Retrospective
In these unusual times, it’s great to see clubs stumble on a clever way of keeping the engagement alive in the absence of actual ice hockey…old games.
I have to admit, seeing some of these games the clubs have been posting online and running them “as live” has been great to see as fans truly get behind the spirit of it.
By now, the season would have ended so it was a summer of Britain’s Got Talent and whatever other nonsense on Saturday night television.
So the chance to see games from the past, either games you forgot about or ones where you just simply want to watch again because of how good they are, is a welcome thing to occupy us.
I particularly love how the clubs themselves are treating them, like events and the social media work that’s gone into them has been amazing.
Coventry Blaze have been the best for me, with the way they build up each game as though it’s yet to happen. They set the tone with pre-game comments from the coach on Twitter, then show the game in its entirety.
Nottingham Panthers fans have three games to look forward to watching again this week
Busy week ahead on PanthersTV! 😻
Tues @ 6.30pm
Rob Bellamy on @PanthersAudioXWeds @ 7.30pm
Panthers vs Steelers – 13/10/18Thurs @ 6.30pm
Bonus @PanthersAudioX – guest announced tomorrowSat @ 7.00pm
Panthers vs Giants – 09/11/19Sun @ 4.00pm
Panthers vs Giants – 10/11/19 pic.twitter.com/vtkIN9hvgj— The Nottingham Panthers (@PanthersIHC) April 26, 2020
A 50/50 draw takes place, using the carrot of a delightful cash prize then full post match reaction afterwards to put the hat on what would normally be a match night. Without physically being there, it’s like a match night experience, similar to one you would have if you couldn’t actually go.
Of course, most of the other teams in the Elite League have done the same thing, including Glasgow Clan on a similar theme where my dulcet tones can be heard on the mic. The difference is the way Coventry have treated these to draw their fans in, especially when it comes to looking back on former glories.
As someone who only came to the sport professionally in the last ten years, I’ve enjoyed seeing these older games and the players that I’ve heard so much about.
The teams will ponder their next games over the next week and as fans, we’ll lap it up as we make the most of our hockey fix until we can come to a point where we can start to look forward to next season.
But I’d just like to say, a great job by everyone involved in this times.
You could look this good too listening to the new BIH podcast, The BIH Show, when it launches this week
Ear candy
At some point this week, we’re launching a brand new podcast and I hope you’ll all get involved and enjoy what we’re doing.
Call The BIH Show, we’re looking to do something different in terms of your podcast listening and rather than just have the usual interviews with players and coaches about what’s happening, we’ve taken a different approach.
With the help of producer Stewart Priest, who’s putting the final show together, there will be an interview like that, but we’ve already asked various players to help us with different features as we go to try and keep you going.
Mark Richardson of Cardiff Devils is the big interview subject, while we’ve asked Fife Flyers’ Bari McKenzie to come up with a Dream First Line of players he’s played with or against.
Ben Davies joins us to look back on the GB-France World Championship game last year and Belfast Giants’ Paul Swindlehurst digs the dirt in Team-Mates.
We’re going to have competitions, quizzes and different other things on the show in the coming weeks so check out British Ice Hockey on your podcast provider.
