SWINDON, UK – After last weekend and the odd game or two which raised an eyebrow perhaps it wasn’t such a surprise that Telford coach Tom Watkins said, ‘No excuses,’ following the avalanche that smothered his side both nights. It wasn’t just the magnitude of the defeats that upset him but the fact his side didn’t provide much in the way of a return. Take the last couple of weeks, for instance, where they have beaten the Flames and put six past the Phantoms, so as Watkins said, ‘After a weekend like that, all you can do is move on.’
Flames’ coach Paul Dixon, following the penalty loss to the Bees said, not for the first time this season, ‘I felt we were in control. Perhaps we got a bit too comfortable, but costly mistakes essentially gave them a couple of goals.’ But, while hardly a problem likely to cause the Guildford side to throw their leadership hopes out the window, with the Phoenix racing up behind them you never know when a carelessly dropped point or two will come back to impose an effect greater than the sum of those points – if you know wot I mean, ‘Arry?
Meanwhile, Coach Chris Allen at the Phantoms after trouncing the Tigers said, ‘Every game and every point is now vital for us and I will do anything that is needed to make sure this team makes the play-offs.’ This raises an interesting point because although you would expect nothing less from your coach, the fact that with a six inch and four stone advantage he was able to see off young Luke Brittle makes you wonder why this big EPL-leading D-man isn’t known for throwing his weight around a bit more. So is this what he means by, ‘I will do anything?’
But let’s not take anything away from their big win over the Tigers which attracted much praise for the cohesion of the team and James Ferrara’s hat-trick, but is this a sustainable new-found approach and would such a performance have been duplicated against, say the Jets and the Bison? Oh, well, we will find out this weekend?
On to the Bees and Coach Gareth Cox noted, ‘form recently has been good and it is a great credit to the boys. We’ve definitely got a bit more momentum.’ By this, of course, he isn’t just referring to the penalty win over the Flames but points picked up from the Phoenix, Lightning, Tigers and Phantoms.
Also in a positive frame of mind is Coach Ryan Aldridge at the Wildcats who, after finally winning against the Bison said, ‘We have belief now and we know we are capable of beating any team in the league because we have beaten everybody already.’ Hmmm. I think the Steeldogs might have something to say about that having a four from four record against the Swindon side, so best keep mum.
In the EPL Top Tens Charts this week Steeldogs’ Janis Ozolins swapped with Slough’s Adam Calder at the top of the EPL with both Flames’ Nathan Rempel and Lightning’s Leigh Jameson both making entries. In the Brit Chart Flames’ David Longstaff stayed top with Wildcats’ Aaron Nell entering at the foot.
However, on game average it is Flames’ Jozef Kohut, who entered at the top, who is staying put but with a slightly lower average although still a chunk above anyone else, at least for the time being, but Nell who now becomes the top Brit by average and is also improving in the hat-trick department.
Lightning’s Leigh Jameson continues as the only Brit in the Top Ten EPL Goal Scoring Chart, with little change elsewhere and in Assists the most notable change is the entry of James Ferrara now in the Brit Chart after his hat-trick weekend.
On the injury front, Whack Of The Week must go to Lightning’s Blaz Emersic who took a puck to the face near the end of the Steeldogs’ game which required a visit to hospital for stitches, but which thankfully showed nothing broken and the insistence he would be back on the ice Saturday.
News came from the Phoenix in the week that Tony Hand was back in training having been out with a broken ankle since November. ‘I am not going to rush it,‘ he said. ‘The team has done well without me.’ Hmmm. Now is that good news or no so good news?
And at the Bison, where a barrowful of injuries has cost them the odd point or two, Coach Steve Moria, referring to the absence of Liam Chong, Tony Redmond, Sam Oakford, Viktor Kubenko and Dan Harris said of the coming weekend, ‘I am hopeful we could have at least a couple of guys back in the line-up.’
On to this week’s mid-term games which saw a couple of matches which as far as the Jets and Wildcats were concerned both needed to win: the Wildcats to get away from the chasing Bees, and the Jets to bounce back from their dismantling by the Steeldogs last Sunday.
Wildcats 5 – Jets 3
Things between this pair have been even this season with both achieving a win home and away and arriving for this meeting with an edge in recent form going to the Swindon side.
Things started pretty evenly with a goal apiece in the first period, but lacking a certain something possibly due to the Bison having only ten out on the ice. However, the second period started with some frenetic activity as Jets’ Ryan Watt demonstrated to Jaroslav Cesky some experimental dance movements to Blood on the Dance Floor after accepting an invitation which must have been sent out last Christmas. The upshot, after a few downshots as well, was brother Nicky taking a ten minute breather for disagreeing with the ref’s 4.5 for technical merit as the Czech left the ice for treatment.
