Check to the Head

Surgical Screws Win Prizes

2010-04-14T21:43:00.006+01:00

The current trend of CttH acquiring much sought after and much desired Edinburgh Capitals memorabilia / merchandise is getting a bit out of hand now. So why is that you say? We've only gone and secured the 'low priced' rights ( it was free ) to display the bane of Doug Christiansen's 09/10 Elite Ice Hockey season. We've got our filthy hands on the X-ray of his knee AND we have the actual surgical pin used to hold his shaky bones in place, can you believe it?

The only thing that has shocked Check to the Head more than Doug's X-ray is the moment when Mohammed Ali Amar aka Nayim lobed David Seaman in the last minute of play from 50 yards plus during the 1995 UEFA cup final. He used to play for Spurs too - ironically

Anyway, back to Doug. Check it out with check to the head!
We're so hot right now (our own personal opinion).

Doug's wonky knee in all it's post-surgical glory. He doesn't know we have this image, it is a mighty find for our grizzly blog but it isn't that shocking is it? You've seen worse right? Like that time that boxer guy a few years a go who got up out his seat and more or less immediately twisted and snapped his ankle. You know what one I'm on about yeah? Surely you also own a copy of Nick Hancock's Sporting Nightmares on VHS too right? If you do then THAT GUY! yeah that one!

So why were we so shocked at what we received? Once again I will let the wonderful media of coloured photography do the talking! It's also our favoured method of blog shock & awe!

Doug's knee screw as found in MiR Car Park

So what are we going to do with this amazing and very, very Edinburgh Capitals sort of object? We though about offering it up as some sort of super, awesome prize that almost every fan would want to own but then we decided to just throw it away...

CttH Revamp Quick Update

2010-04-11T23:31:00.004+01:00

Due to an un-named politician claiming Check to the Head on his oops his/hers expenses we have managed to over-haul the old blog with the large cash windfall. The update has nothing at all to do with the incriminating photographs that we have of him/her and a public toilet incident.

I myself have no idea how we got hold of the photos, honest! Diego appeared one day with them. So if you really want to know what he was doing in a loo with a very, very friendly public servant, just ask him!

All Emails can be directed to Diego@Ilovecornedbeef.com

Anyway and far more importantly look how flash we are now, oh yeah! Don't wish your girlfriend was as hot as the check to the head blog... Dont'cha!

Let us know what you think, seriously we want some feedback this time and why don't you answer our highly topical poll question when you're at it. We look forward to hearing from all five of you.

Patrik Luza: A Lasting Memory

2010-04-08T22:37:00.006+01:00

Mr 'Hat-trick' Patrik Luza certainly won't be remembered for his time at the Capitals for the following stats. (see below) I had actually forgotten how very decent he was during his first season with the club, he was an expert at keeping the puck in the offensive zone and was reliable at the back. Most fans wanted the Slovak back at the club including myself oh the shame, the shame! Won't anyone please think of the children....

2006-07 Edinburgh Capitals EIHL 52 14 26 40 116
2007-08 Edinburgh Capitals EIHL 48 8 16 24 66 2 0 0 0 0

As for his 2nd season with the Mighty Capitals of Edinburgh.

Well lets just post up exactly what he WILL be remembered for after a not so terrific last season of play for the Pardubice wall of fame listed D-man.

Actual Club Car*

Sorry Patrik - I even sponsored your jersey - but it's true!

* It's not

A Postcard From Darius P

2010-04-05T23:23:00.004+01:00

Just before the Easter Holidays and the playoff finals weekend we received a very, very special surprise in the post. So here it is!

A POSTCARD FOR DARIUS PLISKAUSKAS! - Awoooga :0)

He's obviously all 'FOR' Romford now. I mean how beautiful is that card? You would love to have been sent that as an ickle Easter surprise from a family member let alone from a two time Caps escapologist. It is that special!

Anyway it was surprising for us due to the simple fact that we haven't ever given out our PO Box address for CttH - we set it up to look more professional - I guess Darius Pliskauskas has his contacts in the Lithuanian KGB either that or his fellow countryman and CttH's favourite person ever Dino has been tracking us for a few days with those ever impressive built in communist skills. OR and far more likely he used his 'Marshall Bravestarr' style powers. Ears of the Wolf, eyes of the Wolf, taste of the Wolf, smell of the Wolf, skating ability of the Wolf, stamina of the Wolf, hair growing ability of the Wolf and all that

For any younger readers see link for Marshall Bravestar information: http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Bravestarr

For everyone else who remembers him and his skills and his ultra cool talking horse with the massive gun ( We actually mean a gun this time ) have a nice 'New Texas' crotch shot of the old law enforcer

Romford Postcard + Darius Pliskauskas + Dino + Marshall Bravestarr

= Check to the Head!

Dan Welch Pre- Capitals

2010-03-29T22:13:00.005+01:00

Now that the season is over it is going to become harder and harder for CttH to do these regular and much anticipated updates. We might just have to start making stuff up or something. I also know for a fact "Iain C" salivates at the mere thought of a Check to the Head update.
If you listen very closely that yucky, moist tongue noise you can just about make out well that's him. SHUT UP IAIN! He's easily impressed you see. As I was saying as the season is over we will be forced to look back at the recently complete campaign for an interesting story to tell.

Soooo.... recently CttH got its hands on a secret picture of twisty, jinky legged, ladies man and puck greedy Dan Welch before he joined the Capitals. Our source has umm asked to remain anonymous. The photo itself was taken approximately seven weeks before joining the team.

The picture that you can see quite clearly on the left is Dan Welch before he got the call to join the Edinburgh Capitals.
It is definitely not the co star of hit US TV sit com 'King of Queens' Paton Oswalt.

After Doug Christiansen found Dan Welch's contact number after a very expensive 118-118 call Dan hit the gym. He chased after chickens, he punched dead cows repeatedly, he ran up mountains, he pissed off Paulie, he was blessed by Father Carmine in Latin, he out sprinted Apollo Creed and was beaten up by Clubba Lang. He also stitched himself up and wore a red bandanna in the Vietnam jungle... No wait, that's not right.

Anyway the muscles from Hastings, MN as he is now called turned things around, his on screen time was also cut back so that allowed him to appear at the rink of dreams every weekend The pay increase also helped!

As this more up to date image proves Paton, Sorry Dan really did do a trick by sticking to his Tyra Bank endorsed 'Eat Healthy Foods' diet. She's so sensible, it's like she has her fingers on the pulse of original thinking. Anyway the fighting spirit and desire to regain his world title from Clubba Lang also helped. He took on the wrecking machine that was flab and taught it a bitch-ass lesson. Mickey would be so proud.

That's why us here at Check to the Head also fully back the Total Gym, endorsed by Chuck Norris & Christie Brinkley, it is the best home gym on the market. With over 80 exercises it's like having an entire gym full of fitness equipment in just ONE machine.

If it's good enough for Dan, it's good enough for you!

!CHUCK WANTS YOU TO GET IN SHAPE!

http://www.totalgymdirect.com/

5 Players We Should Have Signed

2010-03-24T21:49:00.004Z

It is update time once more, can I get a yeehaa?

So here it is five players we SHOULD have signed (all real) for no other reason that their high quality, high humour, high brilliance names :)

Dustin McCrank - C'mon imagine having a guy called Dustin McCranck in your team (pictured above) That's right Dustin McCrank! He exists, it's a real person with a real name. Would other fans laugh? Quite probably, would we laugh? Absolutely! Would he be rubbish? More than likely. Mr McCrank for the Caps Awoooga!

BJ Gaylord - OK, OK If your surname was Gaylord, which is very funny in itself why oh why would your parents give you fore names with the initials B.J? Im sure you probably think we have made this guy up but go on hockeydb him, he's there. He really is.

Robin Big Snake - It would be simply fantastic if the Capitals could ice McCranck, Big Snake and Gaylord all at the same time. What would the Caps TV commentary be like? Would they be able to broadcast before 9pm? Maybe it would go something like this, just setting the scene here.

It is in over-time of course and....

" Dustin McCranck sets things up for Gaylord, who quickly finishes it off after a nice one, two with Big Snake in the high slot "

Or something like that.... What, What?

Willi Winkes - Nope, we didn't make this one up either. OK we will admit that he's not a well known player or even still alive, maybe he is maybe he's not you can do the research into it. He was though a coach with Frankfurt in the German Oberliga during the 80's.
Is it just me or is their a theme to all these names so far?

Bear Trapp - Just a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant name and he would probably be half decent in the EIHL. If Neil Hay can get a game then Mr Bear Trapp deserve a spot on the Capitals roster purely based on the awesomeness of his name. I'd sponsor that jersey for shizzle...

Taylor Christie's Favourite Colours

2010-03-22T20:47:00.006Z

It is well known that Check to the Head always report the facts*

So continuing on with that tradition and after an extensive & in depth investigation which saw us drink much coffee and pop many a pro plus we here at CttH Towers are at last after several very long months very proud - in fact we feel great pride - to present the results of the question that was on the tip of every Caps fans lips towards the end of last season.

What are Taylor Christie's top five favourite colours?

So the below high definition or 'HD' if you prefer graphic displays the much sought after answers. We hadn't heard of any of them so a massive thanks goes out to Dulux for their fantastic yet very informative descriptions of Taylor Christie's favourite colours.

Check to the Head hopes you appreciate our efforts in bringing you all the answers. A comment or two or even pimping the blog to your friends would help you know, well every little helps

*We know that is lies, we never report the facts

Where's Willy

2010-03-21T22:22:00.004Z

Somewhere in the picture below Mr Willy Dunn is hiding. WHERE ARE YOU MR DUNN?

So can you do what no member of the Capitals organisation, whether it be management, player or helpful volunteer has done this year and find Willy Dunn? Just where is Willy Dunn?

P.S For an extra special bonus and brownie points with us here at CttH towers can you find the original big bag of Capitals legacy Jerseys that Willy has sneakily hid and kept away from the Caps fans too.... What a cheeky scamp he is!

Don't worry if you can't find him, we'll think of an excuse as to why you can't find Mr Dunn or the Legacy tops and will inform each of you individually through email.

Remember Dino Bauba

2010-01-27T21:05:00.002Z

Just press play...

Classic Dino...Awoooga!

The Secret Life Of...

2010-01-27T17:04:00.007Z

Simon Lambert / Edinburgh Capitals

Not many people know that Simon Lambert BSc, FRCS, FRCS Ed Orth has Special clinical interests in reconstruction and joint replacement, Arthroscopy of the shoulder and fracture reconstruction. He loves a good proximal humerus fracture, it's true. You all thought the Capitals signed him for his Hobey Baker Award nomination and lightning quick feet, well think again. We signed him for his god given healing, talented hands. Mr Lambert trained in shoulder and reconstructive surgery on the North West Thames orthopaedic rotation, complementing this with two Fellowships in Switzerland studying shoulder and trauma surgery. ( very clever guy is Simon )

Also lots of people simply don't know that Lambert's practice at Spire Bushey Hospital deals solely with problems of the shoulder and elbow, from sports-related injuries. Martin Cingel would be out for the season if it wasn't for Simon Lambert's shoulder expertise.

Thank you Simon!

So there you go the secret life of Simon Lambert revealed....hard hitting facts presented by CttH

Scott Neil - "Look a likey" ... well almost

2010-01-26T22:28:00.004Z

We couldn't find a good quality picture of the Caps main gringo Señor Neil so in true Check To The Head styleeee we improvised. Hell we improvised, we decided to use the next best thing to a picture of Scott Neil. That of course being someone completely different from an entirely different part of the world but with the exact same name as Scott Neil... so see what we did there?

The results are truly outstanding! Just look at who "Scott Neil" looks like. It is an A list umm list of famous faces. Mike Myers keeps the hockey connection going. Shawn 'Once of the rockers' Michaels ( We miss Marty Janety ) is there as is Ricky ' I'm not gay' Martin and best of all Woop, Woop, Yeeeha and Awoooga none other than MR FRED SAVAGE, what a guy!

You have to admit you would all love to have a list like this surrounding your face.
You want to be the new Harry Connick Jnr, you want to be Ashton Kutcher and be able to star in fantastic movies such as ' Dude, Where is my car? ' and be able to 'nob up' an older woman.

P.s We use the term fantastic movies loosely...

Facebook Group You Should Join

2010-01-24T00:24:00.004Z

Check To The Head proudly presents: Facebook Groups You Should Join:

Now have a look at this bad boy, the simple fact that a Nottingham fan created this group has nothing to do with why you should join this Facebook group:

We here based a Check to the Head towers dislike the Steelers for obvious reasons, well not quite obvious. We don't care about all their goon antics or slashes or hooks or spears or for their stinking grey jerseys that they used to have. We hate them because a few seasons ago down at the playoff finals we handed a free issue of CttH to Mr David Simms - I repeat a FREE issue -and he promptly passed it off to one of his "entourage". Now that is disrespect sir in anyones book. D I S R E S P E C T. So for that fact alone we are promoting this group.

