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EHL preview with Tobi Walter · Lets Stick Together

0:00
SPEAKER_00: In this episode, it's a Euro Hockey League preview special with Toby Walter and myself.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: We're going into in-depth in the coming week of games.
0:11
SPEAKER_00: We're going to give you uh all of the inside opinions.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: It's all coming next.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: Right, it's episode 10 of Let's Stick Together.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: I do think maybe there's some irony in Let's Stick Together when we keep changing who's in Let's Stick Together.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: Um Let's Stick Together.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: Spoke to that ever.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: Um we're brought to you by Y1, who have a sale on 30% off Scandy, 50% off all the other older ranges.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: Just go to y1sport.com.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: There it is.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: We are, you know, they do support us in in many ways.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: So always the shout out to them.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: We are lucky today.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: We're going to do a, as we've already said, a Euro Hockey League special.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: And I've lost you, but I've gained someone much better, um, much more informed, much more well-rounded than than you piz.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: And we've got Toby, Toby Walter.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, I did, Toby.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: It's a pleasure to have you, first of all.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: Hello.
1:23
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Philip.
1:24
SPEAKER_02: I'm very glad to be here.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, I have to do the standard standard thing.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: I've done my research on you.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: Um Toby was uh is a goalkeeper back in the day, uh we say back in the day now, but not weekend, yes.
1:39
SPEAKER_02: It's quite some time ago.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: Uh he's represented Germany 57 times, uh, outdoor caps because you're German, we have to count indoor caps, 13 indoor caps.
1:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's very ept because he is a Euro Hockey League champion in 2014 with Harvest Huda.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, he played 18 EHL matches um both for Harvest Huda and Dragons, I want to say.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: Is that correct?
2:05
SPEAKER_02: And uh I think there were three with Mannheimer.
2:09
SPEAKER_00: Oh, nice.
2:09
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
2:10
SPEAKER_02: So so that's quite some time ago.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: Very well represented in the EHL.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: Um and yeah, it's it's great to have you on board.
2:17
SPEAKER_00: Like, first of all, Toast, I'm just gonna come straight at you with a question.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, your experience of the EHL and especially like winning it, how special is that in like hockey terms?
2:32
SPEAKER_02: Very special, special, obviously.
2:35
SPEAKER_02: Um it's one of the most fun tournaments you can play in your hockey career, um, especially if it goes well.
2:41
SPEAKER_02: Um back in the days when we played there in the successful season in 2014, it's also nice because the whole chaos 16, like it was held uh in Eindhoven at the at Oraniswad at the old club of Orani Rod, and we spent seven days there, like seven full days with the team in a nice hotel.
3:01
SPEAKER_02: You had like a day in between every game, and it's like it's a lot of fun.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: It's it's yeah, I think now it's kind of turned into the the very well-known tradition of you're a hockey fan that over Easter the EHL is coming wherever it is, normally in Holland, that it's a it's a it's a special time.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: And like I think we're gonna obviously go through all of the the draw because this is coming.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think when this comes out, it'll be this week.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's it's the EHL in in Den Bos.
3:29
SPEAKER_00: Um but like yeah, uh what would be your like winning memory from that from that 2014?
3:36
SPEAKER_00: Like, have you got any like really special standout moments from that win?
3:41
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, obviously the final went into shootouts, and um at the end it was uh Michi Körper who who shot us to the win and scored the the deciding um shootout against uh Tim Yeniskins, I believe.
3:56
SPEAKER_02: It was and it was Carnage afterwards.
3:58
SPEAKER_02: Um we were obviously not the favorites, we played against uh uh national team stacked uh Urani Swart back in the days.
4:05
SPEAKER_02: I think they didn't have one player who didn't play in any national team, and we were the the unknown underdog with uh Toby Hauke as the probably most known player in this team.
4:16
SPEAKER_02: Um it was it was a big surprise, and like this whole week over there was yeah, it felt like a dream.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you mentioned Toby Hauke like he's nothing, he was literally like the best player in the world at the time.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: Um literally running running the whole game.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, but also, I mean, was you playing in that game or was he just on the bench?
4:39
SPEAKER_00: I'm guessing.
4:40
SPEAKER_02: I think he was on the bench.
4:41
SPEAKER_02: There there is a small recap on uh on the highlights, I think, where you can just see him on the bench shaking his head.
4:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's great to hear.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: It's absolutely great to hear.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, I also said, like, I I did my uh, you know, it's like how special the EH EHL is, and I think I would say most people who play top European hockey, you know, you want to be playing in the EHL, and it's actually very hard to play games to uh put together some stuff.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: I did a little bit of a little bit of digging, obviously.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: I said you played 18 EHL matches, which is actually a hell of a lot because it's it's difficult to get caps.
5:18
SPEAKER_00: You could potentially only have if you get straight into the quarterfinals now, you could just play three games, two games, and and it's done.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Um I I've played 15 EHL matches um over over nine nine years.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: Um it's it's a difficult thing, difficult thing to do.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: And I think for reference, I looked it up and I think Arthur Van Doren, who has basically played in the competition every year since 2010, has only got 43 games.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of a special thing playing an EHL game.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: Do you agree?
5:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, 100%.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, the the fact that if you win the championship every year in your country, you're trading go into the final eight, so it's it's three games you play in the best case scenario.
6:02
SPEAKER_02: So every year you play three games, so you have to play over a very long period of time to actually reach uh a big number of games in each other.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: So going on to we're gonna do a little bit on the we're we're we're gonna focus, you know, full disclosure, we're gonna focus the majority on the men because I think that's how our that's what we know.
6:20
SPEAKER_00: But obviously, we're gonna it's the final 12 for the women, so it's a very um strange format because there's four teams in the in the women's side who have already qualified for the final eight, and then there is another eight teams playing four matches to to finalise the quarterfinals.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: Um their history, you know, it goes back to 2021 when the when the women's brought into it.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: There's three titles for Denbos, there's two for Amsterdam.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: Um Amsterdam aren't in it this year.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: Um so do you have a do you have like kind of a hot take for the for the women, Toby?
6:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, obviously, if you look at the the teams participating there, you have uh Gantuas who is um always performing well in EHL.
7:08
SPEAKER_02: Um you have SCRC from Sixer who are on a roll at the moment.
7:13
SPEAKER_02: They beat them Boss last weekend 4-0.
7:16
SPEAKER_02: There was a pretty impressive performance.
7:18
SPEAKER_02: Obviously, then Boss coming in there.
7:20
SPEAKER_02: And uh yeah, you have the Belgium champion with Brax.
7:24
SPEAKER_02: Uh and for the rest, to be honest, I do not really know.
