LONDON, UK – After a couple of quiet weeks NIHL South exploded into life on and off the ice.
Raiders v Mos (John Scott)
The first big piece of news came out of Oxford as they snapped up goalie Tom Annetts from Bracknell Bees of the EPL.
Annetts is highly rated but like many of his team mates, has been affected by the financial difficulties at the Bees and opted to make the switch to Oxpens Road.
‘Having the opportunity to sign someone of Tom’s ability and experience was something I couldn’t turn down once he became available’ said Stars Coach Simon Anderson.
‘Tom has played for some first class organisations in the EPL for his whole career and he is going to be a massive signing for us. He is a consummate professional, who will bring a first class attitude and ability to our team.’
Sadly for current Stars goalie Connor Ranby, he was released to make way.
Pick a card .. any card
With Christmas party season in full swing, London Raiders forward Frankie Harvey went to his dressed as a cruise ship magician.
Talking of magic, there was an interesting article that appeared in numerous media outlets about plans for a revolutionary ice rink on the river Thames in London.
Architectural practice NBBJ unveiled a concept for an unfolding ice rink which can be installed in places along the river and unfurl like a flower when the weather is right to form a natural ice rink.
The idea is that when the weather is right, the structure unfolds in the Thames, and sits just below the water line, to collect the river water, and then it would be lifted up and the water frozen.
Thames River Rats IHC get ready
It would not be the first time people have been able to skate on the Thames as it has frozen naturally in the distant past, but there is more chance of Jennifer Aniston doing a puck drop at Streatham than this new idea working.
Former Invicta Sports Therapist Erin Rose took to Facebook to sell some old Dynamos merchandise with a surprising request from Jamie McIlroy arriving shortly after. 50 per cent of the proceeds from Erin’s sale were donated to Breast Cancer UK and for a somber reason.
Former Wightlink Raiders Sports Therapist Tori Coles has been diagnosed with the disease at the tender age of 26 and started her chemotherapy last week. Tori is a familiar face across the league and a lovely lady who has decided to tackle the issue head on with positivity and bravery. There are collections organised at many NIHL games as a result in upcoming fixtures so please dig deep if you see a bucket.
Grant Baxter fans go wild on Facebook
You can also read Tori’s blog by clicking HERE. We are all behind you Tori so keep fighting.
There was some surprising news out of Bracknell as recently appointed Head Coach Kenny Redmond resigned and in unrelated moves Tomas Fojtik and Luke Martin also left the club.
Martin joined up with Slough Jets but it is not known where Fojtik is going, nor why Redmond resigned after two wins in three games. Mike Simmons has stepped in as Head Coach and is already in a similar role with the junior club.
Will Ferrell has competition
On a lighter note the Hornets held a Christmas gathering that featured forward Danny House dressed as an elf. Enjoy ladies.
We love a bit of NIHL merchandise here at Pro Hockey News whether it be a snow globe, a hat or mobile phone cover, but our office nearly exploded with joy as we received a sneak preview of the latest merch ready to empty the pockets of every Chelmsford Chieftains fan.
The Matt France official Christmas card is certainly one that will cheer up even the grumpiest scrooge at this time of year. Its beauty narrowly beats the Ben Clements card that features the Chieftains goalie doing a pad save on a cartoon Christmas pudding.
Streatham Sports Therapist Tanya Romans was treated to a full page spread in the South London Press on Friday but not in the way fans of the busty blonde may have wished.
The magnificent Matt France card..
In a no holds barred interview, the talented therapist revealed that she loves stitching the player’s faces.
‘Everyone gets to see my handy work, they can carry on playing. A week (or so) later the stitches come out and my work is done’ she explained.
‘Just don’t ask me to sew holes in socks or reattach buttons to a shirt as I find this impossible.’
Finally we would like to give a shout out to our friends at 482 days who have been a welcome addition to the NIHL South media pack this year with some tireless reporting. Jealousy has already hit however as our dog haired Acer machine sits uncomfortably in comparison with their new branded Mac.
Saturday’s Hockey
Streatham desperately needed to win in Chelmsford to stop the Chieftains marching on at the top of the league but came up short with a 6-1 loss at the Riverside.
The Londoners battled throughout but just couldn’t get going as goals from Jake Sylvester, Juraj Huska, Darren Brown, Matt Turner, Danny Hammond and Grant Bartlett took the points for Chelmsford.
Ben Ninja Clements (Steve Sutherland)
Ben Clements looked set for a shut out before Liam Rasmussen tipped home a Dom Hopkins slapshot in the third period.
London Raiders looked to build on their winning weekend of last week with a win at home to Invicta Dynamos, however they fell short going down 3-1.
Jacob Ranson and Josh Condren scored past their old club for the Mo’s with Steven Osman getting the other goal. Tom Davis scored the goal for London who struggled to find a way past Mo’s goalie Damien King who ended the game with a 96% save average.
It wasn’t all good news for the Mo’s as import Eriks Ozollapa was ejected by experienced pair of officials Dave Cloutman and Blaine Evans with a match penalty for cross checking.
Sunday Hockey
A short benched Milton Keynes Thunder missing a number of their GB U20’s away in France, edged Streatham Redskins 6-5 in an entertaining game at the Thunderdome.
It was the Jamie Line and Ross Bowers show as the pair caused Streatham problems all evening with Line getting a brace and Bowers one himself. Tom Mboya also scored two for the Thunder and Harrison Goode got the other.
For Streatham it was Liam Rasmussen, Evander Grinell, Adam Wood, James Warman and Dom Hopkins with the goals.
Thunder stop Streatham (Claire Stanton Photography)
The result leaves Streatham in fourth position whilst MK move ahead of Solent to 7th.
Invicta aimed for a four point weekend as they hosted Oxford City Stars, but fell short with a 2-2 draw.
Ondrej Pekarik and Darren Elliott were the scorers for Oxford with Ondrej Zosiak and Andrew Henderson on target for the Mo’s.
In between the pipes the battle of the highly rated goalies saw Tom Annetts beat opposite number Damien King with a 93.9% save average to King’s 92.5%. Just when you thought we couldn’t quote anymore pointless stats (sorry goalies), 482 days fanzine tweeted that the last time Oxford took an away point from Invicta, Westlife had a number 1 with Mandy.
The year was of course 2003 and we remember it fondly here at Pro Hockey News Towers, although we have a sneaking suspicion that the Stars have taken points away from Kent more recently than that.
Davis on target (John Scott)
After the game Invicta Coach Kevin Parrish hinted yet again that another signing was on the way in his post-game interview. Callum Fowler? Andy Smith? Dean Edmiston? Kevin MacNaught? The suspense is killing us. Listen to it in full HERE
The South East Cup is certainly capturing the imagination of NIHL fans this year and until recently all of the top ten scorers in the competition were from Chelmsford.
London Raiders forward Marek Nahlik cracked the top ten list but could not do enough to stop his team losing 5-3 at home to you guessed it… Chelmsford.
Juraj Huska scored two for the Chieftains with Grant Bartlett, Cameron Bartlett and James Ayling all on target. For London it was Nahlik, Tom Davis and Mason Webster with the goals.
The result keeps Chelmsford at the top of the group and London in second place. Is there a final? We have no idea.
Results
Saturday 12th December 2015
Chelmsford Chieftains 6-1 Streatham Redskins
London Raiders 1-3 Invicta Dynamos
Sunday 13th December 2015
MK Thunder 6-5 Streatham Redskins
Invicta Dynamos 2-2 Oxford City Stars
London Raiders 3-5 Chelmsford Chieftains (South East Cup)
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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