“Renewal”

“I had a new premonition,
I have found the nonlight
I’ve had a brand new renewal of sight”

“Innocence Gone” – Prong

Well, its certainly been a season to remember for a number of reasons

I mentioned in a previous blog on how I never make predictions and explained my reasons why.  Even with that in mind,  I’m more than happy to admit that I remember looking at the fixture list when it was first released, reading how we were due to play Sheffield on the final day of the regular season and thinking “Oh yeah, I know how this is going to work – it’ll go down to the wire and we’ll be eliminated from Playoff contention by the Steelers on the last day of the season”.

I dare say that if you’d even dreamt that said game would be a dead rubber with having already clinched not only a playoff spot and the Conference title but also second in the league, someone would have had you certified.  Sure, with no pressure, both the weekend games turned out to be slightly dull affairs (which is a shame considering the crowd sizes), but would anyone really want to have swapped places with Coventry to have made things more interesting?

It would be amusing to go back on internet forums and check out the usual “season predictions” threads from last August to see if anyone had the courage to suggest such an outcome (and if anyone did predict correctly, don’t suppose you’d fancy taking a punt on this weekends lottery numbers?)

It’s also been interesting watching how the fan-base has evolved over the past few seasons.  I’ve recently started attending “dog training” classes and I’ve watched how over the weeks people have gone from (in a truly traditional  British way) awkwardly saying “hi” whilst making sure their respective pets aren’t making a nuisance of themselves to chatting before and after lessons about how they’re getting on, comparing notes, offering tips and advice, etc.

With this being the third season, a similar thing has happened at the rink (but on a longer and larger scale).  Admittedly, there is the advantage of having social media that makes it easier to get to know people away from match night, but I’m sure I’m not alone in chatting to new people and forming new friendships.  Sure, in most cases, it’s people that I’ve already “spoken to” online (guess having a ponytail and banging a drum on game nights means that I’m quite distinctive – I’ve not only bumped into people that I’ve not see for a number of years at games, but also been told that I’m “the only person they recognise from the arena days”  Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing!), but there’s also “strangers” as well

As a result, by speaking to new people, in some cases you get to hear stories about how the game has changed their lives.  I’ve previously blogged about how at the end of the day, when taken to it’s lowest denominator, Hockey and sport in general  is something you do for fun/a form of entertainment, but in some cases, it’s been so much more than that.  As much as it almost certainly changed my life as written previously, to others I don’t think its an exaggeration to say that it has practically saved theirs

As well as the gradual increase in average crowd size, it’s also been good to see some familiar faces and of old friends from Phoenix days.  Whilst there is a small minority of people that want to point score with petty arguments, it’s great that the majority can put any past differences and arguments aside and get together to watch the game

An amusing aspect of this season is the fact that after spending many hours on here deconstructing how songs come together and making numerous attempts at song writing (with varying degrees of success), a new chant appears to have caught on.  I’ve no idea how it came about, when or where it originated, but “C’MMMMOOONNN STOOOOORRRRMMMM!” has slowly become a staple on match nights, with the added bonus of others starting the chant from various points around the rink.  I guess bonus points could be awarded for stretching the chant out for as long and as loud as possible (although talking from personal experience, I’m guessing that having spots and stars appear in your eyes when reaching the end is a bad thing, right?)

Going back to the Conference win, it’s funny that post game last Saturday night was spent reminiscing about everything that has happened since a Storm team last won silverware (way back in December ’99(!) and as I’ve said previously, what a game that was!), focusing primarily on some of the low points/awful games that we’ve witnessed.  I’ve often said (and usually after a “below-par” performance) that you need to experience the low points to appreciate the high ones, and even without taking the previous incarnation of the team into account, we’ve certainly had our share – you only have to think about the night earlier in the season where we were soundly beaten 5-0 at home by the Blaze for a very recent example.  It’s certainly funny how things can turn out in the long run!

My only fear at the moment is that having reached the heights of second in the league, anything less that first place next season could possibly viewed as a disappointment.  Expectations at the start of this season were pretty much to finish somewhere mid-table and most people would be happy – something that we’ve certainly exceeded.  As was mentioned when we league leaders for a spell during the season, when you’re at the top, there’s only one way to go…

Still, that’s all a long way off at the moment.  At the time of writing, there’s still the Playoff Quarter Final weekend to go, so this season isn’t done just yet

For us that aren’t going to the Playoff finals, this weekend is one last chance to shout/scream/sing/cheer for the players we’ve been watching for the past several months – with some there’s every chance that we’ll see them next season (albeit possibly playing for a different team) and others we’ll never see again

For those that are going to Nottingham (and if things go our way over the next two games, the Hockey Gods willing), this is the opportunity to get behind the team, be the extra man and do your bit to make sure the team get there too (which would be a great way to complete what has not only been a very successful season, but another hugely enjoyable one too)