I sure as hell hope to see an increase in the number of members by a good two or three in the coming months.

O-O-Owen Fussey

2010-01-20T13:12:00.000Z

Just a quickie now (that's what she said )

So when I woke up this morning my head was full of Owen Fussey songs.
Muse had well and truely bitch slapped me in the face and the ideas were free flowing.
It was almost as if I was a part of the Stock, Aitken & Waterman 80s super song writing team. Now, just like S.A.W I am not claiming that these ideas for songs are any good and also just like Stock, Aitken & Waterman I simply don't care. I wan't to share them with the three or so people that actually read this thing.

So here they are in no particular order at all all two of them:

To the tune of Cyndi Lauper - Money Changes Everything

Fussey changes everything
Owen Fussey changes everything
ye' think ye know what he's doin'
That don't mean a thing
Coz he's past you now
Fussey changes everything

And to Abba - Money, Money, Money

Fussey, Fussey, Fussey
He's in a hurry
Many pucks he's hurled
Fusey, Fussey, Fussey
Always sunny
In the Ca-aps world

Aye, well. Like I said I don't care what you think. No.. YOU suck!

Strong Caps Rumours

2010-01-15T21:31:00.005Z

BREAKING CAPITALS NEWS

Their is a strong rumour emerging from Murrayfield tonight that the young British players simply can not get enough of Pokemon. ' Gotta catch them all ' Despite being a decade or so late the young wiper snappers and ankle biters at the club regularly swap cards and join up to play a 'game boy' connect game. It is being reported they battle it out and test their Pokemon trainer skills often. I personally don't see it as a bad thing as it is quite clearly a group bonding session and certainly can not harm their on ice chemistry. Well once they all get on the ice at the same time.

Anyway and probably most shockingly of all an inside source at the club - not the giant American play caller - has informed us here at Check to the Head towers that fans favourite and cheeky imp Jordan Steel's favourite monster in his pocket is none other than musical mistero 'Jigglypuff'
We caught up with a Jigglypuff tonight and this was it's response to the news

See even Jigglypuff's know they suck! Quite clearly Onyx is where it's at!

As of 9.50pm Mark Paterson's and Dean Hollan'd preferences were still 'unconfirmed'

Random Hockey Based Fact:

2010-01-13T11:50:00.000Z

Did you know....

Neil Hay loves his leaky pipe!

Fact

CttH Joke Of The Month

2010-01-12T14:01:00.001Z

Q: How do you know a leper is playing ice hockey?

A: There's a 'face-off' in the corner

What????

Miracle on Toast!

2010-01-11T22:48:00.003Z

I LOVE THE SMELL OF BREAD IN THE MORNING

and so does Doug Christiansen!

Doug Christiansen's face in miniature form on a piece of lovely toast (not hand made by Scotland's #1 Breadspert Diego ) This triangular slice of flour produced genius is now on show at the Murrayfield Museum Of Hockey Based Delights and Oddities or the MMHBDO for short!

Of course the likeness is open for discuss and in depth debate, I for one am not truly convinced by the miracle on toast for a start their is no red tie and when have you ever seen DC without a red tie on?! Exactly my point well made.

Good Evening!

2010-01-08T22:25:00.004Z

Two updates in the one day, impressive eh?

Anyway I thought I would go back to an old favourite of ours at CttH. Of course its the celebrity lookalike generator machine from bebo! Can I get a woop woop? ( Thanks Diego ) He loves a good woop woop opportunity!

So lets get to it; this time I chose to match up Edinburgh Capitals mega flop Michel ' Miguel Rodriguez ' Robinson. So who exactly does the sloppy goalie who the Panthers fans love to bits look like from the world of A-Z list celebrity. Well the answers are:

Umm, ok so he looks like that guy from Godzilla and Japanese baseballer who has some speed and some Italian director, surprisingly none of them are French Canadian or Hispanic....

Hmmm. Anyway I'm not really sure what this proves but it is slightly entertaining. I think their might be some more of this over the next few weeks... or not!

WTF? An Update Sharp vs Pizza

2010-01-08T12:57:00.001Z

So I have decided to start doing this stuff again, well for now.

I'm at work just now and I'm having as much fun as Andrew Sharp did in his recent "fight" with Mr Bergin of Nottingham Panthers fame. One thing is for sure my cold ridden nose is just as bright red as Sharp's was last week (3.1.10) after taking a sweet right hook slap bang on the nose. The main difference being my red beak hasn't knocked me to my knees.

Sharp posed his way through the early part of the skirmish. He was standing on the ice swinging his arms and fists in the fashion of an 1800's proper gentleman boxer all he was missing was the waxed handle bar moustache and the upper class London accent. The fight itself was over in a matter of seconds as Sharp posed Bergin chucked hurt bombs with the intent of hurting Sharp's sense of well being. Sharp took one on the face which left him visibly shaken, as per norm the Caps 'enforcer' offered very little in response, he chose to clutch and grab over throwing punches of his own. He clearly lost yet another scrap.

Now at the start of the 09/10 season Doug Christiansen promised Sharp would win us all over with his attitude to the game. Well here at CttH towers we are still waiting to be won over, we're still waiting to be even the slightest bit impressed. We're left to think that the money being spent on Sharp would be better off spent on providing pizzas for the young british guys for the long bus journeys they have to make almost every weekend.
I think it's a fair swap at least a nice warm pizza would do some good for our team. It certainly would bring a smile to the cheeky, cheeky face of Jordan Steel and it might just tickle the ribs of Mark ' the postman ' Paterson, never a bad thing. In our book that more than makes Pizza the better deal.

So there you have it, I think CTTH has just proven without a doubt that a pizza has more value to the Capitals than Andrew Sharp. Sad but true!

T2MA and Macho Man

2009-02-06T15:29:00.003Z

Another excellent, excellent installment of 'The 2 man advantage'.

I would love to do something like this, maybe it can happen, you should watch out for CttH TV next season. So as Mach Man Randy Savage once said at his wedding to the fine, fine, Fiiiiiiiiine, Miss Elizabeth "Ooooooooooooooooh Yeeeeaaahh!"

( If you have no idea what I'm talking about watch the video below)

Modern Technology And Adam Stefishen

2009-02-05T15:36:00.004Z

Ctth has once again took advantage of the wondrous bebo related technology that is 'What celebrity do I sort of, maybe, kinda look like, if the person looking at me is totally drunk. We used the face recognition technology that is available to everyone to find out who does Edinburgh Capitals fighter/Good guy Adam Stefishen look like.

The results are simply outstanding

Did you guess any of those names? Would you ever have known that Adam Stefishen played Kevin Costner's stunt double/Golf double in Tin-Cup if it wasn't for CttH revealing to the world just who he looks like? It truly is amazing. You should thank us. No go on, leave a comment thanking us.

Some lovely hockey art

2009-01-30T10:26:00.002Z

I thought I would share this hockey master-piece with the CttH masses. You know bring a bit of culture to you all. It will be important in later life. So thank me now for showing off my brothers art-work.

Where are they RIGHT now...

2009-01-26T21:41:00.001Z

Where are they RIGHT now...

Steven Lynch is giggling like a school girl to a dirty joke.

Dino Bauba recommends:

“Iain Bowie's mums macaroni cheese”
“ Using rocks in stead of razor blades, it gives you the added wolf man look”
“six shots of Absinth and then you're ready to play some ice hockey!”
“ Using a Caribou in stead of a turkey for Christmas dinner”
“100 metre sprinting, comes in handy when running from Russians”

The 2 Man Advantage

2009-01-22T16:46:00.002Z

A great episode of the two man advantage. Check it out

Amazingly False Stats

2009-01-22T15:35:00.002Z

Some stats/truths that aren't exactly 100% accurate but totally should be:

Bison: Did you know that the Bison's logo is loosely based on Mark Bernard

Belfast: GM Todd Kelman owes ctth a buck

Cardfif: Jason Silverthorn still hasn't paid off those student loans

Coventry: JF Perras was once mistaken for Richard Hammond by German tourists

Edinburgh: Dino Bauba is the father of the Caps young Brit 3rd line

Hull: Audley Harrison was once a Hull season ticket holder

Manchester: Alex Dunn was Michigan junior Scrabble champion

Newcastle: Jez Lundin auditioned for Jamie Bell's role in Billy Elliot

Nottingham: The Panthers are the only club Dan Tessier has ever wanted to play for

Sheffield: The Panthers, sorry Steelers are the only club Dan Tessier ever wanted to play for

Recycled Lobby Chart Of Truth

2009-01-20T20:57:00.003Z

The truth about David Longstaff's long and glorious hockey career. Here we see ALL the positives and negatives through-out his playing days.

(Recycled from our season 08/09 issur #1)

Facebook Groups You Must Join: #2

2009-01-17T14:11:00.003Z

Greg Chambers is a points scoring machine!

Why should you join this group? I will tell you why. It based on pure facts. No lies in this one. Everything on it, other than someone commenting that Greg Chambers is their long lost cousin, is believable. If you choose to believe that one certain poster then its on you. Anyway even the group title gets straight to truth and the very sharp point. Greg Chambers IS indeed a points scoring machine on a less than perfect team. It even has a very lovely Greg Chambers mug shot picture. So if you like Greg and want to see it you have to join up.

The UK's #1 Jarvis

2009-01-16T17:14:00.019Z

THE UK's VERY BEST

Have you ever wondered who the UK's number one Jarvis was? Has it ever kept you awake at night as you struggle to come to terms with such a heavy weight and annoying decision. Well worry no more hockey fans because here at CttH mansion we have taken on this mighty challenge to discover once and for all who really is Britain's best Jarvis.

WES JARVIS VS JARVIS COCKER

Personality:

Wes - He knows his role very well on the Devils, he plays the game with heart and soul and for me that goes a long way.You never need to ask him where the passion is. He obviously takes pride in what he does and I think that will translate over to the fans. He is sensible on the ice well most of the time, he did willingly choose to fight Brad Voth twice last season. Wonder what it is like in their dressing room now, do Voth and Jarvis have a giggle and tickle over their previous violent rivalry? Answers on a post-card please. No seriously ChecktotheHead wants to know if they are B.F.Fs now. Do the play backgammon or hang out at each others house to watch Deal or no Deal on a regular basis? We want to know. Points 0

Jarvis - Jarvis Branson Cocker is best known for fronting the band Pulp.But Cocker is also renowned for his witty charm and cultural scene observations. Does anyone else remember his parody of 'Common people' on Spitting Image? No?, just me then. Jarvis is a unique individual and that could all be down to being brought up in an almost exclusive female environment so he must have the patience of a saint or ability to drown out mindless 'TV Soap' psychobabble that women love to chit chat about. Its true, so true! At my last job the women there spoke about three topics, TV soaps, weight-loss and how they hate their husbands. How Jarvis put up with that growing up I will never know. He wins this one on that fact alone. Points 1

Good-looks:

Wes - Is it just my wonky twenty six year old eyes fooling me or does Wes Jarvis on his Cardiff Devils bio-page closely resemble Channel 5's premier vehicle review show '5th gear's veteran host Tiff Needell. Look, go see it when you get home. Load up the Devils website find Wes' biography page and let the Tiff Needellness overwhelm you. Separated at birth mmmm-hmmmm I think so. OR how about this for thinking outside the box. Maybe Wes really is a Wes Needell and is using the surname Jarvis to prove to everyone he can make it on his own. He doesn't need his "fathers" fame to get him on the career map. He is a clever, independent man, he doesn't need nobody to look after him. Maybe the box is there for a reason, we shouldn't think outside the box anymore. Points 1

Jarvis - Far to skinny but then again he always has been. He has those in deep thought eyes, you can see something is going on in that brain of his and his chiseled square jaw line is something that make the ladies go weak at the knees, Am I right ladies or am I right? Despite this his skinny body bulk is a serious put off. Get to McDonald's Jarvis. Points 0

Fitness:

Wes - He clocks up the games and doesn't spend long sitting down resting those long legs of his in the penalty box either. CttH fully believe he is a dedicated athlete. He rips it hard at the gym. He pounds out the miles on the tread mill and he skips like Mike Tyson. The new Mr.Motivator with the spandex suits only used at home. Points 0

Jarvis - Its all about taking on Michael Jackson oh yeah. He had belief in his mighty athletic ability, he knew he could take Michael one on one. Even if Jackson was pretending to be god at that point Jarvis knew the lord almighty was on his side. For his Brit Awards invasion of the stage he should have been knighted. He also avoided the stage security quite well. Nimble on his feet and all that. Jarvis wins this round. Points 1

Style:

Wes - He wears his hockey uniform well, he fills it out well. I mean his 222lbs 6'4' frame is more than suited to a hockey jerseys widthy proportions. He also wears the black Devils polo-shirt in a very, stylish classy manner. No sign of head gear though or accessories. 0 points

Jarvis - A Brit-pop icon that swept the nation with his embarrassing father or uncle at a close friends wedding reception style. Some people loved it others copied it whilst others only want me to talk about his cool glasses or sports coats. He also been known to show off in the odd flat-cap. We love flat Caps. Jarvis 1 point

Scoring Ability:

Wes - A stay back D man that looks after his own. I believe he is a family man, he has a gal back home. He's here to play hockey, stop the shots and get the points. It is what he really cares about. He doesn't need to score to be successful. Wes 0

Jarvis - Was in a rock band, chicks love a rocker. It doesn't matter what he looks like being in a band is cool, super cool. He could score with anyone, I'm surprised a certain Mrs/Miss/Ms Kensit never took a piece. Their is no better way to attract a female than being a hit in the charts. Jarvis 1

A shock result but you know you agree with it. The under-dog came game in true British style. Jarvis Cocker the countries greatest Jarvis. Rejoice.