7:26
SPEAKER_02: Harvest Suder, my old club, is in there with their women's team.
7:30
SPEAKER_02: Uh, as you said, they're already qualified for the final eight uh because they're reigning champion in Germany.
7:36
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, it's gonna be done between those teams, I guess.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: I think it's very hard.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: We always sit here when we talk about the women's game, and especially like this type of competition, to not look past the Dutch teams when they have such such ridiculously strong, strong, um, strong squads.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, it is a huge result that SCHC, so Yibi Jansen, uh, I think scored two goals over the weekend, like you said, to beat Denbosch 4-0, which is which is a real turn-up for the Bucs.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: And I think if you're gonna be watching the the women's EHL, I would, I would be it'd be very it sets up a nice Dutch winner because you've got the S both both teams are on either side of the draw.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: But like you said, I think there's two Belgian teams are really, really pushing here, and you can't really count the Spanish teams out either, they always come up strong.
8:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they've also proven that on international stage uh with uh with the women's national team, they're doing really well.
8:33
SPEAKER_02: Uh good development, but yeah, you gotta see how first Club Big Guerra is playing against SCLC, so that's already be a tough one for them.
8:45
SPEAKER_02: And then yeah, Club de Campo already qualified for the final eight, and I think they will face the winner of match two.
8:54
SPEAKER_02: That's probably gonna be Gantwas.
8:55
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, again a tough draw.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: And if you were just to say, like, you know, you got um aspiring people watching that, watching the women's side, who would you say to to watch out for?
9:09
SPEAKER_00: Both both, I guess let's bring you in as a goalie as well, um and and a player.
9:14
SPEAKER_00: But before I you know I've put you on the spot there, I can uh I can I can go.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: I think I think it's very hard to look past Yibby Jansen with the with the excitement of what she can do off the top of the D.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: And also like her general quality on the ball.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: I also have two more that I wrote down.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: It's Joshaberg for Den Boss, I think is an incredibly exciting, fast player.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: Like when she gets on the ball, stuff, stuff happens.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: And then finally, um Stephanie Van Dambora, the uh I've probably butchered the name, but the Y1 athlete.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: Um, she's also she's also someone who kind of like holds a lot of control on teams, and uh and and she's definitely one to watch for Gantua.
9:56
SPEAKER_02: First of all, props on a pronunciation, it was perfect.
9:59
SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, I I do agree.
10:01
SPEAKER_02: Those are those are the three names to probably watch out for.
10:05
SPEAKER_02: Something to mention with Gantua's is they have a lot of young players in that team as well who have shown already massive quality last year in EHL.
10:14
SPEAKER_02: Um so I guess their striker line is a very exciting striker line, but yeah, it's gonna be tough for them uh because if they win, they're gonna if they go through, they face Den Bosch in the semifinals.
10:28
SPEAKER_02: And then then we have the same semi-final as last year, um, which is gonna be interesting.
10:34
SPEAKER_02: Uh, and then those young strikers will face uh also one of the best goalies in the world on the women's side is uh Yosina Corning.
10:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that she's she's uh she's the goalie for uh Den Bos.
10:45
SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
10:46
SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
10:46
SPEAKER_02: Nice, correct.
10:47
SPEAKER_02: Also Y1 athlete.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: Another Y1 athlete, just all the shout outs here.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: We're definitely definitely not biased to me and Toby.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: Toby's background at the moment is he's he's in a fake Y1 office.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: Um before we move on to the men, Toby.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: I actually want to bring up your your your ex-social media presence.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah like can you can you take us through that?
11:13
SPEAKER_00: Because I just thought it's well worth talking about and sort of something that I used to used to follow when you got into trying to, I guess, grow the game in a different way.
11:25
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you can say that.
11:27
SPEAKER_02: It was basically just taking a bit of piss off everything happening on international hockey.
11:34
SPEAKER_02: Um I I did that obviously when I was not uh participating myself in international hockey anymore, but uh it it it gained quite a lot of attention within smaller groups.
11:46
SPEAKER_02: Uh it was good fun, but uh it's also very time consuming, so uh that has been buried since then.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the uh Toby was going to um I I I I'd love to give an example of what you did.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of kind of quite eclectic, isn't it?
12:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's like basically taking taking screenshots uh during pro league games and and putting some captions uh below it uh that make people laugh.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean it's a good shout out, and I think one of the things you mentioned to me when we were when we were doing the Y we did a European Y1 shoot a couple of weeks ago about like getting you on the podcast and something just clicked in my head and was like, he's Toby's a Toby's an excellent personality to have on the pod and someone who can definitely like drive the game forward both from a like uh educational point but also entertainment.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: Entertainment more more so I would say, Toby.
12:42
SPEAKER_00: Um appreciate it.
12:45
SPEAKER_00: So on to the men, I would say to start with, would you say this is one of the most wide open EHL, men's EHL from recent times, like uh we're into the quarterfinals.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: Um there's there's two English teams, one Spanish, one um one Belgian, two Germans, and two Dutch.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: And I would say I would say I caught I couldn't possibly really pick a pick a favourite.
13:22
SPEAKER_02: To be honest, I I did write down after you asked me to like I did write down my winner for each game.
13:32
SPEAKER_02: Um yeah it's a surprise that it's a surprise that there's one Belgian team in there.
13:42
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, two two Germans, yes, Polo uh played their their first round.
13:49
SPEAKER_02: Um Kreford sat already as uh current champion of Germany, and they're surprisingly not they're not doing well in the league at the moment.
13:59
SPEAKER_02: Um so this is gonna be very interesting because both of them face Dutch teams, which has always been there.
14:05
SPEAKER_02: You had always two German teams, two Dutch teams.
14:09
SPEAKER_02: You had for quite a while you had two two Spanish teams.
14:13
SPEAKER_02: Um, but with two English teams, for me, honestly, that's it's it's surprising.
14:18
SPEAKER_02: And uh I've seen your performances uh against Blumendaal in the in the first round.
14:23
SPEAKER_02: Uh very much deserved win to go through into the into the final eights.
14:29
SPEAKER_02: But yeah.
14:31
SPEAKER_02: Uh I'm very curious how you see your chances against uh Gantras.
14:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean we will come on to that.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: I would say that that that to add a bit more meat on the bone there, the previous champs, like seven of the last 11 years, have been Dutch.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: And I think four four of them Blumendal.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: So obviously, with a with a huge team like that not in it, I do think it kind of makes makes the game wide open.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh, as you've already touched on, I mean let's go for the first side of the draw, like you said.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: We've got OG's, uh, my team versus versus Gantoir, and Serbiton versus Club de Campo.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: Um for us, it's it's it's an unknown, like it's not an unknown because they did it last year.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: I think there's there's obviously a difficulty for us playing the reigning champions and a team who has so much quality, um, especially with with with a good goalie in Jimmy Carr, uh the best drag flicker in the world.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm guessing I would say with Hendricks, you know, a a the Keener who just tends to run the game, and then quality with with their Argentinians, Irish, Belgium, Belgium players.
15:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, we obviously proved that we can do it and and take them on with the Europe with the best in Europe.
15:46
SPEAKER_02: Uh to be fair, they're not they're not they haven't started extremely well into the second half of the season over here in Belgium.
15:53
SPEAKER_02: Um which for me it's very hard to compare because I don't follow a lot of English hockey.
16:01
SPEAKER_02: Um but I also know your team is stacked with international quality or ex-quality or ex-international quality.
16:12
SPEAKER_02: Um so the fact that they are not on a roll at the moment brings a massive chance, but as we talked about it before, EHL is a special tournament.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: Um Yeah, I think it does it does come into this.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: I don't think they seem like a team who can who can blast you out of the water straight away.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: I think they they seem like a grind you down type of team.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: They obviously have their we're gonna come on to it their their zonal low block, how they play uh is a is a is a style which literally won them the championship last year against Blumenthal.
16:49
SPEAKER_00: Um I guess on the other side, sorry, on the same side as that, we got Serbiton Campo.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: Um Serbiton have have uh an absolute stacked team in English terms.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: They have current internationals throughout their you know, 16, 16-man squad.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, and Campo, you know, a lot of Spanish quality, um a lot of X and Spanish quality and you know, uh other other players.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if uh Ponsle is playing one of my ex-teammates, but what would you say?
17:20
SPEAKER_00: Who who would you say is the favourite in that?
17:21
SPEAKER_00: Because I would put Serbiton as the favourite, but I don't know.
17:26
SPEAKER_02: I would put Club de Campo as favourite.
17:30
SPEAKER_02: Um just from yeah, like if you if you if you look at the classic Spanish style of hockey, and then with their their midfield Villalonga, he is uh also wrote him down as my one of the players to watch.
17:45
SPEAKER_02: He already outperformed everyone in the first round.
17:50
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I just see them as as the winner there in this in this matchup.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I think um so Serbiton are unbeaten so far in the in the uh in the English league.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: I think um they've they made signings this year with Nick Bandrak, um uh Will Calnan, uh a couple a couple more um Callum Douglas in goal is uh is a really good uh upcoming goalie.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: And I think the thing they've they've learned to do a little bit this year from watching is like being more professional, being more clinical.
18:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think the the Spanish team, people like Villelonga, is an absolute joy to watch, and I think he is a hundred percent someone that you should watch.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: But whether or not he can impact the game as much as he has done in the last couple of years, I would be disappointed in some of them players on the Serbiton team, knowing their qualities of how good defensively they are, um, not to shut him down better than they did last time they played them.
18:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I agree.
18:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and as I said, I have I'm not following uh English hockey too much.
18:53
SPEAKER_02: Um the the Surbon men's team always has been yeah well selected, let's say they had like a lot of quality in their in the teams, and uh used to used to play with a couple of them.
19:07
SPEAKER_02: Uh Dave Goodfield, uh Brendan Greed is not playing there anymore.
19:10
SPEAKER_02: But you know, those were the guys.
19:12
SPEAKER_02: Um so yeah, for me it's it's hard to predict, but from what I've seen first round, uh Club de Campo, they beat Leopold.
19:23
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
19:23
SPEAKER_02: Um so I I rate them, I rate them quite high.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay, nice.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: So you've let's go with that one as the uh Campo wins that, and who wins that of OG's Gantois.
19:32
SPEAKER_00: Don't don't take that.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: I'm sat talking to you.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: You can you can be honest.
19:36
SPEAKER_02: Gantois.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so you you're saying a Gantois Campo semi-final, and then we move over to the other side of the draw.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: And I think this is I I've written down Amsterdam Hamburg as the as the game of that quarterfinals, um, mainly because you look at it and you have just stacks of quality, um, both teams with deep pockets um who have tried to buy.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: I I think with the end goal being they want European success.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: Um and you know, incredible like I mean, just to name a few, you've got Tom Craig, Tim Brand, um the Caseyan brothers, uh Middendorp, it just amazing quality.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: Kane Russell, Kane Russell, yeah.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: I think that is an absolute humdinger of a of a quarter final.
20:25
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and uh it's very interesting to see.
20:29
SPEAKER_02: Uh you talked about the the puppets.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: Um Paulo is like they're trying for some years now to also win the German championship.
20:42
SPEAKER_02: They they failed a couple of times.
20:44
SPEAKER_02: Uh I think two times in the final where they just come short of it.
20:48
SPEAKER_02: They they lost two semi-finals.
20:50
SPEAKER_02: They have been in EHL, they always qualified.
20:53
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, facing then Amsterdam in in your first game in the in the final eight is a tough draw, and Amsterdam is also kind of on the roll.
21:02
SPEAKER_02: Uh, and as you said, the the quality on the Amsterdam side versus the penalty corner strength of Polo that's gonna be the game of the day, I assume.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think it's very interesting because I think Amsterdam are one of these teams that it looks like, and speaking to Olli Payne, who is the goalkeeper for Amsterdam, is that that you know it offensively it comes very naturally to them.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: Maybe defensively, there's a there's a there's a couple of question marks, you know, when they have uh Kempman, who is a ex-attacking midfielder now as their spare man, um, and uh Domerhausen as the as the other centre back who is a midfielder.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I think it does beg the question that they probably will concede goals.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think they always back themselves to score more than they concede, with you know, Boris Burkhardt as well as a uh incredible striker for them.
21:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they they do live from their offensive quality, like in the whole team.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: Whole team is very good for it.
22:02
SPEAKER_02: And obviously, with the with the two Kasim brothers, we also have Lee Morton there, who's an attacking defender, um, who doesn't like to stay in his position uh and ending up in front of the goal.
22:13
SPEAKER_02: It's it's gonna be very interesting.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: And who who who comes out on top?
22:18
SPEAKER_00: Let's just keep going with your predictions.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: Who wins that game?
22:23
SPEAKER_02: Oh, we need to have a German team in the semi-final, so I'd say Polo goes through.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: And I and I think that does come back with a bit of a battle.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: Kane Russell versus Soly Payne.
