BILLINGHAM, UK – As the 2018/19 NIHL North season looms large what better way to start life at Pro Hockey News with a preview of each of the teams in Moralee D1?
With the season set to start on Saturday only two teams, Billingham Stars and Sheffield Steeldogs, have officially announced that their rosters are complete, which could leave these predictions and thoughts on rosters looking very dated by opening night.
Apologies in advance as this could be a bit of a long one.
Sheffield Steeldogs
What better place to start than with the reigning champions. The Dogs have stayed mostly intact from their title-winning 2017/18 side. Departures have been limited to just three, with Lloyd Gibson, Greg Wood and Brady Doxe leaving the club.
They have been replaced by two high quality replacements in Nathan Salem and Duncan Spiers who come in from Peterborough Phantoms and Solway Sharks respectively. Salem is a skilled, forechecking forward, who has played at the highest level of UK hockey, while Spiers is a talented young Scot who spent time with Edinburgh Capitals last season.
Sheffield were not a particularly high scoring team last year with only import Milan Kolena troubling the top of the charts, but they were extremely good in their own zone. Netminder of the year Dmitri Zimozdra will backstop the same strong defence as last year. These are positive changes that leave the holders looking even stronger than last year. Prediction: 2nd
Hull Pirates
Hull started the summer with announcement after announcement, but they have gone quiet over recent weeks meaning that their roster currently doesn’t quite look complete.
Last season they were pipped to the title by Sheffield despite having six of the top 10 point scorers in their ranks in (Matty) Davies, (Jason) Hewitt, (Bobby) Chamberlain, (Lee) Bonner, (James) Archer and (Sam) Towner. Despite a ‘good on paper’ defence, the major problem in Hull lay between the pipes.
Young netminders Zack Brown and Ashley Smith split most of the time with .869 and .878 save percentages respectively and this is an issue that Hull will hope to have rectified with the signing of Czech import goalie Tomas Fucik. The 24-year-old comes in having posted back-to-back seasons above .930 in Poland’s top league.
Also joining the Pirates is Harry Harley from Whitley Warriors. Harley is one of the better offensive ‘D’ men in the league, scoring at almost a point-per-game for the Warriors last term. The goaltending trio of Brown, Smith and (Adam) Long have all left the club, along young forward Cain Taylor.
Hull had one issue last year and look to have resolved it. A small roster could affect them as the season goes on, but only time will tell. Prediction: 1st
Telford Tigers
It’s been claimed that Telford look weaker than last year, but this simply isn’t true. The players departing were mostly on the fringes last year. Three have moved to D2, three have joined Solihull Barons and another has headed to the Elite League.
On the flip side the Tigers have brought in Tom Hovell to fight it out with Denis Bell in goal, 17-year-old Joseph Hazeldine who iced with Nottingham Panthers last season and Andrew McKinney who split his time between Guildford Flames and Manchester Storm in the Elite League.
However, the big news in Shropshire is the return of Tigers’ fan favourite Doug Clarkson to the fold. This team just got a heck of a lot stronger and will be challenging for honours, provided they follow the rules around bench coaches this time around. Prediction: 3rd
Solway Sharks
Solway have brought in some big names this summer, but they have also lost some key players. Outgoings include hot prospect Jordan Buesa, who has moved up to the top flight with Fife Flyers. Duncan Spiers, Marek Charvat and Vaclav Kolarik are others who have left the club.
Netminder Jordan McLaughlin has joined from Edinburgh, while ‘D’ man Lewis Baldwin heads north from the Hawks. Also coming in from Blackburn is the returning Ric Bentham, who will have a point to prove in Dumfries after leaving mid-season last time around.
Import forward Peter Gapa will boost the forward ranks along with former Elite League flyer Cale Tanaka. The 32-year-old missed the majority of last season, but should prove a game changer.
Sharks’ defensive unit does not appear quite complete at the moment, although they could dip into their junior set-up if required. A young netminding trio will need to step up to the plate, but Sharks look good for a strong season. Prediction: 4th
Solihull Barons
Solihull appear weaker this season. Long-serving Tomas Janak has retired, Philip Mulcahy is taking a year out and Tom Soar has joined Streatham IHC in NIHL1 South. That is 95 points gone from the roster, with only forward Filip Supa (16 points in 15 games for Telford last season) coming in to replace that output.
