Banners On The Road – Swindon Wildcats vs Raiders IHC 13/4/24
Posted: 16/04/2024 Filed under: Banners On The Road, NIHL | Tags: Banners On The Road, NIHL, raiders ihc, swindon wildcats Leave a commentNIHL National Division Playoffs,Group B
Swindon Wildcats 2-3 Raiders IHC
Wildcats: Bullas. Pakodzi
Raiders: Laishram x2, Milton pp
Ah…: 9:30pm – The Swindon fan staring at me in The Harvey has a facial expression like I’d just slapped the barmaid. I say it again. “They weren’t that bad, really”.
Ultimately, they weren’t. I’m not going to sit here and do a big going over of the individual incidents of the game, check the highlights for that but ultimately I stand by that assertion. Swindon played well. Good teams play well and lose.
Swindon have been one of the most complete attacking teams across this season. They’re an odd team at times, and had moments of inconsistency, but whilst people have spoken a lot this season about Leeds and MK up front, this Wildcats team is stacked going forward. Nell, Malasinski, Billing, Jones, Lubwele, Tower; that’s a solid top 6 in whatever combination you want. You then have secondary scoring from people like Bullas, who scored a fortunate but well earned goal in this one, Sayers, Bebris on the back end, this team can put up points.
Coming into this game having taken 4 points off of Milton Keynes, the first team to win at the Thunderdome since September, I was intrigued to see what sort of Swindon team would show up for this game. For me, they needed to come roaring out of the gate and they did. It was wave after wave of attack and at 1-0 so early on I wondered if the Raiders were about to be on the end of an almighty kicking.
What cost the Wildcats in this was a couple of things. One has been said a lot but bares repeating. Swindon were not clinical. Part of the reason why is related to later but there were large periods of this were Swindon were in control of what was happening and just didn’t seem to put the puck on net well. Billing missed an array of good chances, not saved, just not hitting the net. Nell was uncharacteristically quiet, Malasinski hit the post.
The irony was the one player that Swindon supporters have told me has looked the least confident in front of goal, was probably one of the most dangerous looking players going forward in this game. Balint Pakodzi looked like a man with a mission most of the night and whilst, at times, suffering from the same lack of direction that his colleagues did, it felt like he was trying to make things happen.
The other reason it didn’t work? The Raiders played really well. This has obviously been written after the fact and yes, it was the Ethan James and Adam Laishram show and we’ll get to that but this wasn’t just road hockey 101, this was a throwback. Younger readers won’t remember the Sheffield Steeldogs of 2012/13. Coached by Andre Payette, everyone accused them too of being a two man team. Janis Ozolins made all the running up front, a young Ben Bowns was emerging as the talked about goalie in the league and everyone assumed the rest were there to make up the numbers. They weren’t. They just had the role of get in everyone else’s way.
The Raiders are not a two man team and on a different night they might have been able to do different things but this was all hands to the pumps. Why did James make so many spectacular saves? Firstly, he’s good but secondly if you look on the highlights, his defence have blocked all other options so the puck was going to one place and one place only. When that didn’t work, it was good goalie sense as evidenced in the second period where James made a superb post to post save where he happened to anticipate the move and then some good fortune. A post here, a scramble there, and at times Swindon almost conspiring to not score helped but guys played their system and they won out, made all the more impressive that they spent the last 5 minutes of the game on the penalty kill.
Adam Laishram, so often the fulcrum of the attack for the Raiders shone brightly in this game. His game winner was one of the best individual goals I might have seen since the turn of the year (I was in Slough for John Dunbar’s goal which might be my goal of the season) but it was all the little things that he managed to do with it. Swindon almost ended up respecting him too much as a result and that meant that they stood off him too much and when you give Laishram space, he will create for himself or someone else. The Raiders won not because Swindon were bad, but because on the night they did all the things they needed to do. It was a physical game but this was a mental win as again, Romford show up at the death of the season.
The above all comes in the context of the following night, a penalty shot win for the Raiders in Romford to set group B on a knife edge. Did this past weekend break the Wildcats? I don’t think so, but it might have given the Raiders the best and the worst thing possible, hope.
Lowlight of the night: Callum Wells taking a puck to the face on the bench in the third wasn’t nice.
Highlight of the night: The Raiders’ third goal is just superb.
Banners On The Road – Bees IHC vs Peterborough Phantoms 6/4/24
Posted: 09/04/2024 Filed under: Banners On The Road, NIHL | Tags: Banners On The Road, bees ihc, NIHL, peterborough phantoms Leave a commentNIHL National Division Playoffs, Group A
Bees IHC 3-5 Peterborough Phantoms
Bees: Antonov pp, Doughty, Vitali pp
Phantoms: Sladkovsky x2 (1pp), Björkly-Nordström x2, Susters
Reset the counter: The drive to Slough felt slower than normal. There wasn’t any real build up of traffic but for some reason, the time just dragged. It might have been because I was playing over a variety of scenarios for the Basingstoke Buffalo the following day but I mostly think it was because I didn’t really know what I was going to see in Slough.
I did, but I didn’t. I’ve watched enough of the Bees this season to know how they’ll play and I’ve watched, and complained about, enough of Peterborough to have a rough idea of what was going to come but given this was the first playoff game for both sides, you can’t really predict what’s going to happen. The cliches of “playoff hockey” get wheeled out but is it a cliché if it’s true?
A healthy contingent of Phantoms fans had made the journey down, as had a certain player now banned for 6 months, but the main talking point was the return to the line up of Martins Susters. Having stepped away from hockey earlier in the season, his addition back into the line up was met with a mixture of cynicism (they’ve done this because of the ban), concern, (hope he’s fit) and excitement (he’s really very good).
From the off, the Bees seemed to be wanting to inject some pace into the game. This was a sensible enough idea, early goals would force the Phantoms to come out of their shell and open up some space. They were met with what could be almost be called Phantoms brand stoicism, calm as you like defending.
A hooking call on Will Weldon sent the Bees powerplay to work and it was an immediate impact. A Stuart Mogg shot rebounded off of Jordan Marr and sat up for Vanya Antonov to barrel his way past everyone and bundle the puck over the line before anyone could react.
