Belfast Giants
Coach: Paul Adey
Last Season: Despite turmoil surrounding the ownership of the club, under Doug Christiansen the Giants were competitive on all fronts last year. They won the Erhardt conference, narrowly lost out on the league title and reached the Semi-Finals of the Challenge Cup and the final of the Play-Offs where they were beat by the Panthers on both occasions.
Blog From Block 15's player to watch: Calvin Elfring - This veteran Canadian D Man has a wealth of experience on his CVL including over 300 games in the DEL and over 150 games in the ECHL which will add strength to what was the 2nd meanest defence last season. He is capable of achieving over 30 points this season and with only a few fights to his name over his career he doesn't look a liability. In my opinion the Giants have got a quality player with a great pedigree who was reportedly a target for a number of Elite League teams.
2013/14 Comments: Despite Adey being a more than capable replacement for DC, the players Belfast have signed this season in comparison with the other conference teams gives the impression that they have had a budget cut. I expect, as with any Giants side, that they will be competitive throughout the season however alot will be riding on the returning Adam Keefe and Kevin Saurette. Keefe is a player I love to hate, which means he does his job well for the Giants however the other conference teams have recruited some big guys and Keefe will have his work cut out this season. Ultimately unless their final signings are proven snipers, the Giants biggest downfall will be a lack of goals.
2013/14 Blog From Block 15's Predictions:
Erhardt Conference: 4th
League Position: 5th
Challenge Cup: Quarter-Finals
Play-Offs: Quarter-Finals
Cardiff Devils
Coach: Gerad Adams
Last Season: Last year was difficult for the Devils as they underperformed throughout. They failed to make the knockout stages of the Challenge Cup, were 5th in the league, 35 points behind the Panthers. After beating Braehead to make the Play-Off finals weekend again, they were beat in the Semi-Finals.
Blog From Block 15's player to watch: Matty Myers - Nothing new in this selection however as the song goes 'You don't know what you've got till it's gone' and this signing was huge for Cardiff. As a Panthers fan I loved the intensity with which Matty played as well as the fact he wasn't afraid to do the dirty work every shift. This sort of positive energy will a boost to the rest of the Devils squad and that is only a good thing!
2013/14 Comments: As the rest of the league seems to have improved on the quality of their signings, the Devils have certainly not been left behind. Recovering from the loss of Doyle in net they have signed LaCosta who looks like he can do a good job at this level. Upfront they have retained the services of 35 goal Mac Faulkner, with Birbraer and Blight good for another 40 goals between them. When I look at the Devils squad, it looks like one that has got the right balance and I think the Devils will be competitive on all fronts this season. I don't think they'll win the league, although they'll be in the hunt for the majority of the season, I fancy Cardiff to win the Play-Offs this year and should they do so, it is no more than their fans deserve.
2013/14 Blog From Block 15's Predictions:
Erhardt Conference: 3rd
League Position: 4th
Challenge Cup: Quarter-Finals
Play-Offs: Winners
Coventry Blaze
Coach: Matt Soderstrom
Last Season: Last season was difficult for the Blaze as they under performed following recent financial troubles. A 4th place finish in the league doesn't look terrible but the fact they were 31 points behind the champions tells another story. A narrow Quarter-Final exit in the Challenge Cup at the hands of the Clan will have been disappointing however they managed to make the Semi-Finals off the Play-Offs before being beat heavily by Belfast in what was Paul Thompson's last game in charge.
Blog From Block 15's player to watch: Michael Henrich - Michael joins his brother Adam at the Blaze for a pairing that would comfortably get into any other team in the league. 3 seasons in Italy with Asiago yielded 73 regular season goals and as such he should be scoring plenty of goals in the Elite League.
2013/14 Comments: There is no doubting that the Blaze have signed some talented players. A forward line including the Henrich brothers and McMillin will give opposition defences plenty to think about this year. Zacharias is a definite improvement in net on Peter Hirsch who I felt was a liability at times last season. Egener and Olson in defence will ensure that the Blaze aren't bullied during games. However despite the signings on ice, the biggest question mark for the Blaze this season will be how new head coach Matt Soderstrom fares. Many would agree that under the stewardship of Thompson the Blaze were become a little stale so this is fantastic opportunity for the Blaze to move in a new direction, hopefully a silverware winning direction. Although I have predicted the Blaze to finish bottom of the conference, it isn't as bad as it sounds. All the Erhardt teams will take points off each other this season and I can realistically see only 10-15 points between the conference champions and the team who finishes bottom. I think all the Erhardt teams have the potential to win the league and the Blaze fans should be entering the season with a renewed sense of confidence, however I think this will be a season too early for Soderstrom and they will fall just short.
2013/14 Blog From Block 15's Predictions:
Erhardt Conference: 5th
League Position: 6th
Challenge Cup: Finalists
Play-Offs: Quarter-Finals
Nottingham Panthers
Coach: Corey Neilson
Last Season: I am not going to spend time debating whether the Panthers won the 'grand slam' or not but last year was a historic one as far as the team went. A long awaited league title was added to the Challenge Cup and Play-Off trophies that were already residing in our trophy cabinet.
Blog From Block 15's player to watch: Leigh Salters - This left winger is the one player I am the most looking forward to seeing in action. I think he has the potential to do the job left by Matty Myers and get dirty along the boards and in the opposition's end. In addition to that he has shown an ability to score goals at ECHL level with the Florida Everblades and if that scoring ability continues then he could contribute some good numbers.
2013/14 Comments: It will be interesting to see whether now that Corey has broken his duck so to speak he is able to coach the Panthers to another league title. However given so few imports from last years squad have been retained, it's going to be like starting from scratch for the Panthers. Last year Ling and Graham contributed over 70 goals between them and as of yet it's hard to see who is going to replace them in terms of goals scored. Robert Farmer is training with the Panthers at the moment ahead of a move to Alaska and as much as I want to see him do well, part of me hopes that he ends up back with the Panthers at some point during the season in order to boost our fire power. Ultimately, unless a spare import is signed, with the potential distraction of a Continental Cup campaign, I feel that although we will be competitive, the league title will just be one step too far.
2013/14 Blog From Block 15's Predictions:
Erhardt Conference: 2nd
League Position: 2nd
Challenge Cup: Winners
Play-Offs: Semi-Finals
Sheffield Steelers
Coach: Doug Christiansen
Last Season: Despite an appearance in the Challenge Cup final, the Steelers underachieved last season under Finnerty. They finished 12 points behind Panthers in the league and were knocked out of the Play-Offs at the Quarter-Final stage by the Blaze, the 2nd year in a row they had failed to make the finals weekend.
Blog From Block 15's player to watch: Maxime Lacroix - The centre joins the Steelers from Odense in Denmark in a season where he scored a point a game during the regular season. In the 2008/09 season he managed 33 goals and 31 assists during the regular season with the South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL. If Doug can get the best out of this guy I think he has the potential to be one of the best in the league, if not the best and that can only be a good thing for the Steelers.
2013/14 Comments: After being surprised by the signing of Tim Spencer, you have to give credit to Doug and the Steelers for some great signings. Defensively they have one of the best units in the league with the signings of Dustin Kohn and Gord Baldwin only serving to underline that. In Rob Dowd they have a player easily capable of scoring 30 goals this season. My only concern is the perceived lack of balance in their forward lines, but make no mistake about it, if Doug can get these players to gel, they could well be the team to beat this season.
2013/14 Blog From Block 15's Predictions:
Erhardt Conference: 1st
League Position: 1st
Challenge Cup: Semi-Finals
Play-Offs: Finalists
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