✍️ Wednesday View: Those left behind
What now for the four beaten quarter finalists?
All eyes are on this weekend in Nottingham and the four teams left standing as the play-offs reach an exciting crescendo.
However, the four beaten teams at the weekend began Monday morning with the awful realisation that their season is over and the summer has begun, maybe a little prematurely.
Now they, along with Manchester Storm and Fife Flyers, who didn’t even finish in the top eight, can only watch from the outside as the final quartet get to party with 10 sets of fans at the Motorpoint Arena.
Those teams who fell short on Sunday can start to plan ahead, knowing the line on the season has been drawn, but how much of a disappointment is not being involved in Nottingham for them?
We’ll start with the team who arguably came the closest - Glasgow Clan and there’s a feeling around the club that it’s not the end, it’s just the beginning.
There’s no doubt the capture of Corey Neilson as head coach was about a long-term plan and already, the Purple Army have started to see the impact of his work.
It wouldn’t have been hard to improve on what was a terrible year under Jason Morgan and while the start was slow, once they found their rhythm, they were hard to beat.
The overtime loss to Sheffield Steelers would have stung at the time, but once the fog had cleared, there’s much feel better about.
An unprecedented fourth elimination from the play-offs through overtime is hard to take, but the foundation has been set for the Clan to kick on next season. Will continuity be their most important signing this summer?
Guildford Flames are another team who can maybe look at this week as an opportunity missed after losing a first leg lead to Nottingham Panthers.
In a way, it summed up the Flames’ season which yielded their sixth place finish in the standings. It was a fixture where the home team usually came out on top so it proved to be.
The men from Surrey can say it’s been an okay campaign, but will definitely want to kick on. Question is whether Paul Dixon will make widespread changes in order to achieve that, or stick with plenty of the players who have served him well.
Coventry Blaze started the season brilliantly and while they can take the positives from the season as a whole, there could be a feeling they maybe didn’t take their chances against Cardiff.
A first season under a brand new coach in Kevin Moore after replacing the long-serving Danny Stewart was always going to be tricky, but to finish in the top half was quite the achievement.
Like the Clan, Blaze have set the foundation for next season and if they can keep high scoring forwards Chase Gresock and Nick Seitz, that would be a strong start in building for next season.
Blaze showed they can upset some of the so-called big boys so some solid signings could give them what they need as they look up the table for next year.
Which just leaves Dundee Stars, who secured their play-off berth on the final day and would have spent the week hoping Belfast Giants had partied themselves hard going into their last eight meeting.
It wasn’t to be as Giants moved into the final four, while Stars could only wonder at what might have been on their eighth appearance in the quarter finals out of 13.
Next season could be interesting for the Stars. Assuming coach Marc LeFebvre stays on, how does he build on what is usually the minimum requirement for Dundee?
There are some terrific individual players in the Stars’ line-up so do they build on that or do they rip up the book and start again? Dundee are a hard one to read, but whether or not LeFebvre stays could be key in looking ahead to what will be for next year.
🙏 NEW ERA AT FIFE?
Good news stories have certainly been hard to come by in Fife this season so when the club made a statement declaring a deal was on the verge of being done in a takeover by an unnamed group, the long-suffering fans rejoiced.
So, when Fife Free Press’ Allan Crow broke the story that a new company had been set up and registered with Companies House, it’s brought the finish line that little bit closer on a saga that needs to end soon.
Rumours are flying around about who is involved, with former Cardiff Devils hero Max Birbraer reportedly among them, but it seems like it could be a matter of time before those individuals are revealed and their plans going forward.
Let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later and Flyers fans can start to look ahead to a new season with a degree of hope.
🏟️ AROUND THE RINKS
Time to catch up with some other stories and titbits that have been out there in the last couple of days:
✍️ Nottingham Panthers have announced assistant coach Linton Grant will be rejoining head coach Danny Stewart behind the bench at the Motorpoint Arena next season - Nottingham Panthers website
🙌 And it wasn’t the only big announcement coming out of Nottingham. In fact, you could say this one was a ‘Grande’ one - Nottingham Panthers website
📺 The Elite League have announced how you can watch the play-off finals this weekend if you’re not going to Nottingham this weekend, with Premier Sports broadcasting the final - Elite League website
🐐 There’s just a month until Cardiff Devils legend Joey Martin has his testimonial so what better way to get things ramped up with the announcement of five players for the game on 14th June - Joey Martin Testimonial on X
🧤 Speaking of testimonials, former netminder Stephen Murphy is the latest ex-Giant to be part of Adam Keefe’s big night on Sunday 8th June - Belfast Giants on X
🍻 Fans can win a Suite at the Motorpoint Arena this weekend for up to 12 people, through a competition being run by the Elite League, with each ticket only £1. Don’t leave it too late! Entry closes at 9pm tonight (Wednesday) - Elite League on Raffall
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We’re back on Friday, on the eve of the biggest weekend of the year as we look ahead to the semi-final ties on Saturday in Nottingham.
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