An Away Game Guide - Sheffield

2009-01-15T13:30:00.003Z

Sheffield
Population: Borough & City 530,300
Founded - 8th century

Sheffield Steelers Home Venue
Sheffield Arena
Broughton Lane
Sheffield
S9 2DF
England
Tel/ 0114 256 2002

Game Day Ticket Price:
Adults £14.95 / Students/Conc £10.50 / Family £43.00

Flights/Bus Journeys
See your local bus time-table, do something for yourself!

Pre-game drink:
You can't go wrong with going to the Arena a little bit earlier and picking up one of the wonderful Super-Pints.2 Pints in 1 It's fantastic.

Post-Game Pints:
A few hotels within 5 minutes walking distance of the Sheffield Arena, just pretend you are staying there and you'll be set up for the night.

Best Arena food:
Go with the hot dogs, very tasty and satisfying. In fact buy two at a time because you will want another after the first.

Stuff to do:
The Sheffield Ski Village is a great place to learn to Ski or Snowboard if you are bored and wondering what is their to do in Sheffield just before a game. Or if you are there a bit longer go why not visit the old Turkish bath off Glossop Road.

Anything else of note:
Don Valley stadium is nearby and you can easily gain access 24/7.
Seriously you can climb the turn styles and go in for a run or a sit down at any time of the day or night. CttH does not condone un-authorised midnight athletics meetings, unless we are taking part (again).

Starting Six - Straight From The NHL

2009-01-13T17:23:00.001Z

Straight from the NHL

Joaquin Gage

He joined the Ayr Eagles for the 01/02 ISL season. The previous year he had the joy of pulling on the Edmonton Oilers jersey. He arrived in the UK with a huge reputation and wage demand. Proved himself as a top performer

Eric Cairns

Tough guy Cairns iced in over 30 games for the London Racers during the infamous NHL lock-out season. He left his mark on the UK game after trying to knock everyone's head off.

Nick Boynton

Another NHL lockout acquistion. He skated in 19 games for the Nottingham Panthers. He was probably the biggest name and most talented player to play here during the lock-out.

Wade Belak

Belak chose to play for the Coventry Blaze after the NHL and NHLPA failed to reach an agreement. He wanted to play and the UK suited him. He once said the Fife Ice Arena was a hell hole. Ctth agrees.

Scott Nichol

Yet another lock out signing. He played for the London Racers and put up 9+19 in 24 games for the Capital based club. His brother lived in the UK at the time and he thought he would visit him for a winter.

Steve McKenna

The 6'8 D man was a Nottingham Panther for 49 games. He played with Mario Lemieux, he played with Jaromir Jagr, he played with Paul Moran.

WE ARE BACK!

2009-01-13T14:55:00.002Z

After a crash-crisis and mass time constraints hit us early season our plans to go nation wide with a CttH magazine his the skidz. We put out one glossy, special, amazing, fancy issue and that was that. Deal done, no more CttH. Oh how sad we were. Well some of us were, others partied like it was 1999. Anyway, I have a little bit of time on my hands now and I thought I would kick start some life back into the old CttH blog of grandness. I will try my best to keep up the very low, ill-informed and petty standards you expect from us. So lets get straight on with it:

Secret Life Of Jonathon Phillips - Sheffield Steelers

Did you know:

The study of hair loss has been Jonathon Phillips life's work for the last 25 years. As a Leading International hair health specialist, Jonathon Phillips has now put those years of learning to a use that will delight millions of men around the world. Phillips reveals how you can stop hair loss naturally and retain healthier, fuller thicker hair through the guidance of his new best selling book 'Hair Loss No More' You will learn to avoid the five internal/external and cosmetic factors, which cause hair loss. Thank you Jonathon Phillips

http://www.hairlossnomore.com/

Jaroslav Prosvic Photo Of The Day

2008-04-21T13:36:00.004+01:00

#80 Jaroslav Prošvic doing his shizzle (watching) for HC Caen

Stats: 25 4+5 9pts

My Teams 2007/08 Part I

2008-04-19T16:06:00.002+01:00

So all the major Euro hockey nations seasons are now over, all the champions have been crowned and a long summer without hockey is about to begin, so how did my teams get on this year:

Pardubice: - The less said the better I think. After winning the pre-season Tipsport cup the 2007/08 Czech Extraliga season turned out to be a complete nightmare for the team and the fans. The season started off with the shock death of D man Martin Cech, who passed away after losing control of his car on a journey home. Pardubice also had to start the campaign with 12 road games as the Cez Arena was being renovated. The team couldn't recover from either early season blow. That wasn't the only troubles at the club. Several of the new signings mostly on the defence failed to perform leaving Janko Lasak hanging out dry more times than not. The team just couldn't string together a winning streak and in the end they finished in 12th spot and missed out on the playoffs. The team had to compete in the very silly play-down series. I hope the powers at be ditch that idea, anyway the club survived that to put an end to a season that everyone involved with the club would like to quickly forget.

12.HC Moeller Pardubice 52 147:157 70pts

MHC Martín: - The complete opposite of Pardubice. 2007/08 was an extremely successful and break out season for MHC in Slovakia. They were extremely competitive on the ice with arguably their strongest ever roster being assembled. Captain Michal Beran led from the front with Jaro Torok and with the best netminder combination of Vlasta Lakosil and Michal Dzubina keeping out the pucks they went on to finish the regular season in 3rd place. The clubs highest ever finish to a regular season. Only a last day defeat cost them the 2nd spot. Finishing there would have secured MHC a spot in next seasons new look European Cup. In the first round of the play-offs MHC faced off against Dukla Trencin. MHC raced to a 3-0 series lead and at one point were 4-1 up in game 4. Everything looked good and the semi-finals were waiting. Dukla and especially netminder Vlad Kovac had other ideas. Trencin took game 4 and went on to win the series. MHC crashed and burned in their remaining playoff games and it took a little bit of the shine away from the excellent season long performance.

3. MHC Martin 54 169:123 102pts

Viktor Hubl Photo Of The Day

2008-04-18T18:20:00.001+01:00

Viktor Hübl shoots, Viktor Hübl scores!.... Viktor Hübl photo of the day

Slavia Celebrate In Style

2008-04-18T13:47:00.007+01:00

More at www.hc-slavia.cz

Andrej Rajcak Update

2008-04-14T16:30:00.002+01:00

Andrej Rajcak looks to have had a decent enough season over in Denmark with TotempoHvIK.

Stats: 45 21+ 35 56

His club sat in 5th place exactly mid table for most of the season but a slump in form towards the end of the regular campaign saw them slip down to finish in the 7th spot. It meant they would face off against one of the strongest if not the best team in Denmark 'Herning BlueFoxes' in the 1st round of the playoffs. Going with what I have read HvIK defied the odds a bit and despite being thumped 10-1 in the play-off opener they were actually leading the series at one point 3-1. But a big come back from the BlueFoxes forced the series to seven games. HvIK lost the decider 7-2 but after the match HvIK's head coached wasn't happy and complained that ref had sucked big time and that had cost his team the game. Andrej Rajcak also dropped the gloves for a scuffle in the decider. Herning actually went on to win the Championship with a 4-1 win in the final series.

Rajcaks's points total was 8th highest in the league. Just 3 points more though would have seen him rise to 3rd in the charts. His 21 goals led the team, he finished the year just 1 point behind Ondrej Steiner in over-all scoring for HvIK....

Playoff Edition - FREE DOWNLOAD!

2008-04-08T17:19:00.003+01:00

Ladies, gentlemen.

For those of you who were not able to attend the EIHL playoff weekend, please find a link below to our special Playoff Edition of Check to the Head that we very kindly handed out gratis to those who were able to attend.

Check to the Head Playoff Edition (2MB)

We have already begun work for next season so check back for news over the summer.

CTTH - Playoff Edition

2008-04-01T19:50:00.003+01:00

We have decided to put together a mini play-off finals special edition of Check To The Head.
The 12 page version of the fanzine will have more of an EIHL flavour to it making it more suitable to all the fans at the finals weekend. The CTTH team also decided we would give it away free to any fans that pass us by outside the NIC or that we see in the pub over the two days.

Their will also be a one off article written by a special guest editor making it a real collectors edition and of course we will have an extremely special version of Murray Manson referee phd.

So look out for it over the weekend!..... Enjoy :D

HV-71 Fans In Falkirk

2008-03-24T16:19:00.004Z

Pre last game of the regular EIHL season I was questioned on more than one occasion about my choice of hockey jersey. My mates insisted that I should have been wearing a Capitals top and that my choice of HV-71 was down right wrong for such a game.

But on my way home from the Caps victory over the Bison yesterday I was forced to depart the train at Falkirk Grahamston station due to "essential" work being carried out further down the line. So off I got with my brother and crossed over to the car park where I was being picked up to get a lift home. As I was waiting about on my parents arriving in their car I noticed a young couple staring in our direction and obviously talking about us. About five minutes later they came over to us and questioned my HV-71 jersey. It turned out they were Swedish exchange students over in Scotland studying but were from originally from Jönköping which just happens to be the home of HV-71. They said they couldn't believe their eyes when they saw me randomly walk past in what to them is an obscure Scottish town in the middle of no-where wearing the hockey jersey of their home town team. They had to come over and find out why I was there, so I stood talking to them for a little while explaining how I had been in Sweden and Jönköping earlier this year and that I had bought my top at the Kinnarps Arena just before I saw HV-71 beat Frolunda. They were so shocked about it all but that might have been down to them discovering that their was a hockey league in the UK.

So let that story be an inspiration to you all. You should wear your hockey tops all the time no matter where you go because you just don't know who you might just meet out on your travels.

Sasu Hovi Goal

2008-03-22T16:04:00.004Z

Sasu Hovi's goal against Trencin in game one of the semi-final. Hovi's shot would definitely have caused Vesa Toskala a few problems but his Slovan side who won the game 4-1now currently find themselves 3-1 down in the series.

Vlad Holík Points Machine

2008-03-21T19:53:00.003Z

Vladimír Holík, pictured above playing for Ostrava in the Czech 1.liga has been having a ball since his transfer over to Banská Bystrica in the Slovak first division. The D man sits 4th over-all for defencemen in points during the playoffs.

RD 11 4 6 10 20

It will be interesting to see if Vlad will stay on in Slovakia if B.B fail to get promoted. After all he was invited to Vitkovice's pre-season training camps and skated four or five times in the top Czech league last season too.

Euro Attendance Figures

2008-03-17T19:44:00.002Z

I am impressed once again with the loyalty shown by the Frolunda faithful despite their favourites having a rather disappointing regular season in Sweden.

Kucera - cera

2008-03-16T13:15:00.002Z

I did a Miro Droppa final regular season stats update, so I guess I should do the same for the nervous netminder that is Skalica back-up shot stopper Martin Kucera. The one time Capital's goalie finished the regular season having played in only 18 games during the season. His stats read:

Shots faced: 422

GA: 37

No. Saves: 385

Save % : 91.23%

His numbers actually make him one of the leagues best back-up netminders, with only MHC's Michal Dzubina and Poprad's Marcel Melicherčík doing better between the pipes when give the chance.

AND seeing as Iam going on about Slovak goalies. I may as well take this chance to announced that the title of worst helmet design that belonged to Vlasta Lakosil for so long has now changed hands. The rubbish helmet design award now well and truly belongs to Marek Mastič of Nitra

I hope you feel shame Marek!

Jaroslav Kudrna

2008-03-14T14:27:00.002Z

I posted this on the Caps forum a month or so ago but I really should have put it up here too:

Look at Jaro Go... Oh yes he will be a Caps player, Oh yes it shall happen

and his Magnitogorsk team mate Jan Marek showing some "sick" skills during his Trinec days: I like Marek because he told the NHL where to go. Awesome!

