This years team

[sniffer]

Is anyone else concerned. 2 week`s to first game and only 15 players of which 1 Netminder 5 D men- 3 that can start the season, 2 of which are very young.

[The Neil Spratling Fan Cl]

I am very concerned Sniffer,very concerned indeed.Our D was our weak point last season and it looks alot weaker for the forthcoming season.Throw in the fact that Streatham and Bracknell both look much better than last season,I feel that a top 3 finish might be difficult.

Hope i'm wrong.

[rats]

Don't forget that Charlie Phillips is an outstanding d man, once he completes his ban. McNichol was excellent when we saw him last time. Billy is excellent, Straws and Cooke are also very capable. Elliott is a decent prospect.

Plus Nicky Lewis, Harry and Greg Chambers can also play d very well.

What's too worry about? Haven't the Mo's been moaned about for not having any young players??

Also, there is still time to sign others
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coming back stronger!!!!!!

[Crackers]

Your D is better than average, but when you look at the offence, which is bordering on outstanding, the team is going to have let in a lot for you to lose a game!
I don't doubt you will be top 3 in what is possibly the hardest enl1 so far.

[MikeT]

Of course there's still time, and no doubt the signings have already been made.

The thing is, though, that as it stands we - the general public - only know about the 15 who have been announced. Of those 15, only one is a netminder and another is a D man who is potentially unavailable for the first 23 games of the season through suspension (tbc). Netminding and defending have been our two problem areas for years, hence the concern.

By contrast, London Raiders - a team whose continued existence was uncertain only 2-3 weeks ago - have announced a squad of 20 (including 3 nms) and two U18s on 2-ways. Presumably, not all the Raiders will be available for all the games, hence the large squad. But then not all of the 15 announced Mos will be available for all the games either.

Unless KP has some huge signings in the wings and is hanging on to maximise the PR opportunity just before the first puck drops, then I can't see the point in not telling the fans.


Edited: Charlie Phillips' ban is now confirmed as being only 4 games, so that helps. It would still be good to know who else we have signed though - particularly the netminder.
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Chairman of the East Midlands branch of the Dynamos Supporters Club

[Don C]

Invicta has once again put together a potent, classy looking forward line and i`m sure they will score a good amount of goals this season.

The big question will be how many are conceded. In Douglas the club has a truly excellent goalie but they will need him to be fit all season long. I realise that there may well be more signing news and that Greg Chambers may, I guess, be utilised in a D role.

I`ve never hidden my view that, IMHO, the club needs a puck moving transitionally gifted import D man to compete in the "new look" NIHL.

If Chambers doesn`t play D and no other experienced D is signed then I am worried that, even though Invicta has secured some good Brit D men, they may still be a bit short-handed at the back and may lack that collective fluency needed to move the puck forward.

It`s not a shoot-out league anymore and the rosters of other NIHL clubs are looking mightily skillfull, especially on the blue lines. London has signed a very good D man and Oxford (if Edinburgh doesn`t snatch one of them !) have 2 import D men. Chelmo and Bracknell have Imp Ds and Wightlink has recruited additional D men, including a Brit D who has Elite and EPL experience. Streatham has still to announce its second import.

Time will tell but right now I am wondering whether there is still a missing jigsaw piece. A player or players that will provide the chemistry needed to play out a season in a more defensively oriented league.

[kev]

So 6 days to go
16 on roster
Anymore to come!!!!!!.

[Lee]

[sniffer]

Yep and only 14 can play in the first 4 games. I would like to see at least another 2 D and 1 F

[grant_w]

7 D is plenty. I imagine one of those could play forward when the Phillips' ban is over, so realistically we could get away with getting 1 more forward and we would have the traditional 3 complete lines
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Grant

[bab]

even by invicta standards.a bench of sixteen is smaller than normal.with charlie phillips banned for the first four game means only two and a half lines . streatham wightlink chelmsford solent london and bracknell all have bigger benches than invicta.hope there will be at least two more signings this week.before our first game on satuday.

[MikeT]

The latest player announcement was Nightingale, but it didn’t say “the final piece in the jigsaw” or anything along those lines so we cannot yet rule out more signings.

At present we have 16 players: 7 announced as D (Strawson, Cooke, Dewey, MacNicholl, Lillis, B Phillips, C Phillips); 7 announced as forwards (Lewis, Smith, Leone, Fowler, Huska, Chambers, Osman); and 2 netminders (Douglas and Nightingale).

Once the Philips brothers’ suspensions are over there will presumably be an adjustment, with either Lillis or MacNicholl moving from D to F. That would give three lines of D, but only 8F – in other words, one short of three offensive lines. So, we need another forward to balance that.

We need the extra body (or preferably 2) to give us some depth in case of player departures, injury, suspension or absence for work reasons. All of these have happened over the last couple of seasons so it would be sensible to have a contingency plan.

We might end the season with 14 skaters, but a starting the season with only 14 is courting disaster so I hope KP has a couple more to announce in the next day or so.
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Chairman of the East Midlands branch of the Dynamos Supporters Club

[Don C]

According to a growing number of rumours, Invicta may have a very impressive goalie waiting in the wings to cover for, or share GK duties, with Chris Douglas.

Name mentioned is Mark Lee - a top goalie. Guess we`ll find out one way or another before long.

[MikeT]

How about:
Lee to take over from Disco as starting nm, with Nightingale as backup and Disco as emergency cover; and
Disco to take over from Chambers as assistant coach?
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Chairman of the East Midlands branch of the Dynamos Supporters Club

[MrBiccies]

Greg Chambers - Not sure what goes on behind the scenes at training etc but from what I've seen so far I'm not convinced by him at all, hasn't exactly brought a lot in the way of flare or points to the team so far this campaign I would of thought more would be expected from someone taking up an import spot?
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Chairman of the Justin Noble supporters club.