SWINDON, UK – As the EPL season heads slowly to its peak, the final positions in the Top Tens Charts are looking less unsettled. Alex Mettam, for instance, is back as the number one netminder, while Sheffield’s Ben Bowns goes up a place.
Other movement is slight although Bison’s Chris Wiggins returned to the top of the Penalty-Takers’ Chart by the whisker of number of games played. But when it comes to a penalty game average Andre Payette, player-coach with the Steeldogs, would qualify for his astronaut’s badge if he were a Boy Scout. And he certainly ain’t a Boy Scout! However, be that as it may, a not-a-boy-scout sounds just like what Coach Tom Watkins sounds needs over in the Tigers’ camp. Following a nil-point weekend the exasperated boss, who incidentally ain’t exactly a boy scout either with his place a mere seat away from Payette in the penalty chart, complained his team was too nice! ‘We have to develop more of a mean streak,’ he said, ‘and make it harder for teams to score against us.’ Meanwhile, back in the Steeldogs’ camp Coach Payette said he was ‘very proud’ of the way his boys are continuing to play the physical game he has been instilling into them. Mind you, he had to say it from the pub because he was banned again, but the style certainly has an equalising capacity to it. Also spending his weekends in the pub, possibly until the end of the season now according to the Phoenix, is Ladislav Harabin with his slash injury. Coach Hand says he is still under a specialist but for the foreseeable future he is benched.
James Hutchinson at the Phoenix was also out but only for a game ban which caused his boss Coach Curtis Cruickshank to comment, ‘It is incredible that we have been doing so well over the past ten games with just two defencemen.’ Luckily he has a couple of ‘utility’ players, as he calls them, which have enabled him to juggle his lines around although at first I thought he meant they were coming round to sort out his plumbing.
A couple of mid-week games and the Phantoms entertained the Phoenix who opened the scoring after five minutes and steadily controlled the game and pulled away until at 4-1 and ten minutes to go Jeff Glowa on the power play started the fight back. Then, with just five minutes to go and now at 5-3 James Archer dropped the gloves and went at it with Darius Lelenas inspiring a lets-all-join-in tango although only the two initial protagonists drew penalties. When the dust settled Tony Hand popped in a power-play goal and the Phoenix had it 6-3.
Coach Cruickshank defended his import ‘Dave’ Lelenas, who is subject to a discipline review following the incident with Archer during which he allegedly used an elbow, presumably his own, as a weapon. Cruickshank’s argument was the ploy was ‘not intended to injure’ although applying even a modicum of curiosity makes you wonder what the object of the exercise was then? However, Lelenas received his match ban and the following day Cruickshank apologised to Archer, so presumably the move was actually intended to injure after all. Cruickshank then announced the unusual step that the club was also considering action against their player. Hmmm. Interesting.
In Milton Keynes Ross Green sent a long-range puck whistling into the Jets’ net to take the lead to which the reply minutes later was John Connolly being given a 2+10 for checking from behind. But by the end of the second the Jets had it 3 to 2 and then dominated the third with McPhearson also picking up a two-plus-ten for checking the head and an exchange of goals which left the Jets 5-3 victors. A naturally pleased Coach Russell said of his Jets, ‘Everyone seems to be clicking, and I can’t ask for much more than that.’ You certainly can’t because the win took the Jets into third place in the table.
The following evening the Tigers went to Swindon where it took less than a minute for James Knight to start the Swindon ball rolling although Ashley Calvert replied for the guests a minute later. A similar thing happened near the half way mark only this time the Tigers took the lead through Nathan Salem, with a swift reply. And then it was pretty much all downhill for the visitors as the Wildcats took heed of Coach Ryan Aldridge’s earlier complaint his team were not capitalising on shots near the goal and in particularly picking up rebounds, and stormed on to become 10-4 winners.
To continue with the week’s news, the Lightning reported their Swedish forward Monir Kalgoum had finally returned to the bench after a six week absence through injury, so with the recent signing of Blaz Emersic from the Jets they now have a team at full fitness and with five imports.
On the other hand, Wildcats reported Sam Bullas was likely to be out for the rest of the season having broken an ankle playing against the Jets the previous Saturday. Apparently he tried playing on the following evening but felt a tad discomforted and Monday’s x-ray explained why. Coach Aldridge certainly didn’t need that at the moment with Loris Taylor, Nick Compton and James Knight already out.
Saturday and the Tigers, who have had some previous decent scores against their Phoenix visitors including an overtime point, didn’t disgrace themselves again. As Coach Watkins said, there was something about the Manchester side that acted as a catalyst which everyone looked forward to. In fact, the Tigers were one up inside the first minute although the Phoenix were in the lead by the break. Andrew Sharp at last fortunately seems to have finally regained his fitness, and form I suppose, because he became reacquainted with the box as the Phoenix failed to stamp their authority in the second period and Tigers’ Andrejs Maslovskis drawing the game level. With overtime looming large the Phoenix eventually ended the matter in the dying seconds.