Some Favourites

2008-03-11T17:32:00.001Z

Seeing as I love my European hockey I thought I would write a little bit about some of my favourite European based players out there.I don't expect you to have heard of them all but if you have then consider me to be one of your new very best friends. I mean it, I really do. If you ever need a spare lung, part of a liver or just some blood I'm there for you, well I will be if you can prove you have heard of Jaroslav Török.

So lets starts with him Jaro Török, MHC Martin's #26 and top line winger. What a player!Not only does the Slovak have a wicked twisted wrister, he has the speed and the skills to match. He does the #26 a whole lot of credit. He is that good. I bet Jason Lafreniere himself would agree with that if he ever got the chance to see Török play. Török has spent all his career in Slovakia splitting the majority of his time there with MHC Martin and Zvolen. At Zvolen he was a team mates with Andrej Rajcak, Pavel Kowalczyk and Peter Konder. so I'm hoping that those three guys could put a good word in with Török for the Capitals. We might see him here if they do... and sh'yuh pigs might fly.

Another favourite of mines is Kalle Sahlstedt. A bit like former Caps D man Roland Carlsson he is a Finn with a Swedish name. Shalstedt though is an ickle 5"9 centre that has always played at the top level of Scandinavian hockey. He sets up goals and he scores them. I first became aware of Sahlstedt during his days with HV-71 in the Swedish Elitserien where he put up some fantastic numbers over four years. He then decided it was time to head back home to continue his hockey where he was lucky enough to sign for Kärpät Oulu. He has had a ton of success with them winning the SM-Liiga title a few times and has took part in the European Champions Cup. He is more or less the reason why I travelled to Northern Finland to see Kärpät play.

Next up is Petr Sykora of Pardubice, I could have chosen a few players from that team as I love Pardubice a whole lot. Don't worry though. If the Capitals ever played them I'd be at Murrayfield with my game worn Jan Krajicek top on shouting for the Caps to slay the visiting Pardubice team even when we were 10-0 down. Anyway Sykora, that's Seekora and not Sickora is a goals machine. Its no coincidence that Pardubice failing to make the playoffs this year is tied in with Sykora only bagging 23 goals, thats 13 less than last seasons total when Pardubice made it all the way to the playoff finals. A Czech international Sykora has attempted to start an NHL career twice skating for Nashville and Washington but Pardubice is his home and where he plays his best hockey. I hope he never leaves again.

Another favourite of mines and another Czech is Michal Mikeska. Yup he is a former Pardubice forward that now plys his trade in the Russian Super League with Ufa where he has been for the past two seasons. Mikeska earned that move by playing a big part in the title winning team of 04/05. He was the top scorer in Czech Extraliga that season. That's why I like him. Saying that though having Milan Hejduk, Jan Bulis, Ales Hemsky, Jiri Dopita and Petr Prucha on your side definetly helped him fire in the goals.

Last up and a netminder this time is pint sized stopper Marek Pinc. I travelled over to the Czech Republic hoping to see this guy play a few years ago. I was really looking forward to it but unfortuately his club at the time Vitkovice decided that they would play their back-up in the game I was attending. I was raging. Damn you Vitkovice. Pinc is well known over there for being a bit of a party animal and is often seen out enjoying himself to the fullest in the pubs and clubs of Ostrava. He was actually warned by his club about partying to hard and turning up to training with hang-overs but they couldn't argue with the performances he put up. Pinc has recently moved clubs to play for Liberec, a championship contending team.

Honourable mentions for the other favourites of mines are of course Jaroslav Kudrna, Viktor Hubl, Jani Pesonen, Michal Berran. Johan Davidsson and Tukko Mantyla. Pffft their are a lot of good players I like to watch play hockey. All very good at it they are too. If you have Eastside Hockey Manager why don't you sign up all of these guys and then watch your team win the silverware.

Miro Droppa

2008-03-10T12:41:00.003Z

Miro finished the season at Liptovsky Mikuláš
49 6+6 12 54PiM

His joint 2nd highest ever point production in the Slovak Extraliga and I saw him nearly have a fight. Go Miro!

Random Results

2008-03-09T23:01:00.001Z

It is playoff time in Europe and I know you are all just as excited as I am to read these very important scorelines. So where to start this time...

How about Croatia

KHL Zagreb 1-18 KHL Mladost (0:8,1:6,0:4)
This was game two of the semi-final series where only 100 people turned up at Velesajam Ice Hall. Interestingly the entire Zagreb team apart from one player who was off the ice for a valid reason at the time had been suspended for this match up after they refused to take the ice in protest after a minor penalty was called apon them 52 minutes in. Zagreb took to the ice with an under 18s squad.

Red Bull Salzburg 7-1 Vienna Capitals (2:1,5:0,0:0) - Series 4-1
So to the Austrian playoffs. I put this result in because I actually took this game in online. Red Bulls won pretty easily and the third period turned out to be a snore fest. I have actually been watching quite a lot of Austrian hockey recently and haven't been to impressed with their on ice product but maybe I shouldnt be to harsh thise time as I was watching a team with the name Capitals in it.

And in Hungary

Dunaújvárosi Acélbikák 2-6 Csíkszeredai Hockey Club(1-2, 1-1, 0-3)
I also watched this online. I love sopcast!!!The game was actually pretty competitive despite the final score-line. The 1000 spectators in the small rink were also very loud and made a great atmosphere. A dood called Patrik Bosak scored twice for the visitors.

Hijs Den Haag 2-3 Flyers Heerenveen OT(1-1 0-0 1-1 0-1) - Series 1-3
Having looked into this match up I found that the most interesting thing to come out of it is that Heerenveen have a player called Ronald de Boer

Last but not least, A semi-final result from the Belgian league

HYC Herentals 5-4 IH Leuven(1-2,0-1,4-1)
The series sits at 1-1... Exciting stuff in Belgium

Martin Cingel Interview

2008-03-08T23:30:00.004Z

Why did you choose to play hockey?

My mother wanted me and my brother to play hockey because we were very inpolite at home and when we came home after training, we were very tired and silent. Playing hockey was a sort of "punishment" for us.

In Slovakia you played in Dubnica, Puchov and Martin. Which club was the best one?

Definetaly Martin in season 2001/02. In that season I scored 19 goals, played 4 matches for the Slovak national team and had the Gold helmet for the most productive player in my team. I also played also in the slovak extraliga All-Stars game.

Had you a lot of good offers from other clubs after that season?

Yes I had a lot of good offers from teams in the Slovak Extraliga.

How did you get to British league?
I was in Britain around 1999/2000 but when I returned back to Slovakia I believed that a lot things had changed and I wanted to play again in my home country. But after the 01/02 season I was very disapointed with many things that went on and I only wanted was to return back to Britain. I only needed to pick up my telephone and call there.

Can you compare the conditions in Slovak extraliga and British Elite league?

I will try to compare the incomparable. The first thing I have to mention is that for Slovaks it is hard to believe that sports like darts, billiard, curling or dog races can be more popular than hockey. Popularity of hockey in Slovakia is huge in comparison to Britain. In the British newspapers it is impossible to find anything about hockey. The conditions in Elite League are varying. The club is run mostly only by two people who try to keep the club in a positive way because if the club is not run well it goes bankrupt like all the other firms in the world. The club has also to pay rent for the stadium which is a little bit different from back home.

Can you tell us what is your sallary? How are payed the players in Britain? Are there big differences between domestic and foreing players?

I dont want to talk about specific numbers of my salary but I can tell you that it is like the salary of the better players in the Slovak extraliga. The best paid player in the British League is paid every bit as much as the best 20 players in Slovak extraliga. Foreigners are paid much betterin the UK but some domestic players are also very well paid

Can you compare Elite League and Slovak Extraliga also by the quality of hockey?

Some people in Slovakia think that it is very easy to play here for import players but this is not true. 90% of players here are from USA and Canada and there are also some former NHL players like Theo Fleury 3 years ago and that means that the game is very physical with hard hits. The British league also a lot of good hockey fights, we don't see that as much in Slovakia. Each club in the EIHL can sign up to 10 foreign players and the teams mostly play with 3 attacking and 2 deffensive lines.Tthis league is not easy to play also because we play nearly every weekend with games back to back on saturday and sunday.

How are the hockey fans in Britain?

The average attedance is 2000 people. but when there is an attractive match like between Sheffield and Nottingham you might see about 7000 in the stadium, maybe a sell out. Each club also has its own fanclub and the biggest ones like in Belfast, Sheffield and Nottingham can bring up to about 1000 people to games

And what about the Scotish club Edinburgh Capitals which you play for?

The Capitals are one of the youngest clubs in Elite League. The club has been around for only 10 years and the owner is Scott Neil is a former player of British national team. The average attedance here is about 1000 people. Two years ago you were the biggest star of the Caps. What about this year? The season before this one was not bad although I was very sad that we didnt get into play-off. I was the best scorer and also the most productive player also with Andrej Rajcak. I owe thanks to my great teammates for that season. Before that season, our GM asked me if I knew some good players who could play for the Caps. So after a few telephone calls we had a Czecho-Slovak line with Lúža-Kowalczyk, Cingel-Rajcak-Slak (Slak-Slovenian player). And for this season the coach brought good former NHL players like Colin Hemingway (St. Louis Blues) and Mike Stutzel (Pheonix Coyotes)

How do you see your hockey future? what ambitions do you have?

I am 32 years old but I still like playing hockey very much! I want to play as long as possible and my dream is to be succesful with my club Edinburgh Capitals because the fans really deserve it. How did you adjust to life in Scotland? I knew a bit about Britain because I already had been there. I hadnt any problems with language, but Scotish accent was very hard to understand for a while (laughter). Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in the world So my family loved it. The only thing which we didnt like were ther rainy winters.The people are very friendly here and I have also a lot of good friends here now.

Have you ever wanted to go back to Slovakia?

Of course. Everyone who goes to live or to work in a foreign country experiences these situations. The Scottish accent was very difficult to understand to begin with but with the help of my family and friends I got through it and Iam now very settled in Scotland.

Do you watch Slovak Extraliga? Could you give us the teams which will place on the first 3 places this year?

I keep in touch with some of my former teammates so I know what is going on back home. I also watch it through internet, mostly on hokejportal.sk. I am interesterd in MHC Martin and I am very happy that they are so succesful this year.The first 3 teams will be 1. Slovan Bratislava 2. Dukla Trencin 3. MHC Martin

Check to the head would like to thanks Milan Ftorek for translating the interview from Slovak into English for us

What the...

2008-03-04T16:09:00.003Z

'Чецк то тхе хеад' < - Check To The Head Russian Styleeeee

Thanks to the wonders of sopcast and myp2p.eu I have been extremely occupied with watching hockey from all over Europe and have completely forgotten about doing updates for the blog. If you don't have sopcast why they hell not? Get it and enjoy all the lovely sports :0)

In the last few weeks I have caught games from Slovakia, Sweden, Russia, Italy, Austria, Germany and tonight it looks like some French hockey is going to be broadcast too. So if you are sitting bored through the week looking for a hockey fix and think that their is nothing on other than the extremely boring and characterless NHL well THINK again!

Check it out, download sopcast and hit myp2p.eu, then send all the thanks to the CTTH team!

The Playoff Run-In

2008-01-29T22:44:00.001Z

So the end is almost upon us and despite the disapointing result last Sunday playoff qualification is still a possibility.

The gap is down to seven points but Sunday's victory not only handed a point to the Bison but the OT victory will also not help our chances if it comes down to tie-breakers.

I've drawn up a wee graphic of both our and the Bison's fixtures until the end of the season. It's fairly self explanatory: the numbers down the side is the date of the game, the H column is home, A for away and the fixtures in grey are Cup games.

As you can see the Nottingham game returning to the original date of the 9th has helped unclog the final couple of weeks. Many fans have pointed to the amount of away fixtures we have towards the end of the season but the Bison have it just as bad, if not worse. The end of season game at Murrayfield will quite possibly be the big one but Basingstoke's tough Cov(A), Bel(A), Cov(H) schedule beforehand gives us an opportunity to take the edge leading in to the possible showdown.

The Hampshire club may have the advantage of two games in hand over us at the moment but we only have to play the big four clubs (Cov, Bel, She, Not) three times more whereas Basingstoke face them nine times. It's imperative that we gain ground on them in our fixtures against a mediocre Phoenix side (four times), an out of sorts Cardiff (x2) and the one team we've had little trouble with this season, Hull (x2).

A home win against an improving Vipers side on Sunday coupled with a Blaze backlash for the Bison could set us well on our way to qualification.

CTTH NEWS-FLASH

2008-01-27T14:31:00.000Z

BUY IT!