The favour was pretty sharply returned however as a Harvey Stead slashing penalty gave the Phantoms special teams unit a go and they grasped the opportunity. It was a textbook move as the puck was worked across to the hashmarks for Lukas Sladkovsky to blast past Brython Preece and tie the game.
The game was a bit scrappy and messy one the scores were tied. The teams had ideas but the execution was failing them. Passes were not connecting or were being broken up. Then, out of nowhere, one was too loose from the Phantoms. Aidan Doughty raced away with the defenders left for dust and fired past Marr to give the Bees a 2-1 lead.
The Phantoms were almost immediately back on the powerplay thanks to some clumsy stick work from Gianni Vitali but the Phantoms couldn’t get a single thing going, mostly denied by some excellent Antonov penalty killing.
Both teams were having their chances as the period wandered towards the end, the Bees were edging the balance of play as the first buzzer sounded. They then started the second with a similar intentional attitude and the visitors were just seemingly a bit stuck.
Then, because it’s the Peterborough Phantoms, the switch flicked. They had done what they always do and nobody finds a way to stop them. They had waited, then the trap was spring. The Bees pushed too high, the space opened up and they broke down the ice. Again, Susters was the provider for Sladkovsky to beat Preece sliding to his left.
In just around 90 odd seconds, it was 3-2. A Connor Glossop shot was poked towards the goal by Ivan Björkly-Nordström and it somehow squeezed its way through Preece and over the line.
From there, the Phantoms were doing what the Phantoms do well. It was sitting back, absorbing the pressure and waiting. The Bees started to apply pressure but just couldn’t find a way through. Then they were further behind and it was a comedy of error from the Bees. Balaz, Harvey Stead and Preece all scrambling to keep the puck out, seemingly conspired to instead bundle it over their own goal line for 4-2.
The third was classic Phantoms. The Bees appeared to have something of an answer where they upped their physicality without going over the top which was fine in defence but in attack, the slick passing of the first had given way to long, winding solo rushes that were easily snuffed out.
Eventually, the Bees were exposed pushing high again and it was back to the old routine. Fast break, smooth pass to smooth pass to a second of the night for Björkly-Nordström with just over 10 minutes to go.
That was the game effectively done. The Phantoms were finding it too easy to clog the passing lanes as the Bees became more and more desperate. A late altercation between Liam Morris and Joe Gretton saw the later sent to the box having earned an extra two minutes. The Bees got another powerplay goal, a nice simple move setting up Vitali to slam the puck home but with 12 seconds to play, the Phantoms could take that one on the chin and the two points back home.
Playoff hockey is meant to be tight and tense and this game was for the most of it. I have to credit the Phantoms here though for ultimately trusting their system. They genuinely were not very good through the first twenty minutes, looking devoid of ideas and as a watcher, I wasn’t sure what they were trying to do. Some tweaks in the first period break and it was like swapping from Diet Phantoms to Phantoms full fat. This was Slava Kouilkov hockey at its zenith and the Bees had no answer to it. Whilst Luke Ferrara and Ales Padelek were kept quiet, the third line of Weldon, Glossop and Hunt were solid all night with Ivan Björkly-Nordström showing how much of a threat he was and the returning Martins Susters looking like he’s never been away. It’s hard to tell how this it will turn out for them across the playoffs, the games with Hull will be crucial here but this combined with Sunday’s win over the Bees, offside goal or not, was the perfect start.
The Bees were solid in this game. They weren’t bad by any stretch but after starting well, they got exposed, were punished and then fell into the Phantoms trap. The premise was sound, score early and force the Phantoms to open up but in an attempt to force the issue and get more goals that just allowed the visitors to do what they do best, strike and retreat to wait for the next chance.
The Bees aren’t dead, the Phantoms aren’t clear. We’ll get more of a idea after this weekend.
Lowlight of the night: The game just wasn’t the best of games. There wasn’t a lot wrong with the game to be honest.
Highlight of the night: Some of the goals were very well taken.
Banners On The Road – Swindon Wildcats vs Milton Keynes Lightning
Posted: 26/03/2024 Filed under: Banners On The Road, NIHL | Tags: Banners On The Road, milton keynes lightning, NIHL, swindon wildcats Leave a commentNIHL National Division
Swindon Wildcats 4-2 Milton Keynes Lightning
Wildcats: Bebris, Billing x2, Malasinski
Lightning: Herrman x2 (1pp)
Round 11: Getting to Swindon is usually not too bad but the phrase “M4 closed” is enough to make a monk with a vow of silence shout out an obscenity. After crawling through the back roads of Wiltshire and face-off being delayed, I eventually made it into The Link Centre and breathed a long sigh of relief.
The MK Lightning had arrived not long before myself so were furiously unpacking when I arrived. They were missing a few of the recent absentees such as Dillon Lawrence, James Griffin and Harry Gulliver but the returning Ross Venus was of interest to all. Following on from his ban after his hit on Peterborough’s Duncan Speirs, the Phantoms had put out a press release that day bemoaning the DOPS system and Venus’ sanction for the hit. The bigger question on the ground this evening were how would Venus look and would he make it over the 100 point barrier? Jordan Hedley was rested in favour of Will Kerlin.
Swindon were also a key body down in Aaron Nell, injured during the previous evening’s encounter with Bristol. Renny Marr continued between the pipes for the hosts.
It was Kerlin who was called into action first as the Lightning backstop was called to stone Balint Pakodzi and Swindon pressed on from there. The Wildcats were making more of the running in the early stages, forcing the visitors to soak up the pressure.
Just as the Lightning started turning things back to a more even playing field, they were beaten by a moment of brilliance. With the puck wrapped around the boards behind the Wildcats’ net, Josh Shaw dropped back to collect the puck but was called off by Edgars Bebris. The Latvian born defenceman proceeded to skate through his own zone, then neutral ice then into the Lightning zone. Bebris proceeded to look up and snapped a shot over the shoulder of Kerlin to make it 1-0.
Then everyone blinked and it was 1-1. Luc Johnson had his pocket picked and Rory Herrman raced in and slid it under the puck under Marr’s pads to tie the game.
