LONDON, UK – With the excitement of Christmas and New Year’s Eve dimming in the cold winter weather of 2016, it was a good job that NIHL South was around to cheer everyone up.
Back to his Best as Streatham take on Cardiff (Rick Webb)
The week’s news begins not in the lovely surroundings of the UK’s third tier of British Hockey, but at the top of the tree with the biggest confidence boosting press release for a hockey player of recent times.
The corporate dog eat dog world of the UK Elite League has no room for sentiment, especially if you are a backup British goalie waiting for your chance to shine.
It can be a lonely role as you travel the length and breadth of the country from Belfast to Dundee, but at least if the main guy picks up an injury you know your chance will come.
Well not quite… with Nottingham Panthers starting goalie Miika Wiikman injured, back up Dan Green must have been looking forward to taking the top spot, however Panthers Coach Corey Neilson drafted in Shane ‘Mad Dog’ Madolora from the USA to ensure that Green wasn’t thrust into the limelight full time.
‘Shane is coming in to help us and we’re all pleased to have him.’ Admitted Neilson.
Hip Hip..erm hooray for David Oliver
‘It means Miika can concentrate on getting fit and take no risks and Dan can get back to what he does best, backing up, and being there when we need him.’
‘We’ve got a host of big games coming up and having this kind of cover could prove vital, imagine where we’d be if something happened to Dan as well as Miika.’
Interestingly, Madolora played youth hockey with former Streatham forward Sean Scarbrough.
A number of readers have emailed us complaining that we no longer feature bruise of the week in this column. To be fair, we rely on contributions from players around the league to keep it going. In fact the short lived tattoo of the week failed to gather much enthusiasm as a replacement, nor did ‘Hockey Dogs of the NIHL’.
Well fear no more because this week’s bruise is an absolute belter and is possibly the biggest we have seen. Congratulations David Oliver of London Raiders who turned a shade of blue after taking a hit from Corey Watkins in their recent game against Wightlink Raiders.
The excellent 10 by 10 series continued on the 482 days website as Streatham defenceman Ryan Giles gave a mid-season report on the Redskins.
‘Going forward, we need to tighten up at the back and start to put the puck in the net a bit more’ said Giles who won the league with Chelmsford last year.
‘That may sound obvious but on a number of occasions we have found ourselves walking away from games without the points, after majorly outshooting our opponents. Stats don’t lie and if we work on this, we’ll be stronger for it.’
You can read the full report plus informative contributions on Invicta, Wightlink and Chelmsford by clicking HERE
More good news came out of Streatham as long serving defenseman Casimir Madren-Britton popped the question to the lovely Diana Vlasova prior to training on Thursday. Yes you read that correctly… the big blueliner sealed the deal with an emphatic yes from his lady, then hot footed it down to training at Streatham Ice Rink.
‘She said yes..so I said, ok I am off to hockey practice’
Congratulations from all the guys at Pro Hockey News.
There are many reasons to visit Brasov in Transylvania including affordable restaurants, Dracula themed castles, skiing during winter and of course a Hollywood style sign that was erected on a nearby hill for no real reason.
In April there is another reason to go there and that is to watch Great Britain Under-18s compete in World Championship (Division 2A). Scottish Coach Martin Grubb selected his squad during the week and MK Thunder star Ed Knaggs and Cardiff Devils prospect Owen Bradshaw got the call up as the sole representatives of NIHL South 1.
Last but not least, we have to mention the clapper that Invicta forward Jack Lee took to the face in training from his team mate Eriks Ozolllapa. The puck left a lovely hole in the youngsters lip and he had to wait for hours in A&E to get it stitched up.
Saturday’s Hockey
Solent Devils looked to be dead and buried against Oxford City Stars as they trailed 4-1 at the Gosport Arena. In a bad tempered encounter the Devils mounted a superb comeback to lead 5-4 only to see Oxford score a last minute equaliser through Boris Ruzicka.
Ben Ealey-Newman, Alan Green, Joe Edwards and Josh Florey got the other goals for the Stars. Solent scorers were Mitch Murray with two and Ben Lock, Ralfs Circenis and Richard Brown with one each.
Lee and his bloodied hand with Jacob Ranson
Dax Hedges enjoyed the lonely shower cubicle in the visitors changing cupboard earlier than his team mates as he was ejected in the second period on a checking from behind call.
Cardiff pushed Streatham hard in South London as the two sides were level at 2-2 at the end of the second period. Four unanswered goals in the third period gave Streatham a much needed 6-2 win in front of a big crowd.