Novy Cas Famous

2008-01-11T20:04:00.001Z

WHEN WILL I, WILL I BE FAMOUS???...I CAN ANSWER THAT. RIGHT NOW Y'ALL!

We're so hot in Slovakia right now!. Yeah that's right 50% of the 'Check To The Head' team were headline news in the sports section of the countries #1 selling 'newspaper'. Not only were we the biggest story in the paper we got more coverage than the Spice Girls and Marian Hossa put together, that's how HOT! we are. Slovakia just can't get enough of me and my bearded friend.

Another highlight of the week spent touring around Slovakia was us getting to see #77 Miro Droppa ice once again. The Liptovsky Mikulas 'A' looked his lazy ass self but get this. He has went and bought himself an angry streak. The D man with the laser dropped the gloves in a fit of rage and was ready to off-load some hurt-bombs. The ever so brave linesmen saved the Trencin guy from an obvious pummeling...

After all that excitement you would think our holiday just couldn't get any better. Well my friends and anonymous readers of CTTH it did. Look at what we found in our hostel/hotel/penzion room?!... Check it out!....

Oh yeah, some fanny! Bet you didn't expect that eh?.... It was also the closest "JRM" came to actually seeing some all week.

Better late than never

2007-12-30T14:32:00.000Z

The power rankings are a bit closer this week as Coventry and Cardiff's injuries start catching up with them. Newcastle seem to be gaining some of their respectability back while Coventry's challengers at the top of the table are all keeping up the pressure with good runs of late.
In Caps land our recent run of "form" has been undermined by Basingstoke, Manchester and Hull's insistance of picking up points every now and again.

Sheffield    5.97
Belfast      5.49
Nottingham   4.91
Coventry     3.53
Basingstoke 3.24
Newcastle    2.86
Manchester   2.43
Edinburgh    1.66
Cardiff      1.42
Hull         1.22

A Message From Martin Cingel

2007-12-23T22:46:00.000Z

He reads it and so should you! ;p

Tappara - Jyvaskyla - Karpat - Espoo

2007-12-14T19:28:00.000Z

I aslo did my ' check out the rinks ' videos during my tour. I took these for my own interest really and so I'll always remember what they looked like incase I never get the chance to visit them again. So if you are interested have a look at the following vids:

Tampere Ice Hall

Jyvaskyla Hippodrome

Oulun Energia Areena

Also not Jarko Soumalinen in the white pads!

LänsiAuto Areena

Power Rankings Update: Caps Still Pish

2007-12-14T18:48:00.000Z

With the win over Coventry fading from memory the Capitals return to their rightful place at the bottom of the Power Rankings. In Cardiff things have gone a bit Vipers of late with two straight defeats and they're heading Capswards in the rankings.

Coventry     6.01
Sheffield    4.08
Belfast      3.59
Nottingham   3.23
Cardiff      3.05
Basingstoke 2.71
Manchester   1.24
Newcastle    0.93
Hull         0.93
Edinburgh    0.08

Caps Representi' Ayee

2007-12-14T18:29:00.001Z

I should have done this ages ago but it's only now that I can actually be arsed writing something up on here. So here it is. Its lots of me and lots of representing the Edinburgh Capitals at rinks around Finland and Sweden. I got plenty of looks from the locals but I'm puting that down to my rather attractive yet slightly cheeky smile and not down to the fact I was wearing a completely obscure hockey top to them. Also note the patented double thumbs up Caps Representin' pose, it is a regular feature!

So first on the left there is moi in Oulu. The home of the ever so mighty Karpat. I look so comfortable in this pic but in reality I was freezing my ass off. It was -8 or something so I quickly pulled off the coat and gloves so everybody could see the awesomeness of the Edinburgh 02/03 away jersey. I stood out even more than normal ( Again I put that down to my sleek smile ) due to the fact that home team play in black and yellow and the away team on the night TPS play in white and black:

Next rink up for the Jan Krajicek game worn top to be shown off at was the LänsiAuto Areena in Espoo. Their wasn't much of a crowd at the Blues vs Kalpa game but this rink could arguably be the most comfy rink my buttocks have ever had the pleasure of sitting down at. The Sazka Arena would probably have some beef with that last statement but the LänsiAuto Areena had megapussi on sale so it wins out. Slightly, well maybe not the Sazka is just so good.

I aslo represented the Capitals in Jyvaskyla earlier in the tour showing off the much travelled top in all its glory. I was in the cramped standing section of the rink so couldn't really get a quality picture. I also took in Tappara vs Jokerit but was out and about pre-game and unfortunately forgot to wear to my jersey. I apologise for my forgetfulness. I think that's a word, isn't it???

From Finland and Helsinki I jumped on a Blue1 plane and flew over to Stockholm. This was my first ever Swedish experience. First game up for the Krajicek jersey was Djurgården vs MODO at the Hovet rink. The little brother of the near-by Globen Arena. The jersey was worn through-out the game but I thought grabbing a snap of a Caps top at the Globen would be far more impressive, so here it is. ENJOY!

From there it was on to the nice little town of Jönköping the home of HV-71. There I was fortunate enough to catch HV vs Frolunda. The match up was a complete sell out and unlucky for me so was my camera. The batteries packed in pre-game and I couldn't get a shot of me thumbsing it up at the biggest game of the entire holiday. So instead have a look at their quality jumbotron. The HV-71 hardcore fans were out in full force and were singing songs an hour before the game started. The club should be proud of their fans thats for sure. As for the game itself HV dominated especially when Jan Hrdina was on the puck. He was fantastic that night.

JUMBO!

Last up for us after a short train journey to Göteborg and the Scandinavium. We were there to see Frolunda vs Lulea. In Finland we had actually seen these two play each other on TV with Frolunda winning something like 7-1 on the road. So we were expecting another one sided contest. We got one but it was Lulea that was doing the goal scoring this time. Former NHL star Ľuboš Bartečko was uber impressive, scoring twice on breakaway moves. It turned out to be Lulea's first victory at Frolunda for seven years...

It's Christmas Come Early!

2007-12-04T19:57:00.001Z

Check to the Head issue #4 should be on newsstands (i.e. in my bag) this Saturday for the first of the weekend's games against the Giants. For those whose attendance is issue dependent then I'd give the odds of copies being on sale as slightly higher than that of us wearing legacy jerseys as predicted by the Capitals' "Management".

December's issue is a must purchase for anyone who wants to know Martin Cingel's opinion on the quickest rail route between various Slovak destinations and a quality stocking filler for those who are wondering what the various options for food are inside the LänsiAuto Areena.

I've just about finished off my pieces for this issue which probably means Dave is sitting in front of Adobe Acrobat staring at a column sized hole that is the only one needing filled before the issue hits the press.

Right, that's enough skiving, back to the grindstone...

Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are...

2007-12-04T19:17:00.000Z

...that I've not grown tired of maintaining a results spreadsheet to create power rankings that very few people other than myself (and even that's pushing it) take notice of.

Coventry 5.95
Cardiff 4.16
Sheffield 3.90
Belfast 3.57
Nottingham 3.29
Manchester 1.74
Basingstoke 1.73
Newcastle 1.22
Edinburgh 0.37
Hull 0.08

Bonjour From Finland

2007-11-18T12:31:00.000Z

First up, Im using a very weird Finnish style keyboard, letters are in the wrong place and buttons don't do the things they are supposed to do. So forgive the mistakes if I actually make any when writing this...

As I type this im sitting in a small yet very stylish looking internet cafe just off the main shopping street of Jyväskylä town centre. It's a nice little place, friendly people and lots of bars around to enjoy the wonders of Finnish booze. I highly reccomend the Karjala and Koff beers but the 6 Euro asking price is a bit steep in anyone's langague, will maybe not for the Parisians and their rip off costs... ANYWAY!!!

So far Ive been in two towns and caught to SM-Liiga match ups. The other night there I was in Tampere to see Tappara take on Jokerit. It was more or less a complete sell out and the home-side didn't disappoint. Tappara were victorious 4-3 after OT. Then last night I was at another sold out game. I had to accept standing area tickets but I didnt mind this at all as I thought the standing area would be home to the ultras and the loudest fans. I was wrong!!!.
I guess the JyP fans don't do the Czech\Slovak thing of going mental behind the goals. I still managed to see a good close match-up with supreme skating skills on show. The home-side won during OT to record a 3-2 victory...

Next up for me is Kärpät vs TPS further north. Really looking forward to this one!

Power Rankings Update

2007-11-14T19:58:00.000Z

Coventry, Sheffield and Manchester slip to all time lows this week with the Blaze's losses to Newcastle and the Capitals ranking them as only the sixth most in-form team in the EIHL. Cardiff have now won twelve on the trot while Edinburgh's victory over Coventry has resulted in Hull being crowned the worst team of the last five weeks.

Cardiff 6.32
Newcastle 3.98
Belfast 3.46
Sheffield 3.40
Nottingham 2.94
Coventry 2.87
Basingstoke 2.01
Edinburgh 0.95
Manchester 0.79
Hull 0.37

No update next week as I'll be stalking Miroslav Droppa in Slovakia.

Issue 3 Preview

2007-11-13T14:21:00.000Z

If you are still not sure about the quality or genius of the Check To The Head Edinburgh Capitals Fanzine the usual three page preview has been uploaded to the blog. Again as per normal it is over on the right hand side of the window. So go on have a look and love it!!.

NAME THE STANDS

2007-11-12T22:52:00.000Z

Well us here at Check to the Head have decided it’s about time we took the time to celebrate those players and memories that sum up what we as the faithful followers of failure go through. Over numerous £1 bottles of Carlsberg and some excellent food at the Castle Arms the editorial panel of the awesome CTTH publication drew up a shortlist of potential names for the Murrayfield stands.So we have shoved up a poll on the blog over at the

checktothehead.blogspot.com website where you can vote for your favourite choice. On December 8th the votes shall be counted and the stands shall be christened. The poll toppers shall thereafter be the name of choice in all references to the seated sections of the MIR by the editors and hopefully yourselves both in this magazine and online. If we can be ****d we might even make up some signs to celebrate it all

The poll choices are over there, so get voting ------------>>>

Power Rankings w/c 5/11

2007-11-07T20:19:00.000Z

Change at the top as Cardiff's ten games without a loss puts them ahead of Coventry whilst Newcastle's eleven wins in twelve rank them as one of the league's form teams.
At the bottom Basingstoke overtake Manchester despite their financial worries and the Caps are just keeping their head above water.

Cardiff 6.43
Coventry 4.45
Newcastle 4.35
Sheffield 3.47
Nottingham 2.87
Belfast 2.61
Basingstoke 1.17
Manchester 1.12
Hull 0.62
Edinburgh 0.13

2 Man Advantage - Home opener

2007-10-30T20:19:00.000Z

The new 2 man advantage vid...enjoy

Spin Petr Spin

2007-10-25T15:52:00.000+01:00

Zlín's Petr Leška pulls off the most electrifying move in hockey entertainment today:

The Leška Spinerooni!

Power Rankings update

2007-10-24T22:06:00.001+01:00

Well, assuming we lose to Newcastle in tonight's Sky Sports game (we're currently busy throwing away a 0-2 lead), the power rankings will look as follows:

Coventry 6.01
Newcastle 4.28 -1
Sheffield 4.38 +1
Manchester 2.56 -1
Nottingham 1.95 -2
Cardiff 3.57 +2
Basingstoke 1.59 -1
Belfast 2.30 +2
Hull 1.25
Edinburgh -0.02

Even a slight re-jigging of the formula can't stop the Caps dropping into the negative.

Czech Extraliga Round 15

2007-10-23T20:48:00.000+01:00

Vítkovice Steel 1-2 Liberec - All three goals came in the 3rd period where Jiří Burger's goal was sandwiched between two Liberec markers. Stanislav Procházka slotted home an un-assisted marker at 41.32 b just over two minutes later my favourite Burger bagged the leveler. The Ostrava side weren't on level pegging for very long though as less than a minute later the Whiter Tigers were back infront through a Lukáš Vantuch goal. The third period also saw Liberec D man recieve 2+10+20

Slavia 6-0 Ústí nad Labem - Slavia continued their impressive form with a convicing hammering being handed out to Ústí. The Extralíga's new boys were chasing the game from the 12th minute after veteran forward Jaroslav Bednář gave the home side the lead. Slavia's advantage was tripled in the 2nd before the route was completed in the 3rd with three more goals being scored. It was also an easy night for Adam Svoboda, the much travelled goalie turned away the 19 shots he faced.

RI OKNA Zlín 4-3 GEUS OKNA Kladno OT - Kladno went into this game three players down. The short benched team put in a solid performance a came from behind twice to force the game into OT. Lubomír Vosátko decided matter 1.55 into the over-time period.

