Flying fists, Hollywood dreams and spooky hockey

LONDON, UK – There was something in the air in the NIHL as the Halloween spirit saw the penalty minutes rack up and the goals fly in.

Streatham and Swindon go head to head – Photo by Kat Medcroft

Not since the MK Thunder official YouTube channel used a massive dildo as a pretend microphone on the Isle of Wight ferry has Pro Hockey News media HQ been lost for words at an NIHL video, but Phanforce TV managed to silence our London office during the week.

Advertising the Halloween party on the 27^th October, in-form sniper Petr Stepanek put in a performance full of passion, humour and thespian brilliance as the grim reaper – even if the wardrobe department let him down with half a costume (unless old reaps rocks Diesel jumpers these days). If Bill and Ted make another excellent adventure we know who will be getting the call up. Watch the magic here.

Stepanek revealed

In Streatham, hat trick hero Ryan Webb gave his thoughts from behind the grill in an interview with the South London Press. In an often technical interview, the RedHawks forward

“Swindon is another tough opponent, especially when they are at home. They know how to entertain the big crowd. We must work hard this week to prepare for their well-structured hard-working ethos.”

MK Thunder took timeout from their training to blow bubbles in memory of Henry Allen as part of #blowbubblesforhenry by the Bletchley based Henry Allen trust. The Thunder also released footage of the Mark Woolf jersey retirement that you can view here.

The Everyone Active Raiders announced that forward Juraj Huska reached a milestone only four other Raiders had reached before after scoring his 250^th goal in their colours. The Slovak now stands in fine company alongside Danny Marshall, Gord Jeffrey, Marc Chartier and Rob Stewart. Well done Mr Huska.

The Sapphire was also buzzing with the sound of exercise bikes during the week as the Raiders took part in a 24 non-stop charity event in aid of #justiceforgrenfell. Over £600 was raised with Raiders coach Sean Easton and his team playing a star role.

Swindon revealed their special Halloween jerseys ahead of the double header weekend against Streatham with the talented David Strover on the ball again with the designs. Strover’s graphics are all over NIHL social media and used by a number of clubs including the EIHA and part-time NIHL media outlet 482 days.

Talking of which. The famous yellow laptop unexpectedly hit technical issues prior to the weekend, thus knocking out the usual in-depth coverage provided by our media colleagues.

Rumours of dog hair seizing up the keyboard, a dog urinating on the IT equipment and/or a dog chewing through the broadband cables all sound reasonably legitimate despite denials.

Saturday review

Bracknell Bees and Peterborough Phantoms faced off a fascinating evening of fixtures at the Hive in a game that had nine goals and plenty of drama.

The Phantoms edged it 5-4 to inflict the Bees first home loss of the season thanks to a late winner from who else but Petr ‘The Diesel Reaper’ Stepanek. The Phantoms other goals came courtesy of a brace by Ales Padelek and lone efforts from Corey McEwan and Harry Ferguson. The Bees scorers were Ivan Antonov with two and one each for James Galazzi and Roman Malinik.

Smith the hero

The real good news came when it was revealed that Bees forward Josh Smith was in recovery after having his throat slashed with a skate blade and taking 15 stitches in hospital. A real reminder how dangerous the sport can be and a relief that although the injury was a serious one, Josh is now ok. Get well soon from all at PHN.

In Swindon the Wildcats fell to a shock 4-1 defeat at home to Streatham in a result that delighted the band of travelling fans from South London.

Jeremy Cornish and his team posted a win over the Cats last season in Streatham but had yet to gain anything from the Link Centre. Alex Roberts hit two for the RedHawks with Jacob Ranson and Scott Bailey on target also. For the Wildcats Stevie Whitfield scored the consolation.

Basingstoke Bison beat MK Thunder 5-0 in what could only be described as a feisty encounter in Hampshire.

Thunder blowing bubbles

A brace from Adam Jones and goals from Richard Bordowski, Alex Sampford and Liam Morris sealed the points for the Bison with Alex Mettam enjoying his shut out.

After winning PHN star of the week last time out, Tomas Rubes got a game misconduct on a check to the head penalty, after also tangling with Morris. At the same time Thunder’s Ross Green dropped the gloves with George Norcliffe in a bout you can watch here.

Banners on the Wall gave their summary of proceedings that you can read here.

Sunday review

Swindon avenged their loss to Streatham the previous night with a 7-4 win in South London against a tired looking RedHawks.

The Cats purred to two points with a hat trick from Adam Harding adding to a brace from Aaron Nell and lone goals from Jan Kostal and Edgars Bebris. For Streatham Ryan Webb scored two with Scott Bailey and Adam Carr also on target.

Spooky Swindon

In Peterborough the Phantoms romped past the Dynamos with a 13-1 drubbing. Glenn Billing, Petr Stepanek and James Ferrara top scored with two goals each to add to efforts from Tom Norton, Nathan Pollard, James White, Harry Ferguson, Will Weldon, Corey McEwan and Nathan Long.

Edmund Piacka scored the consolation for the Mo’s who saw Coach Kev Parrish ejected at the end of the first period and goalie Connor Morris ejected after only 16 minutes between the pipes.

In Milton Keynes, tempers flared as the Raiders secured a hard earned 3-2 victory over the Thunder in a game that saw both Juraj Huska and Brandon Webster ejected for high sticks and checking to the head respectively.

Jake Sylvester scored two for the Raiders with Huska also managing to score before his early shower. Jamie Line and Tomas Rubes both scored for the Thunder who lost by a lone goal for the second weekend in a row on home ice.