first meeting of this proposed 'Elite' snigger snigger League took place this week..

Nicked unashamedly from ICEWEB...
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Monday March 10th saw twelve hockey clubs attend the first meeting to determine the format of the progressive new Elite Ice Hockey League.

A wide range of subjects were considered in a frank and open forum with key decisions taken in readiness for the start of the 2003/04 domestic season.

Amongst the subjects discussed were league corporate structure, business planning, cost control, and the importance of shared objectives in order to achieve long term stability and growth of the sport generally.

The future of ice hockey at all levels was of concern and particular
emphasis was paid to the implementation of a Youth Training Scheme to
create increased opportunities for home-grown talent.

All parties attending agreed that the meeting had been extremely positive and offered tremendous potential for the new league to lead the way in taking the game of ice hockey in these islands forward.

Further meetings of the clubs will take place next week, with clubs who were unable to participate in Mondays' meeting being advised of the matters discussed and encouraged to attend.

A comprehensive announcement regarding all aspects of the new Elite Ice Hockey League will be made by the end of March 2003".
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Sounds VERY familiar..just like the ISL's pre formation stuff....

scuff (Red Steeler)

Well we will just have to wait and see what happens :-o
More teams could be an improvement.. but how many people will travel to the smaller venues?? smaller capacity.. colder.. lower standard of hockey??? I personally dont mind which type of rink (well i do watch the scimiters at queens road.. and beleive me it can get bl**dy cold in there) .. but if it means the the crowds are going to be smaller, then is it going to be a good thing or bad??.. less money generated and a lower wage cap might just mean that a few of the teams hoping to move up to the new league will find themselves struggling more than ever!! and if only a certain no. of imports can be signed what will become of the standard we have all come to expect?
Ahhhhh well ... just have to wait and see

Jacks

any idea who the 12 were ? I suppose 6 are fairly obvious (?) - the ISL remaining 4 + storm + eagles . . . but the rest ?#

cheers, Gav

Two of the other teams were Basingstoke and BRACKNELL. I am not revealing my source publicly, but email me and I'll tell you.

Zodi

From what was said at the FOMIH meeting this week (see Northernknight's synopsis on londonknights.net) it seems that there's a chance of sixteen teams in the Elite League. In related news, my shirt will next year contain so many pins scrapyard electromagnets will ift me off the ground.

Kloro (but I still don't have a Bees pin)