Třinec 4-1 Karlovy Vary - Třinec were 4-0 up and victorious after only 23.02. The goals came from Róbert Tomík, David Květoň bagged a double and Juraj Štefanka made it four. Třinec also managed to do what few have done this season by keeping Petr Kumstát off the score sheet.

Litvínov 5-4 Sparta SO - All four netminders involved in tonights game saw ice time. Litvinov iced former Slavia man/sieve Petr Franěk, he let in one and last seasons rookie of the year Jaroslav Hübl also got some action. He let in three. For Sparta Duba let in four whilst Vsetín product Martin Štefl iced for 52 minutes, faced 29 shots and conceeded just the one goal.

Plzeň 4-2 Mountfield - Plzeň went into this game short-benched and thanks to some goalie magic from Roman Málek secured the victory and the points. The 'ickle' netminder had 49 stops. But I predict he'll be skating in the 1.liga come play-off time. C.B's #26 Mr. Viktor Hübl was scoreless.

Moeller Pardubice 7-0 Znojmo - Back to back wins for Pardubice and I bet a hell of a lot of frustrations were released on Znojmo tonight. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come in the next ten games or so for Pardubice. A good run of results and the leagues best team will be back in the play-off picture. As for the game itself. Janco the Slovak goalie that is as fragile as a ceramic statue balancing one legged on a tight-rope had a good night. He turned away thirty shots on his way to the shut-out. Petr Sýkora opened the scoring in the first period, claimed his second of the night after 30:33 - Pardubice scored four times in the 2nd - Sýkora then went on to complete his hat-trick at 46:09 and Tomáš Rolinek made it 7-0 with just over six minutes left in the game. CONFIDENCE INSPIRING PERFORMANCE!

1.HC Slavia Praha 15 66:35 35
2.Bílí Tygři Liberec 15 50:33 34
3.HC MOUNTFIELD 15 51:36 31
4.HC Energie Karlovy Vary 15 51:36 29
5.HC Sparta Praha 15 41:36 27
6.HC Oceláři Třinec 15 42:32 26

7.HC Lasselsberger Plzeň 1549:46 24
8.HC Vítkovice Steel 1541:44 21
9.HC Litvínov 15 45:51 18
10.HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi 15 31:49 16

11.RI OKNA Zlín 15 38:57 16
12.HC Moeller Pardubice 15 41:50 15
13.HC Znojemští Orli 15 29:45 14
14.HC GEUS OKNA Kladno 15 31:56 9

Extraliga Round 13

2007-10-20T11:59:00.000+01:00

HC Mountfield 5-6 HC Energie Karlovy Vary SO (2:2, 2:0, 1:3 - 0:0)

11. Hudec (Hübl), 20. Brabenec (Hübl), 22. Šimánek (Kůrka), 29. Hřebejk, 50. Toman (Hudec) 6. Kumstát (Skuhravý), 10. Skladaný (Kristek), 46. Hluchý (Kraft), 47. Kumstát (Košťál), 48. Melenovský, 66. Bílek

An amazing game for the sell out attendance to witness. Karlovy Vary mean business this year, I picked them to kick ass and so far, so good. They have a strong team that has come together so well over the off season and for me the signature of Bílek was a clear indication of thier intentions for the 07/08 campaign. So I shouldn't be surprised.

HC Znojemští Orli 1-4 HC Oceláři Třinec (0:1, 1:2, 0:1)

38. Růžička (Tesařík) -1. Tomík (Sekeráš), 28. Květoň (Peterek), 35. Tomík (Štefanka),
50. Polanský (Peterek)

HC GEUS OKNA Kladno 3-2 HC Moeller Pardubice OT (0:1, 1:1, 1:0 - 1:0)

23. Tenkrát (Kalla), 50. Procházka (Ševc), 64. Kalla (Ševc)
11. Havíř (Pivko), 39. Havíř (Pucher)

Losing to Kladno sucks, the players will know it, the fans know it and Milos Riha should certainly know it. I give him one or two more silly defeats and he'll be out the Cez Arena door!.

HC Sparta Praha 1-3 HC Lasselsberger Plzeň (1:0, 0:1, 0:2)

15. Ton (Vaic)
35. Ludvík (Čakajík), 50. Důras (Vampola), 56. Dvořák (Kracík)

HC Slavia Praha 7-0 HC Vítkovice Steel (2:0, 0:0, 5:0)

15. Červenka (Bednář), 20. Žižka (Duda), 1. Červenka (Bednář), 45. Duda (Kadlec), 47. Duda (Růžička), 53. Vondrka (Bednář), 60. Bednář (Červenka)

Bílí Tygři Liberec 5-3 RI Okna Zlín (2:1, 1:1, 2:1)

5. Procházka (Pabiška), 20. Plodek (Klimenta), 30. Plodek (Hunkes), 51. Jiruš (Nedorost), 54. Víšek (Plodek) -
11. Balaštík (Leška), 38. Záhorovský (Balán), 59. Balaštík (Leška)

Could this be the new beginnings of the old 'Balaštík - Leška' combo that worked so well for Zlín in the past?.

1. HC MOUNTFIELD 13 48:28 31
2. HC Slavia Praha 13 56:34 29
3. HC Energie Karlovy Vary 13 48:28 29
4. Bílí Tygři Liberec 13 45:30 29
5. HC Sparta Praha 13 33:28 23
6. HC Lasselsberger Plzeň 13 41:39 21

7. HC Oceláři Třinec 13 36:30 20
8. HC Vítkovice Steel 13 35:38 18
9. HC Litvínov 13 39:44 16
10. HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi 13 29:40 15

11. RI OKNA Zlín 13 31:50 14
12. HC Znojemští Orli 13 26:37 11
13. HC Moeller Pardubice 13 30:48 9
14. HC GEUS OKNA Kladno 13 27:50 8

Random Historical World Championships Moment Of The Week

2007-10-17T21:31:00.000+01:00

Canada vs Czech Republic 1997

Canadian goons ;p

Sorted at last

2007-10-17T19:37:00.000+01:00

Finally I have managed to secure tickets for every game during my Finland-Sweden tour. I will now 100% for sure be seeing DIF vs Modo, the defending Swedish champions and contract holders of crazy Karol Krizan. I will then travel to Jönköpings for a massive Eliteserien fixture. HV-71 vs Frolunda. The Swedes I have spoken to online assure me that one will be a 9000 sell out, so I'm uber happy at securing good tickets for that match up. Frolunda themselves though were being a proper pain in the arse by not releasing their tickets to the Swedish hockey online providers. I was waiting on securing tickets for their match up against Lulea at the Scandinavium. I have been looking at the website every day for about two months now with no success then last night,I randomly checked the ticnet.se just in case and to my utter delight the Indians had finally got their brains into gear and had provided the tickets for sale. The seats aren't amazing but getting to see a team of their quality for £16.50 is a certain bargain buy.

The Finnish games I'll be seeing won't sell out so I have no ticket worries over those fixtures. I will be catching Tampere vs Jokerit, Karpat vs TPS and Blues vs Kalpa. Now all I have to do it sit and wait for 14th of November!

Another depressing Power Rankings update

2007-10-15T19:47:00.001+01:00

Well, Coventry remain well clear at the top after having a weekend off in Denmark. Newcastle and Sheffield's continued their undefeated runs and have moved up a spot each.
Down at the other end of the table two heavy defeats for Hull have seen them plummet whilst Cardiff's turnaround at Basingstoke's expense has seen the Welsh outfit rise to a respectable mid-table position.

1. Coventry 6.29
2. Newcastle 4.34 +1
3. Sheffield 4.14 +1
4. Manchester 3.24 -2
5. Nottingham 2.97
6. Cardiff 2.70 +2
7. Basingstoke 2.43 -1
8. Belfast 1.68 +1
9. Hull 0.72 -2
10.Edinburgh 0.18

Extraliga Round 12

2007-10-14T23:14:00.000+01:00

Třinec 2-0 Sparta - Martin Vojtek pulled out all the stops as he denied Sparta on 40 occassions. Rostislav Martynek and former NHLer Ľubomír Sekeráš both put the puck past Tomáš Duba who also had a busy night between the piper. The stopper had 35 saves.

RI OKNA Zlín 2-4 Vítkovice Steel - Vítkovice secured the win late on in the 3rd period. They scored twice in the last 3 minutes of the game.

Litvínov 5-3 Mountfield - The surprise result of the night that once again proves just how competitive the Extraliga is this season. Litvinov blew the league leaders away in the 1st period by scoring 4 power play goals. "Mountfield" then found themselves 5-0 down after 28 minutes and even the magic of Viktor Hubl who bagged C.Bs first of the night couldn't help the visitors recover.

Ústí nad Labem 1-4 Moeller Pardubice - At long last a Pardubice victory!. Hopefully this win and a return to playing at the Cez Arena will spark a revival in the Extraliga's best support club. Pardubice won the 1st period 2-0 with goals from Koukal and Stary. Petr Sýkora then increased the advantage to 3-0 early in the 2nd before Tomáš Klimt got Ústi on the score-board. Pardubice completed the scoring very late on in the 3rd through Radovan Somík.

GEUS OKNA Kladno 0-3 Slavia - Kladno currently wish Vsetín were still in the league so someone else would be the worst team in the top division. Jagr's former club have started the season poorly and I can't see that changing in the near future.

Plzeň 3-4 Liberec OT - Leoš Čermák continued his good form by scoring during regulation time and by bagging the over-time winner for the White Tigers

Karlovy Vary 2-1 Znojmo OT - A Petr Kumstát double including the OT winner gets Karlovy Vary Back to winning ways.

1. HC MOUNTFIELD 12 43:22 30
2. HC Energie Karlovy Vary 12 42:23 27
3. HC Slavia Praha 12 49:34 26
4. Bílí Tygři Liberec 12 40:27 26
5. HC Sparta Praha 12 32:25 23
6. HC Vítkovice Steel 12 35:31 18

7. HC Lasselsberger Plzeň 12 38:38 18
8. HC Oceláři Třinec 12 32:29 17
9. HC Litvínov 12 38:42 15
10. HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi 12 27:39 13

11. HC Znojemští Orli 12 25:33 11
12. RI OKNA Zlín 11 26:44 11
13. HC Moeller Pardubice 11 27:43 8
14. HC GEUS OKNA Kladno 12 24:48 6

Why do they continue with this claptrap?

2007-10-12T22:54:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow is the first Panthers vs Steelers fixture of the season. Apparently there have been 5,000 tickets sold already, which is to be applauded, but why do official press releases (this time an article on the EIHL website) still bandy about the following myth?

"The action on Saturday starts at 7pm. Nottingham and Sheffield are the biggest
rivals in the sport in Europe."

I doubt there is one fan of either team, let alone any other hockey fan in Europe, who actually believes this kind of codswallop. It's akin to claiming Raith vs Cowden as the biggest derby in Scots football.
The Panthers/Steelers rivalry has, if anything, lost some of its edge over the last few years and there is nothing in the UK that can live up to the rivalries that exist on the continent.

A while ago now we were debating which rivalry was the biggest Europe and one of my posts was surprisingly replied to by ex-Cap Goran Karlsson who once played for Steaua Bucharest, his tales of police escorts for players before a game for the Romanian championship. When you look at the following video from the game you get an idea why!

For the record, Steaua (in red) lost the game and the championship but were welcomed home as heroes as their fans judged them to have won the fight.

Issue 2 Sample

2007-10-11T17:24:00.000+01:00

The eagle eyed amongst our blog fans will have noticed that their is now an ickle sample of issue number two appearing on the site. So go on Check To The Head fans from all over the globe, click the link, have a peak, take a butchers at the lastest going ons!

The link itself is over there somewhere ----------->>>
Just follow the arrows, that's all you have to do, then click the appropriate link of course to reach the journalistic treasure that is the 2nd sample.

Power Rankings Update

2007-10-10T21:53:00.000+01:00

As premiered in issue two of the Check to the Head fanzine, the CttH Power Rankings are a guide to current form of the ten EIHL teams based losely around the same formula that FIFA use to determine that Scotland are the world's fourteenth best football team.

After the weekend's games it's not surprising to see the Caps slide further down the list as old memories of home victories over Hull and Sheffield were replaced by fresher ones of defeat.
Going the other way are Newcastle whose wins against strong Sheffield and Manchester sides have propelled them up the rankings. The Coventry Blaze sponsored #1 position is still held by the Coventry Blaze.