Shortly after, in a burst reminiscent of last Sunday against the Bison, the Wildcats leapt into a comfortable lead which they protected despite plenty of pressure particularly around the three-quarters’ mark when Dan Davies sneaked in and threatened a come-back.
Flames 3 – Bison 0
The Bison have beaten the Flames twice in their three encounters and go into the game with a win against the Lightning, and since the Flames come from that penalty loss to the Bees the Basingstoke side must have been feeling perky. But it came to nought and in what was a fairly clinical performance the Flames went ahead after five minutes and added one more in each other period. But to be fair the Bison were not disgraced and found the Flames’ goal over forty times, but unfortunately also found Mark Lee who notched up an EPL record sixth shut-out for the season.
EPL Cup 1st semi-final 2nd leg – Lightning 0 – Steeldogs 0 (Steeldogs win 1-0 on aggregate)
Not only are the Lightning not good at beating the Steeldogs, having done so only once in four league games, but are not good at scoring against them either with their last league game and subsequent first Cup semi-finals both shut-outs.
This second leg was not the friendliest of games although with the almost continuous queue for the box, like seven residents at the conclusion of the second period, for example, you would be forgiven for thinking a cosy arrangement had some attraction for many players. But clearly things couldn’t have been much tighter although, ironically, the Lightning had enough shots on goal but couldn’t wipe out that Chris Sykes winner four minutes from time in the first leg that proved enough to elevate the Steeldogs to the final.
On to Saturday and the second EPL Cup semi-final pair kicked off with the Phoenix at home to the Flames.
Phoenix 2 – Flames 2 – EPL CUP 2nd semi-final 1st leg
These two have met five times in the league with things pretty even with a home and away win each with the Flames taking the last game in Guildford. As far as Cup games go, though, current form doesn’t necessarily mean a lot especially with both these sides doing very nicely, thank you.
And, like the first semi-final pairing, things couldn’t have been closer at least until half way when Ben Campbel limped off, luckily not for long, and then Jozef Kohut put the visitors into the lead which is how it stayed for the rest of the period. Minutes into P2 and James Archer put the Phoenix back level and ten minutes later an exchange of goals between David Longstaff and Ciaran Long within a minute of each other ensured the second leg was at least going to start with a clean sheet.
Bison 3 – Bees 1
With Bees current fortunes on the upswing and the Bison’s not, the visitors must have been hopeful of points, especially with the honours shared at two games apiece so far this season.
The Bees started strongly enough and were a bit unlucky to be a goal down going into the first break after a short-handed goal from Nicky Chinn. In P2 the Bees started strongly enough and were a bit unlucky to be 2-goals down going into the second break. In P3, well, they scored a short-handed goal of their own but then conceded another short-handed goal on the empty net. So, considering their recent improved form and at last a full strength squad which managed to outshoot their opponents comfortably, and that they were against an injury-hit Bison, they must be feeling a tad disgruntled.
Jets 5 – Phantoms 4 after overtime
The Jets are in need of an antidote having lost to the Steeldogs and Wildcats recently while the Phantoms feel their big win over the Tigers last weekend is the start of something big, new and shiny. But as far as form goes between this pair, the Jets have it four out of five with a two-to-one goal ratio.
However, the Jets must have given a collected sigh of relief when their first goal went in thanks to Darius Pliskauskas, and then gasped minutes later with the reply from James Ferrara and almost sunk to the floor as they went 3-1 down by the first break. More of the same must have been the whispers as the spectre of the Steeldogs crept out of the shadows, especially when Adam Greener was directed to his bike by the referee for an early trip home after a scuffle with Ferrara and Damien King saved a penalty shot by Dan Davies. But at least there were no more goals against.
The third saw an early spirited recovery by the Jets only interrupted by a short-handed goal from Ondrej Lauko, and the Phantoms must have been gutted to see Pliskauskas sink another with only seven seconds left on the clock. But the Jets weren’t finished and just to rub salt into the wound Ryan Watt clinched the winner in overtime. From the Phantoms’ perspective without Chris Allen and Luke Ferrara it will be argued whether or not it was a point lost, having given up an impressive lead, or a point gained. But in their position a point-is-a-point and better than nothing or a poke in the ear.
Lightning 6 – Wildcats 3
Of their four games the Lightning have proved the strongest, although not unbeatable, with three wins, one on penalties in Swindon, and a loss at home.