The two sides started to neutralise each other, both rosters seemingly taking a minute to recalibrate and try again.
However, the Wildcats slowly turn the game back in their favour and another piece of high skill put them back in front. Sam Bullas, thrust onto the top line because of the absence of Nell, won the battle behind the net, fed the puck to Tomasz Malasinski on the half boards who played the pass that only he could play, firing the puck across the seam to Glenn Billing racing it at the back post to give the Wildcats back the lead.
The Lightning responded, increasing their tempo but not finding a way through before the first buzzer sounded. 2-1 felt like a fair score given the balance of play.
The first half of the second period was an even state of affairs. The sides had clearly taken the break to refocus on their systems and try to really establish themselves in the game where the first had arguably been allowed to ebb and flow too much. Billing and Venus hit the iron at their respective ends but ultimately it felt that both sides lacked the killer touch.
A poorly timed and directed hit by Rio Grinnel-Parke to Russ Cowley saw the physicality increase on both sides as the big hits started to fly in as well as some cross words.
Eventually one did too much, Reed Sayers called for slashing just after the halfway mark of the game. The visitors took quick advantage. Ross Venus and Rory Herrman sped into the zone and Venus fired at the net. The puck proceeded to hit the post, hit the other post, hit the back of Marr and drop down. Herrman put his stick into the mix to try and get the puck over the line and was credited with the goal albeit I’m not 100% sure he got the important touch.
Then we blinked and Swindon took the lead back. The hosts pushed off of the ensuing faceoff and again, Billing was given space too close to the goal and fired past Kerlin. The parity had lasted twenty seconds.
The second came to an early conclusion, a hit from Josh Shaw to Ross Green drew blood and with a likely cut of the ice and a clean up needed, Mr Matthews and Mr Pickett decided that 12 seconds of the middle frame could wait. This did provide the amusing site of the respective keepers skating out after the break and not scuffing up the crease to then swap ends and furiously get things to their liking.
The start of the third didn’t really offer lots of out and out chances. The game was in a good spot as Swindon lead and MK knew they had a chance to turn the game but neither side seemed to be able to really push the opposition aside. Both teams were obviously not at full strength but also seemed to be unable to really hit top gear or were holding back that last little bit knowing that the playoffs are drawing nigh and they will face each other.
It had been a game for moments of individual brilliance and the game deciding goal was just that. Sat on 99 points, Tomasz Malasinski decided that if he was bringing up the century then he was going for style points. Billing laid it off for the Polish forward to skate into the zone and rather than taking Archie Salisbury on, used the young defenceman as a screen. Will Kerlin didn’t see the shot till the puck was behind him.
At 4-2 down it didn’t look like the Lightning were coming back from the game and they didn’t. Whilst mathematics meant that the result didn’t matter and MK did have bigger fish to fry, momentum is a funny thing.
This game was many things; a dead rubber, between a cup final, keeping the wheels running, avoiding injuries, trying things out, it felt like the 11th round of a very close boxing fight where neither fighter is 100% sure who is winning so rather than swinging for the fences, they trust the jab and keep their opponent at bay.
The word I used about Milton Keynes to people on the night was uninspired. The quality was very obviously on show but they didn’t seem to have the “oomph” that we’ve seen from them at times this season. I get why, the Seahawks were and are the obvious focus currently but it would have been a helpful statement to make to push past Swindon on their way.
The Lightning weren’t bad but it felt like they just didn’t get out of third gear at times. There was a lot of industrious work and good performances, Liam Stewart in particular put himself about well at both ends of the ice and Archie Salisbury got stuck in. Rory Herrman is an alarming talent at this level and it’s no surprise why he has so many points. Venus’ return saw him a bit rusty but grow into the game.
Swindon were the better team on balance of the 60 minutes and rightly won the game. Renny Marr seems to be in his groove and defensively the Wildcats did a good job of pushing the onrushing forwards out wide and limiting the effectiveness of the shots.
The big players had better games for Swindon than their opponents. With Nell out, Bullas created the space and that let Billing and Malasinski go to work. If you can’t effectively shut down a guy going for 100 points, you won’t win. One side did that better than the other.
Ultimately neither side lost much here. Neither quite at full strength, flying in a holding pattern. There is a time coming in a few weeks where all will need to put all their cards firmly on the table.
Lowlight of the night: The injury to Ben Solder, not nice to see someone walking around on crutches.
Highlight of the night: The Malasinski goal, that’s how you tally your 100th point.
Banners On The Road – Solent Junior Devils vs Peterborough Phantoms 2 16/3/24
Posted: 19/03/2024 Filed under: Banners On The Road, NIHL | Tags: Banners On The Road, NIHL, peterborough phantoms 2, solent junior devils Leave a commentNIHL South 2
Solent Junior Devils 2-4 Peterborough Phantoms 2
Junior Devils: Russell, Peacock pp
Phantoms 2: N Pollard, White pp, Sansby, C Pollard
Keeping focussed: Nathan Pollard had jokingly warned me earlier in the day to bring my kit. When the Peterborough Phantoms NIHL 2 side started emerging from the dressing room, I realised that he hadn’t been joking. Other commitments meant that the visitors took to the ice in Gosport with 12 skaters and two netminders. This was after they all looked slightly confused by “the Gosport walk”, the need for the away team to enter the ice by circling round the back of the stand and in front of the fans to make it on to the ice.
The Junior Devils had taken advantage of a weekend off for the division one team having a weekend off to draft in some help. Junior Devils coach Harry Cloutman was available to play and roped in Joe Llewellyn, Kris Nekrosevicius, Jack Peacock and Cain Russell to assist with the effort.
Despite the depleted bench, it was a pretty even start to the game with shots in both directions. However, it was the visitors who struck first, a puck sitting up for Nathan Pollard to poke it by Rory Martin-Edwards in the Solent net in the third minute.
When Nekrosevicius was called for tripping, the Phantoms quickly made the advantage pay. They had to ride out a shorthanded chance, crafted by Charlie Wedge out of seemingly nothing, but the visitors broke up ice at speed. James White took the lay off from Jordan Ho, skated in and snapped it over the glove of Martin-Edwards. The visitors were 2-0 to the good inside 6 minutes and the Devils had barely had a chance to establish themselves.
