Festive spirit, streaking and a well kept bush

LONDON, UK – In the final round of fixtures of 2016 the NIHL South capped off an eventful year with four games, lots of goals and some Christmas spirit.

Mo’s streak continues (Kev Slyfield)

Oxford City Stars swooped for young forward Jesse Lye who has iced in the past for Basingstoke juniors and Boston Bruins juniors, two clubs rarely mentioned in the same sentence.

The 20 year old brings a much needed boost to the Stars offensive line and said:

‘I’m happy to be joining the Stars and cannot wait to get on the ice with the team. It’s good to be back and already knowing a few guys on the roster is going to help me fit in quickly.’

‘I think I can help the team out by playing hard and bringing positive energy, both in an on ice and off ice capacity.’

Did you read the sign?

Sometimes in life the general public need to have the obvious stated to them. Don’t lick an electric socket, don’t eat yellow snow and never buy economy range cornflakes for example.

Lee Valley Ice Centre had to erect a sign this week next to their lovely Christmas tree to advise locals that the shiny wrapped boxes underneath did not actually contain any gifts – and were therefore not worth stealing.

So if anyone attends a London Raiders or Lee Valley Lions game and observes anyone behaving suspiciously by the tree, just let them get on with it!

The midweek NIHL podcast came out on Wednesday featuring words from ex Oxford City Stars player and coach Darryl Morvan, NIHL North correspondent Michael Black and of course your very own Pro Hockey News correspondent. Give it a listen by clicking HERE

Fighting in hockey is not to everyone’s taste, but it does have a following and the Twitter handle @HockeyFightsUK published the bout between Chelmsford’s Cameron Bartlett and London’s JJ Pitchley during the week.

Heavyweight boxing already has multiple champions thanks to Tyson Fury vacating his belts, so with Deontay Wilder (WBC), Anthony Joshua (IBF) and Joseph Parker (WBO) already holding three belts, only the WBA one remains open.

Riverside presentation for Pitchley

That changed however in the Riverside Car Park following the game as Pitchley was presented with his prize earning 31 likes on Facebook as a result. Who will be the next challenger? That remains to be seen.

Bracknell Hornets had only just finished celebrating their road win in Milton Keynes Thunder when it was announced that forward Brandon Miles had left the club and would be joining his cousin Stewart Tait at London Raiders.

Miles is a feisty forward full of energy and should be a popular fit with the Raiders.

Mo’s TV published the highlights of their game against Oxford City Stars and you can view them by clicking HERE

The Mo’s also recently published their second instalment of ‘Team Mates’ featuring Damien King, Callum Fowler, Adam Rehak and Ondrej Zosiak. It’s worth a watch so click HERE to view it.

In these modern times everyone loves a well pruned bush, with most people having an expectation rather than it coming as a surprise as was perhaps the case in years gone by.

One man who is certainly keeping up the trend is 73 year old Jim Hughes who decided to trim his cherry tree into a giant cock. The only link to hockey is that Jim lives in Fife, home of the famous Flyers and that’s good enough for us. Check it out HERE

Rumours that he has been commissioned to trim a life sized silhouette of former Fife favourite and current Haringey Racers player Lee Mercer out of a large conifer on a roundabout near Glenrothes are yet to be confirmed.

Saturday action

The reduced fixture list began in East London under the magnificent indoor tree described earlier in the article.

The resident London Raiders welcomed back James Pentecost for one of two guest appearances over the weekend but he was unable to prevent a shock win for the visiting MK Thunder.

Green gets a nasty cut from the booby trap under the tree at Lee Valley (John Scott)

The Buckinghamshire side travelled with only 9 skaters and came from 2-0 down to win 3-2.

Two powerplay goals from star defenseman Ross Green and a lone effort from Boris Ruzicka did the damage for the Thunder with Tom Davis and Marek Nahlik replying for the Raiders.

The night got worse for the home side when Nahlik was ejected for checking to the head with Ruzicka taking to social media after the game to call him a ‘mega, big, ultra, massive, super idiot’ on Twitter. Big Boris is clearly not one to mince his words!

Invicta Dynamos have been in great form recently and made it six wins in a row with a 6-5 road win over Bracknell Hornets.

The Hornets league placing and points haul is not an accurate reflection of their current roster and the Mo’s had the in-form Ashley Jackson to thank as he notched another brace along with Adam Rehak, to add to lone efforts from Bailey Wootton and Callum Fowler.

Bracknell scorers were Ben Ealey-Newman and Ondrej Pekarik with two each and a single goal for Michal Oravec.

The Hive also saw Bailey Wootton drop the gloves with Will Stead to add to the festive cheer.

Sunday action

Game of the day took place in Oxford as the City Stars aimed to end their poor run of form by stopping Chelmsford’s good run of form.

Did I ever mention I can drive a zamboni? Blaine bores King (John Scott)

The Stars had lost their previous five games on the spin, admittedly with a tough run of fixtures, however Chelmsford have yet to lose in the league and won 5-3 in front of a crowd of just under 800 people.

Lukas Zatopek, Danny Hammond, Grant Bartlett, Cameron Bartlett and Juraj Huska scored for the Chieftains with Jaroslav Cesky, Logan Prince and Dom Hopkins on target for Oxford.

Oxford’s first goal triggered ‘Air the Bear’ with fans throwing soft toys onto the ice to be donated to charity. These initiatives are always popular and to be applauded.

The game was attended by NIHL media outlet 482 Days who were rumbled during the period break trying to get a passer-by to buy up some Alan Green merchandise (a fridge magnet) from the Supporters Club table in the same way teenagers under 16 get people to buy them fags from the newsagent.

Was it for a secret santa present or simply a tactic to appear impartial? Who knows?

The final game of the evening took place at Silverblades with the Invicta Dynamos looking to make it seven league wins in a row.

London Raiders were the visitors and were without star forward Marek Nahlik to make the task all the more difficult for them.

Mo’s streaking in their jumpers after the game.

The Dynamos were quickest out of the blocks and eventually won 4-1 with Ashley Jackson getting two, to add to efforts from Ondrej Zosiak and Mason Webster.

Tom Davis got the goal for the Raiders, who were also not helped by the ejection of forward JJ Pitchley with only 11 minutes played after he slashed Callum Fowler.

Raiders’ goalie Euan King raised at least one cheer for the travelling support as he saved the resulting penalty shot from Nicky Lewis.

The results leave Chelmsford top at Christmas with a five point lead over Invicta who are now pushing hard for the title and are six points ahead of third placed Streatham.

At the bottom, Bracknell are just two points behind Solent with the fixtures due to start up again in the New Year.