LONDON, UK – The final weekend of the regular season finally arrived, but despite two trophy lifts it was matters off the ice that stole the headlines in the NIHL South.
Photo by John Scott
Following a meeting of clubs in the West Midlands, the EIHA released a statement showing the proposed league structures for 2019/20.
The details could fill a whole article of questions and thoughts however a few headlines stood out.
The main one being the decision by Milton Keynes Lightning to ditch the Elite League after only two seasons and return to the fold of a new second tier league. Hockey fans around in 2017 will well remember the upping sticks of MK and Guildford Flames to the EIHL hammering the final nails in the coffin of the old English Premier League.
In the following two years the lower tiers have had to muddle their way through imbalanced league structures with some clubs reduced to crowdfunding to survive and others lording it over pay to play teams. In summary, an unsatisfactory situation for the majority of teams for differing reasons.
This is of course not solely down to the Lightning and Flames organisations, but questions must surely be asked why any team would decide to step up to a 13 import fully professional league without a willingness to offset the obvious and inevitable losses for a greater period than 24 months.
New league, new jerseys required in Swindon
Indeed long time player, coach and MK GM Nick Poole revealed the club had ‘not made a single penny in 17 years’ in a tweet amongst the resulting social media discussion.
Another eyebrow raising detail was the inclusion of a Leeds based team in the new second tier. The ‘Leeds Lasers’ have been in the making almost as long as a Newcastle Utd trophy lift, but while their addition to league hockey is welcome, its perhaps not the Elite/Superleague outfit originally planned. Will they be called the Lasers? Will they be dirty and play in white? Will nearby Sheffield and Hull have to hand out some wage rises to keep their squads together? Who knows?
For long time hockey fans these new changes and league structures won’t shock – we’ve seen it all before. Indeed for the long term future of the UK hockey pyramid they could be crucially important and credit must go to all of the clubs and the EIHA for getting the house in order well ahead of next season.
But what irks to some who care, is observing the emotional investment in UK hockey from new fans, sponsors and volunteers tempted in by the raw brilliance of the sport, and then being exposed to the reality of the cyclical circus that crops up every few years.
One lesson to all fans… tattoo yourself with UK hockey logos at your own high risk.
The funding campaign for Ross Bowers rose to an incredible £30,000 before the weekend with the man himself taking to Facebook to reveal progress on his condition.
Cornish steps down
“When I found out that Nicky Watt and the boys over at 4000 & Counting had set up the fund raiser page I was not overly comfortable about the idea” admitted the MK Thunder forward.
“But honestly it has made this process a lot easier for me to deal with and I would like to thank them for their efforts with it.
“I have been able to concentrate solely on my recovery without the added worries of how I am going to pay the mortgage next month, support my family or all of the other details which automatically come into your head when you’re in a position like this.
“For everyone that has donated or shared, you are such generous people and I can’t believe how many people have helped. You didn’t need to do any of it.”
Streatham’s Andreas Siagris gave an interview with Pro Hockey News following his trip to Siberia with the GB Universities Men’s team and you can read it here.
It was a busy week in South London as the RedHawks announced the imminent departure of Coach Jeremy Cornish at the end of the season. Streatham subsequently announced that current Captain Adam Carr would be stepping up as Player Coach next year for his first crack at a coaching role.
“Adam has a wealth of hockey knowledge and has been working closely with Jeremy over the past two seasons”, explained GM Graham D’Anger on the appointment.
“I feel he will make a great coach and will endeavour to give him the same support I’ve given Jeremy. It’s the right direction for the club and an appointment we need to make if we want to continue on an upward trajectory as a club.”
Phantoms lift Cup
Cup joy for Phantoms
There was midweek joy in Peterborough as they pulled back from the dead to tie with Basingstoke Bison and win the NIHL South Cup 6-5 on aggregate.
Captain James Ferrara was the hero for the Phantoms with a late powerplay effort that sparked scenes of elation at Bretton Way. An Ales Padelek brace and lone effort from Nathan Pollard completed the tally for the hosts, with George Norcliffe bagging two for the Bison added to goals from Michal Klejna and Hallam Wilson.
“The emotions got over me when I scored” admitted the Phantoms Captain after the game.
“They’re a great team and kept coming at us, but it was a fantastic performance from all the guys tonight.”
Saturday review
Swindon finally got the chance to lift the league title in front of their own fans as a brace from Aaron Nell and goals from Sam Jones and Toms Rutkis sealed a 4-2 win over Bracknell Bees. Tyler VanKleef got both for the Bees in a game that ended up being irrelevant to the title race despite the positive scoreline for the hosts. You can read more about the title win here.
