Confirmed signings: ONLY OTHER TEAMS

[ginger]

Sam Herr returns to Nottingham. Excellent signing for them. One player I'd have loved to have seen in orange

Shame we couldn't reunite him with Tansey, Sauce and Champ (I'm 99% sure they're both signed already but not announced), but I think Leavens rumour if true is our alternative.

Good signing for them, quality player and knows the league.

[Doom]

It must be getting close to season ticket deadline day in Nottingham.

Herr was probably the best player in the league when he played for Nottingham last time. Although I don't expect him to be at the 35 goal level, he should still be a very good player in our league and he did top his DEL 2 team on +/- last season.

I wouldn't have been unhappy if he signed for us, although not at the expense of someone like Balmas.

It feels like the whole league is going back to the future.

Regards

Doom

[TealSteeler]

It feels like the whole league is going back to the future.

Why am I not alone in thinking with the likes of Belfast and Cardiff also bringing back old faces after a number of seasons away? Namely Piccinich, Conway and Carruth to quote just three.

Did our EIHL Grand Slam rattle them that much?

[ginger]

It feels like the whole league is going back to the future.

Did our EIHL Grand Slam rattle them that much?

Yes. Belfast especially. Cardiff to be fair needed to do something on Goaltending/D, as Bowns is not getting younger, and obviously PR feels they can't rely on him as much as they once could. Carruth is known quality so an understandable option. Same thing with Fournier, known quality, need to upgrade.

Could use the same logic with Belfast to some extent, but my gut feel (so could be wrong), is that Keefe is not a consistent recruiter (hence high turnover/mid season additions) and they are terrified with Besko retirement that they cannot get anyone at that level to replace. Feels like they've chucked money at Conway and Piccinich, although with Conway it could be that no one else will put up with his ego. Bast is weird given he played all of about 16 games in essentially a semi pro/amateur league last year. I assume it's due to post hockey career commitments or family commitments, but again, it feels a bit of desperation/known potential from Giants as they don't trust Keefe to find a new top D (league wide).

Don't get me wrong, we will be paying some guys very well, but it feels different when they re-sign for the next season straight away, rather than leaving then coming back

[Doom]

I think we're in a very good place and I'm enjoying watching the signings coming in from other teams desperately trying to bridge the gap from last season.

Our biggest rivals do seem to be going back to a few old favourites, with possibly more still to come (I've seen Ben Blood rumoured for Cardiff).

Hopefully the majority of our squad from last season has re-signed, giving Fox plenty of time to plug the few gaps which have appeared (eg. Nevalainen and Neumann).

It's going to be one of those summers where it's more interesting watching the opposition signings rather than our own teams. I wonder when Nottingham will announce PC Drouin

Regards

Doom

[Jayboy]

Ben Norton signs for Steelers, Goalie, two way with steeldogs

[ginger]

Ben Norton signs for Steelers, Goalie, two way with steeldogs

Another local one back in the fold. Good stuff.

[jas]

It seems fair to assume that the majority of last year's squad will re-sign for us and other teams will know roughly what they are up against, so I hope we are also holding back on a couple of key signings

[smbmetal]

It seems fair to assume that the majority of last year's squad will re-sign for us and other teams will know roughly what they are up against, so I hope we are also holding back on a couple of key signings

UK hockey is a small world, I doubt there are any secrets between clubs regarding new and current signings, in my opinion, that's only to keep the fans in suspense.

[ginger]

It seems fair to assume that the majority of last year's squad will re-sign for us and other teams will know roughly what they are up against, so I hope we are also holding back on a couple of key signings

My gut feel is that the majority are back too. The lack of departure news/rumours suggests that most are probably signed. Might be 1 or 2 not sorted, or have get out clauses for certain leagues by certain dates. Vallerand is the one I'm unsure on as not sure whether he'd be considering retirement, which may depend on the injury he took in the playoffs.

The only real rumour of a new player I've seen is Leavens, and the Morley one (although he signed elsewhere). It does suggest we're not in the market for many new forwards, or we're doing a great job at controlling rumours/leaks!