22:32
SPEAKER_00: I will be I will be uh watching that with great interest.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: And then the the final quarterfinal we haven't uh talked about yet is is Campong versus Krefeld, so the German champions versus Kampong, which are Campong are like woefully underperforming this year.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: I think they sit eighth in the Hoofklasser with the with the team they have.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: I think they've had been had some injuries with Yip Piansen now, and I think Lars Bollock is out as well.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: Um what and you've said like Krefeld are struggling as well.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: So is is this a a free swing for them?
23:04
SPEAKER_00: You see this in football a lot, don't you, where like teams are doing badly in the you know in their in their respective league, and then they go to the Champions League and they just pull it out the back.
23:14
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, as I said, ENGL is especially so but yeah, I I do not see Kreford having too much of a chance against Campong.
23:23
SPEAKER_02: The the quality in in every position is probably higher on Campong's side, beside the centre striker, which on Criffeld is uh Niklas Vellen.
23:34
SPEAKER_02: But I I doubt that there's one guy who can turn everything around.
23:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have to agree with you.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: The the only thing I would say, and and I say this very lightly, is I feel I feel almost bad saying it, but we've got to bring you in as a goalie.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: And Calzado is is is the the keeper for Campong at the moment, and I would not say he is um in the form of his life.
23:59
SPEAKER_00: Um how much how much do you think that affects uh campong?
24:06
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you've just uh seen this morning the Instagram video of uh Sam and Orchard.
24:13
SPEAKER_02: I have where Telling Camp is shooting some boss on on Casado and he is not saving one of them, and it's like the caption says when when you go keep a light on his resume.
24:24
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he's not having his best season, but coming from Spain into the Hoofdclass into the best competition in the world, it's it's a big step.
24:34
SPEAKER_02: Um you have to get used to, but he also has proven that he is good, so I I cannot see Crifford winning there as much as I would like them uh as a German team to go through, but I I the quality on on the side of Campong with Telegram, with Peters, uh with several others, it's just they're not gonna they're not gonna go through.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: I like it.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: I like your certainty.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: So I think in in your point of view, let's I mean let's keep going because I think we're kind of almost there for you anyway.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: So you can come back on here in a few weeks' time and and either bask in your glory.
25:13
SPEAKER_00: We've got a Campo versus Gantoir and a Campong versus Hamburger semi-finals.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: Who then who then uh you know Campong, Hamburger, uh who who wins that that draw?
25:27
SPEAKER_02: That's gonna be a matchup of drag checkers uh and and who has the better goalie than at the end, or who has the better chances, who has the most penalty corners.
25:35
SPEAKER_02: But I would say the fact that Campong was missing a couple of their key players and Yibjansen, he was back last weekend, but he hasn't played that much and he didn't take any corners.
25:45
SPEAKER_02: So I would like to I would like Polo to go through.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: And then uh Campo Campo versus Gantois semi-final on the other side.
25:56
SPEAKER_02: Gantwars.
25:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so so we've got a Gantoirs versus Hamburger final.
26:00
SPEAKER_00: I think that's a that's a Toby Toby predictions here.
26:04
SPEAKER_01: Um would be amazing, yeah.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and who wins the final?
26:08
SPEAKER_00: Let's finish it off.
26:10
SPEAKER_02: I think Polo is kind of struggling with winning winning finals.
26:16
SPEAKER_02: So it it will go to shoot on.
26:21
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: And then we see.
26:25
SPEAKER_00: I obviously want none of your predictions to come true from the very start, but I mean I also like how much how much care you're taking in in uh in these predictions.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: I I would say to finish off like uh this kind of like little little segment is that I I think if you are someone who obviously is listening to the podcast and you're gonna watch some of the uh some of the games next week, is that some of the players we've named are excellent players to watch.
26:53
SPEAKER_00: I think the one person who we haven't mentioned yet who I think is just 100% need to watch is uh Tom Craig.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: I think um for someone who has been at the top of his game for a long time, he seems to have hit a a new level, um, especially over his uh over his his pro like the pro league in in the in the winter.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: Um just the way he carries the ball, the how how incredibly dangerous he is um every single time he's involved in an attack.
27:20
SPEAKER_00: Uh I I would say like 100% if you're you're a young player, you're whoever watching, just I think have a little side player cam on him.
27:30
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's funny to see.
27:31
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you have on one, and they face they face Amsterdam.
27:34
SPEAKER_02: You have on one side you have the Cassim brothers, on the other side you have the two Aussie guys with Tim Brandt and Tom Craig, which kind of have the same flair of playing hockey, um, which is gonna be extremely exciting.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: 100%.
27:48
SPEAKER_02: What is your take?
27:49
SPEAKER_02: Who is going through uh into the semis and who is gonna end up in the final?
27:55
SPEAKER_00: I think I'm gonna come back with the bold predictions in part two.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna be right back after the break.
28:05
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28:08
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28:14
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28:25
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28:32
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28:33
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28:44
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28:49
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28:59
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29:08
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29:10
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29:19
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29:29
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29:38
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29:46
SPEAKER_00: Right, we're back.
29:48
SPEAKER_00: I think uh you wanted my take um just before the break on who I think is going through.
29:55
SPEAKER_00: I have got a a bold prediction, and it is it is bold, but I think there will be one English team in the final.
30:05
SPEAKER_00: I think obviously it's because I'm incredibly biased.
30:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, but at the same time, I believe that the English game, the top you know, four or five clubs have been we changed our whole league structure to try and have almost try and have European success, have more quality games.
30:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think that both us and Serbiton are actually capable of um of putting putting some results together.
30:30
SPEAKER_00: Now, whether or not, again, I said this last year, you laughed at me, we lost 6-3 to Rotterdam.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: Um looking back at that game, I still feel okay about that game.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: We had you know 12 corners, they hit us on the break, scored some scored some very nice goals, but like it's it's uh you know it's we're try we're breaking down then barriers slowly, and I do think one of us will will will break it in the next week.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: Um again, it's a bold prediction.
30:58
SPEAKER_02: Uh how long how long has your second half of the season been going on?
31:02
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have played four games um before the before this uh this the EHL.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: So we actually play each other um the weekend before this this goes.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: So also very interesting because there is it's quite a heated rivalry um between the teams.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: There's been you know most of the finals in the last four years have been between Serbiton OGs.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: Um there's like an a lot of knowledge of each each other and actually very different styles.
31:32
SPEAKER_02: Um Serbiton are and also also both teams with deep pockets.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: Uh to an extent, I would I would agree with you.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: I think in again in different ways how that's done.