Having had that punch in the face, the Junior Devils woke up. They upped the intensity, pushed Peterborough onto the back foot and shifted the momentum of the game. The issue was that Ryan Bainborough in the Phantoms’ net was making all the stops. Ashley Barnes was denied at the top of the crease, Wedge and Peacock had chances turned away. The visitors soaked up the pressure and the first buzzer went with the Devils left scratching their head as to how to make a breakthrough.
The second period started with both teams having opportunities and early pokes to try and establish themselves, but it was something less direct that put the Phantoms further in front. A hard drive from outside the zone whistled past the Devils’ net and slammed off of the end boards. Martin-Edwards had moved across to cover the shot but the rebounding puck didn’t die at the wall and instead launched itself over the crossbar and back in front of the net. With the netminder out of position and looking the wrong way, he couldn’t react quickly enough as Jack Sansby was on hand to fire home for 3-0 with just 2.05 of the period gone.
The game then took on a very even tone. It was just a good back and forth encounter for a solid 10 minutes. The encounter felt much more like a 0-0 than a 3-0 as the two sides created chances. Both netminders were frequently called into action but both were standing tall.
Just after the midway point came a glimmer of light for Solent. Callum Worthington-Evans was called for a penalty that I didn’t see the signal for and wasn’t announced over the tanoy but he had to sit for regardless. The Devils’ powerplay unit set to work and eventually got their deserved reward with Cain Russell taking the feed from Charlie Wedge and firing home to blot Bainborough’s copybook.
There was a bit of a pushback from the visitors in response, Martin Edwards needing to turn away White and Nathan Pollard in short order, the later seeing the Phantoms’ player/coach crash into the goal frame which saw the game delayed whilst he got in a position to move again.
The Devils came out of that break the better side, recovering the momentum of the game. A rush to the net saw Bainborough stay down hurt after the Devils’ forward was crosschecked into the Phantoms’ backstop gifting the hosts a powerplay inside the last minute of the second frame.
Martin-Edwards was forced into stopping a late shorthanded chance from the recovered Nathan Pollard and the Devils took advantage after the period break. Bainborough was forced into two or three stops in short order before the puck was fed high for Jack Peacock to step into the shot and blast it into the back of the net at 40.55. The game was on.
The problem for the visitors was that they were starting to look tired. This wasn’t unreasonable given the short bench but with the momentum against them and the legs getting a bit slower, the Devils started to turn the screw.
The hosts started having all the chances and all the momentum. Wedge went close multiple times but not as close as Oliver Cackett. With the Phantoms defence stretched and Bainborough scrambling, the young forward fired through the melee to see his shot ring off the inside of the left post and bounce out.
A hooking penalty to Kevin McAllister wasn’t helpful for the hosts but the penalty killing unit did its job with aplomb, stopping Peterborough from getting a clean shot on net for the duration of the man advantage. The Devils would get their own powerplay late as Sam Barlow was called for interference, but they still couldn’t find a way through as the final stages loomed.
Peterborough knew what they needed to do; push the Devils back. Knowing that they’d be looking to pull Martin-Edwards for the extra attacker, they needed to get the puck deep not give them the chance. However, Conor Pollard had a better idea. When the puck fell to him at the hashmarks, he turned and aimed for the top corner of the net. The puck came off his stick faster than Martin-Edwards could lift his glove. At 4-2 with 1.25 left , the game fizzled to its conclusion and the points left with the Phantoms.
I’ve seen the Solent Junior Devils win, I’ve seen them absolutely smashed and then there was this where they were arguably a bit unlucky. Getting in a load of the division 1 guys to help out was certainly a good idea. It made the roster well rounded in terms of its overall ability. What they were a bit guilty of was just lacking that clinical edge to really see them over the line.
Aside from the fact that Rory Martin-Edwards will want the third goal back, that was a horror show on all fronts for the Devils, this was a decent and accomplished performance from Harry Cloutman’s side. They maybe suffered from thinking too hard and not thinking smart on occasions, but the effort was there and they skated with Peterborough and didn’t ever look out of the game. Martin-Edwards faced over 50 shots in the game so one howler aside, he gave his team the chance to win. It just didn’t fall for them on the night.
How that plays into the cup quarter final will be interesting. Ice availability means that their playoff quarter final with Guildford has become a one game shootout at the Spectrum. The Solent division one side will be in Gillingham so there will be no division one guys available and the mammoth task of facing down the league champions on their turf. The Devils will be realistic about their chances, but they have a punchers chance. They just have to find a way with what they have. Their season comes down to one single game, do or die. Their fate is now in their hands.
This was my first-time seeing Peterborough and whilst it’s hard to get a real feel for them when they travelled so short, I can see why they made the South 2 cup final. Depleted or not, the majority of their top 6 was there. Both Pollard brothers and Taylor Romeo have played much higher than this as has James White with Jordan Ho having played at IIHF worlds for Hong Kong. Combined with Ryan Bainborough, a netminder who significant experience with the Phantoms main team, that’s a formidable opponent in South 2.
Ultimately, they had a good strategy which was to soak up pressure when it came and use their skill to craft out what they could. It worked. It did get dicey at times and the legs were probably very stiff the day after but where Solent weren’t clinical, they were. Being 3-0 up and letting Solent back in won’t sit well but that has to be tempered by the fact that so few bodies can only do so much. At the death, when it mattered, Conor Pollard’s shot ended all resistance. At full strength they will be dangerous.
Man of the match went to Romford junior Phil Maguire who at 16 looks a real prospect. Triple registered with the u18s and Buccaneers as well as the Phantoms 2, Maguire isn’t a huge body at the moment but his positioning and hockey sense appear to be high for the level. I can see why the Buccaneers are using him.
The Phantoms do not have an opponent locked in just yet, results on the last weekend will determine things but Cardiff is a possibility for them which would be tough. The Fire are the only team to beat Guildford so far though in my brief chat with Nathan Pollard he felt they matched up well with the Welsh side.
