Hockey is back, but what did we learn this weekend.....

I was going to say after the results on Saturday night, not very much. As many would have anticipated, the Panthers beat the Stingrays at the NIC (although the 9-3 scoreline was perhaps a little flattering by some accounts), Cardiff won at Fife despite losing Dan LaCosta with injury at the end of the second period, Sheffield won a narrow cup game at Coventry, Belfast convincingly beat the Capitals while Dundee went to Braehead and got a result.

However on Sunday, things started to surprise me a little.....

Firstly Belfast on the back of a Keefe double, won convincingly in Cardiff (LaCosta was still injured for this game), Coventry lost 3-1 in Dundee who picked up their second win of the weekend, Fife picked up 2 cup points in Edinburgh, Hull beat Breahead 5-2 in Humberside whilst the Panthers won 4-1 in Sheffield, also in the cup.

I was surprised for a few reasons. I didn't expect the Panthers to win in Sheffield. I expected them to be competitive but I also expected DC's side to lay down a little marker here and let the rest of the league know that they were able to compete with the league champions, but they didn't. In fact, there are several pages on Steeltalk of unhappy fans who are seemingly most disappointed that their team weren't competitive and largely predictable. At the moment it looks like Corey has found a good balance to the Panthers side with goal scorers, players who aren't afraid to throw hits and players who can find the space in the passing lanes. People can easily say we don't look as good as we did last season, but you can only beat what is put in front of you and judging by the reaction of the Steelers fans, that wasn't very much at all.

I was also a little taken aback to see both Coventry and Braehead lose both their opening games. I laugh at the tweets suggesting Finnerty is going to lose his job already, they are still missing Macais and Frank and apparently Bergin was filling in on defence and he may have lost a yard or two pace since he was last with us! Coventry are still needing to replace Egener and perhaps the result on Sunday in Dundee was just one of those nights. If nothing else, Rory Rawlyk is certainly letting the rest of the league know he has arrived!

But the reality is, whilst the Blaze, Clan, Capitals and Steelers may be a bit disappointed with their weekend endeavours, nothing is won in September. Some of these fixtures were Challenge Cup only and it is easier to get out of the group stages of this competition than getting drunk in a brewery!

My 'Blog From Block 15' award of the weekend goes to Derek Campbell of the Hull Stingrays. I remember in my season preview I called Campbell a waste of an import slot. However he has taken no time in proving me wrong (for now!) by getting a goal and 2 assists in the game against Braehead. Credit where credit is due to both him and the Stingrays for a great result!