Top Defenders back for Phoenix

On Tuesday (as this is the day for Phoenix signing announcements!) it was announced that Captain Luke Boothroyd and top import defender, Ladislav Harabin had re-signed for Phoenix.

Boothroyd has been with Phoenix for three seasons and has become part of the furniture! The 24 year old from Huddersfield joined Phoenix in 2008 from Hull Stingrays and hasn't missed a game since. In the 2009-2010 season he was given the opportunity to be captain for the team, a position which he filled well and will most probably maintain for the upcoming season. He is a top defender and extremely dedicated, he rarely makes any mistakes when he is on the ice and gets the job done.  Tony has said that he is extremely glad that Boothroyd is part of Phoenix and Luke has tweeted to say he is very happy to be back next season. I'm extremely pleased that Luke is back on the team he is a solid part of the defence and a key player to ensuring that it is as good as it was last season. 

Harabin joined Phoenix last season and was the top defender in the league. The 30 year old from Slovakia was tipped for the NHL but spent all of his hockey career in Slovakia. Towards the end of last season he sustained two serious injuries, one of which had us all worried about his playing career, but he bounced back and the response from the fans on his first game back was immense! Harabin is a amazing player, not only when he is defending, but he has a mean slap shot from the blue line, which is very handy for when we are on a power play! Tony has said that he thinks Harabin will be even better next season and is a great signing for the club. Ladzi has said that he had a wonderful time in Manchester and the fans are the best he's ever played for. I'm relieved that Ladzi is back for next season, after losing Gomeniuk and Morgan to Sheffield Steeldogs I was worried that we wouldn't have a decent defence for this season. Ladzi is one of the best around and one of the players I wanted to be re-signed so when I found out I was ecstatic. 

In other news, it has been announced that Marcus Kristofferson has signed for HC '05 Banská Bystrica in Slovakia. I wish him all the best at his new club and want to thank him for a fabulous season. Now me and the boy have another excuse to go on holiday and looks like a trip to Slovakia is in order! :)

Date for your diaries - 7th June - new import forward signing to be announced! 

Phoenix lose Huppe and possibly Kristofferson

It was announced this week that Curtis Huppe has signed with Phoenix's rivals Guildford Flames. After a fabulous season with Phoenix where he amassed a total of 110 points, he got an offer he couldn't refuse. Huppe never seemed to settle in Manchester due to his family living in Belfast and returned home whenever he could. Guildford offered him a deal which meant that his family could come and live with him in England and obviously made the decision to sign with them a lot easier. Huppe will be missed at Phoenix. He was a firm fan favourite (as shown at the playoffs with the oooooohhhhh, Curtis Curtis Huppe song to the tune of the ockie cokie!) I wish him all the luck at Guildford and want to thank him for a brilliant season. 

It has been rumoured that Marcus Kristofferson will also be moving on and is close to signing a deal with a top European club, nothing has been mentioned in relation to which team but it has been confirmed that it is not a UK team. Kristofferson scored a total of 112 points and 62 goals to beat Huppe to the top goal scorer in the league. Last season was one of the best seasons Kristofferson had played in several years and he has received a lot of attention because of this. He has probably been offered more money than Phoenix can afford to pay him and has had to think of his family.

As Kristofferson was my favourite player last season, I am very disappointed that there is a possibility of him leaving, especially after Tony had stated that he would like to re-sign him. I wish him all the luck in the world and will miss seeing his wife and little girl at all the games. However if he does sign with another club I've already put in my request with the boy to take a trip to watch him play!

It was always going to be difficult keeping our two top scorers, especially as they are imports and Tony's reputation for signing them late on it the summer, plus the amazing season that both players had but I will be sad to see both of them go. 

In other news Tony has confirmed that he has nearly signed all the British players and there will be a new announcement on Tuesday. I would expect that all the British players we had last season that haven't signed with new clubs will be re-signed with us (don't quote me on that!)

Little trip to London

A couple of weekends ago me and the boy went to London for his admission ceremony to the Solicitor's roll. We got to London reasonably early and dropped our bags off at the hotel. As the room wasn't ready we decided to go to Covent Garden for lunch. We walked past some lovely posh shops (unfortunately he didn't buy me any Louboutin shoes or a diamond ring!) and managed to end up at Buckingham Palace (I blame the boy!) Anyway considering we were there we went for a walk down the Mall to have tea with the Queen (not literally!) The Mall was still closed off from the Royal Wedding so there wasn't all the traffic that you normally get and was lovely to walk down.


