This guy put up some amazing numbers over in Britain. He was even drafted too.
Yeah, he ended up at Oiler's training camp and was told by Glen Sather that he was the smartest player out of anyone there apart from Gretzky ,and was offered to play in juniors for a year with a good chance of making the NHL after, but he got homesick and left Canada after a few months after 3 games with the Victoria Cougars
EDIT: according to Wikipedia he went back next season but went back to the UK after he thought he would get stuck in juniors earning less than he could in Edinburgh.
... and next season he'll be playing in England's 2nd division.
Last edited by russmatuss: 06-14-2009 at 02:34 PM.
Yeah, he ended up at Oiler's training camp and was told by Glen Sather that he was the smartest player out of anyone there apart from Gretzky ,and was offered to play in juniors for a year with a good chance of making the NHL after, but he got homesick and left Canada after a few months after 3 games with the Victoria Cougars
EDIT: according to Wikipedia he went back next season but went back to the UK after he thought he would get stuck in juniors earning less than he could in Edinburgh.
... and next season he'll be playing in England's 2nd division.
I wouldn't say Tony Hand's chances of making the NHL were good, they probably slim at most. In his autobiography he say that when he got to the training camp everyone was so much bigger, stronger and fitter than him. Yes he had great hands but he'd get knocked off the puck so easily, as he only had a small frame. He could get away with that in Britain during the days of the BHL, as he was a big fish in a small pond with enforcers to protect him. The strange thing is that if he was 18 now, he'd almost definitely make it into the NHL, because of the nature of the 'new' NHL.
I think Hand might have been able to get into the NHL but certainly not lasting long enough to earn his pension.
When I discovered that Todd Bidner had played in the NHL my jaw dropped. I know he had size over Hand but he never looked dominant in the BHL. If he could make the grade, albeit briefly, why not Hand?
Ultimately its academic because he wasn't prepared to make the necessary sacrifices. I don't mean that as a criticism- he simply grew up in an environment that struggled to prepare players for international competition, let alone the rigours of North America. It would have required a huge effort to overcome the disadvantages he had in conditioning etc. Think of how many Finns and Swedes struggled to adapt to the NHL in the 70s and 80s in spite of being much better prepared than Tony Hand.
I find it odd given the movement between Britain and Canada that more young Britons don't do the Vanek route.
I think nowadays quite a few youngsters do. I knew Okanagan Hockey School who come to my home town once a year for a week long school invite some players to join their acadamy in Canada, and a few more people have moved over independantly trying to make it to the pros. Jury's out on whether they will.
Any love for the Manchester Phoenix?? I do have a vested interest seeing as my lecturer is the matchnight media director and I do work experience operating the crowd camera for home games, but it's what sparked my interest so hey! Let's go Phoenix!
Any love for the Manchester Phoenix?? I do have a vested interest seeing as my lecturer is the matchnight media director and I do work experience operating the crowd camera for home games, but it's what sparked my interest so hey! Let's go Phoenix!
I will be taking is a few of their games this year
too bad the elite league shrunk by two teams this season
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Any love for the Manchester Phoenix?? I do have a vested interest seeing as my lecturer is the matchnight media director and I do work experience operating the crowd camera for home games, but it's what sparked my interest so hey! Let's go Phoenix!
Ah you must be a fellow Staffs student then. I'm a Romford Raiders fan and I'm looking forward to heading over to Manchester for a few games this season, they'll be challenging for the EPL title this year with the team Tony Hand has put together.
You may be pleased to know that during my time at University I managed to convert a few skeptical friends of mine that going to a hockey game was a great night out.
Now whether they stuck with it after we graduated is not entirely clear. But at least I opened their minds!
I posted this in the sticky thread in this forum, but here it is again in the hope it catches a stray Brit's attention:
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I used to follow hockey in the UK very closely (made an angry post a few years back in this thread actually...) and Olympic hockey has re-opened my eyes as to how cool a sport it is.
Can anybody give me a rundown of what has happened in the last couple of years? I know that my home city still doesn't have a replacement for the Racers at Elite level, and I noticed that our U20's just got promoted to Div I...
What sort of shape are we in these days?? Are the signs encouraging, or just more of the same in-fighting and frustration that dogged the 'halcyon years'?
The EIHL gained Hull in 2006 along with Manchester's return, Coventry dominated the league for about two years before Dave Matsos got his master plan into action with Sheffield and bulldozed right through the league last season, helped an awful lot by Jody Lehman who got a British passport and the league shutout record (including back-to-back 2-0 shutout wins in the playoff final in 08 and 09) before buggering off to Denmark. Disciplinary system was shambolic at best, seemingly changed depending on how much fuss you made over an incident.
Last summer Manchester and Basingstoke left for the EPL, the former because they simply didn't have the money anymore and were sick of the politicking in the Elite (rumours abound that they were pushed out for questioning the sensibility of the current system rather than left of their own accord), while the latter craved some stability after going through three owners in two years and operating on a shoestring with twelve-man squads for months at a time. Both have had a tough time unseating the old hands of the EPL due to various factors.
Braehead Clan were unveiled today as team #9 for 10/11, with more possibly on the way. And yet Newcastle and Edinburgh have expressed concerns about viability numerous times in the last 18 months, while Cardiff and Sheffield are in tough spots with Belfast and Coventry seemingly not much better off.
The EPL chugged along nicely during the above, despite losing Solihull, Chelmsford and Wightlink in successive years due to financial reasons and Telford while they took a year out to resolve ownership issues. Manchester and Basingstoke were seen as massive additions, the former in particular as the league's first team in a major city, and the fans welcomed them both. The standard of the league steadily rose, and while the table was not as close as many expected, results were rarely a certainty against any team. Things aren't all sushine and lollipops, but they've been worse.
Thanks Mattski. So what about our U20's then? I would really love to see GB compete in the Olympics some day. Could this be the generation to step up and win promotion to the top group at senior level?
Thanks Mattski. So what about our U20's then? I would really love to see GB compete in the Olympics some day. Could this be the generation to step up and win promotion to the top group at senior level?
U20s got promoted back into Division I this season. We're a long, long way from breaking into the top 12 and thus Olympic competition, though the senior team won bronze at the last World Championships and are getting better all the time. Just think what they could do with time to prepare rather than all meeting up and flying out just days before the tournament.
Can't see it ever happening while the domestic game's in such a state though.