Will both these sides make Alexandra Palace? Probably not, Solent’s battle is gargantuan for that but buried away in front of 40-50 people on the south coast was two teams preparing themselves for what’s to come, that puncher’s chance at glory to end the season.
As it was the last game of the season, the Junior Devils gathered at centre ice to say goodbye to the campaign. It’s one where they’ve outperformed the year before and secured post-season hockey for themselves. It’s one where I think Harry Cloutman and his coaching team can take a great deal of pride in what they’ve achieved even if their season likely ends in two weekends’ time.
As the Peterborough Phantoms headed to their cars, I can’t help but think Nathan Pollard has something more than a valiant end to the season on his mind.
Lowlight of the night: I get why it wasn’t well attended but a shame there weren’t more people there.
Highlight of the night: The game itself. Would have been easy for either side to phone it in and they didn’t. A game played in the right spirit.
The frustration of the zebra – an official speaks
Posted: 10/03/2024 Filed under: NIHL, Random Thoughts | Tags: linesman, NIHL, officiating, referee 2 Comments
Officiating is a hot button topic across the sport in Britain for many reasons. Every week, a variety of men and women don the stripes to make sure the game we love is played safely and fairly.
People moan about the refs, that’s sport the world over but certainly this season there has, to my mind, been an increase of dissatisfaction with the level of officiating in British hockey from all sides.
As a rule, unless an official makes a proper howler, I try to not mention officiating in my game reports. Officials don’t win or lose games. However, an IHUK official has contacted me, frustrated with the public perception that the officials aren’t trying their best, the abuse that they’re receiving and also at the system at large.
They have asked to remain anonymous and the below is their thoughts and words and not those of myself or BOTW as an entity. The words below do not represent my personal views, nor do they represent the views of IHUK or the officiating section of IHUK, they only represent those of the one official who has written the below.
I have made 2 amendments to what was sent to me.
1. I have redacted a sentence where it revealed their location and would have revealed their identity.
2. I changed out swearwords for something more appropriate.
The rest is your conclusion to draw as the reader. I have agreed to publish the below to aid the discussion about how the sport in this country can improve both the standard of officiating and the support that the officials get both from the paying public at games as well as the players and clubs within the sport and the system at large. There is no game without them.
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The issues we’re having:
Lack of officials:
Covid saw the referee section haemorrhage officials as guys got their weekends back and figured they had better things to do than drive the length of the country getting yelled at (if you’re not the driver you could be out the house for 12+ hours and come home with £40, or less if you fell over). It has gotten better but we haven’t fully recovered. As it stands the higher league games get prioritised (EIHL do their own thing and are reluctant to use anyone outside of their established pool of officials) which means newer officials are getting bumped up, sometimes well beyond their ability. Alternatively, the experienced guy they were paired with for that game gets bumped up and their replacement is someone equally as wet behind the ears. In that situation you’ve got the blind leading the blind and a gongshow usually ensues, the refs get abuse hurled at them, they get pissed off and leave. Teams and the leagues want to keep costs down and the officiating budget is the easiest one to slash.
Cost:
It all boils down to who pays and how much. The leagues have agreed to cap the number of miles they’ll pay out for each game which limits who you can assign to each game. It also puts us into a situation (and unspoken acceptance) with officials up and down the country that your location matters just as much as your officiating ability.
The bit we don’t really talk about:
Love her or hate her Joy Johnston (Tottman) did a phenomenal job with the officiating programme and since her sudden departure things have definitely taken a step backwards. Less reported on is the number of other officials and performance coaches (and all of their experience) who followed her out the door. They’ve replaced some of the performance coaches who do their best but there are more games than coaches. We were also at a stage a few years ago where all the coaches were sorted and ready to go but they couldn’t claim any of their costs. Surprise surprise none of them went to go and supervise games that year. (BOTW NOTE: I am informed that the inability to claim costs was due to a lack of budget to do so)
I could talk about the collapse of the level system, the drop in standards across the board, the (mostly) end of the “right official right game” mantra etc but it won’t change the here and now and likely won’t get back to that unless someone with her commitment, drive and ability to achieve that is back in the RIC post. No disrespect to Rico (current head official Colin Davidson) or (Simon) Kirkham here, they’ve been dealt awful hands. I’m not saying that they aren’t trying to make things better at all. I suspect a number of barriers that they, and the rest of the managers, are up against are beyond their control.
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Before the publication of this piece, BOTW contacted the refereeing section of IHUK to offer them the right of reply. There was a very productive discussion with between them and myself about the issues raised above. They initially asked for some time to draft a response and I obliged. However ultimately they have elected not to respond in this piece. That is their right and I thank them and IHUK head official, Colin Davidson for their time and understanding regarding the publication of this piece.
Banners On The Road – FASS Berlin vs ESC Dresden 02/03/24
Posted: 05/03/2024 Filed under: Banners On The Road, Germany | Tags: Banners On The Road, ESC Dresden, FASS Berlin, Germany Leave a commentRegionalliga Ost Playoff Quarter Finals, Game 1
FASS Berlin 11-3 ESC Dresden “Eislöwen Juniors”
Berlin: Babinsky, Freunschlag x2, Volynec x3, Merk x2, Butasch x2 (1sh), Fiedler
Dresden: Götze, Vachon, Bertholdt pp
The result is academic: The Erika-Hess-Eisstadion pictured above, juts into the fading Berlin evening light. The rink was built in the 1960s and it looks every bit of it outside and in. I paid my 9 Euro (up from 7, it was a playoff game after all) and was greeted by red piping and a lot of concrete to the point it felt like I was in a bunker.
The rink has a pad slightly bigger than that of Slough or Dumfries, with folding plastic seats down the long sides that screams “communal German facility” down the side and terracing behind each goal.
The Freier Akademischer Sportverein Sigmundshof was founded in 1962 by students from the Berlin Technical University. That university sense of humour maintains in the name as the acronym is FASS and fass is the German word for a cask or a barrel. The hockey section was founded in 1974 though the club has expanded well past being just a university thing and members of the junior section are mascots for the evening with others dotted around the stands.