31:44
SPEAKER_00: I think like Serbiton have the most current internationals.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: Um I think we what I was gonna say about the the styles of both teams are they are incredibly different.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: Um as the older team OGs, by some margin, we have an incredible amount of 30-year-olds, which is gonna prove what maybe one of the downsides in in playing three high quality games over a short period of time, but probably have slightly more hockey IQ, I would say, um, over Serbiton, but then Surbiton have this incredible physical um game, and they can they can they try and run every single team off the park, and then with the addition of the the quality that they have, both both in both circles.
32:37
SPEAKER_02: So experience versus fitness.
32:40
SPEAKER_02: I would say yeah, that's not a bad, not a bad way of looking at it.
32:44
SPEAKER_02: And then like they have current internationals, you have ex-internationals, plus current internationals, plus old current internationals.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: Plus talk about yourself, obviously.
32:57
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, yeah, and and that will be I think we're coming on to a bit of a nerdy section which I wrote down, which is which is like for the people who don't know hockey completely, like what's going on in the hockey world at the moment, there's there's this like fad, which is the deep zone.
33:14
SPEAKER_00: And um, what does this mean?
33:16
SPEAKER_00: Well, it basically means that the the Germans won the World Cup starting this in 2023, where they kind of sit at a roughly a 30-yard block in front of their own goal.
33:26
SPEAKER_00: It's incredibly hard to break down, then either hitting teams on the counter, scoring your corners, um, basically like really condensing the game.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: And Gantois did this to Blumendal last year in the final, ended up coming up 5-2 winners, I think it was.
33:40
SPEAKER_00: Um and this is becoming more and more popular.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: It's it's you know, it's going through the international game, it's definitely going through our our our domestic league at the moment.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, what's your take on it, Tobes?
33:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the thing is there's only there's only one party who's really enjoying that, and that's the team who's playing that.
34:01
SPEAKER_02: Because you get reward with every ball win.
34:04
SPEAKER_02: Um the team you're like the team who's playing against that is you hate it.
34:09
SPEAKER_02: And also for the spectators, it's not exciting to see because it slows the game down, there's not a lot of action.
34:16
SPEAKER_02: Um there's some there are a lot of crash balls into the circle.
34:19
SPEAKER_02: It's not really it doesn't really require a lot of skills, it's it's a lot of luck to get through.
34:25
SPEAKER_02: So the only team who's actually enjoying it is the team who's playing that.
34:29
SPEAKER_02: And I don't want to say it it destroys the sport, but you know, at the end of the day, the team that wins is in the right.
34:43
SPEAKER_02: And if you win like that, if you become world champion like that, if you become Olympic champion like that, or you'll be you're right.
34:50
SPEAKER_02: And at the end it is about winning.
34:52
SPEAKER_02: And if if that's the way you want to do it, good for you.
34:57
SPEAKER_02: You enjoy it, you can be happy about it afterwards.
35:00
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, the big downfall for that is for for the spectators, it's just not the most amazing uh way to watch hockey if if you look back 10, 15, 20 years how hockey was played.
35:13
SPEAKER_02: Uh it's just open visor, go forward.
35:17
SPEAKER_02: Um, it's been that was also what EHL was about.
35:20
unknown: Yeah.
35:21
SPEAKER_02: EHL hockey, a lot of goals and a lot of action, a lot of flair.
35:26
SPEAKER_02: And now it's it's very technical.
35:28
SPEAKER_02: And to be honest, Gantuas did this extremely, extremely well.
35:32
SPEAKER_02: They're very disciplined, also, due to their coach, um, who's uh who's very good in in explaining that and and and having an idea about that, and everybody on the field is following that.
35:44
SPEAKER_02: If you're not following that, you're off.
35:46
SPEAKER_02: That's that's pretty simple, but they they did it uh nearly to perfection.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: I I couldn't agree more with your with your summary of of how you're viewing it.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: I would still I'm still desperately uh Toby trying to work out what rule could be brought in to world hockey or club hockey that can dispel the deep zone, but I I don't think there is one.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: Um other than yeah, and and just hoping that this fad ends soon because I think I'm starting to view the game a little bit from the fans' perspective as well now, and doing the podcast, you have to think about it a little bit differently.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: And I I just couldn't agree more that it's unfortunately ruining the beautiful game.
36:29
SPEAKER_00: You want these midfielders and attacking players where you have the space to to be flair and make people love the the game that you're watching.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, I'm not completely sure the deep zone does that.
36:41
SPEAKER_00: It obviously creates chaos, there's great chaos.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: There's there's bits where the ball you know slips up and someone's smashing it into the goal.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, it makes the fullbacks look good because they get to choose the choose the passes, uh play the diagonal aerials, uh find the right pass, break it down.
36:58
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I think that's something that is that is gonna be prevalent in this EHL for the nerd section.
37:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and yeah, as you said, it's it's very interesting how it's gonna develop.
37:10
SPEAKER_02: Um for sure it's not gonna stay like that forever.
37:13
SPEAKER_02: We've seen that's that tactics change over the years.
37:16
SPEAKER_02: Um it started with a lot of man-to-man, then it went to zone, back to man-to-man.
37:22
SPEAKER_02: Now it's a deep zone.
37:23
SPEAKER_02: This will also change again because people will be busy with how we can break it, and there will be ways.
37:32
SPEAKER_02: There will be different ways to break that, and then it's then you need to change something again.
37:37
SPEAKER_02: Um to really change something in the rules.
37:41
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you talked about it already on the pod, but a sec, uh like you have in basketball a shot clock, but you all then it's really becoming a ping pong game, then it's more exciting for the spectators, but yeah, probably hated by the players.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because it is more or less turning into handball or basketball.
38:00
SPEAKER_00: That's what that's how we're viewing it.
38:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, you have that, you know, people are setting up and then we're going.
38:04
SPEAKER_00: It's not obviously that this is not happening all over the game.
38:07
SPEAKER_00: I think it's just becoming more and more popular.
38:09
SPEAKER_00: So, like a serbiton, like we've already touched on, I'm not doing this because their game is based on physicality.
38:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, we're hoping that is uh hopefully we've we've kind of painted a good picture of what it is.
38:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, and when you see it as you as you will over the over the coming week, um you can you can be a little bit more bit more educated.
38:30
SPEAKER_00: Um I am gonna take us right into just goalie corner for a couple of minutes.
38:35
SPEAKER_00: Um as much as I don't like to do that, we we've yeah again, maybe we maybe we do like goalies because we've had a fair few goalies on the podcast.
38:44
SPEAKER_00: But who are who are the ones to watch?
38:47
SPEAKER_00: Like, what are you do you still nerd out to to watching goalies when you go to these events, Tobes?
38:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
38:54
SPEAKER_02: Um, and you've mentioned one, you mentioned Jamie Carr, who's playing for Ghent.
