At last - Landers talks hockey!

The first proper batch of EIHL/BNL crossover games happened this week and appear to have been a roaring success. Especially for the BNL clubs, who have actually come out on top in the majority of games thus far.

For some reason this has come as a surprise to many, but I can't really understand why.

British hockey is far too fixated on imports and wage caps. The BNL have a maximum of 8 imports, the EIHL 11. In many peoples eyes, this means the EIHL has a three player advantage. But the wage cap is fairly equal.

Which means the BNL has a better class of Brit. Once you get past the EIHL imports, you are looking at a third line of comparatively inexperienced kids. The BNL has the likes of Paul Dixon, Daivd Longstaff and Jonathan Weaver. Each BNL club has a core of experienced, local, skilled British players which cannot be matched by the Elite League. This is one of the small legacies of the outrageous treatment of homegrown talent by the ISL and has a knock-on effect when recruiting British players into the Elite League.

So - 8 imports vs 11, but anyone care to argue that Longstaff et al are not worth an extra import? In reality it is more like 10 vs 11, or even 11 vs 11 in some cases - with the true difference coming down to the third lines.

So, no surprises really, especially with the BNL clubs playing the "underdog" tag for all they are worth and giving it 110% on the ice.

Meanwhile, over in Sheffield the natives are restless after the Steelers poor start. Losing at home to Dundee was a shocker to be honest, though subsequent results at Hull and at Ice Sheffield to Fife means all is not well over the Pennines. In the grand tradition of hockey fans, scapegoats are already being sought. First up is new coach Rob Stewart. Released after an underwhelming season in Belfast, he has stepped into the hotseat at Sheffield which is a poisoned chalice anyway.

Lets face it, the man who followed Blaisdell was always on a hiding to nothing. Blaiser, by both fair means and foul, brought a lot of success to the Steelers. And to be honest, there was little or no chance of matching his achievements. Its like the man who follows Sir Alex Ferguson, not winning the Premiership and/or a European Cup will be considered a failure. So out goes a legend and in comes an underachiever - albeit in his rookie season?

Second scapegoat - Norton Lea. Legendarily a bit tight with the cash, fans fingers are pointed his way. In my opinion, without justification. If Norton won't spend, then how come the Steelers have won a EIHL League and Playoff trophy in the last two seasons?

Third scapegoat - and this one is dear to me - is our "own" Jayme Platt. To which I say "bollocks". The Steelers have scored precisely 4 goals in the last three games, that is not going to win you anything, ever. It places too much reliance on your netminder having a perfect game, week in, week out. The Storm were the same under Lipper, averaging 2 goals a match for two seasons. Even the Phoenix struggled for large parts of last season putting the puck in the net.

Not that our fans were immune from scapegoating. Quite memorably in Newcastle, I had to sit and listen to a dumb bint having a go at Stephen Cooper for two periods. When the Cobras scored in the third, she shouted "Cooper, where were you?"

I replied, very loudly and accurately, "Sitting on the ****ing bench you daft cow."