Let’s get some things out of the way – I wasn’t around hockey when previous incarnations of various leagues collapsed so don’t have much of a benchmark, but what we have witnessed over the course of the last couple of years, and here I mean, in no particular order,  the demise of the Manchester Phoenix, the advent and subsequent departure of Red Hockey, changes of ownership in Telford and the remaining owners attempting to exclude them from the end of year play-offs, the departure of two EPIHL teams and the subsequent apparent collapse of the proposed 2017-18 incarnation of the Premier Ice Hockey League paints the league as one that was racing toward the light at the end of the tunnel, only to find that the light was an oncoming train.

The NIHL South meet on the 7^th May 2017 and we expect to see announcements subsequently regarding the status of the applications of the more southern EPIHL teams (Basingstoke, Bracknell, Peterborough and Swindon) to the NIHL following the now infamous email from Ken Taggart, chairman of the  English Ice Hockey Association.

Whatever the financial stability of the remaining EPIHL clubs, these teams, and indeed the teams who have been encouraged to apply to the NIHL North, find themselves between a rock and a hard place.

Whilst the EPIHL has crashed the National League has developed a sustainable business model which is not inherently averse to change and progress, but the pace of change and potential impact on NIHL clubs effectively enforces change on teams in a on a larger and more rapid scale than many of them would’ve been prepared for.  In a business sense no suggestion of continuous improvement or kaizen here; the EIHA advocates the EPIHL teams join what has effectively been the third tier of British hockey which by default becomes the new second tier with the gulf between it and the Elite League becoming an increasing larger chasm.

Of course, in the absence of another proposal, and let’s face it, though we might suspect that another plan may be on the table for that meeting on 7^th May, it is likely that the EPIHL teams will be assimilated into the NIHL in some way (mindful here of the fact that the Peterborough Islanders (now Phantoms) would’ve already been eligible for the NIHL1 and so the Phantoms organisation would’ve had representation at that level already).

At the end of the 2016-17 season my initial reactions to the proposed changes to the Premier League revolved around the capacity of a league to survive with just seven clubs, the reduction of imports and the understanding that the PIHL would be charged with the responsibility of that much quoted word, ‘development’.

Seven teams felt like it was too few and gave the prospect of too many games against the same old opponents, and insufficient games to make the whole thing work.  The league was always going to see a reduction in imports, not least at the time to tempt NIHL teams to join and with five imports being largely unsustainable, though the prospect of three imports and the removal of import netminders was not favourable to me; selfishly it felt like some of the sparkle would be taken from the game and whilst British hockey needs to develop British netminders (and D men, and forwards, and coaches) the impending restriction on import goalies felt like it was putting the responsibility of development solely at the second tier’s door.

Maybe that has to be the case in light given the league’s development tag, and the success of Ben Bowns with the Cardiff Devils and GB is the highest profile British netminder to have come through the EPIHL route in recent years, albeit from the incarnation of the league that has just perished.  So actually, if you’re good enough …?

Of course, the Phantoms may be joining an NIHL that sees a surfeit of quality British players swelling the ranks of the National League in the absence of too many places on Elite League rosters, and by default this being the next level of hockey, giving us a competitive and exciting league.  I suspect that this is the kind of thing that might develop over time, with the former EPIHL teams with their semi-professional set ups and to a large extent greater revenue streams being able to dominate the market in the short term.

Amid rumbling from fans of teams across the league it looks like the former EPIHL teams will need to cut their cloth, and whether this gives them the opportunity to grow in time remains to be seen.  NIHL1 teams do not charge admissions prices (around a tenner, and even less) that the EPIHL does, in the main.  Their season tickets are a fraction of the cost of the EPHIL and I suspect their capacity to generate sponsorship may be smaller, though there are some big name deals in NIHL1 such as SEGA with the Oxford City Stars.

It would be quite understandable if the NIHL were apprehensive of what happens next; the prospect of teams joining their league and having a destabilising influence may simply push the EPIHL’s problems onto teams in NIHL1 and 2.  The former EPIHL teams are scratching about for somewhere to play, though there was an interesting suggestion made by David Carr on Anthony Russell’s ‘Banners on the Wall’ podcast (episode, 55 link: https://bannersonthewall.wordpress.com/2017/05/05/the-botw-podcast-episode-55/ ) that in light of the greater resources in the EPIHL (higher quality imports, higher quality Brits, more ice-time to practice etc) the impact on a league where players play for fun, and play for expenses in many cases, and where juniors are growing their game, the remaining seven EPIHL teams should play as a Premier League with additional games made from cup fixtures against NIHL sides.  Though the cross-over cup of a couple of season ago was not a success, the potential short term nature of the EPIHL’s tenure in the NIHL as they look for something else at the end of the 2017-18 season may make it not worth disrupting the NIHL for.

To finish up for this piece – the chances are that the EPIHL teams will be joining the two import NIHL, with the Phantoms et al needing to find a level to play at, and unless there is some decision to retain the Premier League in some way the National League being the place for them to go.  The danger, of course, is that the more financially secure sides dominate and the cycle of instability repeats itself.

The landscape for fans of current EPIHL teams may well be significantly different; Carr recognises that the standard of the NIHL is lower than the EPIHL, and whilst it may take a year of two to see teams develop some kind of parity as financial constraints (through ticket prices and possibly sponsorship too) bring EPIHL teams more in line with some of their competitors, supporters will be faced with a different product and may decide that the NIHL is not for them.

Lots of my hockey following friends support football teams too, and continue to support them even though our teams are rubbish, and even though they get relegated every now and again.  Just as in hockey, we follow our football teams through thin and thinner, but the issue here, and a problem for the EPIHL teams is that not everyone will do that, especially when a perceived demotion is due to a league restructure rather than just poor performance on the pitch/ice.

I started off by saying the EPIHL teams are between a rock and a hard place; I suggest that in the absence of the Premier League continuing in some format they embrace what might well be the new second tier within the NIHL, within that structure there is hope for the development of the British game and ultimately the majority of fans get behind their teams come what may.  As long as the NIHL actually allows them to join, of course …

The Peterborough Phantoms can be found online at http://www.gophantoms.co.uk/

You can also follow the club on Twitter at @GoPhantoms 

If you have any comments or observations I’d love to hear from you.  Find me on Twitter at   ‏@phil_smith66  and Instagram its_phil_smith and follow for regular Phantoms updates.