LONDON, UK – It was another busy week in the NIHL South as new faces arrived and the Crossover Cup finally finished to the relief of every one.
Cardiff and Streatham end season on good terms (Glen Harper)
What were you doing on New Year’s Eve? Have a think about the moment the clock struck midnight and what was happening. Maybe you were embracing friends and family, or dancing around a bar, or maybe fast asleep under the duvet.
Or maybe you were on Twitter and browsing the press release from Oxford City Stars, who decided to announce new American import Evan Mackintosh just after Big Ben had chimed.
Perhaps the City Stars’ PR department already had the whole of New Year’s Day earmarked for a mammoth session of sofa hunting at yet another DFS sale, or maybe they just like being a bit quirky.
“Obviously, we’re really excited to have a player of Evan’s experience and capabilities” said Head Coach Darren Elliott.
“Given our track record with imports it’s great to pin one down before the transfer deadline shuts. We’re expecting Evan to play on Sunday and to get off to a flying start against Wightlink”
Mackintosh is incidentally from the same part of the USA that Streatham’s Sean Scarbrough is, and coincidentally bumped into each other last week in a Californian bar.
Scarbrough bumps into another American ready for move to the NIHL
“I’ve been looking for a new challenge and I heard Oxford was looking for an import to come in” said Mackintosh.
“I’ve seen some videos, and spoken to some people about how the Stars play, and it sounded like a really good fit for me. You guys have got a good history of winning in Oxford and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to help strengthen the lines and get the Stars winning some more games”
With less fanfare, but also important was the signing of former Solent goalie Connor Standing, who will be competing with James Skaife for the goalie starting spot at Oxford along with Kevin McGurk.
London Raiders snapped up Peterborough Phantoms gritty forward Alan Lack to address their ‘lack’ of scoring – last pun of the evening we promise.
The 22 year old represents a marquee signing for the struggling club and makes them look far more solid alongside other recent arrivals Liam Chong, Grant Taylor and David Oliver.
“It’s with a heavy heart to be leaving the Phantoms but due to travel and losing my job at the start of the season, it’s now come to a point when I have had to make this decision” said Lack, who last iced in this league with Invicta Dynamos early last season.
“I am really looking forward to the rest of the season with London. I know the Raiders have had a bit of a rough start to the season, but now it is time to complete the rebuild of the team and enter 2015 with a new aim and a new goal”
Three Towers continues
Lack was unavailable until the upcoming Oxford game which meant that his new team would have to host MK and travel to Invicta without his services at the weekend.
Streatham’s game day programme continued its aim of producing the very worst feature in NIHL match night reading as the ‘Three Towers’ was confirmed as continuing for the latter half of the season.
The photo casebook which charts the tales of Streatham’s three tall players Adam Wood, Dom Hopkins and Casimir Madren Britton, took a dark turn before Christmas as Britton was imprisoned by the FBI and Wood had an alcohol fuelled breakdown, but it still has some way to go to beat Oxford’s cartoon feature featuring a crime fighting race horse called ‘Lucky Johnson’ that doubles as a hockey goalie, to take top spot in the competition.
Chelmsford have been having a little wobble of late and they were not helped by the midweek departure of consistent defenceman John Connolly who earned a full time call up to the Milton Keynes Lightning after a few loan games.
Connolly is one of those underrated defenders often unnoticed by fans as he actually spends his time defending rather than scoring or fighting, and he is likely to be a big loss to the Chieftains.
“We’re extremely pleased to be able to bring in a player of John Connolly’s skill level at this time of the year, and I want to thank Chelmsford for allowing him to move and for contributing to and supporting his development as a player” said MK Lightning Head Coach Nick Poole.
“I have spoken to John himself and to Dwayne Newman (about John) several times over the last couple of years and we’ve kept in touch whilst he’s played with Chelmsford”
Connolly in new jersey (Jez Tibbetts)
“The Cup competition gave me a great opportunity to watch him under pressure recently, and I really liked what I saw. Over the last month we have been so short staffed it was a great time to get John up to play with us and he looked incredibly composed”
“He is incredibly keen to play at the highest level possible and after icing for us he felt that he belongs in the EPL. I agree with him as he makes us a better team and he is a young player I want to see with us for years to come”
“He’s very composed on the puck and will immediately add to us both defensively and in the transition from defence to offence”
Invicta Dynamos have been enjoying their recent success on the ice, but equally they have been more than a little excited with the presence of former England cricket star Geraint Jones attendance at some of their home games.
Kent does have a history of producing former sporting greats including former ‘Irish’ international footballers Andy Townsend and Gary Breen, so perhaps Jones will not be the last Kentish hero to visit Silverblades in the future.
The Mo’s did manage to bag Jones’ last Kent game worn jersey and gave their fans the chance to bid for it in a charity auction.
Ashes winner Jones watched the Dynamos take on Wightlink before Christmas and kindly donated the one-off piece of memorabilia. The auction runs until 31st January with 10% of proceeds going to Demelza Hospice Care for Children and the remainder to the club.
Send your bids, name, address and contact number to steve@invictadynamos.com for a chance to win. Bidding starts at £50.
Hornets celebrate they don’t have the Bees xmas fixture list
Bracknell Hornets are a team who have started the season well and must be wondering if they can hang on to their better players as the season goes on. Top scorer JJ Pitchley was called up to the EPL Bees squad over the Christmas period as they endured possibly the worst schedule of any team in UK hockey.
Three away games on the 26th, 27th and 28th December plus a fixture on New Years’ day for the Bees was miserable enough on paper, but given they lost all of them too; it wasn’t the greatest time for their players or fans.
The signing of Josh Martin from Solent Devils midweek boosted their squad numbers at least.
