LONDON, UK – It was one of those weeks in the NIHL South that leaves you wondering if someone left acid in your tea and you have spent the last week tripping.
South East Cup winners are Chelmsford (Ice Cold Photography)
Everyone loves a decent sound system so London Raiders fans (and indeed Lee Valley Lions fans) may have noticed an increase in the quality of the tunes pumping out over the speakers at the Lee Valley Ice Centre this year.
Anyone hoping to escape the eclectic mix of popular hits, grunge and attempts at comedy from the DJ booth has no escape these days thanks to a newly installed CDD system.
‘The CDD installation has made a massive difference,’ said Chris Bailey, technical manager of the Lee Valley Trust on the ET Now website.
‘The intelligibility is now fantastic and the frequency response and dynamic range of the music is now so much better.’
‘It has greatly enhanced the user experience and given us one of the best sounding systems at any ice rink in the UK.’
Obviously that begs the question… what happened to the old sound system? Rumours reached our inbox that it’s been packed off to North Korea for propaganda announcements in public spaces.
Let’s hope they didn’t leave any old CD’s inside otherwise the Communist regime might collapse after pumping out Darude to an unsuspecting population.
With deadline day still not passed, there was still time for plenty of rumours and even some moves as former Oxford Captain James Clarke joined Milton Keynes Thunder.
Phil O’Neill hides from the Invicta fans (Ice Cold Photography)
Clarkey has been a good servant to Oxford over the years, but finds himself likely ending his career along the A421 in sunny Buckinghamshire.
Bracknell Hornets announced something of an exodus as three experienced players departed the Hive.
First to leave was star import Greg Chambers who left by mutual agreement following discussions with the club. Long term servants Matt Jordan and Tom Fisher also announced that they would not be icing for the remainder of the season which is a real shame given how long they have been in a Hornets jersey between them.
Another player switching clubs was Evander Grinell-Parke who parted amicably with Streatham after last weekend’s drama. Evander has been a good servant to the club and a key part of the penalty kill since joining in 2012, and has signed with a new club ahead of deadline day that at the time of writing is yet to be announced.
More news out of South London came thanks to new signing David Savage’s interview with the South London Press.
The former Guildford and Bracknell star scored on his debut against London Raiders and was pleased to return to South London, where he started his junior career.
Chambers departs Bracknell
‘There are a few of the guys still around from when I was here as a kid,’ said Savage.
‘Will Sanderson and Casimir Madren-Britton were both on the same team as me, and it’s a good feeling to be back.’
‘The new rink is fantastic. I actually came down to the Cardiff game a couple of weeks ago to check it out and was really impressed.’
‘I am moving forward with my career outside of hockey, so the chance to keep playing with less training commitments in comparison to the EPL suits me well.’
After the good news from Slough we revealed last week, a video emerged of the soon to be opened Cardiff Arena in Wales.
The arena has two ice pads which suggests nothing but good news for the Devils and the junior clubs playing out of the facility. More ice should in theory mean more training time but who knows with these things. We here at PHN will still miss the Big Blue Tent however as it reminds us of a nice log cabin, but without an open fire and St Bernard.
Check out the video featuring the new arena by clicking HERE . If you want St Bernard videos then search yourself on YouTube.
Chittock just pleased to see us
Chelmsford lifted the South East Trophy to earn the first piece of silverware of the 2015/16 season. The competition is a round robin style affair and thanks to the Essex sides’ early season dominance it is now over as a contest with games still to play.
This is of course no fault of the Essex side and everything to do with the format that meant they had to pose for a trophy in front of a half empty rink on a Thursday night after a 9-1 tanking of the Invicta Dynamos.
The fact that two of the Dynamos best forwards Callum Fowler and Eriks Ozollapa decided against risking further injury and didn’t ice suggests how important this game was to their squad on the night.
Juraj Huska scored a hat trick against his old team, Olegs Lascenko bagged two and there were lone goals for Darren Brown, Charlie Phillips, Lukas Zatopek and Danny Hammond.
Arran Strawson got the consolation for Invicta.
Saturday’s Hockey
The Essex derby has been lacking a little punch in recent encounters but at Lee Valley Ice Centre the London Raiders and Chelmsford Chieftains were involved in the first, and certainly not last strange encounter of the weekend.
Before we even talk about the game we have a real treat for the ladies, and possibly some of our male readers as London’s Bailey Chittock put forward his audition for the next Calvin Klein advert.
Chelmsford Raiders feel the burn
Chittock wasn’t the only one topless as the Chieftains forgot to bring any jerseys and were forced to wear their deadly rivals’ tops, albeit inside out.
Sadly for the Raiders fans the fun ended on puck drop and the Chieftains skated off with a 4-1 win thanks to two goals from Darren Brown and one each from Olegs Lascenko and Cameron Bartlett.
London’s goal came from Michal Oravec.
Mason Webster and Charlie Phillips dropped the gloves to add to the drama but there was a nasty injury to Grant Bartlett that stole the show as his nose broke in a collision with the boards.
Grant wins injury of the week as a result and hopefully he is back on the ice soon raring to go. No one from the Chieftains camp reported a rash as a result of wearing the blue and gold.