Following our little detour, we finally got to Covent Garden and had a walk round. We found a lovely little patisserie called Patisserie Valerie on Bedford Street that had the most delicious almond crossiants which had marzipan in the centre! We also found an old sweet shop called Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe on New Row that had sweets in jars which reminded me of when I was younger so had to get some cola cubes and sherbert lemons!


After a lot of searching we finally found a pub which wasn't too busy for lunch called The Sussex on Upper Street. We managed to find a table straight away and ordered our drinks and food. The food was lovely and we didn't have to wait long for it to arrive. I had the vegetarian fish and chips and the only complaint was that the batter on the halloumi was a bit too oily for me. 

Paddling in the Diana Memorial

As the weather was beautiful we decided to take a walk through Hyde Park to the Princess Diana Memorial. I didn't realise that you were allowed to paddle and play in the fountain but there were lots of people there so we decided to join in. We were absolutely soaked by the end of it but I loved every minute and would definitely recommend it for a summers day. 

Jimi Hendrix Suite

Once we had finished being big kids we made our way back to the hotel to check in and get ready for the evening. We had booked the Jimi Hendrix Suite at the Cumberland Hotel which is near Marble Arch and it was fabulous! Anyone who is a rock and roll fan, like myself will absolutely love this room. The room is the last known address for Jimi before he died and the hotel created this beautiful room to mark the 40th anniversary of his death. The website mentions a rare 'flying v' guitar which is on one of the walls, unfortunately this is no longer there as some previous guests had vandalised it so it had to be taken down. 


We went to Thai Square in Covent Garden for dinner as I am a huge Thai fan. The decor is beautiful and traditional for a Thai restaurant. We ordered a vegetarian platter for our starter which was ok, was a bit bland for us and we would of liked a bit more sweet chilli sauce to dip with. I ordered Thai green curry for my main with steamed rice which was beautiful and very hot! The boy had Seafood Nam Prik Pao with sticky rice which he said was delicious. The service was ok, we had to wait a while for our drinks order to be taken but apart from that all the staff were very attentive.

The boy becoming a Solicitor

We then went to Ronnie Scotts which is in Soho and one of the oldest jazz clubs in the world. I'm not a huge jazz fan but I enjoy watching/listening to live music rather than going to a club or bar so I thought I'd give it a go. It was absolutely amazing! The band was brilliant and played superbly together. The band consisted of jazz musicians from all over the world and of all different ages. I loved the saxophone players who just blew my mind! The seating arrangements are like in the old movies where there is a lamp between the two of you and the service is brought to you. I would definitely recommend Ronnie Scotts to anyone and everyone, especially playing who love live music!

Picnic in the park

The following day was the boy's admission ceremony which was in the Law Society buildings on Chancery Lane. The building was beautiful and I was very proud when the boy went up on stage to have his certificate presented to him and become a Solicitor (finally!)


To celebrate we went to Marks and Spencers and bought a picnic to have in Hyde Park. We found a beautiful little spot in the rose garden and enjoyed our picnic which included sealed glasses of wine! I love the green spaces that are all over London and when the weather is nice most people are out enjoying the sunshine.


Before we went to catch the train home we paid a visit to Trader Vic's which is inside the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane. Every time I have visited London my Dad has always told me that I need to go to Trader Vic's for a Pina Colada as per the song Werewolves of London so this time I finally went! Unfortunately I am allergic to pineapple so couldn't have a Pina Colada but I had a lovely cocktail called a Peach Tree Punch. The boy had a Mai Tai which was very strong! The Mai Tai was first invented by Trader Vic's in 1944 and is what the bar is famous for. The service was excellent and the decor was beautiful. It was a lovely experience and a great way to finish off our little trip to London. 

Cocktails in Trader Vic's

Phoenix sign Slava Kouliov and re-sign Tom Duggan

So the long anticipated wait of who the new Phoenix player to sign for us was finally over when Slava Koulikov was announced as the new player yesterday morning.

If one player wasn’t enough we got a double whammy and the news that Tom Duggan had re-signed for us.

After numerous speculations and rumours of Slava joining us, this was no big surprise, but great for us fans to finally have some signing news.

For any of you wondering, Slava was born in Russia but has started and spent most of his career in Britain and is classed as British trained so therefore doesn’t count towards our quota of 4 imports. Slava played for Slough Jets last season where he amassed an impressive 81 points making him the second highest British scorer, just behind our very own Sir Tony Hand. Tony has confirmed that Slava will be replacing Greg Wood on the second line who we lost to Sheffield Steeldogs early last week and will hopefully be a great replacement and consistent scorer who will become a backbone for the second line.

