NOTTINGHAM, UK. Two wins, four points and no injuries. What more could the Nottingham Panthers Head Coach Corey Neilson wish for? With two players left to sign, the rumours of who it could be are swirling around the Capital FM arena, it could be another exciting week in Nottingham.
The weekend saw two back to back home games against the Cardiff Devils and the Braehead Clan. Both teams came with stacked rosters and a will to take points from the Panthers, at this stage all three teams could easily be seen as league champions by the end of the spring.
Cardiff entered the battle with no less than eight players on a point per game pace and though recent results had not gone in their favour it was set to be a tough match up. After a tight start and going down by a goal the Panthers fought back to 3-1 victory. Brad Moran, Juraj Kolnik and Stephen Schultz provided the scoring in an impressive display of skill and perseverance.
Despite momentum the Clan would be no push overs. They suffered a 4-1 loss the previous night to the Belfast Giants and two points would have salvaged some glory for their two game road trip. Panthers’ defencemen Bryan Schmidt and forward Kolnik launched out of the gate and notched a goal each before the end of the first minute. Multiple chances followed for both teams but the period ended 2-0. The Clan clawed a goal back during the second period but the formidable Stephen Schultz restored the two goal lead before the periods end and then iced the cake with his second of the game in the third period. A fantastic game and a great team effort handed the Clan their second 4-1 loss of the weekend.
Despite being short benched the Panthers have really bounced to form. The forward core continue to find their form with every game and look close to firing on all cylinders. Losing David Clarke to injury and Evan Mosey dropping back to defence has opened the door for Ollie Betteridge, a young British forward, to eat some extra minutes and he is making the most of them improving with every shift he ices. Cam Janssen may not have many points but his impact on the team helps elevates their game to a whole new level, he also has quite an impact on the opposition though that is more literal.
I would be negligent in my duties covering the Panthers if I did not mention both those games were backstopped by the highly impressive Miika Wiikman. The goalie looks solid between the pipes and rarely looks flustered. He faced a barrage of shots both nights conceding just two goals on 65 shots, performances that saw him make the EIHL team of the week. He is the difference between winning and losing as Neilson fights to keep his blue line strong.
The Panthers physio Scott Poundall has already been one of the busiest medics in the league season but now his hard work looks to be bearing fruit. Clarke will return to practice this week and is highly likely to ice Saturday against the Coventry Blaze. There is no official word on what Clarke’s injury is specifically except it was upper body. A welcome return if it happens but as with any injury in hockey a cautious approach this early in the season often goes a long way.
Now for the rumour, I do not normally write about them but this one is taking on a lot of attention. Throughout the summer, this year and last actually, former Panther David Ling has been touted to return. This year rumours reached near fever pitch until he was charged back in the States with domestic assault and theft which put any chance of him returning out of the window whether he had signed or not.
Fast forward a few weeks and the charges have been dropped and a potentially coincidental article by the Nottingham Post’s Matt Davies fuelled the flames speculation that a return is imminent. Though Davies could just be reporting on a former Panthers grand slam hero, it has been enough to raise the fever pitch to epic proportions. The thinking behind the speculation is why would the Post report it if he was not coming?
A further question being asked by those less nostalgic is do the Panthers need Ling? Well he certainly has the pedigree. In the grand slam year of 2012/ 2O13 Ling notched an impressive 95 points in 57 games! No easy feat in any league. He was a crowd favourite and players would often say he was a good guy in the locker room. It is important to mention though he is now 40, by no means too old in this day and age but some are wondering what role he will be coming back into.
Ling is a grafter and that doesn’t seemed to have changed during his years away from the Panthers and I doubt it would change if he returned. The question is could he still match his prolific scoring pace? Maybe, maybe not but I would like to speculate that it would not matter. We have depth in scoring and the top six players are currently doing a great job and what Ling would allow is for that scoring to spread down the lines and on to the second power play unit. Neilson would be in the enviable position of icing dangerous lines every shift. What an exciting prospect that would be.
There is a potential downside to signing Ling and it could be financial. I do not profess to know the clubs finances but Ling would be coming onto a roster that is already looking expensive and would his salary eat into the budget of a much needed blue liner? The versatile forward Evan Mosey could stick to the blue line with the flexibility of returning when Geoff Waugh returns to the line-up but would there be any budget for another import? Would we need another import? The original plan was to run one import short for the season so that could still be the game plan, albeit amended. Time will tell.
A lot of speculation and fun playing around with this rumour, if he did return he could be the EIHL’s equivalent to Jaromir Jagr. Ling aside the only certainty right now is that the Panthers have an exciting roster of Players who look hungry for success. Something that we did not see a lot of last season. Long may it continue!
You must be logged in to post a comment.