Ireland won 2-1. The arena looked very very impressive
The game v Luxembourg is live on Setanta on Saturday evening too
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Ireland won 2-1. The arena looked very very impressive
The game v Luxembourg is live on Setanta on Saturday evening too
It's a good setup but we need one in Dublin.
A win or draw against Luxembourg should secure promotion.
Yeah, that was a typo.
It was awful scrappy. Hard to watch at times. A few good moments.
I'm sorry lads I really tried for about ten minutes but that was absolutely horrible to watch
If Alan Matthews had an ice hockey team that's what they would look like
I only watched a few minutes when flicked over from ad breaks on other channels & tbh even 2-3 minutes was hard going. I haven't a clue but could see players not so steady on the ice & think a couple of guys slipped.
:eek:
I am guessing there were some Irish-American players plucked from college or below NHL hockey?
What capacity does the Dundalk rink have?
3 from the giants the rest I think were amateur. It was awful to watch compared to the NHL, even compared to the UK Elite League which isn't bad at all. So many mistakes from guys who looked like they were new to skating, never mind hockey. South Africa were absolutely woeful. Still, gotta support your local team eh? ;)
To put things into context, I think this is the first year we've gotten any Giants players on our team and no league exists in this country. As far as I know the only game our amateurs would get to play in a year was the few times they'd represent Ireland. We've purposely elected not to take in North Americans in favour of developing a proper grassroots game here. It's near impossible to get any info about plans for the game here but I believe there's plans to build more rinks around the country.
I don't support foreign hockey so think I am ok...?
I might watch a little bit on NHL Stanley Cup on Setanta but would have no interest in the overly long game regular season. Teams play so many games & so many teams qualifying for the playoffs that regular season seems pointless.
Building more rinks (and putting well run junior teams in them) is the only way things can improve - up to this point the only option on the entire island has been to go to Dundonald, with the junior teams playing in the Scottish leagues.
If next season there's a junior programme in both Dundonald and Dundalk, then that's a huge step in the right direction. If they can add in (for example) Dublin, Cork and Galway further down the line, then in the long term that should help massively.
The other thing I'd add is, that it's essential that any new rinks being built are full size (60x30 metres), or damn close to it. The two closed rinks in Dublin (Phibsboro & Dolphins Barn) were both unworkably small for a game which can moves so quickly.
Ireland secured promotion. They came back from two goals down to draw 3-3 and won it on the shootout. Great crowd in Dundalk. Next year will probably be a painful but educational experience somewhat like the Super 8 phase in the cricket WC. It should help to raise the profile of the game here slightly.
What teams will we be playing next year?
Division 2 next season is:
Australia, China, Belgium, Bulgaria, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Romania, Serbia, Spain.
Mexico??? :D :D
Apparently an 8 team league is starting in September. All games in Dundalk. 8 teams allegedly are Dundalk Bulls, Belfast Bruins, Lisburn Prowlers, Navan Eagles, Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin Flyers, Dublin Rams and last but not least UCD.