Full rankings:

Coventry 6.29
Manchester 4.75
Newcastle 3.62 +2
Sheffield 3.60 -1
Nottingham 3.26 -1
Basingstoke 2.93 +1
Hull 1.91 +1
Cardiff 1.14 +2
Belfast 1.11
Edinburgh 0.61 -4

Extrliga Update

2007-10-08T01:31:00.000+01:00

RI Okna Zlín 2-7 HC Slavia Praha(0:2, 1:2, 1:3) - Some rumours circling that Petr Cajanek could make his way back to Zlín

29. Kubiš (Rachůnek), 51. Nosek

6. Bednář (Červenka), 19. Duda (Růžička), 30. Tomica (Hlavačka), 33. Bednář (Hlavačka), 41. Rataj, 47. Micka (Červenka), 50. Hruška (Žižka)

Bílí Tygři Liberec 5-2 HC Litvínov(2:1, 2:0, 1:1)

9. Kašpařík (Čermák), 18. Krstev (Hunkes), 27. Klimenta (Krstev), 38. Čermák (Pabiška), 57. Pabiška (Procházka)

7. Bahenský (Bednařík), 48. Trávníček (Benda)

HC Sparta Praha 1-4 HC Mountfield (1:1, 0:2, 0:1) Česko budějovice mean business this year

7. Sivek (Melichárek)
18. Hřebejk (Hudec), 27. Hudec (Toman), 29. Hřebejk (Šimánek), 54. Sailer

HC Lasselsberger Plzeň 2-0 HC Moeller Pardubice (0:0, 0:0, 2:0) - PCE Goalie Jan Lasak made his come back after injury and well the team need him to get back to his best straight away. I love Pardubice and hope they can move up the table to gain some respectability sometime soon.

44. Divíšek (Čakajík), 44. Důras (Benák)

HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi 2-1 HC Energie Karlovy Vary (0:1, 1:0, 0:0 - 1:0) - SO

33. Janků (Vágner), 1. Zápočný

11. Grof (Zucker)

HC GEUS OKNA Kladno 4-2 HC Znojemští Orli (2:0, 2:1, 0:1)
17. Horna (Tenkrát), 20. Procházka M. (Bělohlav), 33. Ševc (Kalla), 35. Čurilla (Tenkrát) -

39. Meidl (Padělek), 47. Dopita (Chvátal)

1. HC MOUNTFIELD 8 31:16 21
2. HC Energie Karlovy Vary 8 30:14 20
3. HC Slavia Praha 8 34:23 19
4. HC Sparta Praha 8 25:15 18
5. Bílí Tygři Liberec 8 20:15 16
6. HC Oceláři Třinec 9 26:26 11

7. RI OKNA Zlín 7 20:26 11
8. HC Vítkovice Steel 9 23:24 10
9. HC Znojemští Orli 8 21:22 10
10. HC Lasselsberger Plzeň 8 25:31 9

11. HC Litvínov 8 22:28 8
12. HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi 8 20:28 8
13. HC Moeller Pardubice 7 16:30 4
14. HC GEUS OKNA Kladno 8 16:31 3

Cingel All The Way

2007-10-06T23:37:00.000+01:00

Capitals living legend and former MHC Martín forward Martin Cingel tonight received a gift from the supporters. Martin is now in his 6th season with the Capitals so for his loyalty to the club through the good and not so good times and for his all round brilliantness the fans decided to show their appreciation...

He also said to the CTTH team tonight that he hoped to be around Edinburgh for another five years. I hope so!

Cingel All The Way

Video Blog

2007-10-02T17:14:00.000+01:00

VIDEO BLOG TIME!!!....

So four Youtube videos that should have appeared here yesterday but I was way to lazy to upload.

Capitals vs Cardiff - The Fights, well the parts of them. My reactions are getting slow in my old age.

And again...

And now some from the NHL games at the O2 Dome Game 1

Despite seeing the Stanley Cup champions play and Mr Kopitar ice, Marek Zidlicky remains the best skater I've seen.

Mid-Week Preview

2007-10-01T20:27:00.000+01:00

Panthers vs Capitals 2/10/07

The first road trip of the new season could hardly be any harder than this mid-week double header. The Capitals will making the long journey down to Nottingham for a Tuesday night fixture before hitting the road again for a game against the Blaze the following night. Nottingham will be expected to take the points on home ice but hopefully we will have our young British players available so we should be at full strength too. Mid week games have proven to be a nightmare scenario for the Capitals in the past and these two games could prove to be yet another no-win situation for the team. Being positive though we have began the campaign well have been extremely competitive in our fixtures so far. I can't see the Panthers games being any different to what has gone before. We will be solid and difficult to score against. Christiansen will have us set up to hit on the break and will hope that we can take any chances that might come our way. The Panthers game will be another tester as to how far the team has come on since last season but if we are going to win a game on this trip a victory against the Panthers is more likely.

Capitals key-man: J.F Perras - a good result could rest on his shoulders
Panther key-man: Johan Molin - could control the flow of the game.

Blaze vs Capitals 3/10/07

The second fixture of the mid-week double header and it doesn't get any easier for the Capitals. The Blaze have been tipped by many to repeat their success of last season and if they want to do just that they will see the games against the Capitals as must win match ups. So going with that and the many times in the past the Caps have travelled to Coventry mid-week and came away with a thumping will inspire The Blaze. They will will be up for this game. We will have to match their hunger.The Caps will have had a tough absorbing encounter the night before so the players bodies won't be as fresh going into this match 24 hours later. We will hopefully have our three lines to role out to spread out the ice time. We will almost certainly have to keep things very tight at the back for the first twenty minutes or so or we could be on to a hiding. The players will need to really focus on the job that has to be done. We do have quality, experienced players and If each one of them can keep it steady on their shifts we could prove to be a thorn in the Blaze's side. We are capable of stealing something against Coventry this year. A win here would be a spectacular and an almost unbelievable result for the team. Think France vs Scotland. The rest of the league would certainly recognise the Capitals are force to stand up and take note of if we come away with the points.

Capitals key-man: Ryan Crane - A strong showing is a must
Blaze key-man: Curtis Huppe - Blaze's go to guy

Pardubice Win Again

2007-09-27T19:28:00.000+01:00

Litvínov 1-2 Moeller Pardubice - Shoot Out Win
16. Hranáč (Benda) - 45. Snopek, 66. Pivko

Libor Pivko netted his 2nd shoot out winner in a matter of days to give Pardubice back to back victories for the first time this season. Litvínov had led the match up going into the third period of the game from a goal bagged by defenseman Jan Hranáč. Alexandr Hylák who had replaced Jan Lašák in the net for the match up back stopped the visitors back into the game. Pardubice levelled through a Jan Snopek effort after 45 minutes. The teams couldn't be seperated through the over-time period either so it was up to Pivko to do the business during the shoot out.

Last seasons beaten finalists have now moved up the league to sit in 11th place. 1 point ahead of Ústi nad Labem, Třinec and Kladno.

Extraliga Round 5

2007-09-25T21:00:00.000+01:00

Plenty of goals in the Extraliga tonight...

RI OKNA Zlín 6-3 Litvínov - Zlín bounce back after a heavy defeat to dish out one of their own. The home-side were 4-0 up at one point before Litvínov finally broke through the Zlín D twice within a minute during the 3rd. They scored at 45:55 and 46:28 to put some doubt into the minds of the Zlín support. The Banana boys made sure of the points shortly afterwards though when Lubomír Vosátko bagged his 2nd of the night to really kill off the game. Radim Skuhrovec made the scoreline a little more respectable late on.

Vítkovice Steel 8-3 GEUS OKNA Kladno - Goals galore in Ostrava. The game was actually close after the 1st period. There was only a single goal in it at the time as Vitkovice went in to the break 3-2 up. The Steelers pulled further away in the 2nd adding another two goals before completely destroying Kladno in the 3rd with three more goals. Jiří Burger netted the 8th.

I'm going to run a Jiří Burger watch this season. In the Tipsport cup pre-season he scored 3+1 in 3 games played and so far in the Extraliga after 5 games played he is sitting at 1+1

Ústí nad Labem 2-6 Mountfield - C.B jumped to the top of the league after a convincing win over Ústí. The visitors shared the goals between six different players too. Mountfield could be an outside bet to win the competition this season. Their early season form proves they will be stiff competition for any of the other teams in the league.

Plzeň 4-3 Znojmo - SO - It's going to be another one of those consistantly inconsistant season for Znojmo. They lose game that most of their fans will feel they can and should win. Not having Jiří Trvaj between the nets has certainly hurt them so far this season but I expect better things from them once he is back between the pipes.

Slavia 5-2 Třinec - David Hruška bagged a hat-trick at the Sazka as Slavia put their loss to city rivals Sparta well and truely behind them. Adam Svoboda was solid in the nets too making 25 saves for the Praha club.

Liberec 1-4 Karlovy Vary - I knew Karlovy Vary were going to be good this season and tonights result away to Liberec really does show their new found confidence and strength. The club from east of them Czech Republic have a fantastic roster. Marek Melenovský, Jaroslav Kristek, Vítězslav BílekMilan Kraft, Petr Kumstát, Milan Procházka, Václav Skuhravý give them a good depth of forwards upfront and on the D they have the experience of Petr Mudroch and Miroslav Duben to protect new Czech international goalie Lukáš Mensator.I aslo like the big bottle of Becherovka on their home-page!

1. HC MOUNTFIELD 5 23:11 13
2. HC Energie Karlovy Vary 5 20:10 12
3. Bílí Tygři Liberec 5 13:8 11
4. HC Slavia Praha 5 20:15 10
5. RI OKNA Zlín 5 15:14 10
6. HC Vítkovice Steel 5 18:13 9

7. HC Sparta Praha 4 11:10 7
8. HC Lasselsberger Plzeň 5 18:18 7
9. HC Znojemští Orli 5 13:15 6
10. HC Litvínov 5 14:17 6

11. HC Oceláři Třinec 5 9:17 3
12. HC GEUS OKNA Kladno 5 12:21 3
13. HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi 5 10:20 3
14. HC Moeller Pardubice 4 11:18 2

The Capitals Hymn

2007-09-24T22:03:00.000+01:00

It's about time some of the musicians that turn up to see the Capitals put together an Edinburgh Capitals hymn. A song that will unite the fans pre-game. So get to it talented music people, show us or should that be let us hear what you are made of.

In the mean time "Czech" out Pardubice's hymn that I have heard them play at the Cez Arena:

Oh and a huge thanks to the Capitals fan that brought me back a highlights DVD of last seasons Extraliga and playoffs. The DVD also features all the stats of every player that skated last season. I'm pretty sure the teams were giving it away free during the opening rounds of this season Extraliga.

I have a few extra copies of it, if you are interested in seeing what's on the DVD. Just post a comment and I will see about getting a copy to you.

4 Point Weekend

2007-09-24T12:00:00.000+01:00

The Capitals put on a fantastic showing over the weekend to secure back to back victories over the much fancied Cardiff Devils. The 4 points will be staying at " Fortress Murrayfield " and we have the performances of the entire squad to thank for it. Everyone of them played their part. Their was no hiding from the puck at all, the whole squad wanted to play their part. Over the two games we played the better hockey, we stood up to the physical stuff and we ground out the wins. Our lower line players also deserve a mention and a huge thanks, our British kids have been a Revelation so far this season. We can count on them in every situation. That includes standing up to Brad Voth. Cardiff beat us six out of six times last season and previous Capitals teams before that would have crumbled under the pressure that was piled on during the Sunday night game but this Capitals team we have raised their game to the occasion. We battled away until the points were secured and safely in the bag. I've said it before but we certainly have a team to be extremely proud of this season. The weekend results over Cardiff will make the rest of the league stand up and take notice of what is going on a Murrayfield this year...

22/09/07 - Edinburgh Capitals 4-2 Cardiff Devils
23/09/07 - Edinburgh Capitals 3-2 Cardiff Devils

Extraliga Round 4

2007-09-24T11:29:00.000+01:00

EXTRALIGA ROUND 4 RESULTS:

Třinec 2-3 Moeller Pardubice (SO) - Pardubice finally get their 1st win of the new campaign. They tried their hardest to throw it away though after leading 2-0 going into the 3rd period with goals from Michal Tvrdík and Tomáš Blažek they allowed Třinec to get back into the game. The home side forced the game into OT and then into the shoot out decider. Libor Pivko netted the winning shoot out goal for Pardubice.

Sparta 4-3 Slavia - The Evil Sparta Praha emerge victorious after the first Prague derby of the 07/08 season. After trading a single goal each in the opening stanza. Sparta went on to have a strong second period where they netted three times for no reply. That laid the platform for their victory.

Mountfield 6-1 RI OKNA Zlín - Zlín were destroyed in the 1st period. They gave up three goals within the opening 10 minutes of the game. Starting Zlín goalie Igor Murín was then pulled from the game having faced only 7 shots. That's what happens when you try to deny the brilliance of Mr. Viktor Hübl.