38:59
SPEAKER_02: Um, he played an excellent EHL season last year.
39:04
SPEAKER_02: He had he had a terrific year in general with winning the Hockey India League, becoming Belgium champions, EHL champions.
39:10
SPEAKER_02: So, like for him it was like the perfect year.
39:13
SPEAKER_02: Um but also on the other side you have um our English friend Olym Payne on Amsterdam side.
39:20
SPEAKER_02: Those I think are the the most known names.
39:25
SPEAKER_02: Uh when it comes to EHL.
39:28
SPEAKER_02: Uh yes, you have Casado for Campung who has been struggling uh a bit, and then you have uh the the German number number three, Yoshi, uh with Polo.
39:40
SPEAKER_02: Also good, but also hasn't touched his level yet, which he had last year.
39:44
SPEAKER_02: So I I guess it's gonna be uh uh Jamie and and Ollie who are gonna be uh mostly in the picture.
39:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, do you uh what's you what's your making of uh I've got to ask because I'm obviously a OG's guy, but the the Masarello magic against Blumenthal, does that does that impress you, or are you more of a stand and save it type of guy?
40:05
SPEAKER_02: No, it did impress me.
40:06
SPEAKER_02: It was it was a very, very good game.
40:09
SPEAKER_02: Um and yeah, due to him, you guys won.
40:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
40:14
SPEAKER_02: Fair to say, and um all props given to him.
40:18
SPEAKER_02: Um he's a great goalie.
40:21
SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, we we've touched on that uh uh two weeks ago during the during the European shoot.
40:29
SPEAKER_02: Like you know, to be to be in uh in talks for a world-class goalie, or one of like top three world goalies uh currently, I think uh you have to you have to show that you on all international stages on on three big tournaments, you you are on top of your game.
40:48
SPEAKER_02: And yes, he has played uh very good periods, but I I don't think he's there yet.
40:55
SPEAKER_00: It's a good take from a from a very knowledgeable guy.
40:59
SPEAKER_00: So uh Maus, up your game.
41:02
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: Um okay, nice.
41:06
SPEAKER_00: And I'd like to also like I I game up with the bold prediction that there's gonna be one English team in the final.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: Have you got a uh have you got a bold prediction for us?
41:16
SPEAKER_00: Club de campo in the final okay that's this comes out of nowhere.
41:26
SPEAKER_02: Please don't don't like I'm sorry, but I I do not see an English team going through uh into a final where where I can see it is Club de Campo.
41:36
SPEAKER_02: Um that would be that would be for me the biggest surprise.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: People are always so hot on these things.
41:44
SPEAKER_02: That actually could happen.
41:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're very always uh lots of people are hot on the Spanish teams.
41:48
SPEAKER_00: It's it's uh it's interesting.
41:51
SPEAKER_00: They haven't obviously had a great deal of success in the recent years, but I mean, is there something special about this campo team?
41:56
SPEAKER_00: Do you know something that I don't?
41:59
SPEAKER_02: No, it's just a different style of hockey.
42:01
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
42:03
SPEAKER_02: It's very disruptive.
42:05
SPEAKER_02: Like they don't let you play your game.
42:08
SPEAKER_02: They play very physical, they probably play more physical than all the others.
42:12
SPEAKER_02: Um I don't want to say they play dirty, but you know, like they they are very good on balancing on that thin line of going a bit over the edge and and not doing that.
42:24
SPEAKER_00: Nice, nice, okay.
42:26
SPEAKER_00: Well, we're gonna watch this space.
42:28
SPEAKER_00: Um I'm uh I'm I'm I it's making me excited just thinking about it because it's gonna be uh it's gonna be a great week in Den Boss.
42:34
SPEAKER_00: Um I guess uh we haven't talked about scorers that much.
42:38
SPEAKER_00: Is there anyone who you think is gonna come out and and lead the scoring?
42:41
SPEAKER_00: Like we've got the drag flickers that we've already touched on, we've got some incredible, incredible forwards at this at this tournament.
42:46
SPEAKER_00: Is anyone you think is gonna is gonna run away with that and uh and take the take the uh the tournament by storm?
42:57
SPEAKER_02: Um it's probably gonna be a drag flicker.
43:02
SPEAKER_02: Um and then I'd go with Hendrix and or Kane Russell.
43:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: Agree with both.
43:12
SPEAKER_00: Um I will add in um I'm gonna add in Duco uh Tongo Kamp, just because I think I think if you've talked about Krefeld being not at their game, I think he's gonna he's someone who really will will will make the most of that situation.
43:29
SPEAKER_00: And for someone who I just cannot believe any time he gets into the goal, he like there's definite comparisons between all centre forwards, but there's definitely one between like Henry Croft and Duco because anytime they get the ball in the D, all they want to do is hit the ball as hard as humanly possible at the goal.
43:47
SPEAKER_00: And I think there's obviously that there's an amount of predictability about that, but also the fact that just the ball is coming at you as hard as possible, as quickly as possible, is is I
44:00
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and they they also shoot from every angle.
44:02
SPEAKER_02: Like even if it's on the baseline, they go as hard as they can.
44:05
SPEAKER_02: It's like they they want to just go under the crossbar as hard as they can.
44:09
SPEAKER_02: It's like for a goalie, it's horrible because you just look stupid at the end.
44:15
SPEAKER_02: Even like if they score from the baseline, you look stupid because you can press your whole body against the post.
44:20
SPEAKER_02: Uh, if it hits next to your head into the goal, like, yeah, what are you gonna do?
44:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, you definitely get a bad rep for that.
44:26
SPEAKER_00: Like when the ball is coming at you at, I don't know, up to I think we've had it on the speed gun like 150 kilometers an hour from 15 yards away, and you're meant to move your foot that quickly.
44:38
SPEAKER_00: I don't think the reaction time's actually there.
44:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
44:43
SPEAKER_02: And then think about it, how often does it actually happen that someone shoots from top circle where you say like yeah, 15 yards away from the goal?
44:50
SPEAKER_02: It's mostly around nine yards when then someone swings the backhand, which is even harder to predict than a four-hand shot, and it just rips faster before you make a move.
45:03
SPEAKER_00: For sure.
45:04
SPEAKER_02: Or if you get hit, it hurts a lot.
45:07
SPEAKER_00: And in terms of um, let's just very quickly touch on the venue.
45:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, we're going to Denboss for a second year.
45:14
SPEAKER_00: Do you agree?
45:15
SPEAKER_00: Do you think it should be moving around a little bit more?
45:17
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, it was at Denbos uh last year and this year.
