Marriage proposals, yellow drones and goals

LONDON, UK – British Gas was put on alert in NIHL South as coaching staff assessed their options and readied themselves for the second half of the season.

London derby with no drones in sight (John Scott)

With three defeats already in December, Swindon Coach Aaron Nell was under pressure to send a message to his squad, with forward Adam Harding paying the price. The former Cardiff man was released prior to the weekend action, with Nell keen to stress it had been a difficult decision.

“The decision to release a player is always hard and especially as Adam has been with us previously and is regarded as a good person” read the press release.

“Unfortunately when things are not going our way tough decisions have to be made and this one was very tough.”

The decision was made all the more curious, given the busy festive period ahead containing some crunch games for the Cats.

In stark contrast, Bracknell Bees Coach Doug Sheppard showed once again the disparity in resources between clubs in the league, by bringing in another replacement import to boost his side.

For the second time this campaign, Sheppard drafted in a former Elite League player to the Bees squad, as Tyler VanKleef moved south after being released by Nottingham Panthers.

The EIHA announced that there would be a review of rules and interpretations for fighting, plus the setting up of a working group to look at concussions.

League manager (and former disc jockey) Gary Dent said:

“The NLMG has received a great response from volunteers coming forward for these two initiatives since we first went to clubs last week. As a management group we are keen to get the feeling from those involved at the sharp end so we are grateful to the players and coaches who have come forward.

“Findings from both pieces of work will be published when they are complete so everyone who follows and is passionate about the NIHL can see what changes and improvements are being made.”

Interestingly the governing body overturned yet more bans following video evidence as Raiders Blaho Novak and Dynamos Ondrej Zosiak both saw the slate wiped clean, for majors assessed the previous weekend.

If ever clubs needed motivation to get multi angle camera coverage of games, the developments this year have shown they are a must to avoid players sitting out games unjustly.

Talking of rules… this column would like to make it crystal clear that the strict late-hitting rules introduced this year have to be the worst thing to happen to hockey since Quebec Nordiques moved to Colorado. Yep… we said it.

Saturday review

London isn’t known for its free-flowing traffic, so a derby match on the weekend before Christmas was certainly a test of commitment for fans of Streatham and the Raiders.

The game went the way of the form guide, with the visitors coming from behind to beat the RedHawks 4-2 and taking the spoils. A double from Blaho Novak and a goal each from Aaron Connolly and Matt Turner was enough to beat a Streatham side who found Ben Clements in inspired form between the pipes. Alex Roberts scored a brace for the hosts who signed off on home ice for 2018 with their 6^th defeat on the bounce, despite getting away 56 shots in the game.

Bracknell and Swindon faced each other for the first encounter in a three game back to back series over the festive period at the Link Centre.

Bison skate with fans

The Bees raced into a 4-1 lead only for the Cats to draw level but then suffer heartbreak as Ivan Antonov sealed an impressive road win for Bracknell. Aidan Doughty, Shaun Thompson, Josh Smith and who else but VanKleef notched for the Bees, with a brace each from Sam Bullas and Toms Rutkis the markers for the Cats.

Invicta gave Basingstoke a scare as they took a 3-2 lead at the halfway stage in their game in Hampshire. A brace from the in-form Owen Dell and a lone effort from Brandon Miles had Mo’s fans dreaming of a famous road win, only for a brace from Michal Klejna and goal from Richard Bordowski to seal the points for the Bison. George Norcliffe and Paul Petts got the other goals for the hosts.

After the game the Bison skated with their fans in a gesture that always goes down well.

In Oxford, the NIHL 2 game between the City Stars and the Basingstoke Buffalo was lit up in the period break by the first marriage proposal the NIHL has seen mid-ice. Kimberley Young took part in the prize shootout, then turned around to see Jamie Simmonds on one knee holding a ring.

Congratulations to both of you from all of us at Pro Hockey News. For those who want to see the love on ice click HERE

The evening generally was notable for the lack of any updates from NIHL media outlet 482 Days, who stayed silent throughout the weekend. Rumours were rife that the much vaunted yellow drone they had purchased to film NIHL action at various rinks was being used elsewhere and their fingers were certainly busy…. But not tweeting.

Sunday review

Streatham snapped their losing streak in dramatic fashion with a 5-3 road win at Invicta Dynamos. The Londoners had trailed 3-0 at one stage, before a third period comeback that delighted their fans but probably left Coach Jeremy Cornish wondering how many more grey hairs he will get by the end of the season.

Adam Carr and Ryan Webb scored twice for Streatham with Alex Roberts also on target. The Mo’s goals came courtesy of a brace from Owen Dell and a solo effort from Harrison Lillis.

Streatham snap streak

The other talking point of the game was the full debut of teenage goalie Brett Shepherd, who learnt his trade in the Streatham junior system and has also iced for Slough Jets this year.

The Raiders made it a magnificent seven wins in a row as they beat the league’s other form team Basingstoke 5-2 in Essex. A double from Richard Bordowski brought the only moments of joy for the travelling support, as a double from Jake Sylvester and lone goals from Aaron Connolly, Dan Scott and Brandon Ayliffe sealed a home win in front of a big crowd.

Raiders stopper Michael Gray showed colleague Ben Clements he could also deal with a 50 odd shot game, with another big performance between the pipes.

Liam Morris and John Connolly fought in the third period with the former earning himself a match penalty for an obscene gesture, and the latter facing the same penalty for a ‘kicking’ call. We now wait to see if the subsequent video appeal shows a royal wave from the Bison player and a groin stretch from the Raiders man.

Sapphire delight at skate with Raiders

The jubilant Raiders supporters also got a Christmas treat post-game as the club put on a ‘skate with the team’ event, that just like the Bison’s the night before, was well attended.

The final game of the evening took place in Bracknell as the Bees made it a sensational four point weekend with a 4-2 win over Swindon.

VanKleef scored his second goal of the weekend to add to efforts from Aidan Doughty, Josh Smith and Josh Martin. For the Cats Sam Jones and Chris Jones got the goals.

The results mean that Peterborough stay top of the league, one point ahead of Bracknell but with a whopping five games in hand. At the bottom, Invicta remain seven points behind MK Thunder.