ENL South Round-up Week 15

LONDON, UK – We say hello to new arrivals and goodbye to the departed in yet another eventful week of ENL South Hockey. Santa is on his way, but who got an early Christmas present this weekend?
 
It was yet another eventful week in the English National League South prior to this weekend’s action. Chelmsford Head Coach Dean Birrell added an import to his squad in the shape of Canadian forward Kyle Jones. The usual web based research by fans ensued and amusingly turned up three Canadian hockey players of the same name.

 
 
In a situation not unlike Blind Date, a process of elimination began to determine which Kyle Jones Chelmsford had actually signed. Step forward Kyle Jones number one, a goalie with the Colorado Eagles? Well we knew it was a forward so it couldn’t be him. Kyle Jones number two emerges and immediately sends rival coaches into cold sweats, with NCAA experience under his belt courtesy of a spell with the University of Alaska, and finally Kyle Jones number three steps forward, listing Wightlink star Jason Gorrie as a former team mate and a hockey CV that includes spells with exotically named sides like Soo Thunderbirds, Bramalea Blues and Streetsville Derbys.
 
As it turned out, the new Chieftain was Kyle Jones number three who was quoted on the Chieftains website as being ‘really excited to be here’ and ‘enjoying being with the boys on the ice’. If Jones turns out to be as effective as Gorrie (37 points already this season) then Birrell will be happy, especially given the quality of forwards he already has at the club. A brief glance at the Chieftains four forward lines shows a real depth in quality and the main issue Birrell will have is keeping them all happy with ice time. I personally would have liked to be a fly on the wall when Jones first met Birrell and had to decipher the Scotsman’s chatter, no doubt the likes of Danny Wright and Sean Easton will have to translate the drills on practice for the new arrival.
 
More good news in the league was the call up of Wightlink pair Nathan Taylor and Robbie Brown to the English Premier League’s (EPL) Basingstoke Bison squad for their game against Slough. The pair had both played in the Elite previously with Newcastle and Belfast, but this experience with the Bison enables them to get ice playing a higher level of hockey and also ice time (EPL and ENL). More importantly for Wightlink, this shows that by signing on the island, players are not showing a lack of ambition and can still be noticed. This tie in with the Bison will no doubt make recruitment a lot easier in the future for Raiders Coach Jeremy Cornish, a tactic Chelmsford used with their link up with Slough Jets.
 
Streatham added to their squad with the return of (very) experienced defenseman Warren Rost. ‘Wozza’ first laced up the skates for the Redskins in 1985 in the British Premier Division, and has apparently long desired to play his final season of hockey at the High Road.

He first started skating with us a few weeks ago (his last competitive game was in 2008 for Slough Jets) and is a bit of a character, which you would probably expect from someone with over 20 years of professional UK hockey experience. Expect more additions to the Redskins roster next week.
 
One person missing from the weekend’s action was Invicta starlet Liam Chong. He missed Sunday’s game against Milton Keynes due to his participation in the Junior World Championships in Belarus with Great Britain under 20’s. Would you rather spend an evening in Gillingham or Belarus? An interesting debate to be had there.
 
Saturday
 
Oxford welcomed back goalie Robin Lindva back into the team following his illness as they travelled along one of the most annoying roads in the UK, namely the A4421/Tractor Alley, to face the Milton Keynes Thunder. Despite their league positions, the lower placed Thunder were very confident ahead of this game owing to a sparkling run of home form that has seen them win their last three home games in a row. Oxford in contrast had lost their last two games on the road, most notably that 14-4 thrashing in Chelmsford the previous week.
 
The Thunders optimism proved well founded as they stunned the Stars with a 5-2 victory. Ross Bowers continued his good form of late with a hat trick for Milton Keynes, with Maros Stefanco and Aram Todd getting the other goals. Oxford goals came from youngsters Dax Hedges and Mike Whillock.
 
Oxford now have two massive home games against Bracknell and Milton Keynes in which to get their season back on track.
 
Struggling Bristol hosted table toppers Wightlink Raiders looking to get some much needed points on the board. The Pitbulls welcomed back influential forward Alan Armour but were without defenseman Alastair Band due to his wrist injury.
 
Despite a hard fought opening two periods, Wightlink had too much for their hosts and returned to the island with two points due to a convincing 10-3 victory.
 
Robbie Brown prepared for his Bison call up in style with a hat trick and Jason Gorrie and Richard Facey got two each for the Raiders. One goal each from Nathan Taylor, Alex Murray and Damon Larter rounded up the scoring for Wightlink. Jonaton Sherman, Alan Armour and Steve Osman got on the score sheet for the Pitbulls.
 
It was another good road win for the Raiders, however poor Nathan Taylor was taken off with a back injury during the game.
 
Streatham travelled to Chelmsford short of bodies, in the first of two encounters between the clubs over 48 hours. The Redskins were missing the injured Tomas Valko, new signing Rost and Ed Koral along with Owen Murphy, Joe Weare and yours truly. The two lines found it tough going against a well drilled Chieftains outfit and the visitors were soundly beaten 5-1.
 
Tom Long impressed with a hat trick for Chelmsford, who were missing Danny Hammond and Aaron Connolly, with Richard Gunn and James Ayling also getting on the scoresheet. Streatham’s lone goal came from Chris Rasmussen.
 