45:20
SPEAKER_00: Is there anywhere you think that the you you played in multiple, like we talked about, uh I'm I'm guessing ten ten versions of the EHL.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: Where where's the best venue you played it at?
45:30
SPEAKER_02: Obviously it was at uh Urbanisfad.
45:33
unknown: Okay.
45:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was the best venue.
45:39
SPEAKER_02: I I really liked uh Amsterdam.
45:42
SPEAKER_02: Um but to be fair, also we we had one final four in 2016 in Barcelona, which was beautiful.
45:52
SPEAKER_02: Um especially because the weather there is then perfect during Easter.
45:57
SPEAKER_02: Like over Easter, like you see it every year if when it's in the Netherlands.
46:02
SPEAKER_02: You one day you have sun, the other day you have rain, uh then you sun, sometimes you have snow.
46:07
SPEAKER_02: But it's like it's still amazing because you get a lot of crowds over there, everybody's excited about hockey.
46:12
SPEAKER_02: So you have a packed stadium, which we do not necessarily have in Spain.
46:16
SPEAKER_02: It's it's packed, but not with not with 5,000, it's probably 2,000 people.
46:23
SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah.
46:25
SPEAKER_02: The also them was like it's with their big stands over there, and they built up a second stand on the other side, it's it's perfectly made for an EHL tournament.
46:36
SPEAKER_02: But it would be nice if it would move around a bit more.
46:40
SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, you you need to, and I think the Netherlands they have the best infrastructure to host those kind of tournaments.
46:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, agreed.
46:50
SPEAKER_00: I would just say that even if it just moved around the Netherlands a little bit, because I think there's so many options they have, Campong has a great soap, Rotterdam has a great soap, Amsterdam has a great sub, OR has a great soap.
47:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, one of the yeah, I I agree.
47:03
SPEAKER_00: Like we played we played at the new Orange Road in 2017 for Wimbledon, and we saw just great crowds that whole week, which I think just makes the EHL that much more special.
47:13
SPEAKER_00: That even when you're playing on a Thursday, um, you know, in in the early afternoon, you've got a couple of thousand people watching you.
47:20
SPEAKER_00: I think that makes a huge difference.
47:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then also we played the finals at Dragons um and kind of in the forest, they put a mini stadium around, and that was also amazing.
47:32
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I think the biggest thing is you just want fans, don't you?
47:36
SPEAKER_00: Um it doesn't it doesn't necessarily matter.
47:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and you know the charm about the ones uh that was hosted at Dranks is like everybody's super close to the pitch.
47:47
SPEAKER_02: So there are plenty of stadiums where it's like still too much space to to the to the stands or in between the stands and the field.
47:56
SPEAKER_02: Like they just didn't have that much space, so they put the seats like really right next to the field, which is amazing.
48:03
SPEAKER_02: It creates also a different kind of atmosphere.
48:05
SPEAKER_02: Uh your fans are there, they're closer to you here, the more you get more involved.
48:10
SPEAKER_02: Um that's maybe the only disadvantage I'd see now with them boss.
48:16
SPEAKER_02: It's the the big stand is like it's it's up high, it's above the uh the dogs, and on the other side as well, there's a there's a pathway in between, so you're quite far away, but it is very nice.
48:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I do love how you know you do get the pockets of fans who come across and and support and support the clubs.
48:35
SPEAKER_00: I I would love to just i increase it by a couple of hundred each and just really have that like incredible support that I guess like the the Dutch I guess you see it in the Spanish playoffs, you see it in the Dutch playoffs, see it in the Belgian playoffs, German playoffs as well, actually, like um where that where the whole club seems to come out and really really get behind the teams.
48:55
SPEAKER_00: Um it'd be great if there was some kind of infrastructure that you could put in place where you could really entice people to come and watch and get involved and support their club because I think that's if I'm honest, I think this the memories are always best when you have in that like in it, you know, that passion from the stands as well as on the pitch.
49:13
SPEAKER_00: Um will you bring a lot of supporters with OGs?
49:17
SPEAKER_00: I think last year maybe we had I I want to say like 50 to 100, and and they were incredible during our Rotterdam game.
49:26
SPEAKER_00: I remember them very specifically having kind of a having a having a good battle with the Rotterdam fans.
49:31
SPEAKER_00: Some of the Rotterdam fans I think had had had completely painted their top half of their body in green.
49:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it was and and that's the type of thing that you remember, isn't it?
49:41
SPEAKER_00: When they're you know like you got real real intensity uh in the stands.
49:45
SPEAKER_00: Um I'd just love to know and explore that option of how to increase that because yeah, it just makes that experience so much more special.
49:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, if if we if we talk about that, have you have you looked up the prices for tickets for EHO?
50:03
SPEAKER_02: You think it's um you think those those are fair prices for ticketing?
50:09
SPEAKER_02: Uh good question.
50:12
SPEAKER_00: How do I know the oh tickets?
50:14
SPEAKER_00: Wait a minute.
50:15
SPEAKER_00: I'm just I'm gonna look it up right now.
50:18
SPEAKER_02: Because I I remember that you guys were talking on the pod also about uh pro league ticket prices, and obviously Lee Valley is always uh as I've if I remember correctly, it's always quite expensive to watch some pro league games.
50:31
SPEAKER_02: Uh wherein where in Germany it's it's quite a for it's quite affordable.
50:35
SPEAKER_02: It's I think it's 20 euros for the day, same as it is in in Belgium.
50:41
unknown: Yeah.
50:42
SPEAKER_02: Depending where you want to sit, but yeah, if you if you look at the mainstand tickets in for the final day, it's it's 50 almost 50 euros, which is yes, you get quality hockey.
50:53
SPEAKER_02: But if you want to go from 1st of April to 6th of April, you probably spend like what is it, 200 euros?
51:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you can buy a standing ticket here on the Thursday and Friday for 15 euros, and then on uh from Saturday to Monday it goes it goes up considerably.
51:12
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I'd like to have an opinion on that.
51:14
SPEAKER_00: Give me a second.
51:16
SPEAKER_00: I I there's a difficulty here, isn't there?
51:20
SPEAKER_00: Because you want to value the people who are playing, um, but at the same time you don't want to overprice it so people don't come and watch.
51:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, I do like how they've done it for different different types, so you're not just you know, it's not a blanket 30 euros, you know.
51:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can go and spend 15 euros and you can feel like you're getting the getting the day.
51:38
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I mean 50 euros for a for a sitting ticket does seem you know, still for an hour, I guess we're talking honestly, it's a semi-professional slash amateur sport.
51:49
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I wonder if they're trying to cover their costs in that.