Barons’ netminding has stayed at the same level, while Dale White looks a decent defensive addition from the Tigers. Fellow newcomer Stephen Crowe adds further depth on the blueline.
While the Barons have taken a considerable hit up front, it will not affect their league position as the teams who finished below last season have not recruited well enough to overtake them. Prediction: 5th
Whitley Warriors
The oldest and biggest roster in the division as things stand, Whitley have so far not re-signed Phil Edgar, Adam Finlinson, Dan Pye, Will Robson or Stuart Tomlinson. These players remain free agents and could sign on, but with a large roster that may not be on the cards. Harry Harley and Niall Simpson have also exited the club.
Ben Campbell is the pick of the new signings, returning to his boyhood team after 12 years playing at Elite League and EPL level. He will be a surefire point scorer. Also returning is defender Lawson Glasby after a year stateside playing for Clarkson University, along with Ross Connolly who ended last season with Invicta Dynamos.
Warriors are a difficult team to judge where they actually are. Their home form is always superb, taking even the best to their limit, while their away form has been poor in recent times. Despite the oldest roster, their ‘D’ corps is very young with four aged under 22 and this could be an issue. Prediction: 7th
Blackburn Hawks
Hawks are another difficult team to read at present. Their roster looks light on numbers up front and it could be a tough year for the Lancashire outfit.
Losses suffered so far are key ones with Bentham, Baldwin, (Kieran) Brown and (Matt) Viney moving elsewhere, while Kim Miettinen and Jozef Istocy have not yet signed on. The problem for Blackburn is that all of these were important players last term.
Bentham, Brown and Istocy were the club’s top threee scorers and the only players to average over a point-per-game. Viney, Baldwin and Miettinen all played key minutes.
New import forward Danielius Nomanovas is a known point scorer but has a hot temper to go with it, as does fellow new signing Ross Kennedy. Youngster Adam Barnes has signed on a 2-way with Manchester Storm, while Ric Ravey returns after two years out of the game.
Things could look very different once the season starts as they have roster spots to fill, but Hawks look in trouble and it could be a long tough season. Prediction: 8th
Billingham Stars
A lot will come down to how Stars adapt to new coach Tom Brown’s systems. Not much has changed on Billingham’s roster from a team that had a deeply disappointing campaign in 2017/18.
Out go Deniss Baskatovs, who was the third highest scoring import in the league, and Arturs Ozols who led Stars’ blueliners in points. These have been replaced by Canadian forward Kevin Boyd who follows Brown from Stayner Siskins and Lithuanian ‘D’ man Edgar Protcenko who played against Great Britain in Belfast in 2017.
The only other incomings are young forward Cain Taylor from Hull and netminder Thomas Brown, son of new coach Tom. Stars did manage to retain the services of forward Chris Sykes, who was a sought after commodity after last season. Prediction: 6th
Nottingham Lions
Ninth place last season, Nottingham were a dogged, hard-working side that put 100% into every game, but simply did not have the skill level to trouble the play-off picture. The Lions’ roster is another that seems incomplete, with the likes of Adz Andrews, Paul Lofthouse and Richard Slater amongst a host of players who are yet to announce their return.
The only additions so far come in the form of import forward Jakub Klima, who did not play last year, young ‘D’ men Lewis Jones and Callum Medcalf from D2S and netminder Ashley Smith from Hull.
With significant gaps in their roster yet to be filled it could be a very tough season for the Lions. Prediction: 10th
Sutton Sting
Sting won the Laidler D2 last year and have kept the nucleus of that squad together. Despite having some aging parts in the likes of James Goodman and Ryan Johnson, they have the youngest roster announced so far.
Sutton have added import ‘D’ man Jonas Fredriksson who joins from Swedish side Amals SK and Hungarian-born blueliner Peter Toth who returns to the UK following three years across the pond.
The main worry for Sting is that the remainder of their additions come from D2 and outside of Stan Lascek, Joe Colton and Scott Morris, none of the players who played in that league last year set it alight.
It is likely to be a straight fight between Sutton and Nottingham for the bottom two places. Prediction: 9th
Conclusion
There will be clear sections in the end-of-season table with Hull, Sheffield and Telford bunched together at the top, with Solway not too far behind. Solihull, Billingham, Whitley and Blackburn will fight out positions 5-8, with Sutton and Nottingham propping up the league.
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