The Wildcats having just beaten the Bison and Jets look livelier than of late, while the Lightning have not had a couple of good weeks, including their dismissal from the EPL Cup.
But here was a Milton Keynes side with a lot more promise, especially with new import Tuomas Tikkanen finally getting on the score sheet not once but twice and hopefully proving to Lightning fans a wise replacement for Juraj Gracek. By then end of the first period the Wildcats were a goal down, and the end of the second losing by three. The ever-dangerous Aaron Nell shot in his second, unassisted, to open the third period and momentarily offer some resistance and hope, but Grant McPherson, who had already scored an unassisted power-play goal, pretty much put the dampers on that with eight minutes to spare.
After last night’s three league games Sunday saw a full card.
Bees 2 – Steeldogs 3 after overtime
Last time out the Steeldogs stuffed the Bees 6-1 but before that they had won in Bracknell but shared the points on the two other occasions they met. Last night the Bees were a little less than snappy against the Bison while the Steeldogs in not playing came from their EPLCup draw against the Lightning.
The game started pretty even with Andre Payette scoring for the visitors seconds before the end of the first period but Matt Foord equalised quickly after the break.
Late in the game Andy Hirst scored what the Steeldogs must have thought was the clincher but thirty seconds from the end the Bees were awarded a penalty shot which Shaun Thompson converted to gain the point, but it was the Steeldogs who won the overtime.
Phoenix 5 – Lightning 2
The Lightning won the first encounter with the Phoenix but since then the four other games have all belonged to Manchester.
And this match was not a lot different with the home side 3-up before the first break and with a 3-goal lead by the end of the second. The third period, by which time the game was long out of reach, was highlighted for the visitors with Tuomas Tikkanen scoring for the third time of the weekend and thereby beginning to live up to what it said on the tin.
Phantoms 6 – Bison 7 after penalty shoot-out
An away win each goes to this pair with the Phantoms picking a point from their other two games. The Phantoms also collected a point from last night, while the Bison made it two, so a game promising much.
Following the same formula as Saturday the Phantoms started with an early charge with the promise of much more. But the Bison, still depleted, were back on equal terms by the break. From then on it was nip and tuck and by the end of the second period the Bison were a goal down and missing Ollie Bronnimann and Kurt Reynolds to injuries. The third saw the Phantoms increase their lead but Joe Miller scored on a power-play and Steve Moria ensured the overtime in a final five- minute burst for the Bison. Then, as so often happens, the team coming from behind eventually claimed both points in the shoot-out which all raised again the question for the Phantoms of whether this was another point lost, or gained.
Tigers 1 – Jets 5
The Tigers picked up a point in their first meeting but the two following games went to the Jets by comfortable margins. Last night the Jets had that narrow win over the phantoms while the Tigers never played but arrived for this game from that disastrous previous weekend.
While the Jets took an early lead through Ryan Watt and capitalised on it, but going into the third period the game was not all going the Slough way. In fact the Tigers were beaten as much by injuries with Marek Hornak off to hospital with a misbehaving shoulder and both Ryan Selwood and Josh Bruce falling by the wayside. So, while fair play to Watt for his hat-trick, the scorecard created the impression the match was less even than it actually was.
Flames 9 – Wildcats 1
The Flames have it five from six in meetings between these two with a whopping seven goal shut-out the first result, while the Wildcats have the latest win suggesting this could be something of a fight.
As it turned out, suggestion was about as close as it got. While the Wildcats know how to win and have beaten the best and scored goals you could die happily after witnessing, they also know how to lose in style. This game was not so much a matter of throwing the baby out with the bathwater as sweeping the toiletries from the shelves and ripping out the plumbing with it. Such polarity seems hard to believe with the likes of top ten Brits Aaron Nell, who despite the carnage scored unassisted, and Nicky Watt in the side, plus top ten EPL goal scorers Jaroslav Cesky and Jonus Höög and top ten EPL assist scorer Michal Pinc. Oh yes, and the number three netmnder and recently returned Tom Murdy.
With such a massacre it is not surprising Nathan Rempel got his second hat-trick of the season and ex-Wildcats netminder James Hadfield was granted a period in the Guildford net.
So, with the blood and debris having been washed from the rinks, following Saturday the Jets had moved back into third place on goal difference while the Phantoms inched closer to the Bees. Sunday saw the Jets strengthen their position slightly but the Lightning and Wildcats both slipped a bit and the Bees improve. The Flames, however, remain eight points clear at the top of the table with the Phoenix still chomping at the bit with a game in hand and the Bison threatening.
For more EPL facts and figures, stats news and more take a look at www.iceman-epl.com
Bill.Collins@prohockeynews.com
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