Sunday
 
Cardiff hosted a rare Sunday game, with Bracknell Hornets the visitors. With Cardiff seemingly on an upward trend following some strong additions to their roster, all credit must go to Bracknell who shocked their hosts with a convincing 9-2 victory.
 
Hornets’ scorers were Grant Rounding, Tony Barclay and Danny Hughes with two goals each and Ryan Webb, Tom Smith and Tom Avery with the others. Luke Piggott and Steve Fisher got Cardiff’s goals.
 
That result was important for the Hornets to move them away from the chasing Bristol Pitbulls, who had a crunch match the same evening against relegation rivals Swindon ENL Wildcats.
 
Both of these clubs battled it out in ENL 2 last season and games between the two are usually close affairs. This encounter at the Link Centre proved to be no exception however it was Bristol coach Richie Hargreaves who went home happiest (well not quite).
 
Swedish forward Henrik Sahlin stepped up to the plate with a hat trick for Bristol in a 5-2 win that also saw Hargreaves and Steve Osman get on the score sheet. Swindon’s goals came courtesy of Shannon Taylor. The game was bitter sweet for Hargreaves despite the win as he was kicked out for arguing with the referee following a visor infraction.
 
Romford made it four straight wins in a row as they despatched Oxford City Stars 5-1 at Rom Valley Way. The Raiders are building a nice little head of steam ahead of the festive period and they will be hoping Slovak Juraj Huska fancies an Essex Christmas. Another hat trick for Mr Huska was backed up by goals from Joe Allen and JJ McGrath. Oxford’s sole effort came from the stick of Dax Hedges.
 
Milton Keynes Thunder proved again that their road form is a polar opposite to their home form as they suffered a 10-1 spanking at Invicta. The Dynamos were curiously without the bearded Daniel Calitri for this one (and indeed the rest of the season – he has apparently been released), but frustratingly for Thunder fans, goal scoring hero Ross Bowers was missing from their line up.
 
Kev Lake and Dan Fudger were called up from the second string Mustangs for this game and Fudger got on the scoresheet for the Mo’s with two goals. Andy Smith and Callum Fowler got a brace each and Dynamos other scorers were Scott Beeson, Mike Timms, Tim Smith and Daniel Borges. David Coffey crashed one in from the blue for the Thunder.
 
So with a slightly bigger bench than the previous night, Streatham hosted Chelmsford hoping for a bit of revenge. Warren Rost finally pulled on a Streatham shirt for the first time in over twenty years, and the first two periods were full of chances for both sides but we found ourselves 2-0 down.
 
The third period we ran out of steam and Chelmsford’s three strong lines took full advantage running the final score to 5-0 in their favour. It was perhaps a little harsh but the best side won on the night.
 
Matt Turner, Blaho Novak, Danny Hammond, James Ayling and the new boy Kyle Jones all got on the score sheet for the Chieftains, with Euan King grabbing a well earned shut out. The third period did have a little bit of edge after Streatham’s Lukas Zilak hauled down Hammond in the zone and the youngster fell awkwardly.
 
This incensed the Chieftains and a few seconds later, Tom Long jumped an unwilling Joe Johnston straight from a face off and dropped his gloves, before making his way to the penalty box for a lone misconduct penalty. This was quickly followed up by an outrageous slash by Chieftains Richard Whiting on a Redskins player that he was lucky only to get two minutes for, given that he had cross checked another player in the same shift, seemingly looking for revenge after the Hammond incident.
 
It was all a bit unnecessary and detracted from the decent hockey that was being displayed. Chelmsford have a young talented team whose passing is at times exceptional, they will give any team in this league a good game and Jones had a solid enough debut. It is a bit early to judge the Canadian but he has a decent shot and good positional sense. Will he be the standout scorer that UK hockey often demands from imports? I am not so sure. The time to judge him will be in January when Chieftains travel to Romford followed by a home and away series against Wightlink.
 
So what of the Redskins? Well that was our third straight loss and it is fair to say we are looking a bit battered and bruised lately. Injuries are mounting up (similar to clubs like Oxford) and we are struggling to get any more than two lines together at a time. This was always going to be an issue, given the budget and resources available to the club and it is perhaps a blessing that we had a strong start to the season.
 
We are certainly not lying down feeling sorry for ourselves though. We have two games next weekend before the fixtures come thick and fast in January and February. We looked decent at times on Sunday and I thought the effort of the guys could not be faulted.
 
Wightlink stay top of the league with Invicta still hot on their heels. Chelmsford cement their place in third and both Bristol and Swindon remain frustrated at the bottom.
 
All eyes are now on the Gillingham Ice Bowl. Who, if anyone, will replace the departed Calitri? Only Kev Parrish knows the answer to that one.
 
Enjoy your Christmas shopping and don’t forget, the Ice Hockey Annual by Stewart Roberts featuring the ENL makes a cracking stocking filler. I will be reading my copy on the Carr throne on Christmas day, I’d highly recommend you do the same (not on my toilet obviously).
 
http://www.graphyle.com/IHA/index.htm
  
 
Results
 
Saturday 11 December 2010
 
 
Chelmsford 5 Streatham 1
Milton Keynes 5 Oxford 2
Bristol 10 Wightlink 3
 
Sunday 12 December 2010
 
Invicta 10 Milton Keynes 1
Romford 5 Oxford 1
Streatham 0 Chelmsford 5
Swindon 3 Bristol 5
Cardiff 2 Bracknell 9
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com