Streatham and Wightlink are fighting it out for third place in the league and the two evenly matched sides met in South London for the first encounter of two over the weekend.
Grant Bartlett takes the pain of hockey
A Will Sanderson shut out helped the Redskins to a 5-0 win over the Raiders in what was probably the South London sides’ best performance of the season.
Kamil Kinkor scored two with Chris Wiggins, Joe Johnston and Steven Fisher also on target.
A bad tempered clash between Invicta Dynamos and Oxford City Stars took place in Kent with three fights in the opening period setting the tone. Sadly for the Stars the result wasn’t as they would have hoped as the Mo’s won 5-1.
The fit again Ozollapa scored a hat trick with Callum Fowler and Conor Redmond also on target. For Oxford it was Ondrej Pekarik with the consolation.
The scraps involved Ben Ealey-Newman who fought Fowler and then later Jack Lee. Oxford’s Shane Moore also dropped the gloves with Brad Gutridge with all three fights taking place in the opening 15 minutes.
The final game of the day took place at the Hive where Milton Keynes Thunder edged out Bracknell Hornets 5-3 with two late goals.
The Thunder had lost only once in their previous seven games and took the win thanks to a brace each from Ross Bowers and Jamie Line, with Tom Mboya getting the other.
For Bracknell Brad Watchorn, Sam Waller and Will Stead got the goals.
Sunday Hockey
For the first time in its history the NIHL had a game played behind closed doors and it wasn’t because of rioting by Wightlink Raiders fans or a chemical leak. The roof on the Ryde Arena is still under repair meaning a full quota of spectators is not currently permitted.
In true typical fashion the game between Wightlink and Streatham turned out to be somewhat of a classic, and would have been enjoyable for the home support (if they could have got in) as the Raiders took a 7-5 win.
Shut out for Sanderson (Rick Webb)
Ryan Webb scored a hat trick for the Raiders with Jeremy Cornish, Ben Paynter, Danny Ingoldsby and Jaroslav Cesky on target with one each. For Streatham it was Kamil Kinkor, Ryan Giles, Callum Best, Steven Fisher and David Savage with the goals.
The fight the NIHL had been waiting for took place in the second period as the only two genuine heavyweight fighters in the league finally dropped the gloves as Chris Wiggins took on Jeremy Cornish. You can view it HERE
If there hadn’t been enough talking points over the weekend, Invicta Dynamos ensured another twist to the NIHL tale as they forgot to bring goalie Damien King’s leg pads to their game at Milton Keynes Thunder.
With face off taking place on time and Invicta having no back-up goalie, the Mo’s played the first eighteen minutes with six out skaters and incredibly only conceded two goals.
True to script King returned in goal once the pads arrived and the fightback began with a brace from Callum Fowler plus efforts from Eriks Ozollapa, Steven Osman, Conor Redmond and Arran Strawson giving the Mo’s a 6-2 win.
Thunders goals came from Tom Castle and Tom Mboya.
King kept a shut-out for the Mo’s with stand in goalie Elliott Dewey deserving a bonus (maybe a team car) from the club for being the fall guy in front of net for 18 minutes in player kit. Perhaps Dewey lost the rock, paper scissors contest in the room pre game?
If we had a hero of the week award Dewey would be the winner.
Oxford City Stars may have been involved in a relegation battle with Cardiff last season but things have changed somewhat this season and the Stars skated off with a 13-0 win at Oxpens Road in the latest encounter between the two sides.
Tom Annetts secured a 19 shot shut out as the Stars dominated proceedings from start to finish.
Fowler to the rescue (David Trevallion)
Ondrej Pekarik and Alan Green both scored a hat trick each, Nick Oliver bagged two and there were lone goals for Josh Florey, Boris Ruzicka, Mike Whillock and Ben Ealey-Newman.
Oxford fans have been on the wrong end of heavy road defeats in the past so they won’t mind a blow out in their favour at this level we are sure.
The result is Cardiff’s heaviest defeat of the season and leaves them 14 games without a win. The odd thing being that their roster suggests they have more to give, and with five consecutive home games coming up, perhaps they will turn things round.
The final game of the evening took place on the South Coast as Solent Devils hosted the Chelmsford Chieftains. Thankfully the Essex side remembered their jerseys this time and made it a four point weekend thanks to late goals from Ross Brears and Olegs Lascenko.
The two Chieftains added to Matt Turners earlier effort to make it 3-1 after Andrew Magee looked to have stolen a point for the home side.
The results leave Chelmsford top of the table four points ahead of the Dynamos but with a game in hand.
Results
Saturday 30 January 2016
Streatham Redskins 5-0 Wightlink Raiders
Invicta Dynamos 5-1 Oxford City Stars
London Raiders 1-4 Chelmsford Chieftains
Bracknell Hornets 3-5 MK Thunder
Sunday 31 January 2016
Solent Devils 1-3 Chelmsford Chieftains
MK Thunder 2-6 Invicta Dynamos
Wightlink Raiders 7-5 Streatham Redskins
Oxford City Stars 13-0 Cardiff NIHL Devils
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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