LONDON, UK – Transfer frenzy gripped NIHL South as the final jigsaw pieces were laid in place by coaches across the league.
Bracknell and the Mo’s make friends (Kev Slyfield)
Just when NIHL fans thought the transfer deadline would pass without incident, along came a flurry of activity that would make Sky Sports News envious.
To say the next few months of hockey will be interesting is an understatement. So let’s take a deep breath and try and sum it all up.
Starting in Chelmsford it was Coach Sean Easton who decided the quiet life was not for him as he snapped up former junior forward Olegs Lascenko and offensive defensive duo Billy and Charlie Phillips from retirement. The fall guys were Matt France and John Connolly, with the latter less than impressed at the manner of his dismissal.
Whilst Connolly spoke to the British Ice Hockey website, Easton took to Facebook to try and explain his side of the dismissal process.
The big winners of Easton’s roll of the dice, were London Raiders however as their fragile blue line was boosted by two quality additions as France and Connolly quickly found themselves a roster spot.
Savage signing (bluelinephotography.co.uk)
In any other news week and indeed for anyone with a sensible hockey outlook, the marquee signing of deadline week was Streatham’s capture of former EPL star David Savage from Bracknell Bees. Savage has won every trophy at that level and is well regarded across the league.
Sadly, his announcement was buried in a Phillips frenzy that at the time of writing had digressed on to a discussion about former Romford Raider Jason Rushton smashing up a vending machine in Slough plus a bizarre spelling row of Streatham that referenced the Domesday book on The Hockey Forum.
If you think this column goes off on a tangent at times, then we are not in the same league as the meeting of minds that takes place on THF.
With slightly less fanfare, but no less importance to the Solent Devils was the return of Canadian forward Andrew Magee to the South Coast club. Magee was excellent for the Devils last season and has been missing from the ice since leaving Oxford earlier in the season.
With all the new arrivals across the league, there was one notable departure from Invicta Dynamos as Andy Henderson moved back to Scotland for a ‘unmissable job opportunity’. Henderson had been a good player for the team so far this season so will be missed by the Mo’s.
Talking about Slough ice rink, there was encouraging signs from Berkshire Council that the old Hangar will be refurbished as artist’s impressions appeared in the local paper.
£7.3 million pounds was signed off by the council although god knows how much the coloured pebbles in front of the entrance cost. You can see the images HERE
Straight Outta Queensway
Regular readers will remember us mentioning three Streatham players filming an advert for Jaguar a couple of months ago. Adam Wood, Will Sanderson and Casmir-Madren Britton spent a full day filming for the short advert at Streatham Ice Rink and their efforts are now in the public domain.
You can watch it by clicking HERE but don’t blink or you will miss it.
Finally we have a little treat for you as we can share a mesmerizing rap video from recreational side London Spitfires. The Spitfires train at the little known Queensway rink in Central London that is unsuitable for league hockey due to a low roof, but the most centrally located permanent rink in the Capital.
The video is well put together and will no doubt boost sales of merchandise, especially the ’Pucks before Sluts’ branded hockey puck.
Watch it by clicking HERE
Saturday’s Hockey
Cardiff NIHL Devils are still battling for survival and they faced another tough test at home as they hosted the much improved Solent Devils.
A few years ago this would have been an odds-on home banker, but Solent not only won but kept a shut-out with a 3-0 win at the Big Blue Tent.
Shut out for Cole (Reece Gough)
Andrew Magee, Ralfs Circenis and Richard Facey were the scorers for Solent with Chico Cole securing a 34 shot shut out.
In true NIHL style there were a few fisticuffs with one incident caught on the obligatory portrait mobile phone video. Sadly it had been removed by the time of writing, but referee Rene Ross had a busy night ejecting Zak Shanahan, Lee Duance, Jamie Hayes and Giacomo Raffaelli from Cardiff and Ben Lock from Solent.
A whopping 159 minutes in total penalties!
As competitions go, the South East Cup often struggles to capture the imagination of fans and players until the latter stages, but tell that to Streatham Redskins and London Raiders who played out a hard fought 5-5 tie at Lee Valley.
Marek Nahlik scored a hat trick for London with Matt France and Michal Oravec also on target. For Streatham it was David Savage, Callum Best, Dom Hopkins, Joe Allen and Kamil Kinkor with the goals.