The re-signing of Tom Duggan is great news. He has so much adrenaline on the ice, is thoroughly committed to the team (as seen whilst playing with a dislocated shoulder towards the end of last season) and is improving game after game. He is a firm fan favourite and hopefully we will see more of his guitar skills throughout next season!

Fingers crossed that this is the start of a championship winning team and Tony will start bringing us some more cracking signings to enable us to defend the title.

It has also been reported that there are 6 more players from last season who have agreed to return! Don’t pin your hopes on any imports as these will most probably be British players! (I will say no more!) :)


Watch this space!

Ice Hockey History

Considering my blog is going to mainly consist of Manchester Phoenix news and games I thought I would let you all know how I came to be a ice hockey fan and a bit of background about ice hockey in Manchester.


Me and my Mum first went to an ice hockey match when a friend of mine had season tickets for Manchester Storm and offered them to us. We totally got the bug and started going to as many games as possible. It was great because my Mum could use her Tesco clubcard points to buy the tickets and I kept telling her to keep going shopping so we could go to watch!


Our first season of ice hockey was the 1998-1999 season and what a great season we picked! It was an fantastic season for Manchester Storm, probably one of the best and one which involved an amazing game against Sheffield Steelers (my hatred for this team still lives on!) to crown us Super League Champions. 


The following season wasn't quite so spectacular, but involved possibly one of the most nerve wracking games I have ever been to, which took place against the London Knights at Sheffield Arena. The game ended up going to overtime and then penalties, Frankie Pietrangelo saved the last shot to make us B&H Cup Champions!


Me and my Mum continued to watch Manchester Storm until I got a job working in a hotel which involved working stupid hours and never have anytime off at the weekends. I was therefore unable to watch anymore ice hockey and if I did it was a very rare and special occasion :(


Unfortunately Manchester Storm went bankrupt in 2002 and ice hockey in Manchester was left on a knife edge. As a result of the efforts of the 'Friends of Manchester Ice Hockey' hockey was finally returned to Manchester in the form of a new team, Manchester Phoenix, aptly named due to the Phoenix rising from the ashes of the Storm. Due to the lack of an arena and not enough fans to fill the MEN Arena, Phoenix suspended playing until a temporary rink was built in Altrincham. 


At the beginning of the 2006-2007 season, Tony Hand was signed as head coach and Phoenix began to play hockey again, all be it with delays with the construction of the temporary arena and home games having to be played in Wales! At the end of the 2008-2009 season, Phoenix announced that they were suffering from financial difficulties and would be dropping out of the Elite League to move to the English Premier League. 


Towards the end of the 2009-2010 season, me and the boy (his choice of phrase, not mine!) decided that it might be a good idea to go and watch hockey again. My mum worked for Unison at the time (one of the team sponsors) and we managed to get some free tickets. I have to admit I was very sceptical at the time, I was a huge Storm fan and wasn't convinced I was ever going to be a Phoenix fan (how wrong was I) anyway, we both got the bug for it again and went to every match until the end of the season. 


After we played Peterborough Phantoms at the Ice Dome to make our way to the playoffs in Coventry, we called the Arena to make sure we had tickets and made our way down south, unfortunately we didn't win but it was a great weekend and we started getting to know some of the hardcore fans! 


So, after finally getting the bug back for hockey, we got season tickets for the 2010-2011 season and went to every match bar two! We took some friends on my birthday and they got hooked too, they came with us to every match and even to the playoffs. They are all thinking of getting season tickets for the upcoming season. 


The 2010-2011 season was probably one of the best seasons of hockey I have ever attended! It had everything, from amazing goals, cracking fights and brilliant players. We didn't make it easy for ourselves needing one point to win the EPL Championship with one game left of the season, but we did it! (There's the easy way or the Phoenix way!) The evening of 27 March 2011 was one of the best evenings ever and one I will never forget, partying with the players in the bar after the game and drinking cider out of the EPL trophy. What other sport can you do that in?! This is when the Storm fan who watched Phoenix turned into a fully fledged Phoenix fan!


I'm very excited for the new season to start (only 4 months to go!) and to see all my new found hockey friends again! Fingers crossed we have a fabulous team to defend the title! :)

New blog

Well everyone, this is my blog! 


I am going to review pretty much everything so will include my trips (to wherever that might be!) any decent restaurants or things to do and last but of course not least ICE HOCKEY!!! and in particular my beloved Manchester Phoenix! 


Please remember that these are only my opinions and if you don't like what I am saying then get yourself your own blog so you can voice your opinions as well!! 


Wish me luck!! :)