A tale of two Jans…

HI all, sorry for the week long absence, but this is my final week of University work, and as such time is a little on the short side. My final project is nearly finished though, so I thought I’d get a blog update in before disappearing for a few more days to finish it off.

“There is no doubt in my mind that ‘Big Jan’ is the better player.”

The big news last week was that Slough’s playoff winning defensive rock Jan Melichar had left to sign for Swindon. The Wildcats also announced that Jan Krajicek wouldn’t be returning. Though no official announcement has been made, it is pretty common knowledge at this point that Krajicek will be signing for Slough. A lot of people have very strong views on this, and predictably the fans of each fanbase think they have got the better deal, and I actually agree that both teams are better off.

There is no doubt in my mind that ‘Big Jan’ (Krajicek) is the better player, and on a strong team like Slough he will be

Krajicek is powerless to prevent Bees scoring - Photo: Chris Callaghan

able to share the workload and be a dominating force, while improving their powerplay from last year. Melichar on the other hand is a few years younger, and should have enough left in the tank to play the extra minutes required of him at Swindon. He’s also a very solid player, and will fit in well in what I think will be a steady but unspectacular Cats defence. On a related note Swindon have also re-signed James Griffin for the coming season. This is a huge signing for them, as Griffin was by far their best British Dman last season and the youngster is a top prospect.

“His hands and playmaking will be miles better than most others in the EPL.”

Another huge signing in the EPL is David Longstaff to Guildford. This perhaps didn’t have the impact that the club hoped because, by the time the announcement was made, it was pretty common knowledge. Lobby is a terrific player, and his hands and playmaking will be miles better than most others in the EPL. It’s no secret that he’s not in fantastic shape, but he should still put up a lot of points and the slower pace will suit him I’m sure! One of the more interesting parts of Tony Hand’s book is where he’s talking about making it in America, and he mentions that he considers Lobby to be the only other British player with the talent to have made it to the top level.

Slough have announced the re-signings of Blaz Emersic and Gregg Rockman. I only saw Rockman play twice last season, at the playoff weekend, and he was fantastic, particularly in the final. I don’t know how he did the rest of the

Rockman is a Jet again - Photo: David Steadman

season, but he played almost every minute for the team that finished second so I guess he must have been pretty good! Emersic is great, and is the import that I would sign first and build my team around if I owned a team. Great all-round ability and a great captain.

Manchester have signed their first new signing (to go with the re-signed Boothroyd and Wood) in Dean Holland from Newcastle Vipers. Holland is a gritty young forward who I think will be a big hit in the EPL. He certainly wasn’t afraid of anyone in the EIHL!

Also announced today was Bracknell re-signing Ash Calvert and bringing in Craig Tribe from the Hornets. I like Calvert, big kid with lots of energy, but know nothing about Tribe, so I’ll be interested to see how he manages the step up.

“The Telford Tigers are officially back!”

The final bit of news is that the Telford Tigers are officially back! They’ve been accepted into the EPL and have signed Tom Watkins from the Coventry Blaze as player/coach. I think that’s a great appointment. As a player Tommy works so hard, and his enthusiasm will hopefully be infectious, and while this is his first senior head-coaching position he has been working under the best this country has to offer.

The Tigers are now owned by their fans (Tiger Tracks Supporters Trust). From what I can tell having looked at the Telford website, fans can pay a small fee to join the trust, and then all members get a say on club matters like

Calvert in action against Romford - Photo: Chris Callaghan

promoting etc. It’s an interesting idea and so far it looks to be working for them…perhaps it is something that can be explored by other teams if needed in the future, now that the people at Telford have proved that it can be done. It can’t be a bad thing to have people that truly care about the club in charge!

I’m still hoping that Romford will be joining Telford in the EPL next season, but there has been no news as yet. Then again it’s still April, and Sheffield Scimitars and Peterborough Phantoms are yet to make announcements as well, so there’s still plenty of time.

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Tags: David Longstaff, Jan Krajicek, Jan Melichar, Telford Tigers, Tom Watkins

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