Second placed Peterborough knew that it would take a freak set of results to lift the title themselves but the Raiders extinguished any lingering hope by skating off with a 7-6 win at the Sapphire.
It’s been a tough few weeks for Sean Easton’s team but they bounced back in style with a hard fought victory. A brace each for Matt Turner and Brandon Ayliffe added to lone goals from Juraj Huska, Aaron Connolly and Jake Sylvester to take the points for the Raiders. James Ferrara continued his scoring form with two more goals to his name with Ales Padelek, Tom Norton, Glenn Billing and Petr Stepanek also contributing with a goal each.
Soar with 79 year old Streatham fan Rita Cole !
Basingstoke goalie Dan Weller-Evans secured a 16 shot shut out in the Bison’s 3-0 win over MK Thunder. Opposite number Jordan Lawday was considerably busier turning away 45 shots, but he was unable to deny Adam Harding a brace and Michal Klejna a solo goal.
Banners on the Wall summarised the game in their piece here.
The final game of the evening took place in Streatham as the RedHawks beat the Dynamos 5-2 in front of another decent crowd in South London.
Tom Soar top scored for the hosts with a double to add to goals from Scott Bailey, Alex Roberts and Andreas Siagris. Dynamos goals came from Oskars Ancitis and the rampaging Anthony Leone.
Referee Blaine Evans was outdone on stoppage breaks by a mid-game fire alarm, however the veteran stripey left the rink a happy man after receiving a pre-game apology from long time Dynamos fan Carlos on a mistaken chirp from seven days prior. Small wins are always appreciated by the zebras.
Sunday review
With most games complete dead rubbers it was an unusual Sunday schedule ahead of the cut and thrust of the play-offs seven days from now.
The only game that could change play-off seedings took place in Cambridgeshire where Streatham and Peterborough had influence over who they would both face next week.
A win for Streatham would see a repeat of the fixture in six days’ time, but a Phantoms win would pit them against the MK Thunder and the RedHawks against the Bison.
The end result was probably appreciated by both parties as they played out an ill-tempered game at Bretton Way with the Phantoms earning themselves a 6-2 win. Corey McEwan, Petr Stepanek, Ales Padelek, Scott Robson, Nathan Pollard and James Ferrara lit the lamp for the hosts with Adam Carr and Alex Roberts on target for Streatham.
MK Thunder afforded the Wildcats a guard of honour as the champions skated onto the ice at the Thunderdome.
The Thunder proved once again how well they have competed this season, but despite mounting a late comeback, went down 6-5 on the night.
A brace from who else but Aaron Nell, added to lone goals from Toms Rutkis, Chris Jones, Luc Johnson and Max Birbraer to finish the season in style for the Cats. For the Thunder a brace from Trevor LeBlanc and efforts from Sean Norris and Jamie Line completed their tally.
The stats also crowned Max Birbraer as league top points scorer with 12 goals and 55 assists, just ahead of James Ferrara in second place.
Swindon win the league
Invicta ended their regularis seasonus horriblis with a narrow 2-1 loss to the Bison in Kent. The Mo’s took the lead through Louis Colvin only for goals from Alex Sampford and Adam Harding to take the points for the Bison.
The main positive for Bison Coach Ashley Tait was of course the return to the points chart for star forward Richard Bordowski who bagged an apple on his weekend return from injury.
In a rehearsal of possibly the most intriguing play-off match-up of next weekend, Bracknell edged out the Raiders 4-2 at the Hive. The Bees heroes were Ryan Sutton, Tyler VanKleef, Brendan Baird and Aidan Doughty. Raiders’ goals came courtesy of Brandon Ayliffe and Jake Sylvester.
Ben Paynter and Mason Webster dropped the gloves midway through the game to add to the storyline and there were further shenanigans later which tees up a classic two legged encounter later this week.
The Play-Off match ups are as follows: Swindon Wildcats v Invicta Dynamos, Peterborough Phantoms v MK Thunder, Basingstoke Bison v Streatham, Raiders v Bracknell Bees.
Results
Wednesday 13th March 2019
Peterborough Phantoms 4 Basingstoke Bison 4 (Phantoms win Cup on aggregate)
Saturday 16th March 2019
Streatham IHC 5 Invicta Dynamos 2
Swindon Wildcats 4 Bracknell Bees 2
Basingstoke Bison 3 MK Thunder 0
Raiders 7 Peterborough Phantoms 6
Sunday 17th March 2019
Peterborough Phantoms 6 Streatham IHC 2
Invicta Dynamos 1 Basingstoke Bison 2
MK Thunder 5 Swindon Wildcats 6
Bracknell Bees 4 Raiders 2
Contact the author: carrsy2@gmail.com
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