Cape Town's new Premier League begins to take shape with a bright light at the end of the tunnel after Monday evenings first split private training session for the Storm and Penguins teams.
The majority of the senior players arrived at the rink at 730pm and eager to see what's in store for them.
Team Storm started the night off with their 1 hour on ice session with head coach Ronnie Wood working on specific team plays, strategies and building team spirit.
The Penguins team began their first session in the gym with SA physio, Caryn Maart, who ran a full body 45 minute impact session.
After the hour the zamboni took to the ice and both teams changed, getting ready for the 2nd half of their evenings session.
Dougie Grebe and Quintin Steytler have been appointed as General and Team managers for the Storm team and Nathan Baskier & Steven Johnson the leader of the pack for the Penguins.
Their roles will be to ensure the ultimate in communication and team management, encouraging their players and ensuring they have the best team on game day.
This simple change somehow has created an immediate bond and team effect between the players, with smiles on all faces whether on the ice or in the gym.
All the players are looking forward to this Monday coming as they will be putting on their brand new team kit.
More cpt updates to come...
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Monday, May 23, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Gauteng hockey with Pretoria off to a great start
Last week saw Pretoria take on the Scorpions at the Vaal arena.
As this game took place just after the roller hockey selections Gareth Miller and Deen Magmoed were playing as imports in the Pretoria team.
A fast paced and physical game was underway for the duration of 60mins. However with Andre Marais not rostered due to knee complications the Scorpions team were looking to clean up.
Deen Magmoed scored 2 goals, 1 of a break-away putting the puck between David Burgers legs. Cameron Birrell was his normal sniping self building the Scorpions scoreline to 7-2.
Damian Cardosa did get some stress relief as he crushed Magmoed late into the game.
A welcome back to Gerhard Habib after his recovery, and good luck to the Scorpions for their next game.
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Its all shiny and new in Cape Town
WPIHA is proud to announce the launch of their new Cape Town Premier League's Playoff series.
May 30th will be the game opener to this rather exciting league between newly wrapped Team STORM and The Penguins.
These two rivals have been developed with the senior players from WPIHA which include their local SA athletes and foreigners from Russia, Canada, etc...
Each Playoffs team will host 4 lines and 2 goaltenders along with training/developing reserves. Teams will additionally have private training sessions both on and off ice.
All players are looking forward to this new venture and this ultimately will improve the local game.
http://www.wpicehockey.co.za for more details, tickets, etc.
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Thursday, May 12, 2011
Changes in Worlds structure
Congress approves new format in IIHF Championship program 12-05-11 |  | |
  | | The IIHF Extra-Ordinary Congress approved the new IIHF World Championship structure for Division I and below. Photo: Martin Merk |
BRATISLAVA – The IIHF Extra-Ordinary Congress in Bratislava approved a change in the IIHF World Championship program on May 12 that affects all events of the Division I level and down to Division III in any category as of the 2011-2012 season. The changes in the program structure were unanimously approved by the IIHF’s member national associations. The objective is to have all nations play on a level which reflects their current status of development. From the season 2011-2012, the events in all categories will be structured vertically, which means that the Division I groups A and B will be two separate tiers, same as the Division II groups A and B and eventual Division III groups. Previously, the 12 teams of each Division played in the same tier divided into two groups while now the best six teams of a division will be seeded into Group A and the following six teams in Group B to increase parity and the number of competitive games. In the men’s category the two teams promoted to the Top Division will be the best two teams of the Division I Group A. The last-placed team of next year’s Division I Group A event will move down to Group B, and the best Group B team up to Group A. By way of example: Poland will accordingly play in the Division I Group B the next season. This means, that in order for Poland to earn promotion to the Top Division, they must first win the Division I Group B which will earn them promotion to Division I Group A for the next year. In Division I Group A, the top two teams earn promotion to the Top Division. Accordingly, the best Division II Group A team in next year’s event will be promoted to the Division I Group B and replace the last-placed team of that group (see illustration below). This is the first major format change since the current championship structure was implemented in 2000. An IIHF study of all championship results showed that depending on the category in men’s events (senior, U20, U18) between 49 and 68 per cent of the games ended with a goal difference of five or more goals in the 2010-2011 season. The majority of these uncompetitive games were played against nations not completely fulfilling the minimum participation standards. In the women’s senior category where the program has already been structured vertically before the equivalent number was 30 per cent. This situation was urging for a change that was eventually approved. The following illustration shows the changes for the men’s senior category:  According to the new structure, the teams will be seeded as follows (subject to change at the Annual Congress this weekend depending on the host country and eventual swapping):
Note: The new structure will also be implemented for all categories in men’s (senior, U20, U18) and women’s (senior, U18) events. The final composition of the groups of all categories and the host countries will be determined at the IIHF Annual Congress and published on IIHF.com presumably on Saturday. Together with the new structure, the congress also approved changes in the organizer support and contribution to teams. In the future, the organizer support for six-team events in men’s tournaments and other categories (U20, U18, women, women U18) in Division I and lower will be the same. Earlier they were lower in other than the men’s senior category. The money given to organizers and teams increases from CHF 14.3 million to CHF 15.8 million next year following the changes. The Extra-Ordinary Congress also approved housekeeping changes of the IIHF’s Statues and Bylaws concerning governance, minimum standards for participation in the IIHF World Championship categories men’s U18 and women’s U18, tax issues of national associations hosting IIHF events and bylaws related to WADA code compliance. MARTIN MERK |
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Worlds finished, not what...
After a massively impressive and intense World Championships players settle back into their daily lives and cherish the moments they had on the ice against opposing teams and idolize photos of themselves on facebook.
Back on the local hockey front, local leagues set off and teams are preparing for their usual rivalry between friends, players and enemies.
Soon after the upcoming holidays players and provinces will be planning their attack for the SA Nationals throughout all the divisions and we hope to see all provinces rostering competitive teams.
Updates of tournament dates to come.
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