Freshly made waffle in hand, I took a moment to concentrate on the warm up. FASS had lost 4 games all season on their way to pipping Schönheide to the Regionalliga Ost regular season title were taking on 8th placed ESC Dresden who had won a sum total of 5 of the 26 league games. FASS were resting some of their top end talent, including former DEL defenceman, Henry Hasse against a Dresden side who wore jerseys with names on the back and no adverts. I had a feeling I could guess how this game was going to go.
Wearing #69 is a brave choice for a netminder but Vincent Stula in net for Dresden was going to need to be brave given he was immediately under fire, turning away 4 or 5 shots before his colleagues even managed one. However he was beaten early. A delayed penalty saw the hosts send out the extra attacker and the passing around began. Eventually Gregor Kubail teed up defenceman Markus Babinsky who stepped into the shot and blew the puck by Stula.
It was 2-0 shortly afterwards as Stefan Freunschlag was the beneficiary. The Austrian was on the end of a fine passing move that left the visitors only able to watch as Freunschlag took the feed and ripped it blocker side and then it was 3-0 as a repeat of the above antics set up Daniel Volynec to fire past Stula.
Dresden were not going away quietly and actually were playing some solid hockey. Their issue was that they were being outclassed. The benefit of that was that FASS started getting a bit sloppy and complacent. A late powerplay saw FASS goalie Sören Thiem called into actually making some saves. As the period rolled to its conclusion, he though he had another as he snapped his arm around a well taken shot from Dresden’s Tim Götze. Sadly for Thiem, the momentum of the puck carried it all the way under his arm and despite a despairing dive backwards, the puck made it over the line. The first period ended 3-1 which arguably flattered the visitors but it nice that they’d gotten something for their efforts.
The second started much like the first, until it didn’t. That complacency that had crept into the hosts hadn’t fully gone away and they were caught puck watching. Maxim Rezibov found Dresden’s lone Canadian, Guillaume Vachon who swept the puck through the 5 hole of Thiem. At 3-2, were FASS about to come unstuck?
The answer was an emphatic no. All Dresden had done was wake up “die Akademiker”. The slick passing went into overdrive and Volynec had his second of the night and moments later it was 5-2 as Babinsky added his second where his team mates just repeated the exact same move that had gotten them the first.
This actually took the pace right out of the game for a time. It seemed like both sides had decided that the game was over and they’d play out the nearly half an hour that was left. Both sides were playing their game and this ultimately meant that FASS would score because they were just better. Freunschlag would drive the net and slide it past Sulda for the 6th before Dennis Merk smacked in a 7th and the 8th went in just 7 seconds later as Volynec completed his hattrick with a carbon copy of Merk’s goal. When Dimitry Butasch made it 9 just over 30 seconds after that, Sulda lobbed his stick across the ice in disgust having conceded 3 goals in 56 seconds with no sign of his backup coming anywhere near the ice to relive him.
With the score at 9-2, the game was over as a contest at the 40-minute mark as I drained my beer and put the cup in the bin and wondered what madness would come in the third. An early Dresden powerplay gave me an answer as Butasch added his second of the night, sprinting away to fire past Sulda, alarmingly still in net, to give the hosts double figures. Dresden did actually convert on the powerplay moments later, Franz Bertholdt’s shot from the hashmarks beating Thiem.
From there, FASS decided to just hold their opponents at arms length and force more saves from Sulda and trying not to get injured ahead of the remainder of the 3 game series.
The final word went to the hosts. FASS captain Tom Fiedler took a feed at the top of the crease and poked and poked till the puck crossed the line. The visitors didn’t like it and argued the case but the referees were unmoved and it was 11-3.
The game limped towards the end, the result an absolute certainty. A late delayed penalty saw Sulda race to the bench for the extra attacker only for the clock to expire moments later and his teammates turn towards the net to hug a goalie that wasn’t there, stood on the bench looking exhausted and exasperated. With the man of the match not a thing in the game at this level of the German game, the players skated off and I headed back towards the U-Bahn and my flight home in just over 9 hours.
So, what did I watch? To anchor the game in language my British readers will understand it, the game was South 1 standard in terms of skill and ability but arguably less physical. FASS vs Streatham or Chelmsford would be an interesting game to watch because the German side would be more skilled but the physicality of the Redhawks or Chieftains would cause them issues whereas FASS vs Slough would see the Germans the bigger side but arguably not as skilled. Dresden are what they are, the Elbflorenz’s version of a development team with a few older bodies thrown in. They’d be an interesting match up against Romford, Oxford, MK Thunder or potentially even Widnes from what I’ve seen of the Wild from game tape.
The game was as one sided as the scoreline suggests. Dresden clearly had an idea, to make the game a little messy, not allow FASS the space to pass the puck and counter. They struggled with this for the simple fact that they didn’t have the quality to execute in the way that they wanted to. They weren’t physical enough to win the battles in the corners, they couldn’t clog the neutral zone effectively against a team with more speed and they spent so much time puck watching in the zone that they it was easy for the hosts to just pass around them.
It’s easy to see from this game why FASS won the regular season. These three-game series feel almost perfunctory against a team that won less than a quarter of the games they did but any test is a good test. Dresden weren’t of the right level to really give them a workout but for about 25-30 minutes they certainly were made to think. They had moments where they seemed to think they didn’t need to pay attention and all the effortless breakouts and quick passing through the neutral zone became bogged down in guys just not paying attention. They weren’t punished, or certainly not punished enough, for that but there were moments where it seemed the game could get to cricket score levels which arguably helps nobody in game one of a lengthy postseason.
There are bigger challenges in the pipeline for the Berlin side. With a semifinal looming against Lauterbach, who beat out the Eisbären Juniors Berlin in their 4th vs 5th series, FASS know that they will need to be sharper even though they beat die Luchse in all their regular season meetings.
