhere stay near the arena in Sheffield so we can’t host the playoff weekend?

It's a bit of a delayed reaction, yeah and minus the context in the OP it was from that long ago. Also seen too many people quote a tweet/video/article without checking the date of it, thinking it was current.

I suspect the whole board have a different view now to how the standard of the league is, it's unquestionably dropped as things try to normalise again post lockdown.

Any cop-out reason in not using Nottingham for PO Weekend is always brought out. EIHL isn't going to shop around for another place until an equivalent/better venue matches the current venue hire cost of £0 for a set number of years, or Nottingham arena start to charge them the regular commercial hire rates.

[smbmetal]

It is indeed. May I politely ask what your point is with it being 3 and a half years old?

Could it be that the comments are no longer valid perhaps due to its age? The EIHL is now even better/worse than it was 3 and half years ago?

There’s still nowhere stay near the arena in Sheffield so we can’t host the playoff weekend?

It's a bit of a delayed reaction, yeah and minus the context in the OP it was from that long ago. Also seen too many people quote a tweet/video/article without checking the date of it, thinking it was current.

I suspect the whole board have a different view now to how the standard of the league is, it's unquestionably dropped as things try to normalise again post lockdown.

Any cop-out reason in not using Nottingham for PO Weekend is always brought out. EIHL isn't going to shop around for another place until an equivalent/better venue matches the current venue hire cost of £0 for a set number of years, or Nottingham arena start to charge them the regular commercial hire rates.

Thank you for your well justified answer

Thing is, I still reckon Kelman thinks the EIHL is still better than the ISL was. I would agree that the league is much better run behind the scenes now than the ISL was despite an average TV deal and sponsor. But no way is or was at any point in the EIHL history near the skill level of the old ISL even when he compared it 3 years ago. That’s the point I was trying to make.

I also agree that the Playoffs are unlikely to move from Nottingham, but do not accept his reasoning that there’s no where near to stay near the Sheffield arena. Just be honest and say it’s not commercially viable.

Slightly off topic I do worry for the long term future of the Sheffield arena, a lot of bands that tour regularly and have played regularly at the arena over the years appear to be playing in Leeds arena instead. Dismissed from hosting the Eurovision. When was the last time the arena held an internationally recognised event?