SWINDON, UK – The sad news to start the week off came from the Phantoms’ camp following a less than inspiring weekend with a shut-out inflicted by the Lightning and, well, a near shut-out at home inflicted by the Tigers. Owner Phil Wing, pacing the rink side looking for a cat to kick said, “It’s definitely the low point of the season. The manner of the defeats over the weekend was unacceptable to both the management and the coaching staff.’” The ensuing meeting of all concerned took place almost immediately with Coach Cruickshank being given 24 hours to cut the wages bill. “I can’t support the wage bill on the performances we’ve had, if any player is unhappy, then he can leave,” said Wing.
Cruickshank had already said a decision was imminent on the Darius Lelanus – Chris Allen arrangement whereby Allen was brought in temporarily to cover for the injured Lelenas. Allen made it known he would be happy to continue with the club after the Lithuanian returned and, apparently, the club thought well enough of the Canadian’s performances for it to bring on a headache. However, presumably at least one of the imports is now on the endangered species list, although it was only a week ago Cruickshank was talking about a top four spot. So what a difference a day – or two – makes. And it did again when the Phantoms announced Lithuanian Darius Lelenas is heading for pastures new, although the club said they were talking to another British club about a move.
And now, the continuing Phoenix-Steeldogs soap. You might remember a few weeks ago Andrew Sharp clocked Andre Payette with an illegal blow to the head for which he was suspended for two games. Er, I mean one game, not that there is anything going on. Steeldogs’ Coach Matt Darlow went nuclear, as you would expect, and of course was ignored by the league, and other than negative comments about the attack it was hard to say much in Sharp’s defence because it was so blatant. A few comments were made in the Canadian’s defence, though, but were generally along the lines of Sharp’s value rather than the incident. Coach Hand, in fact, said of Payette, “He’s as tough as they come, but he’s a fair player.”
Now we jump to last weekend and a rematch where the Steeldogs were out with the scent of blood in their nostrils. In something of a bloodbath, literally, because Sheffield’s Lloyd Gibson ended up with 10 pim and a nasty head injury, and Sharp received a second injury of the weekend with an accidental slash across his legs from a skate. Payette, with 20 pim headed off towards the top of the penalty-takers chart, and Grundmanis trumped him with a 25 pim match penalty for a less than elegant hit an Phoenix’s Ladislav Harabin. Darlow described the check as, “a very good hit but resulted in Harabin half-undressing himself as he flew through the air.” Hmmm. And, “if he’d dived any further he could have had a kit sale in the Manchester car park.”
Coach Hand, though, saw it slightly differently and said, ” Sheffield came to stop us playing hockey and snatch chances when they appeared,” Which doesn’t sound like a bad tactic to me for an underdog if you don’t mind the 65 pim that go with it. Hand did praise Steeldogs netminder Ben Bowns who clocked 94% save rate, and, perhaps oddly, singled out Payette again for praise too but understandably didn’t approve of the hit to the head on Harabin. Oh dear, remind me. Where did Sharp hit Payette?
Anyway, days later it was revealed Gibson and Harabin were OK and Sharp would be out for a weekend’s games, while Coach Darlow concluded this instalment with, “The lads got their justice.”
Never mind the right’s and wrongs of all this, you can’t say it doesn’t provoke interest.
“To be sure,” Mrs Rafferty, the landlady at my local the Gigolo and Gurney said. “It will have been himself Brendan Behan who got it right when he said there is no such thing as bad publicity.” Thinking that rather profound for someone I didn’t realize had much knowledge of her own culture, she answered my puzzled look with, “I expect it was all that time he had on his hands in that little boat a’ his on his way to discovering America, and all.” Uh??? Ah, Saint Brenan the Navigator. That’s better, but she does have a point.
In Bracknell, I think some of the Bee’s must be feeling guilty after their 10-3 win over the Bison because Coach Cox was motivated to reassure his team: “When we got to eight we said we had to get ten. I said to the boys they can’t feel bad about it because other teams don’t feel bad when they do it to us, so we have to do the same.” Fair enough, but try as I might I just can’t imagine the likes of Cesky, Pinc, Watt and Moore, to name a few, feeling guilty.
Tony Redmond, though, the Bees assistant coach is likely to be out for at least six weeks with a broken wrist which he sustained in the weekend’s game against the Jets.
Mid-week and the Bees hosted the Lightning going ahead by a goal into the first break and then finding themselves four each at the end of the second. A goal apiece in the third with the Bees equalising three minutes from time sent the game into overtime where the Bees hit the post, and the Lightning didn’t thereby taking the two points.
As rumoured a week ago the Jets signed Canadian forward Adam Calder from Italy to replace Blaz Emersic. Calder also has four years Elite League experience and a bunch of records so it wasn’t surprising when Coach Russell said, “I was looking for a guy who would be a potential game winner, and in Adam we have that.’”