Games like this are where my hockey journey started. In fact, this is the level of hockey that the first game I ever saw live was at so there was a fun nostalgia to it. With Berlin as a city, it has its multi time German champion side playing in a massive multipurpose arena and you know what? That’s a great. I love going to Eisbären games, it’s unmatched for atmosphere. If BOTW has been about anything this season, it’s been that hockey big or small is entertaining and of value. I will die on that hill. There’s so much to see if you go looking and yeah, I had to go looking for this game. It didn’t have hundreds of people singing, it wasn’t in a giant arena but it’s the sport we love and all that comes along with it. I got to tramp around one of Europe’s great cities, got 14 goals for 9€, got a waffle freshly made for me at an ice rink and just sat back with a beer and enjoyed myself. I can’t ask for anything more.
Lowlight of the night: Would have been nicer if the game was a bit closer.
Highlight of the night: Some of the FASS goals were very pretty and I got playoff hockey for less than a tenner.
Banners On The Road – Streatham IHC vs Slough Jets 25/2/24
Posted: 27/02/2024 Filed under: Banners On The Road, NIHL | Tags: Banners On The Road, NIHL, slough jets, streatham ihc 1 CommentNIHL South 1 Cup Final, second leg
Streatham IHC 1-0 Slough Jets
Redhawks: Skokan eng
Jets:
Streatham win 3-1 on aggregate
The idea for this piece is it’ll be a bit more article/prose than a straight match report to go a bit more in depth and give this game what it deserved.
Dedicated to the memory of Dayle “Keeno” Keen, who gave so much to and loved this sport
I was born in South London though I’ve not been back for some time before today. I’d forgotten just how thin the roads were. I’d also forgotten that nearly everywhere now seems to have a 20mph speed limit, which having bombed legally down the motorway at a much higher speed, and by the time I reverse parked into one of the very thin spaces in the car park, I’m tired and late.
I’d not been to Streatham as a place since long before the refurb of the ice rink and what I was greeted with was of a lot of the more modern style of building. Lots of steel and glass greeted me along with the sight of EIHA off ice official, Steve Merry pulling the tags off the soon to be awarded cup winners hats.
Heading upstairs to an ice rink will never not be odd to me. A crowd are milling about at the top of the stairs watching the cross-ice junior games happening and I’m greeted by Dawn D’Anger, one half of Streatham’s married owners. Dawn is a very tall, jovial women but clearly had things on her mind when I asked to speak to her. Where her husband Graham looks after supporting the on-ice activities as opposed to her more off ice role, I feel I have to ask the question I’ve asked a lot of people during the build-up to the game.
“How am I feeling? Nervous, but confident. If the boys play their game, then they’ll be alright. I’m looking forward to it.”
I’m pointed where to go and after dumping my bag by where I intend to sit, I head towards the Streatham dressing room, manoeuvring my way through the mass of children and parents given the junior games have finished.
After asking one of the bench staff to fetch him, Streatham player/coach Ben Paynter strode out of towards me, half dressed. Paynter and I have chatted a lot across the season, he and I live about 20 minutes apart, and I’ve spent some time in the build up to the game trying to get some idea into his mindset and how he approaches the plate spinning act of coaching and playing.
From our discussions, my usual impression of Paynter is that he’s a very laid-back individual but also very driven. In speaking after the 2023 National Final loss to Solway, even in his sadness I could see he was planning his next move. He plans then he plays and doesn’t try to overcomplicate things.
Stood before me, in half his kit, something strikes me. During the week, Paynter had told me he was nervous and excited for the weekend but when he’s at the rink, it melts away. However, as he’s standing before me, I see something that I had to mention.
“You look nervous”, I say.
“Me? Nah, I feel great. It all goes away now.” The energy is very clearly there though. All hockey players shuffle their feet and don’t stand still well but Paynter is almost at 1.5 speed. If he’s not nervous, he’s certainly energetic during our chat.
Paynter wasn’t happy about how the Redhawks had gotten into penalty trouble the night before and neither was JJ Pitchley when he popped out to speak to me.
“I was in a foul mood before the game yesterday, but I feel alright today. Just want to get on with today now, I’m excited.”
JJ is a unique character; as blunt as a snapped pencil, I once told him that on the ice he could get under the skin of the devil. Off ice, he’s a much calmer personality and even now, where his coach seemed to be a bit more energetic, Pitchley is almost statue still.
As players head back to the room, one man stands coffee in hand and watches. Looking very dapper in a blue suit, brown shoes and a sovereign ring big enough to knock out a bouncer, Josh Ealey-Newman is smiling through his frustration.
“Hate the fact that I can’t play. We live for games like this and when you can’t be out there. The hope is I’ll be ready for the playoffs but I know the boys can do it.”
During the week I’d spoken to Jets defenceman, Charlie Ottowell who had said to me that the way the Jets would win is because they’re a tight knit group who would do whatever it takes to win so I asked Josh the same question. How would Slough beat Streatham?
“Not let us settle and if we get into penalty trouble again like yesterday. They’re quick, they’re energetic but we’ve got enough to counter it. We think we’ll win, they think that they can win. We’ll see in a bit.”
I headed to the back row of the rink to sit alongside Chris Beal, Streatham’s match night updater. Both sides were suffering with injuries. The hosts were without a raft of player to the point Ben Paynter had called his predecessor, former player/coach Michael Farn, out of retirement to help on defence. The Jets were without one of the league’s best players. Jack Goodchild had sustained an injury the night before and wasn’t risked by Jets’ coach Lukas Smital.
Unsurprisingly for a team full of young players, the Jets came out flying, if you’ll pardon the pun but after an initial flurry, the hosts woke up and the game locked into the heavyweight slugging match many had anticipated. The feeling out process was long gone for these two sides, no working out the distance, the metaphorical jabs were already flying with Danny Milton and Brett Massey needing to be aware early and often.
A charging penalty to Brandon Miles immediately set everyone around me on edge. A powerplay meant extra space for Slough to work with but the penalty kill unit were up to the task. More penalties followed as Michael Farn and Luke Smital started what would be an evening long battle earning them a seat and Ryan Watt was called for slashing. That powerplay produced arguably the best chance of the game to that point, as Ollie Hemmings-Maher fed Jacob Minter in front, but his onetime shot from the top of the crease sailed wide. The Redhawks responded with their own shorthanded chance but Ben Ealey-Newman was denied by Massey.