Sadly for all the excitement of the game it was an incident at the end that stole the headlines and sparked debates across the forums.
Controversy at Lee Valley (John Scott)
Youngster Rio Grinell-Parke and Streatham’s Steven Fisher came together arguing after the Raider appeared to skate past and kick him. Fisher dropped the gloves and punched the teenager to the ground and in amongst the melee of bodies Rio’s older brother Evander’s instinct kicked in and he grabbed his own team mate to protect his sibling.
Rio was given a game penalty for tripping, Fisher was ejected for resisting an official and Evander was ejected for third man in.
Definitely the first time we have seen such a call and perhaps why many brothers play on the same teams where possible, as wearing different team jerseys in a contact sport can prove troublesome, especially one where things can escalate into violence at times.
Both team benches appeared genuinely bemused at the buzzer at the end of what was actually a very exciting game of hockey.
Back to league action and Invicta Dynamos avoided any slip ups against Bracknell Hornets with a 6-2 win at the Hive.
Eriks Ozollapa and Adam McNicoll both scored two for the Mo’s with Nicky Lewis and Josh Condren also on target.
For the Hornets it was Danny Hughes and Josh Smith with the goals.
In the second period Brad Watchorn dropped the gloves with Ondrej Zosiak and Harrison Lillis at the same time in an otherwise calm affair.
Sunday Hockey
Wightlink Raiders had their first ‘home’ game in weeks as Invicta Dynamos visited Gosport Arena and even considered using the Gosport Ferry just to try and make it feel like the usual trip to the Isle of Wight.
After a hard fought 4-4 draw last week in Kent the two teams played out exactly the same scoreline again, with Wightlink snatching a point thanks to a late equaliser from Jaroslav Cesky.
Solid home/road point for Wightlink
Eriks Ozollapa scored two for the Mo’s with Josh Condren and Arran Strawson also on target. Wightlink’s other scorers were Nick Compton, Corey Watkins and Ryan Webb.
Invicta’s Steven Osman was handed an early shower as he was ejected for high sticks.
The result leaves the Mo’s in second place, six points behind Chelmsford.
A short benched Cardiff side ravaged by suspensions came from behind to tie 4-4 at Bracknell Hornets.
The Welsh side had just two lines of players for the clash but never gave up and took a valuable road point back down the M4.
Giovanni Raffaelli scored two for the Devils with Jon Nash and Thomas Stuart-Dant also on target. Bracknell’s goals came courtesy of Sam Waller, JJ Pitchley, Jack Baveystock and Josh Martin.
Goalies Danny Milton and Ross Miller both finished the game with plus 90% save averages in a game that leaves Bracknell five points clear of Cardiff at the bottom of the table.
Streatham’s 5-1 win over Solent Devils was marred by a long stoppage to the game after Alex Murray was concussed following a hit by Chris Wiggins in the opening minutes.
The Solent Player Coach was eventually taken away by ambulance to hospital and looked in a bad way. Everyone here at Pro Hockey News and we are sure across the league wish him a speedy recovery.
Wride sixty seconds from a shut out (Rick Webb)
Streatham’s goals came from Steven Fisher with two and one each for Nick Chinn, Joe Allen and Joe Johnston. Solent ruined David Wride’s shut out with one minute remaining thanks to an effort from Richard Brown.
The result keeps Streatham in third place and still unbeaten in 2016.
The final game of the evening took place in Chelmsford as MK Thunder travelled to Essex including their two way players Glen Billing and Luc Johnson.
The Chieftains took the spoils however with a 3-1 win that keeps them at the top of the league.
Chelmsford goals came from Grant Bartlett, Ross Brears and Billy Phillips, whilst MK’s goal came thanks to Billing.
Results
Saturday 24 January 2016
London Raiders 5-5 Streatham Redskins (South East Cup)
Bracknell Hornets 2-6 Invicta Dynamos
Cardiff Devils NL 0-3 Solent Devils
Sunday 25 January 2016
Streatham Redskins 5-1 Solent Devils
Wightlink Raiders 4-4 Invicta Dynamos
Chelmsford Chieftains 3-1 MK Thunder
Bracknell Hornets 4-4 Cardiff Devils NL
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.