Pedalos, powerplays and departing stars

LONDON, UK – With Brew Monday just around the corner and the chill of January beginning to bite, the Britton Conference stepped up to warm things up and bring joy to all – well some people anyway.

Hulkamania hits the High Road

The biggest news of the week was in South London as league leaders Streatham announced that top scorer Vanya Antonov would be leaving at the end of the month.

The standout player in the league decided to step away from the game for the remainder of the season to take up a business opportunity overseas. Of course Antonov’s departure is a blow for Streatham, but also a reminder that British hockey is rarely a serious career option for 99% of players. On his decision, Antonov said:

“Obviously it is very hard to leave the team at such a time, but the team has lots of talent and the atmosphere in room is electric, there is definitely a special feel in the air.

“The team has bonded really well over the course of this year and I have no doubt that we will win some silverware in the coming months.”

Although Vanya will be most missed by Streatham fans it is fair to say that his skills have lit up the Britton Conference this year and the league will be a poorer product for his absence.

Jets youngster moves on

Another departure from the league was Slough Jets livewire Sam Talbot. With 28 goals in 19 games, the youngster is another who brought excitement to the league, and it was this form that has earned him a full time move to Basingstoke Bison in the National League.

To his credit, Jets Coach Lukas Smital was philosophical and almost positive about losing his top scorer, especially so soon after fellow goal getter Sean Norris departed the club. Smital said:

“My philosophy has always been to develop junior talent and produce talented British hockey players and I will continue to do whatever I can to give our players all the tools to fulfill their potential.

“I have no doubt he will go on to bigger and better things and it would not be fair to hold Sam back just so he can score goals for us, many coaches would have done that but I believe that is selfish and that’s not the right thing to do.”

MK Thunder fans received a surprise when it was announced on Twitter via a hockey database account that former Latvian under 20 international Eriks Zubulis had signed from Swiss side Red Lions Reinach.

More surprised than the fans were the club itself, who quickly announced they’d no idea who he was. Zubulis had in fact signed for EHC Thun, a club in a Swiss town 1000 km away but eerily similar to Milton Keynes in that it has a big lake, an ice rink and humans living there.

In other news, Greta Thunberg was reported to be heading across the North Sea with her entourage in two pedalos to address an environmental scandal in Chorley, after the Lancashire Post reported concerns about the town’s Christmas ice rink.

Chair of the local Conservative party branch Peter Malpas was reportedly raging after learning that the pop-up rink – which operates on St. Thomas’ Square for around a month in December and early January – got through almost £10,000 in fuel in 2018. That was £2,500 more than it had cost to power the venue two years earlier.

“I could heat my home for 10 years for that amount” Malpas was quoted saying in the article, and is clearly a man who never ever leaves the big light on unless absolutely necessary.

Saturday review

The biggest clash of the night took place on the South Coast as second placed Solent Devils again proved their title challenging credentials with a 4-3 win over third placed Chelmsford Chieftains.

The Essex side iced a stronger side than that which lost at the same venue earlier in the season but again went home pointless.

Mitch Murray, Dan Lackey, Alex Trendall and Drew Campbell scored to seal an impressive win for the hosts, while Cameron Bartlett, Adam Jakopin and Matt Turner scored for the Chieftains.

Cole and Murray talk victory

Devils pair Alex Cole and Alex Murray were understandably pleased in the post-game interviews with the coach again slow to get out of his sweat suit. Chieftains’ head coach Joe Wilson felt his side were unlucky to come away without a point and you can view all of the interviews here.

Invicta Dynamos continued their winning start to 2020 with solid 5-3 road win over Bracknell Hornets.

The game was delayed after Ben Ealey-Newman and Dale Buckland had an end of warm up stand-off to be the last skater off the ice. A game of rock, paper, and scissors followed with Buckland taking the win. We can only presume that referee Blaine Evans was busy in the underrated ice rink café or enjoying a pre-game foot spa in his room, otherwise such nonsense would surely not have been allowed without a stern (and public) telling off for both parties.

When the game finally began, Juraj Huska stole the headlines with a hat trick, adding to efforts from Anthony Leone and Jake Stedman. Goal scorers for the Hornets were David Millner, Matt Foord and Louis Colvin.

There was drama in the stands as Charley Aiken, the sister of Dynamos defenceman Henry Aiken was hit by a flying puck and had to be given an ice pack.

Charley and friend Kirsty Richardson assess the damage!

PHN has yet to find out who took the shot that whacked Charley, but we can safely assume that it wasn’t Hornets blueliner Dom Hopkins as the arm was still in one piece. Perhaps it was Henry, still seething at some sibling quarrel from years ago? Either way we wish Charley a speedy recovery.

A ram packed Streatham Ice Arena watched as the RedHawks despatched a short benched Cardiff Fire 12-0 in a straightforward win.

A party dressed as wrestlers added a touch of colour to the proceedings and lifted the background mood of Antonov’s departure.

Danny Ingoldsby bagged a hat trick for the hosts with Rupe Quiney and Ziggy Beesley each getting two goals. Also on target were Scott Bailey, Brandon Miles, Conner Smith and Ben Paynter.

Netminder Damien King earned a 14 shot shut out on a relaxing night between the pipes.

The final game of the evening took place at the Sapphire Leisure Centre where Raiders Juniors continued their free scoring form with a 12-1 victory over MK Thunder.

League top goal scorer Jan Marcilis continued his lamp lighting with a hat trick to add to a brace each from Tommy Huggett and Ewan Hill, plus lone goals from Sam Roberts, Matt Brown, Joe Allen, Vilius Krakauskas and George Gell.

Sam Prosser got the consolation for Thunder whose netminder Graham Laverick faced 56 shots.

There was drama too when Stevie Dunnage and Niall Simpson dropped the gloves, and later in the game Thunder player coach Antti Kohvakka snapped and was ejected on a 2+2+10+game+match, largely for abuse of an official. Raiders’ youngster Krakauskas was also ejected in the final minute of the game for fighting.

Sunday review

The goals continued to flow on Sunday as the Thunder took another 12-1 beating, this time in Kent against Invicta.

The Dynamos went up through the gears to post a four point weekend thanks to another hat trick from Juraj Huska, a brace each from Tomas Banovsky, Tom Davis and Anthony Leone, plus lone efforts from Brandon Webster, Owen Dell and man of the match Henry Aiken.

Dynamos celebrate a four point weekend (Hannah Kirsti)

French forward Julien Baeumlin got the consolation for the Thunder. PHN missed the announcement that Baeumlin had joined the club, but if our researchers are correct he arrives from French division three side Strasbourg. Maybe his agent was supposed to send him to Thun?

Chelmsford bounced back from a disappointing Saturday with a convincing win over Raiders Junior in front of another full house at the Riverside.

Cam Bartlett scored a hat trick for the hosts with Courtney Grant, Andrew Munroe, Adam Jakopin, Darren Brown and Julian Smith also on target.

The results mean that the title race is now pretty much a three horse race with Streatham two points ahead of the Devils with a game in hand and the Chieftains still nicely placed in third just three points off the top. Next week sees the RedHawks travel to Essex and if the Chieftains can grab a win the picture changes yet again.