The Bison took a major setback in what turned out to be a classic game on their own soil against league rivals Slough with things equal at two apiece after just fifteen minutes. The second period continued in the same vein with end-to-end play and ended now four each. Early in the final period Calder had a shot stopped literally on the line, but then Jets’ pressure was reward when Doug Sheppard claimed his second. With half a minute to go the Bison pulled Dean Skinns from the net, and had they done it a touch earlier they might have forced the overtime instead of an empty net goal.
That man Jonas Hoog went on the rampage again across the Swindon ice with another four points as the Wildcats dismantled the Bees 7-4 making that seventeen goals in two games for the Swindon team. Although the Bees were briefly in the lead during the first period and ended with almost the same shots on goal, Hoog had his hat-trick around the half way mark, and it was goodnight Vienna.
The Lightning game against the Phantoms, however, was a very different matter. The home side found themselves down after just twenty-five seconds, which must be near a record, but then went on to dominate the first period. And the second. Well, and the third really allowing the visitors a measly two shots on goal and a total of thirteen. So how the heck was it Jeff Glowa managed to slot in a second goal for the Phantoms in what was really quite a strange performance? The Lightning did get one back, and some say a second but, as Maggie the barmaid at my local the Cow and Crumpet put it, ‘You wanted light, I gave you bitter.’
And talking of strange performances, the Flames went to Sheffield and faced the Steeldogs, complete with Andre Payette fresh from his ban. But not for long. Although the Flames dug in and controlled the game to come out 3-1 winners, it was really Payette who stole the show. An early hit on Jez Lundin, who became the top scoring D-man this week, which saw him eventually pull out of the game followed by an impressive points collection, penalty points, that is, culminating in a game penalty for checking from behind saw Payette take his season total into the stratosphere. I don’t know what the Boy Scout badge for advanced astronaut is – Intergalactic Points’ Traveller, perhaps?
So, another Saturday completed and the Jets having put paid to the Bison now seriously threaten the Flames for the number two spot, although it has to be said, the Bison have the easiest looking Sunday fixture.
So how did they do?
Well, the Basingstoke team went to Bracknell and in all honesty made hard work of it. Ben Davies gave them the lead after nine minutes, but Peter Jasik equalised after fourteen just before Skene walked of to the dressing room injured after a nasty fall. Ollie Bronnimann then put the Bison back in the lead but not really in control as that is as far as things got. So a win and two valuable points, for sure, but for artistic interpretation the jury is still deciding.
Manchester didn’t quite get it all their own way either when the Tigers came to visit. Marcus Kristoffersson started things off with two and in the end wrapped it up with his hat-trick, but on the half hour at 5-0 up Summerfield replaced Steve Fone in goal and the Tigers hit back with three in five minutes. The Phoenix nerve started to wobble and Fone was brought back, but considering the polarisation of the teams, it wasn’t a bad display by the Tigers.
The Steeldogs, who have not recently fared as well against some top teams after the impetus that came with a change of coach hosted the Wildcats, and against a team closer to them in the table and on home ice really should have taken at least a point. But Swindon took an early lead through Jozef Liska and Lee Richardson made it two in the second, and although the Steeldogs kept things tight, got a goal back and outshot the visitors, James Hadfield in goal was too tough to beat again.
Milton Keynes in Slough had the makings of a sticky one, especially as Grant McPhearson and Ryan Watt decided at the face off to have a personal moment which saw them both end up in the box. Minutes later the Jets were ahead, in fact before the missing referee arrived, and a minute after that everything was equal again. Adam Calder, who has looked seriously threatening since his mid-term arrival at the Jets, made it 2-1 and then 3-1. Ross Green went off injured at the half way point after what looked like a close encounter with the boards, and the Lightning fought themselves back into the game. But, with under a minute to go Calder stuck in the winning goal and claimed his hat-trick, and with an empty net goal added the Jets beat the Lightning for the second time in a week and continued their winning ways.
No Jez Lundin for the Flames after taking a hit the night before against the Steeldogs, or Miro Hala in goal for that matter, but that didn’t stop the Guildford side from taking command of the Phantoms. Nathan Rempel started things off after seventeen minutes and less than half an hour later it was all over at 5-1. Damon King came out in goal for the Phantoms in the third period, but then Rempel topped off the Flames performance with a goal making him the first player in ten years to pass the fifty-goal mark in a season.
As the clock ticks down to the final weeks of the season, even though things are still close near the top, the play-off places are already being considered with Wildcats’ Coach Aldridge for one naming the Jets as his bogey team. And here’s me thinking Phantoms were bogies!
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contact the author Bill.Collins@Prohockeynews.com
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