Ústí nad Labem 4-3 Plzeň (SO) - Ústí also grabbed their 1st victory of the campaign. The new comers have found the going very tough indeed but former MHC Martín forward Rastislav Špirko was the hero for the night after netting the winner during the shoot-out.

GEUS OKNA Kladno 0-1 Liberec - Kladno's new name manages to sucks more than the Capitals sponosorship named does this season. Jan Plodek opened and completed the nights scoring after 6 minutes of the game. Milan Hnilička had a perfect night between the Liberec pipes turning away 35 shots to capture the shut out. The victory sends Liberec to the top of the league.

Znojmo 1-2 Vítkovice Steel - Boozed up goalie Marek Pinc had a great night for Vítkovice. The pint sized super stoper turned away 39 shots to steal the game for the Ostrava side.

Karlovy Vary 3-1 Litvínov - K.V (my pick to be shock troops) continued their good start to the season. After 4 games played the green, black and yellow ugly jersey boys find themselves up to 3rd place in the league. K.V's squad looks really strong this year, they have good combination of youth and experience and I think it will take them far.

THE LEAGUE LADDER:

1.Bílí Tygři Liberec 4 12:4 11
2.HC MOUNTFIELD 4 17:9 10
3.HC Energie Karlovy Vary 4 16:9 9
4.HC Slavia Praha 4 15:13 7
5.HC Sparta Praha 4 11:10 7
6.RI OKNA Zlín 4 9:11 7

7.HC Litvínov 4 11:11 6
8.HC Vítkovice Steel 4 10:10 6
9.HC Lasselsberger Plzeň 4 14:15 5
10.HC Znojemští Orli 4 10:11 5

11.HC GEUS OKNA Kladno 4 9:13 3
12.HC Oceláři Třinec 4 7:12 3
13.HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi 4 8:14 3
14.HC Moeller Pardubice 4 11:18 2

Pump It Into Your Eyes!

2007-09-22T02:13:00.000+01:00

BAM! Check to the Head has been visually updated.
Please enjoy our new look which now fits in nicely with the fanzine.

Please also enjoy the downloads section on the sidebar where you can download our tasty forum signatures or a sample of the first issue!

We hope to see you for this weekend's Cardiff double-header.

Remember Rob Trumbley

2007-09-19T23:24:00.000+01:00

It's not during his time the with the Capitals but just enjoy how much go a goon and nut-case Rob Trumbley was out on the ice:

Trumbley's Edinburgh stats.
2001-02 Edinburgh Capitals BNL 28 13+14 =27 67 PiM

DIF Supporters

2007-09-17T23:01:00.000+01:00

I hope the Djurgården fans are in that sort of form when Iam over there

Extraliga Round 2 Results

2007-09-17T22:51:00.000+01:00

Vítkovice Stee; 1-2 Liberec
Sparta 4-2 Litvínov
Mountfield 3-1 Plzeň
Ústí nad Labem 1-2 Slavia
GEUS OKNA Kladno 1-4 RI OKNA Zlín
Znojmo 4-3 Moeller Pardubice
Karlovy Vary 1-0 Třinec - Shoot Out

Top 8 at the end of the season qualify for the playoffs, position 9-12 play a playoff qualifier.
No relegation from the Extraliga, position 13,14 miss out on the extra hockey come the end of the regular campaign.

1.Bílí Tygři Liberec 2 8:2 6
2. RI OKNA Zlín 2 6:2 6
3. HC Energie Karlovy Vary 2 8:2 5
4. HC Slavia Praha 2 6:4 5
5. HC MOUNTFIELD 2 6:5 4
6. HC Sparta Praha 2 5:4 3
7. HC Litvínov 2 6:6 3
8. HC Znojemští Orli 2 6:7 3

9. HC Lasselsberger Plzeň 2 6:7 2
10. HC GEUS OKNA Kladno 2 5:7 2
11. HC Oceláři Třinec 2 3:5 2
12. HC Vítkovice Steel 2 5:7 1

13. HC Moeller Pardubice 2 5:11 0
14. HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi 2 2:8 0

A Look Ahead:

2007-09-17T22:49:00.000+01:00

9/9/07 Phoenix vs Capitals

Manchester could well be our main rivals next season, if things go well we both have a good chance of making either the top 4th,5th,6th spot our own. On paper I think we have very similar squad standards so the games against them could be very closely fought affairs. They could be goalie battles. In Scott Fankhouser they have a very experience man between the pipes and we have a kid desperate to prove himself to the fans and the league.The Phoenix also look to have a very tough squad with Brett Clouthier and 6''3' former Dallas Star Jeff MacMillan taking up spots on their roster. I can't see us trying to slog it out with those Manchester players so we will need to have our thinking caps on and play a clean game, staying out the penalty box. We seem to have a very mobile squad, good skaters and if we can match that sort of skating strength with good passing we will be more than a match for the Phoenix home or away. We also know how Tony Hand operates his squads.

Capitals key-man: Doug Christiansen - can keep the squad disciplinedPhoenix key-man: Scott Fankhouser fromer NHL keeper vs former NHL forwards

Officials Strike Back...

2007-09-12T16:11:00.000+01:00

Never mess with a hockey official...

You've been warned!....

Extraliga Returns

2007-09-12T12:51:00.000+01:00

The new Czech Extraliga season begins today and if the off-season signings and pre-season tournament theTipsport cup are anything to go by we could be in for yet another extremely competitive season. The usual lots will be classed as the favourites though with Sparta, Pardubice, Slavia and Liberec all expected to do well. This year also sees the introduction of a new team to the league. Slovan Ústečtí Lvi will be taking part in their 1st ever Extraliga season.
Unfortunately the leagues governing body also saw it fit to kick out legendary extraliga side Vsetín from the league over the summer for financail troubles so the number of clubs taking part this year remains at a steady 14.

This year aswell, you will be able to catch highlights of nearly all the games and could well be able to view complete games possibly re-live at hokejzive.cz. The channel will also cover the Czech national team through out their EHT campaign. So keep an eye on that if you are interested.

The first fixture of the new season is:

Slavia vs Mountfield - Both clubs shared the spoils during their two pre-season games. Slavia got the better of C.B at the Sazka Arena winning 3-2 with goals from Malát, Beránek, Micka. The reverse fixture saw C.B win 2-1 with Toman and V. Hübl doing the business for Ceske Budejovice that night. So home advantage could prove to be the deciding factor again tonight. Face-off 4.30 our time.

Tomorrow's game:
Liberec vs Ústí nad Labem

Fridays fixture:
Třinec vs GEUS OKNA Kladno
RI OKNA Zlín vs Sparta
Litvínov vs Znojmo
Plzeň vs Vítkovice Steel
Karlovy Vary vs Moeller Pardubice

Pardubice face a tough road-trip away to a much improved Karlovy Vary side. Pardubice themselves have improved their squad a lot adding must more strength and skill to the defensive lines. The team looks to be better than last seasons beaten playoff finalists.
The visitors will have to be wary though, sure they defeated K.V just two weeks ago in the Tipsport cup final but I'm sure the home side will be looking for a little bit of revenge for that, should be a great early season encounter.

Full results can be seen at hokej.cz

Martin Čech Picture Tribute

2007-09-11T17:01:00.000+01:00

Gone but not forgotten.

I know most of you will have no idea who he was but a picture tribute has been put together to celebrate Martin Čech's short but highly successful Pardubice career. The D man lost his life last week after skidding of the road and crashing into a bridge on his way home from Pardubice. So seeing as I love HC Pardubice I thought I would share the video and show it off to a wider audience.

Martin Čech - R.I.P

Capitals 6-3 Stingrays - Home Opener

2007-09-10T21:09:00.000+01:00

It didn't take the new Capitals team long to secure their first win of the new season on home ice. 1 game, 1 win. As for the on ice extraviganze itself, we were good again. It was another decent early season performance that put the points on the board. During the 1st period Hull had made a promising start. It was obvious that they have some smooth skaters on their squad and they created a few problems for the Caps. As the period worn on though we began to move up a few gears, we started to create real scoring chances. Something we hadn't done the night before. We rightly ended it in front with a 4-1 advantage after the first period. We saw some quality goals from Luza and Hemingway. I thought the 2nd was a little bit different. It was flat with no real flow to game thanks to the ref. The stop/start scrappy play of the game allowed Hull to claw their way back into the contest. The 'Rays already look like a hard working unit and they put up a good fight against us during the 2nd. The 3rd was more of the same really, we did extremely well killing off their penalties and then taking full advantage of our own power plays!. There were plenty of positive again for the Caps after the final hooter went. We were a strong unit for the majority of the match up.

We really could be on to something special this season!... fingers crossed!

Man of the match - Hat trick hero Patrik Luza!. That should take away some of his pain at Vsetín biting the dust this year!

Kelman Reads Check To The Head:

2007-09-09T22:26:00.000+01:00

Here is a picture taken especially for the Belfast Giants female supporters and well maybe for one or two of their males fans too. ANYWAY!... The important thing is that Todd Kelman knows how amazing the Check To The Head fanzine is, he reads and so should you!!!

Giants 2-1 Capitals - Fanzine Update

2007-09-09T14:09:00.000+01:00

Well the opening game of the new season has been and gone and unfortunately the Capitals were on the wrong side of the early season result. The team performed quite well in what turned out to be a rather damp affair at the Odyssey. By half way through the 2nd period it was very obvious the Capitals hadn't taken part in any pre-season games. The team looked a bit worn out but despite that we fought the Giants well. They too looked tired at times as both squads battled hard along the boards. The game was very even, both teams looked to have the same skill levels but the biggest difference in the end was the Giants players knowing each others games a bit better than all our new imports did. We struggled to gel on the forward lines and that led to very few scoring chances for the Caps. I'm confident that in about two weeks time the Capitals game plan will become much stronger, they players will know each other a lot better and the on ice product will be almost complete. It is a very exciting time for the club and all the fans!

In other news, the Giants fans took to our Fanzine very well. We easily broke through our sales target and even managed to have one issue 'borrowed' by the Giants general manager Tod Kelman. We offered him an interview but who knows if he will get in contact with the CTTH team. I hope the other Caps fans like it as well. The 1st Issue will be on sale tonight at M.I.R, so don't be afraid to ask me or my associates for a copy. A buck well spent if you ask the Giants fans. Check it out!

A Check To The Head - In Your Hands

2007-09-07T18:18:00.000+01:00

CHECK TO THE HEAD - FANZINE:

Finally the wait is almost over as the 'Check To The Head' team are uber pleased and proud to announce the release of the first ever Edinburgh Capitals fanzine. Yes that's right an Edinburgh Capitals magazine!. The first issue will be available to the fans from the opening weekend of the new season. The fanzine itself will cost a measly £1 and will be more than value for money. That is a CTTH guarantee right there!. The Check To The Head team have put a lot of work into getting the fanzine ready on time so we hope you lot like what you read and see in front of you. There will be plenty of opportunities for the fans to give some feedback too. Anyway for the opening issue of the Check To The Head mag we managed to secure an exclusive interview with Doug Christiansen. You won't be able to see the article anywhere else in the known hockey universe. So you know what you gotta do this weekend ;op

The opening issue also features an extremely exciting competition, a review of our opposition and a look ahead to the months biggest Capitals match ups. There is tons more inside the fanzine for you to enjoy ranging from stories, stats, hints and tips plus one or two other highly interesting/cheeky/humorous pieces for you to read.

We hope you enjoy the 1st release after all it is a magazine by the fans for the fans!!!

Welcome To Edinburgh:

2007-09-02T22:53:00.000+01:00

Doug Christiansen took some time out from the Capitals 1st training session together to introduce some of the new faces to the team for the 07/08 season. He let the small crowd in attendance show their appreciation to J.F Perras, Coling Hemingway, Adam Stefishen and Mike Stutzel.

I left the Caps session with a good feeling, the squad looked to be sharing some jokes and laughs together already. A good sign in my book. Some of the players looked sharp others were maybe a step or two behind but that was to be expected after a long summer. I can't wait for the new season to start now. I'm confident the Caps can be a threat to every other team in the league now.

Vsetín latest news

2007-08-29T21:09:00.000+01:00

The six times Czech Champions have finally had their Extraliga license withdrawn for the up and coming season. The court of arbitration agreed with the APK/ leagues to decision to ban them from taking part because of their failure to meet the the financial guarantees the league asks of all its members.

The team hope to compete within the 1.liga but even that looks highly unlikely as all the teams are in place, the fixture lists have been made and Vsetín have lost yet more sponsors. It really does look to be the end of pro hockey in Vsetín

Behind the scenes:

2007-08-27T22:11:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the lack of updates on the old blog here but a lot of work has been going into a 'Check to the head' side project. Hopefully as that progresses I will have more time to return to passing out the valuable stories, info, web clips that the C-T-T-H loyal have come to love...

More news about the " side project " will be revealed soon too!