LONDON, UK – With the wind and rain battering the UK for much of the week, there was only one thing for players, fans and officials to do… get down the rink.
Stars shine at home again (Paul Foster)
In what was admittedly a slow news week the most exciting news came from the unlikely source of the Bracknell Ice Rink Twitter.
In a week long build up not too dissimilar to the constant temperature reporting of the stricken Fukushima Nuclear plant, the ice rink staff battled for days to get their compressors to run at the Jamie McIlroy optimum temperature, i.e. less than minus 9 degrees.
The ice hockey teams all had their training sessions cancelled or moved to Slough during the week leaving a doubt over the weekend fixtures.
Bracknell wet and dry
By Friday however, the work was finally done to the delight of all concerned. A statement from the owners clarified the good news:
“We are ecstatic to announce how much our ice has transformed in just a few days. We couldn’t believe our eyes when our compressors were running lower than minus 9 degrees Celsius!”
Still confused about the McIlroy reference? Well long term readers may remember when the former Streatham and Slough man was incorrectly panned on The Hockey Forum after one particular game for being minus 9 to which he reacted in suitable fashion with his acerbic and often amusing style of internet presence.
London Raiders became the latest NIHL South team to line up for the annual team photo with only one player professional enough to focus on the camera.
Take 10 for the London Raiders photo shoot (John Scott)
That man was Michal Oravec who is currently sporting a beard that Zod would be proud of and whilst he may have lost the deep sun tan he claimed to have picked up sitting in his garden in Romford last summer, he gets full marks for the stare he is giving team GM/photographer John Scott.
One man refusing to pander to the beard posse is Lego modeler Kev Crew who unveiled his NIHL South collection on Twitter with a full set of hockey players complete with officials.
Lego by Kev Crew
The clean shaven yellow headed hockey players would make an ideal Christmas present for any hockey fan but as yet we have no details on how they can be purchased.
The unique merchandise was not limited to Lego as London Raiders unveiled some snazzy player branded phone covers just in time for the festive stocking filler rush.
The Raiders needed a boost after recent results however defenseman David Oliver remained upbeat in an interview with London 24.
“This team has great charisma, it’s one of the best I’ve played in. We’re all on the same level on and off the ice.”
“We train once a week and do the very best we can do with that hour and 15 minutes we get.”
“We will be back to work, putting it right for the weekend and we want to put on a great show that the fans deserve.”
The mood was also upbeat in Cardiff as pictures of the new rink emerged on Social Media and just when things seemingly couldn’t get any better, the Cardiff NIHL Devils Twitter was followed by Sam Warburton.
Sam Roberts Nokia Lumia cover for Xmas?
No not the guy who makes the bread you English ignoramuses, but the Welsh international rugby star of the same name.
Cardiff moved up to 8th place in the league after a close fought 1-0 win over Bracknell Hornets the previous weekend.
Canadian Thomas Stuart-Dant has started banging in a few goals recently following his move from Billingham Stars this summer and spoke to the newly revamped British Ice Hockey website during the week.
“We started off struggling and getting to know our new systems can always be a challenge, but we’ve got those down now and we’re really turning some heads and giving teams a run for their money.”
“We’re really looking forward to this weekend. London have some good scoring guys and quick little wingers, while on Sunday we host Wightlink and they’ve given us some trouble in the past, but I reckon we’ll give them a good fight at home.”
A house of learned doctors?
Finally, and with a lack of any bruise of the week or indeed any light hearted random picture to end the week’s build up piece, we have been forced into what is about to follow.
Forget Slash, Brian May, the guy from Roxette or Mark Knopfler… the NIHL South has its own guitar heroes, so soak in the scene of Bracknell’s JJ Pitchley and Danny House playing an acoustic version of ‘ice ice baby’ to celebrate the John Nike triumph of minus 9.
Saturday’s Hockey
The unpredictability of the league continued as there were shock results at both Bracknell and Oxford with the Hornets and City Stars grabbing wins over Streatham and Invicta respectively.
In Bracknell the fresh ice was christened in spectacular fashion as the resident Hornets stunned Streatham with a 4-2 win.
Streatham looked reasonably in control at 2-1 up midway through the game before a shorthanded effort at the start of the third from JJ Pitchley put the home side level and they didn’t look back.
Hornets other goals came from Danny Hughes, Brandon Miles and Josh Martin. Streatham scorers were Callum Best and Evander Grinnell.
Danny Milton in the Hornets net impressed with a solid display as Streatham outshot the Hornets 45 to 23 over the 60 minutes.