Streatham then had their own powerplay and their own huge chance; Ziggy Beesley muscled his way past seemingly the whole Jets penalty kill unit before setting up Pitchley who hooked his shot wide. The first came to an end still tied at 0-0 on the night.
The second period initially lacked the fluidity of the first. The sides came out with the same intensity, but the neutral zone was becoming clogged, not helped by the extra length the sides were skating for the long chance. Streatham were particularly guilty of trying to make all their passes thread the thinnest of needles which was easy for the Jets to pick off. The issue for the visitors was that they couldn’t get room in the middle of the ice, immediately pushed wide by the Streatham defenders and nullifying numerous attacks.
It was going to take a moment of magic or an error to make something happen and it was the later that put the crowd’s hearts into their mouths. Jack Hoppes was guilty of puck watching, the shot coming in and shouldered away by Milton. However, with the defence out of position, Jets’ captain Conor Redmond had the puck and space. He skated hard to the net, drawing Milton down and he lifted the puck up only to see it go agonisingly over the crossbar.
The Jets had the momentum which the hosts had to hold firm to resist. Tempers flared as the second period concluded, which saw players shouting at each other and Ben Ealey-Newman flapping chicken arms at Jacob Soper. The sides could still not be separated on the night but with only 20 minutes to go and Streatham still a goal to the good.
After watching the unrivalled rarity that is someone winning at Scoro, a real atmosphere came over the building as everyone knew what was about to happen. It was a minimum of 20 minutes for glory but first, someone had to find a way through.
The Jets necessarily started pushing the pace and again, the hosts were on the back foot. Danny Milton was suddenly called into action after one of his colleagues decided that the top of the crease was the place to do a fiddly transition from forehand to backhand with the puck. Beesley forced a save from Massey before Milton stoned Dylan Holicka who had been left alone in front.
When JJ Pitchley was called for slashing whilst subsequently being tripped himself, the home fans were indignant as the away fans sensed that this was their moment but the Jets just couldn’t generate enough quality offence on the powerplay, the best chance coming from a Seb Mohr shot that whistled over the bar.
It was time for the heavy artillery from the visitors. It was shots and pressure from all angles that forced Milton into saves from all angles, even to the point where a deflection off of Tomasz Skokan’s stick left him no choice but to sling his own head backwards and head the puck over the crossbar using the backplate of his mask.
Milton then almost caused his own issue, a hesitation coming for the loose puck saw him dealing with a Jets player steaming in towards him. The puck squirted away and Christian Mohr had the chance but couldn’t get the puck on target as the netminder and defender sprawled across the ice to block the way.
Time ticked on till eventually, the moment came. A faceoff in the Redhawks end saw Lukas Smital motion to the officials and the Jets took their timeout. Plans were made and Brett Massey stood at the end of the bench. With less than two minutes to play, the time was now. The puck dropped and the Jets just couldn’t control it, the play was loose in the zone and eventually Michael Farn found Tomasz Skokan in their own zone. The Pole looked up and fired, the Jets unable to do anything but watch the puck glide into the net and the cup slip out of their hands.
The Jets kept pressing, Massey again being pulled for the extra skater but it wasn’t enough. Where there had been an inevitability about the league title win, this had been a literal war for all sides. 120 minutes of hockey had pushed both teams to their limits. As equipment arced its way through the air and the home fans roared, Streatham hadn’t walked their way to another South 1 Cup, they had seen their chin tested and survived.
I can only imagine the heartache being felt by the Slough Jets players. Conor Redmond made a point of making sure that the team acknowledged their fans at the end for their support but make no mistake, this side gave them something to cheer. I’ve said last year that the Slough Jets were fun. This year they’ve been fun and very, very good. They have their deficiencies for sure; I’ve mentioned before about how I feel that they’re a bit too structured and the lack of Jack Goodchild’s attacking creativity and hockey IQ hurt them on the night but dear Lord, this is a very good hockey team at this level.
People will talk about the skill level or even the skill mix but what they are, and Ottowell alluded to it earlier in this piece, is that they are a unit. No man doesn’t understand or know his role. Defensively, they didn’t put a foot wrong on Sunday, beaten by a necessary risk that teams in their position have to take. The effort didn’t warrant the outcome but they were arguably a bit guilty of just not having enough ideas to get past their more experienced opponents.
Everyone wants the end of Rocky 2 but to get to Rocky 2, you have to have Rocky 1. This was Slough’s Rocky 1 moment. Be under no illusion though, if the core stays together for a bit, the time will come for this Slough Jets group and you cannot bet against them for the playoffs.
As for Streatham, the dominance continues. Yes, they had help, and Michael Farn looks like he’s never been away. Yes, they had their deficiencies as well like always looking for the perfect pass and arguably showing their opponent a little too much respect at times but experience, nous, savvy, call it what you will was the key. They didn’t panic, they didn’t let the Jets settle and when all is said and done, winners win.
It was all the little things that went well. The ability to ice Skokan and Farn as a defence pairing aside, the team defence to force the speedier Jets forwards wide and controlling the middle of the ice to minimise chances was a massive boon. Also using Brandon Miles, your most physical forward, as a defender on the penalty kill to clear the net was inspired. Then to round it all off, even when he had a wobble, Danny Milton couldn’t be punished. To concede one goal across the two legs is championship calibre.
Streatham’s time at the top will not last forever, but they know that. There was a period where every Redhawks player on the ice was over 30 and every Jets player was under 25, time alone will catch them up and they know it. There are youngsters coming through, Harvey Briggs will be amazing with time, but this team is about making hay while the sun shines. This win further stamps what we already knew which is that at Division 1 level, Streatham are one of the best. The eyes are firmly on the prizes left in store. 2 down, 3 to go.
As the fans celebrated and Brandon Miles hit the griddy, I took my leave and headed into the South London night. Pottering through South London towards the motorway home, I thought about what comes next for both these sides. If I am honest, I believe that there’s a real likelihood we will see this repeated at Alexandra Palace in April.
Lowlight of the night: That there had to be a loser. This might just be the best game I’ve seen this season.
Highlight of the night: The game itself was not a technical classic but it was entertaining. Respect to both sides for the show they put on.
Banners On The Wall 