In other news, Pro Hockey News published the NIHL South mid-year report featuring every team in the league and reviewing their season so far.
In the absence of any UK hockey magazines or any other outlets covering NIHL South lately, it is the most comprehensive article of its kind so please click the link HERE and if you like it, share across the web.
Saturday
MK Thunder welcomed back Danish import Mathias Rugholm to the line-up and he made an instant impact scoring after only 58 seconds in their 3-2 win over London Raiders.
Harrison Goode and Jamie Line were also on target for the Thunder who ended an unwelcome four game streak without a win at Lee Valley Ice Centre.
Streatham team bus with digital signage for 2015
London scored through Ricky Deacon and Tom Davis but had star forward Liam Chong ejected on a game misconduct courtesy of referee Roman Szucs.
In Cardiff, Streatham Redskins survived a late comeback by the Devils to take both points in a 6-5 win.
Callum Best started 2015 as he had finished 2014 with a hat trick for the Redskins to add to goals from Joe Allen, Dom Hopkins and Steven Fisher.
Cardiff scorers were Jamie Hayes, Tamas Elias, Owen Bradshaw, Jonathan Nash and Ben Brown but they suffered further bad news when goalie Luke Takel left the ice mid play with a suspected torn hamstring.
The crowd also got on their feet in the last two minutes of the game as Streatham’s Adam Wood and Cardiff’s Luke Merrick dropped the gloves and went toe to toe.
Invicta completed their English Challenge Cup duties with a 10-2 loss in Milton Keynes against the EPL Lightning.
GB junior international Lewis Hook scored four for the hosts with Leigh Jamieson getting two, and Blaz Emersic, Jordan Cownie, Chris Wiggins and Connor Goode all getting one each.
Mo’s hit by Lightning strike (Jez Tibbetts)
Michal Oravec and Arran Strawson were on target for the Dynamos.
The final game of the evening took place in Bracknell where the Hornets edged out Solent Devils 6-5 in a topsy turvy game at the Hive.
Valdemar Pelikovsky, Thomas Relf, Jack Baveystock, Carl Thompson, Peter Jasik and Mike Plenty all scored for the Hornets in a comeback from 4-3 down midway through the game.
George Norcliffe and Drew Campbell both hit a brace for Solent with Andrew Magee grabbing the other goal.
Chelmsford continued their wobble with a 3-1 reverse on the Isle of Wight against the Wightlink Raiders.
Jeremy Cornish’s team are really starting to up the ante now and won thanks to goals from Jaroslav Cesky, Chris Cooke and Craig Tribe.
Darren Brown got the consolation for the Chieftains who will be relieved this was a cup match rather than a league one.
Sunday
London Raiders travelled to Invicta without Liam Chong and new signing Alan Lack with predictable consequences.
The Dynamos notched their 14th consecutive league victory with a 9-0 win over their rivals at Silverblades.
Anthony Leone was the hat trick hero against his former club, Andy Smith scored two and there were lone goals from Ashley Jackson, Charlie Phillips, Billy Phillips and Callum Fowler.
Hornets sting Solent (Kev Slyfield)
Mo’s goalie Mark Lee got the shut out cementing his place at the top of the league goalie rankings.
Streatham made it a four point weekend as they beat Bracknell Hornets 6-1 in South London.
Sean Scarbrough, Adam Wood, Steven Fisher, Jakub Klima, Jack Tarczycki and Dom Hopkins all scored for Streatham. Danny Hughes got the lone goal for the Hornets.
Streatham’s Stewart Tait took a puck to the face in the first period but was stitched up without anaesthetic in the locker room and returned to the game ten minutes later.
Oxford’s new import Evan Mackintosh got a goal on his debut however it was to no avail as the improving Wightlink Raiders went up through the gears and took a 10-4 win at Oxpens Road.
Alex Barker scored a hat trick for Wightlink, Jaroslav Cesky got two and there were lone goals for Stevie Balmer, Ryan Webb, Richard Facey, Craig Tribe and Bobby Streetly.
Oxford’s other goals came from Joe Oliver, James Pentecost and Darren Elliott.
Solent Devils eased their relegation worries with a 5-0 shut out of Cardiff Devils on the South Coast.
Alex Murray hit a brace for Solent with Josh Abbott, Ralfs Circenis and Drew Campbell also on the score sheet. Goalie Chico Cole registered a 34 shot shut out for the hosts.
In Chelmsford, the Chieftains completed their English Crossover Cup obligations with a 6-2 defeat to Swindon Wildcats.
Klima gets a Reynolds take down (Rick Webb)
Jonas Hoog and Adam Harding top scored with two each for the Wildcats with Tomasz Malasinski and Aaron Nell also on target.
Alex Staples and Martin Piecha raised a smile for the home support as they both scored past GB goalie and general brick wall Stevie Lyle.
The results leave Invicta clear at the top by four points but Chelmsford still have three games in hand and are now third behind Streatham who sit in second place.
Next Saturday could be a pivotal day in the title race as Invicta travel to Streatham and Chelmsford face an equally tricky tie down in Solent.
Saturday 3rd January 2015
Cardiff Devils NL 5-6 Streatham Redskins
Wightlink Raiders 3-1 Chelmsford Chieftains (NIHL Cup)
Bracknell Hornets 6-5 Solent Devils
MK Lightning 10-2 Invicta Dynamos (English Crossover Cup)
London Raiders 2-3 MK Thunder
Sunday 4th January 2015
Invicta Dynamos 9-0 London Raiders
Streatham Redskins 6-1 Bracknell Hornets
Solent Devils 5-0 Cardiff Devils NL
Oxford City Stars 4-10 Wightlink Raiders
Chelmsford Chieftains 2-6 Swindon Wildcats (English Crossover Cup)
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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