SWINDON, UK – With handkerchief suitably knotted at the corners and set at a rakish angle on my head, and wellies exchanged for socks and sandals, it is time to root out the old deckchair from the shed and ponder the week’s developments.
First off, and the Flames announced the return of British forward Ben Campbell for a third term after spells with the Newcastle Elite League and ENL sides.
Meanwhile, Michael Wales, who had iced for the Lightning since 2003 until released a week or so ago, signed on with the Jets. The Lightning also said goodbye to netminder Barry Hollyhead who retires after almost 700 games, over 250 of them in Milton Keynes. In his place came Steve Wall who joined the Bison part way through last season after a disagreement with Peterborough which saw him leave for ‘personal reasons.’ Wall had played for the Phantoms for seven seasons on-and-off and was the first ever netminder to achieve a double shut-out after a weekend in which the Peterborough side defeated the Steeldogs and Wildcats not to mention a 64-goal shut-out against the Jets.
In Swindon Czech D-man Jan Melichar, who was recently added to the coaching staff of the local Okanagan Hockey Academy, re-signed for the Wildcats while fellow countryman Michal Pinc left for France and thereby raised the question of where his playing buddy Jaroslav Cesky, currently in his homeland, will end up. But one player whose whereabouts are not in doubt is D-man Steve Whitfield who returns to the Wildcats for a second season.
In Bracknell Latvian D-man Sergejs Louskins followed Pinc to Les Bisons, in Paris while Czech forward Martin Masa re-signed for his second of three seasons over all, and British forward James Galazzi returned for the third time. The Bees also added Slovakian Marcel Petran, who played last year with the Bison, to their blue line while countryman Peter Jasik took his forwarding skills to the ENL Hornets.
At the other Les Bisons, or should I say Le Bison in Basingstoke, British forward Craig Tribe saddled up and headed for Wightlink in the ENL, while 17-year-old D-man Zach Sullivan, who quit the Jets earlier in the month, signed on the dotted line.
The will-he-or-won’t-he story of whether Canadian D-man Chris Allen would return to the Phantoms with only a player hat on, having been replaced in April by Jon Kynaston as head-coach, was finally put to rest with his signing for Solihull Barons in the ENL. While it is understandable a return to Peterborough might not be the least hazardous path through the woods, it is hard to figure this move when you consider not only was Allen the top D-man in the EPL last season on points-scoring, even making the All-Star team, but there were a couple of leaky defences in the EPL which surely could have benefitted from his abilities.
Certainly a situation worth watching or, as my old grand-pappy used to say, ‘The early bird might get the worm, but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.’
While on the subject of negotiating a clearer path through the woods, and holding the rural thought, while one swallow doesn’t not a summer make, as Aristotle used to say, you can’t help the feeling of déjà vu as the Phantoms announced Richie Bentham, whose signature was still drying on the contract, was headed north for ‘work reasons.’ Surely this isn’t going to be another case of musical chairs at the Phantoms?
No such concerns for netminder Damien King who while still only 21, and having gone through the junior programme, committed to Peterborough for a seventh season.
The Tigers, however, continued with their rebuild with a couple of interesting signings. The first to arrive was 19-year-old Steve Chalmers, a British D-man from EIHL Dundee and a GB Under18 international. Hot on his tail was forward Tim Burrows who was born in Germany and has three periods in Telford previously, but most recently iced for the Elite League in Cardiff. Coach Tom Watkins said his attention was now on signing an import who, apparently, has a contract which just needs a signature.
Which all just leaves the Steeldogs, where it was announced EPL Coach of the Year Andre Payette was appointed Director of Hockey for the Sheffield Academy. Payette said, ‘I’m very excited about working with all the Sheffield Juniors and coaches. I will do all I can to help the Sheffield Juniors to continue to be the best Junior Hockey Academy in the country.’
Right, now where did I put those sunglasses?
For more EPL facts and figures, stats news and more take a look at www.iceman-epl.com
Contact Bill.Collins@prohockeynews.com
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