51:54
SPEAKER_00: What do you think?
51:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think in general, you you have to think about with who are you going if you go with your if you go if you're a family and you have two kids and your kids probably want to sit at some point, they're not gonna stand throughout the whole day, so you're gonna spend more money on it.
52:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um to make it an experience, yes, and then you still need to eat, to drink, and during those kind of events, you know that all the prices are a bit more expensive than than usual.
52:27
SPEAKER_02: So for for an individual person, because you know I I'm going as well, I'm gonna be there from the 1st of April to the 6th of April.
52:35
SPEAKER_02: Um so I'm gonna I know I'm gonna spend probably 150 euros on just on tickets.
52:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
52:42
SPEAKER_02: Um and then then you did not have a drink, you did not have food.
52:48
SPEAKER_02: Um so then I find it for an individual person, I find it just okay if you have a family of two, uh, of three, or four, or five.
52:58
SPEAKER_02: It's it's very steep.
53:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
53:00
SPEAKER_00: If I'm honest, I think that this, yeah, I think actually from a complete other perspective, I actually did look at, you know, my wife wants to come out with with uh with my kids uh to to watch because it's a cool weekend.
53:11
SPEAKER_00: But I think when you started adding up, I did start adding up the price, and you do think it does get like Easter flights, wow, um, two kids, wow, accommodation shit, and then and then you add in all of them extra things that I didn't even think about, and you're you're completely right.
53:27
SPEAKER_00: This does become a an incredibly expensive weekend.
53:30
SPEAKER_00: Would I say it's worth it?
53:31
SPEAKER_00: I think like people do tend to keep coming back to the EHL, so I would say that it is worth it, and they've probably priced it almost okay.
53:38
SPEAKER_00: But I I agree, Tobes.
53:39
SPEAKER_00: I think you're you're definitely touching on something there that is that is important, I would say.
53:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
53:48
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
53:50
SPEAKER_02: Um you know, like yes, you what what do you get?
53:54
SPEAKER_02: What's the offer there?
53:55
SPEAKER_02: Like, yes, you see hockey, but I don't know.
53:59
SPEAKER_02: A couple of years ago I've been in um in London, Wembley Stadium for the American football.
54:05
SPEAKER_02: Expensive prices, but there's so much around it.
54:09
SPEAKER_02: So, so much.
54:10
SPEAKER_02: So you get actually uh also you take the train over, you have accommodation, you stay there, you spend a lot of money, but you also have a lot of things around it.
54:19
SPEAKER_02: Yes, you have those two, three stands uh on pitch 18 at their moss were showcasing their products, but yeah, who's going there?
54:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, really.
54:30
SPEAKER_00: As an additional question to you, is that I'm gonna keep pushing my own agenda here as well.
54:35
SPEAKER_00: Is that I'd love to see more betting in hockey.
54:38
SPEAKER_00: Um as in not for me to bet, but just like to try and entice uh supporters to care more.
54:45
SPEAKER_00: So, like, would you where do you sit on that?
54:48
SPEAKER_00: Because I I'm intrigued.
54:49
SPEAKER_00: Like, you walk into Dem Boss, right?
54:51
SPEAKER_00: Just on the right hand side, there's a little betting kiosk, and it says um, you know, uh came wrestle came russell to score first, um, boosted.
55:00
SPEAKER_00: Does that does that entice you?
55:02
SPEAKER_00: Does that does that make you want to go and watch the game more?
55:04
SPEAKER_00: Is what do you think?
55:06
SPEAKER_02: 100%.
55:08
SPEAKER_02: 100%.
55:10
SPEAKER_02: The question is like, would it is it legal?
55:13
SPEAKER_02: Like, can you do that at the at the venue or in hockey?
55:16
SPEAKER_02: Does hockey want to be associated with it?
55:18
SPEAKER_02: I do know that you can bet on hockey online, uh, even on EHL.
55:23
SPEAKER_02: Uh the problem there is they are not as informed as they should be.
55:27
SPEAKER_02: So they wrote some teams wrong, or that that used to be in the past, that they that they just write names of teams wrong, and if you lose your money, you can claim it back because they wrote the wrong team name there.
55:37
SPEAKER_02: Um so yeah, yes, if something would be there at the venue, very intrigued.
55:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
55:45
SPEAKER_00: I I I do know it's got a weird um stigma to it, betting, because like you know, you go to horse racing or you go to football and and it's always very accepted.
55:54
SPEAKER_00: And then for some reason with hockey, when we mention it, everyone goes, like, it's a strange thing, isn't it?
55:59
SPEAKER_00: Like you just I I actually I'm actually very innocent about it.
56:03
SPEAKER_00: I I actually come from a place where like I'm not a huge bang guy, I just would love the idea of having the option for for people who to go to Lee Valley or or uh Amsterd when they go to the Pro League or whatever to to have an extra element to it.
56:17
SPEAKER_02: Do you do you reckon the problem is because uh on international hockey on international hockey there were some how to say uh interesting uh bets placed at at certain times uh which were linked back to people who it shouldn't be linked back to?
56:35
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, I mean we've all heard about them stories, I guess.
56:38
SPEAKER_00: I think this is the thing, is that if you have it, I I believe though that if you have more, if it's if it's if it's uh if it's increased, then the the bookies get better at um putting better odds on the games, and then more people get involved, it becomes accepted, and then it's just a a nice little side element to to the game.
56:57
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, it's I I'm sorry, I was just pushing my own agenda.
57:01
SPEAKER_00: We are like I like this, I like this.
57:04
SPEAKER_00: We are gonna wrap it up there.
57:10
SPEAKER_00: I always worry that if if actual people listen to this, I'd get in so much trouble.
57:13
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you would definitely get in a lot of trouble, but um I'd uh get myself into slightly uh a little bit.
57:20
SPEAKER_00: But this is this has been episode 10.
57:22
SPEAKER_00: Toby, like thank you so much.
57:24
SPEAKER_00: Have you got any do you want any final remarks?
57:26
SPEAKER_00: But this has been a fairly in-depth EHL preview.
57:30
SPEAKER_02: No, thank you very much for having me.
57:32
SPEAKER_02: It was a pleasure to finally be part uh of this podcast.
57:36
SPEAKER_00: And we're definitely gonna get Toby back with you because um they were ex-teammates or uh there's there's a nice there's a nice bond there.
57:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you would have come in and and uh ripped into both of us at some point today.
57:48
SPEAKER_00: But um, yeah, this has been this has been episode 10 of Let's Sit Together, brought to you by Y1.
57:52
SPEAKER_00: We'll uh we'll see you next time.