LONDON, UK – Welcome to my first column for Prohockeynews.com. With this column I hope to mainly give you a players view of the English National League South among other British hockey related news. For those of you that don ’ t know me, I have played for Oxford and Haringey over recent years and have now invested in a bullet proof vest and decided to head south of the River Thames and sign for Streatham Redskins. I am happy to report that despite my initial fears, my car has yet to be stolen from the rink car park.
It doesn ’ t seem five minutes since last season ended and already we are all looking forward to what promises to be the most exciting year of ENL hockey to date in the South of England and Wales. This time of year is always a tough one for players with training revolving around fitness work and skating. Personally, I always envy the lads over on the Isle of Wight whose smaller ice pad means that the skating drills are half the length of any other team! Seriously though if the other teams are training as hard as we are down at the High Road then the season should really start with a bang.
The team everyone will want to beat is the Invicta Dynamos who are the undisputed kings of this division and have been for the last few years. A trip to the Gillingham Ice Bowl is intimidating for any player and not only for the mouldy seat-less toilet in the away changing room. With fantastic home support the atmosphere seems to affect most teams who visit Invicta and its very rare that the away team leaves with two points. Head coach Kevin Parrish has pulled off a real coup persuading Joe Johnston to leave Streatham and regardless of how their new imports shape up I definitely have the Dynamos down as my favourites for the title and Andy Smith for league top scorer.
The Wightlink Raiders are hoping that dropping a level from the EPL will see their team return to winning ways. I have to say that the fans on the island are among the best in British hockey and it ’ s a shame that they have come a full circle back to where they started in the ENL. They will be hoping that Canadian coach Jeremy Cornish can get his team to adapt to their new league and that other teams fail to adapt to the small ice on the cube.
My former team, Haringey Greyhounds, will be hoping for much better things after last seasons dismal campaign. Head Coach Lee Mercer has signed up some decent forwards in Stas Prokofiev and Perry Richardson but if you are watching the Greyhounds they will not be the first players you will notice. Step forward the only man in the league to have a TV documentary made about his sex life, a man who could start a wild west style punch up in any game yet get away unscathed and probably the only man in the league to use a one piece wood stick, step forward Mr Dave Richards. I think he is a great guy but I guarantee he will annoy the hell out of everyone else. Overall the Greyhounds are going to still find it tough especially having lost stand out goalie David Wride.
Bracknell Hornets surprised everyone last year and this year look a formidable challenge. Always hard working and quick they can be an absolute nightmare to play against especially on their large home ice. Their key signing in my opinion is my old team mate David Wride who I think is a brilliant goalie. One player that may have slipped under the radar of some fans is their Canadian d man Blair Dubyk who last year played at Haringey. Many people don ’ t realise how good a player Blair is and with the right team mates around him I think he will be a stand out player.
Peterborough Islanders seem to have lost half their team this year and that ’ s a real shame as they have been consistently good for the past few years. It will be interesting to see how they cope without the likes of Steve Maile who followed former coach Jesse Hammill to Romford. I think they will be in for a tough season despite the return of veteran Scot Ross Mackintosh and his bullet-like slapshot.
Oxford City Stars have seen a few changes to their line up under new coach Simon Anderson. Simon is well respected and this is arguably his biggest challenge in senior hockey. Oxford are a great little club and have a lot of talent but they have lost the Hargreaves brothers to Bristol and Alan Armour and Andrew Shurmer to Cardiff. This will leave them short of physical presence but with the likes of Darren Elliott and Dean Francis up front plus the highly rated Shannon Taylor joining the team they will always be dangerous up front. The Stars tend to perform better on their home ice than on the road and they will need to improve their away form if they want to do better than their predicted mid table finish.
Chelmsford Chieftains are a team on the rise and Dean Birrell is a coach who knows exactly what is needed at this level. After easily securing promotion last season, the Essex outfit will be looking to push Invicta and the Isle of Wight at the top of the league. It is great to see Andy Moffat back down in England between the pipes from his native Kirkcaldy, but equally sad to see fellow northerner Karl Hopper not able to play this season. You can never have enough of us northerners in this league in my opinion. Look out for Danny Hammond this year, I think he will be right up there in the scoring charts.
Cardiff ENL Devils are the dark horses for me after assembling an excellent looking roster. Last seasons team was good but they have strengthened even further with the additions of James Dancey, James Manson, Phil Manny, Andrew Shurmer and of course the occasional moustachioed Alan Armour. Cardiff are going to be quality in my opinion and really all they need to do is sort out their patchy away form and they will be up near the top. They will also need to be careful Mr Armour does not lead his new team mates astray down in the hostelries of Cardiff Bay.
Milton Keynes Thunder had a poor year last year and have lost their best import in Kristian Simo who has bizarrely gone to instruct people how to ski … . in Africa! Still, the Thunder are a great bunch of guys who are always capable of getting a result. They have managed to persuade the man with the bright yellow gloves, Clint Herring, to come across from Peterborough and with another northern d man Mike Knights on the blue line and the excellent Mark Woolf in goal they won’t be easy to score against. I expect a solid campaign from the Thunder but they wont be challenging for the title.
Finally my new team the Streatham Redskins. The boys from south London are another team who can rely on intimidating home support in an old rink. I don ’ t think there is any illusion that this year will be a tough year for us. From having one of the most stable rosters in the league the team have lost not only their best player and captain Joe Johnston but their starting goalie Shane Kemp and 5 or 6 players to other clubs. Luckily Barry Spours has stepped in to coach the team and has managed to put a decent squad together. I have to say the club has a great feel to it and I can see why Johnston, Kemp and Owen Murphy all felt the need to post messages of thanks to the fans on the team website when they left over the summer. I did the same at Oxford when I left last year because the club felt like family to me so I can appreciate how they feel.
So that ’ s it for my first column so well done if you read this far and good luck to everyone for the season ahead. My main aim is to get through the whole season without visiting the dentist for a change.
All the best, Carrsy
Contact davis.carr@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.