Josh Martin on target (Kev Slyfield)
The result moved Bracknell further away from the bottom of the table and marked the second win at home against higher placed opposition for new Coach Kenny Redmond.
Oxford City Stars hadn’t beaten Invicta Dynamos for five years, but they had Oxpens Road rocking at the end of their latest encounter as they won 4-1.
Shane Moore, Darren Elliott, Boris Ruzicka and Mike Whillock sealed the two points for Oxford, with Bailey Wootton on target for the Dynamos.
Shannon Long had a good game in between the pipes as he turned away 32 of the 33 shots he faced.
The result moved Oxford up to third place in the league and showed just how much they have progressed this season, adding on to that famous win over Chelmsford a fortnight ago.
Whilst two of their title rivals were slipping up, Chelmsford did what they have done best in recent seasons and ground out a 2-1 win on the Island against another title rival, Wightlink Raiders.
Parrish not amused in Oxford (Paul Foster)
It was a defensive chess game between the pair on the packed confines of Ryde Arena with Wightlink’s Matt Colclough and Chelmsford’s Euan King playing well alongside their respective defensive units to keep the goals out.
Juraj Huska and Danny Hammond were the players who managed to put the puck in the net for Chelmsford, with Matt Lawday replying for the home side.
The in-form King was replaced by Ben Clements with five minutes to go after an ankle injury, and he managed to stave off a final onslaught by the Raiders to secure the victory. Perhaps the Ben Clements snow globe will now finally be purchased from the Chelmsford Supporters Club table?
A late fightback by Cardiff NIHL Devils in London was not enough to take points from London Raiders who sealed a 3-2 win thanks to first period goals from Michal Oravec with a brace and a lone effort from Robert Veares.
Thomas Stuart-Dant and Rhys Harding replied for Cardiff to no avail.
Sunday Hockey
Cardiff’s long trip to London the previous night did nothing to damp their enthusiasm for a home clash against Wightlink Raiders and the Welsh side managed to pull off a surprising 4-4 tie.
Wightlink looked to be bagging the win thanks to goals from Corey Watkins, Jeremy Cornish, Craig Tribe and Ryan Webb, but a comeback by the Devils tied it up with Giacomo Raffaelli, Ben Brown, Kieran Latchford and Owen Bradshaw all on target.
It marks a fantastic couple of weeks for the Welsh side who have put their poor run of early season form behind them in recent weeks.
Blaine gives Nahlik the eyes in the London derby(Rick Webb)
Streatham bounced back from a three game losing streak to beat London Raiders 6-4 in the London derby.
A brace each from Callum Best and Kamil Kinkor added to efforts from Joe Johnston and Adam Wood to seal the win for Streatham.
Two goals from Frankie Harvey and one each from Rio Grinnell-Parke and Marek Nahlik made up the Raiders tally.
Best was later ejected by Blaine Evans after he drew blood from Sam Veares with an elbow and then received a further double misconduct after skating out for a less than complimentary word with the veteran official.
Chelmsford hosted Solent Devils without regular starter Euan King between the pipes, yet it was a familiar story as the Essex side kept yet another shut out, with Ben Clements taking the plaudits this time round.
Chelmsford won the game 3-0 thanks to a brace from Juraj Huska (one being an empty netter) and a lone goal from Andrius Kaminskas.
The result moves the Chieftains two points ahead of Streatham with three games in hand.
The last game of the evening was a bit of a classic as Invicta and Milton Keynes battled out an 11 goal thriller in Kent.
Invicta goalie Damien King faced his old side for the first time since his shock departure, and almost ended up on the losing side before a big comeback from the Mo’s from 4-2 down, to win 6-5.
Eriks Ozollapa scored two for Invicta with Andrew Henderson, Bailey Wootton, Steven Osman and finally Ondrej Zosiak all on target with one each.
Two goals for Jamie Line and one each for Tom Mboya, Harrison Goode and Ryan Coffey was not enough for the Thunder, who once again travelled with a shorter bench than usual.
The result keeps Invicta in 5th place in the league just behind Wightlink, whilst the Thunder stay rooted to the bottom.
Results
Saturday 14th November 2015
Bracknell Hornets 4-2 Streatham Redskins
Oxford City Stars 4-1 Invicta Dynamos
Wightlink Raiders 1-2 Chelmsford Chieftains
London Raiders 3-2 Cardiff NIHL Devils
Sunday 15th November 2015
Chelmsford Chieftains 3-0 Solent Devils
Streatham Redskins 6-4 London Raiders
Invicta Dynamos 6-5 MK Thunder
Cardiff NIHL Devils 4-4 Wightlink Raiders
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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