Callum Best and Evander Grinell-Parke scored a brace each with Joe Johnston and Nicky Chinn also on target.
For Cardiff it was Jon Nash with both goals. Full video highlights can be viewed HERE with a full ACDC soundtrack.
The final game of the day took place in East London as hosts London Raiders went down 6-2 to Chelmsford Chieftains in a dead rubber South East Cup game.
Missing Liam Chong with a broken thumb, the Raiders were however boosted by the bruised peach Mr Oliver at the back as he played through the pain barrier.
Matt Turner, Anthony Leone, Ross Brears, Juraj Huska, Darren Brown and Grant Bartlett were on target for Chelmsford, with Bailey Chittock and Seb Downing scoring London’s goals.
London goalie Michael Gray got an assist on one of the goals to add to the storyline.
Sunday Hockey
Wightlink Raiders may not have been able to train lately but they have been travelling with a good strong squad to every game.
Jeremy Cornish and his men pulled off the result of the weekend as they beat Chelmsford 4-2 at the Riverside. Alex Sampford scored two with Ryan Webb and Matthew Lawday getting the other goals. Webb’s goal was an empty netter.
Juraj Huska and Matt Turner replied for Chelmsford. The crowd also got a treat as the Italian Stallion Anthony Leone and the Southampton Slugger Ben Paynter dropped the gloves to add to the drama.
After a tie with Oxford on home ice the previous weekend, Chelmsford are starting to drop points at a rink they previously seemed invincible. Wightlink deserve all the plaudits for a win that keeps them up towards the top of the table in third place.
Stunning win for Wightlink
Jeremy Cornish had arranged a friendly with the Basingstoke Buffalo midweek just to get his guys some practice time, which was a wise move and this lack of training time makes the Raiders form all the more impressive.
Oxford City Stars and London Raiders have developed a little needle in their matches in the last couple of seasons, and their latest clash at Oxpens Road was a case in point.
The Stars took the win 5-2 thanks to goals from Josh Florey, Mike Whillock, Alan Green, Boris Ruzicka and Ben Ealey-Newman.
London scorers were Rob Veares and Tom Davis.
There were a few scraps with Dax Hedges dropping the gloves with Rob Jenner and Jason Ikin doing likewise with Mason Webster.
Just when the fans thought it was going to calm down, Webster clashed with Andy Cox in the final minute of the game as both went toe to toe.
Solent Devils continued their dramatic weekend with a 5-5 tie at MK Thunder.
An Alex Murray hat trick inspired his side to a solid road point and added to goals from Alex Trendall and George Norcliffe. For Milton Keynes Josh Nicklin got a hat trick, with Jamie Line and Harrison Goode the other scorers.
That result takes Solent to 8th spot, four points clear of Bracknell below and with games in hand.
Block shots win games for Oxford (Paul Foster)
Streatham continued their unbeaten run in 2016 as they beat Cardiff 9-3 in Wales in a late face off at the Big Blue Tent.
Steven Fisher returned to haunt his old club with two goals, and there were also braces from Kamil Kinkor and Adam Wood. Streatham’s other scorers were Nicky Chinn, Callum Best and Jack Tarczycki.
Cardiff were boosted by the return of star player Jamie Hayes for his first start in a number of months and he scored a sweet goal to add to a goal from Thomas Stuart-Dant and a long range effort from the halfway line from Jack Randall.
The result leaves Cardiff at the foot of the table, however with Hayes back and the likes of Jon Nash in good form, they may see an upturn in results in the latter half of the season.
Invicta returned after their two week break to beat Bracknell Hornets 7-3 at Silverblades.
Bradley Gutridge bagged his first ever senior goal for the Mo’s with Steven Osman and Eriks Ozollapa both getting a brace each and Conor Redmond and Nicky Lewis both getting a goal each.
For the Hornets it was Ryan Handisides with two and a lone goal from Josh Martin.
With 30 seconds to go, former Mo Brad Watchorn dropped the gloves with veteran Dynamos legend Grant Baxter to give the crowd something else to debate.
Results
Saturday 9th January 2016
Streatham Redskins 6-2 Cardiff NIHL Devils
Solent Devils 5-5 Oxford City Stars
London Raiders 2-6 Chelmsford Chieftains (South East Cup)
Sunday 10th January 2015
Chelmsford Chieftains 2-4 Wightlink Raiders
Invicta Dynamos 7-3 Bracknell Hornets
Cardiff NIHL Devils 3-9 Streatham Redskins
MK Thunder 5-5 Solent Devils
Oxford City Stars 5-2 London Raiders
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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