Tigers Coach Watkins said forward Scott McKenzie is going nowhere. Rumours he had signed for ELIH Edinburg arose because the Tigers allowed the player to guest. “We will only let him play for them when we are not playing,” said Watkins. “It’s good to see his quality is recognised at that level.” Also going nowhere is British forward Joe Henry who likely to be out for six to eight weeks after breaking his knee against the Steeldogs. Well, I suppose you would, wouldn’t you? Henry continued to play over the weekend until in too much discomfort and an x-ray confirmed the worst. Meanwhile, D-man Dan Harrison, who has also played a couple of games for the Tigers from his home club ENL Titans is to increase his roll for the club. “He has played for us for a couple of weeks, and impressed,” said Coach Watkins.
Saturday and following the Wildcats is like jumping between a sauna and an ice pool. One minute they are making the Phoenix and Flames look ordinary and the next collapsing to the Tigers, and tonight the Bees. On their night, with the likes of Bauba, Liska, Hoog, and Douglas, they are as good as any team in the EPL, but alternatively you can watch the panic at the back and wonder if they are in the right league. Three nil down by ten minutes meant it was all over by the first break.
Not all over quite so quickly was the first game of the double-headed weekend between the Flames and the Phoenix. The hosts, Guildford, opened the scoring through Martin Masa, but not until half way through the final period with the Phoenix equalising thanks to a deflection off a Flames stick, which must have been a tremendous relief, even more so when with under a minute to go the Flames had a goal disallowed. But the Flames made sure of the two points in overtime, although the Phoenix luck is obviously still holding out.
A much tougher Steeldogs hosted the Phantoms, now without Lelenas and under a lot of pressure to succeed meaning the first period was tight. The visitors went ahead in the second lasting about a minute, and then took the lead at the half-way mark through the demon Ozolins. James Ferrara injured his shoulder and never came out for the third period, but Maris Ziedins on another power-play drew the game with Glower getting his second and the game-winning goal in the last minute. So although a much better display from the Phantoms, being against the ninth placed team you can’t help thinking owner Phil Wing is still not sleeping soundly just yet.
Someone who is probably not only sleeping soundly but smugly is Blaz Emersic who has settled in at Milton Keynes like a duck to orange sauce. The Lightning were at home to the Tigers and took the lead after six minutes with Emersic getting his first six minutes after that. Then, after a long delay Tigers’ Scott McKenzie went off with what looked like a neck injury. Emersic got his second, and at 4-0 it was beginning to look like a rout. But the second was tighter although the Tigers just couldn’t get back in it and only managed to save the shut-out with a McKinney short-handed goal two minutes from time.
As you might have expected with the Jets at home to the Bison and both teams similarly placed in the league, this was always going to be a hard game. And a hard game it was with the Jets taking the lead through Shaun Thompson, and extending it in the second through Slava Koulikov in a period dominated by visits to the box with both Jets’ Dan Davies and Bison’s Chris Wiggins picking up ten minutes. Then, in the third at 3-0 down the Bison seemed to find something and pulled the score up level but it wasn’t enough as the Jets claimed two more with new-signing Adam Calder managing an assist.
Sunday, and what a difference a day makes. First off the Phantoms, hosting the Jets, looked like a side to worry about once again thereby ensuring Phil Wing a good night’s rest with four points under his pillow. But, wait! What’s this I see before me? Darius Lelenas back on the ice? Indeed it was for a ‘farewell performance’ which saw the Jets take the lead and apply a huge amount of pressure and Calder claiming his first goal, but a Maris Ziedins power-play goal in the third did the trick.
Also benefiting from a new day were the Wildcats who went to Basingstoke and, mainly thanks to netminder Chris Douglas who, unlike last night, had a blinder of a game, came away with two points to restore their recent good form. Although the more dominant, the Bison didn’t have what it takes to finish and it was Swindon boss Ryan Aldridge who snapped up the winner in overtime against his old side with a good old fashioned whack.
In Bracknell, where the Bees must now be feeling a lot more confident, it was Sheffield’s Janis Ozolins with two solo goals who was the dangerman giving the Steeldogs a 3-goal lead early on. The Bees were looking pedestrian compared to their recent run of success although Michal Pinc, and then Jaroslav Cesky with a penalty shot for a Steeldogs’ player stopping a goal with his hand, proved something of a catalyst. Before the second break there was only a goal in it and with tremendous ‘bouncebackability’ the Bees dominated the third with Pinc adding his second and subsequently taking the game to a five-round penalty shootout. Although it was the Steeldogs who took the two points, the durability of the Bees is another weapon they can now add to their arsenal.
However, in the case of the Flames who went to Manchester the extra day made little difference as they came away well-deserved winners. Although it was the Phoenix who started the scoring, it was Flames’ Nathan Rempel who stole the show with a hat-trick completed in just eleven minutes. But, the Phoenix fought back, as they do, and from 3-1 down threw just about everything at the Flames right to the wire, who are looking like table-toppers again.
So, a few significant changes to end the week: he Flames closed the gap at the top from five to two points, and the Bees climbed off the bottom and above the Tigers. The Lightning took their best home winning run to six games, and the Phantoms were looking a lot less pasty than this time last week.
Lots more still to come. Can’t wait.
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Contact the author Bill.Collins@Prohockeynews.com
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