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.
Crystal Ball Thinking part 2 – BOTW previews the National Division
Posted: 31/08/2023 Filed under: NIHL, Preview | Tags: milton keynes lightning, NIHL, peterborough phantoms, raiders ihc, sheffield steeldogs Leave a commentWelcome back to BOTW as we run down the teams that compete in this season’s NIHL National Division. Last time out we looked at Bees IHC, Bristol, Hull and Leeds. Now we move on to the next three. A reminder that we’ll look at last season and give a bit of an overview of bits over the summer, their biggest gain and loss of the off season as well as the team’s floor and ceiling in terms of where they might end up. On to part 2!
Milton Keynes Lightning
The Overview: It was the roster that had everything. A GB netminder, a solid core, a defence that possessed stay and home ability alongside attacking energy and a forward core able to seemingly score at will. It won nothing. Unable to find a way to ever catch Leeds in the league and outworked by Peterborough in the cup semi final, they were dispatched by 7th placed Telford in the playoffs having seemingly run out of steam as well as ideas. At times on the ice, the MK Lightning were undeniable and then they’d seemingly just lose almost without explanation. They’d beat Leeds in one of the best games in the entire country last season no matter the division but also lost at home to a Basingstoke team that defined inconsistency.
Tim Wallace was presented with a variety of challenges that he needed to face in the off season. Stalwart defenceman Leigh Jamieson retired, Bobby Chamberlain returned home, Sean Norris and Sam Talbot rightly took their place in the Elite League along with Jack Hopkins. Wallace also took the chance to put more of his stamp on things. A few guys were thanked for their time and others brought in. The trio of Will Kerlin, Caly Robertson and Ben Solder came from Bristol, Rory Herrman was prised away from Telford and the newly revamped relationship with the MK Thunder has seen an array of players join on two-ways to be rotated in to bolster the depth along with Corey McEwen. It’s another multi-headed hydra of a roster but will it work?
Biggest Loss: The loss of Norris and Talbot is huge. Individually brilliant, as a combination there are few better that I’ve seen.
Biggest Gain: I personally am very interested to see how Dillon Lawrence fares in the National Division and think that he will be an impactful player for the Lightning but the return of Mack Stewart and that additional rafter of players at the Thunder is going to be huge as well.
Expectation Floor: Given the sheer number of players, to finish outside the top 4 would likely see the Barmy Army in full mutiny.
Expectation Ceiling: Make no mistake, there is a goal with this MK roster and that is to be champions. The roster looks strong enough to do it. Then again so did last year’s. MK need to avoid becoming the new age Swindon and being the best on paper.
Peterborough Phantoms
The Overview: The many jokes I make about them aside, the Peterborough Phantoms were the surprise package last season. In the league, playing that structured style that defines Slava Koulikov hockey, the Phantoms started well and when many expected them to fall off, they kept the pace. Eventually they fell away, consistency and injuries to Jordan Marr and Ryan Bainborough as well as other key figures meant that they just didn’t have the ability to keep it as a three horse race. However they spoiled the grand slam for Leeds. After handily dispatching MK in the semi finals, the shock result of the season saw the Phantoms demolish the Knights in the first leg and then, with Jordan Marr and Ryan Bainborough injured meaning Calum Hepburn guested from Solway, the ultimate rearguard action in the second leg saw Austin Mitchell-King’s empty net goal seal another trophy in the Koulikov era. The league title remains illusive but you cannot deny that how they play is effective.
There have been more than the usual number of players out the door for Peterborough, the loss of Glenn Billing in particular after a stand out year will cause issues. As every though, the process is trusted implicitly and the minimal number of new faces with promotions of young talent is becoming a hallmark.
Biggest Loss: The loss of Billing is the big one here for Peterborough albeit it is one they’ve adequately replaced.
Biggest Gain: Just like Hull, the prodigal son has returned. Albeit last season was not a good one for him, the return to the Phantoms of former EIHL top scoring Brit, Luke Ferrara was a shot across the bow of every team in the league.
Expectation Floor: Many will question whether the league hasn’t moved on as Peterborough have stood still. Even if all went wrong, they’re a playoff team albeit it’s hard to say where they’d finish in the top 8 and I wouldn’t care to guess anyway.
Expectation Ceiling: Can this team win the title? I don’t know. Can they repeat last season’s antics? I believe that they can.
Raiders IHC
The Overview: 2022/23 in Romford was like the last firework of the Bonfire Night display. It was a long wait for a massive bang at the end. After missing the playoffs the season previous, Raiders coach Sean Easton set the target of making the post-season and his team did so comfortably. After going 1-5 to start the year, the ship was steadied. The roster waxed and waned a bit over the season. Adam Laishram was in and out of the line up, Erik Piatak’s injury saw him replaced by Alex Roberts and Dan Scott retired then played more games than he had before the announcement. By the time the post-season rolled around, the Raiders had been in a holding pattern for weeks in 6th place.
Then the playoffs hit and Romford sprinted into it. After losing at home, they got enough of a result against an injury hit Peterborough to spring the shock and make the Coventry weekend. After Jason Hewitt’s moment of madness and Roberts’ late winner in the semi final against Sheffield, all they had to do was beat the Knights. The Raiders outplayed the league champions for large swathes of the game but spotting them an early lead gave them too much to do. I stood and watched Tjay Anderson, one of the stars of the weekend walk off the ice with tears in his eyes. They had been a finger tip’s distance away.
So how do the Raiders push on? In a similar way to many sides it’s been tinker with what needs tinkering and keep the faith in the core. After a season of being a spare, Laisrham has committed full time to be joined by countrymen. Forward Nick Leyer and defenceman Pierre-Luc Lurette make up the import quota. Otherwise, bar a couple of names to be mentioned shortly, it’s a lot of the same names from last season. Along with Anderson, the equally impressive Marco Pasquale returns on defence along with Relf, Barry, Wells et al. Aaron Connolly will again lead the line with the added depth of youngsters like Owen Dell, Brynley Capps and Joe Tomalin on two ways. The Raiders are not fixing what isn’t broken.
Biggest Loss: The loss of Matt Gomercic and Alex Roberts sees a lot of goal scoring go and the loss of Harry Gulliver saw an established top end Brit depart.
Biggest Gain: Whilst the above will concern, if any team has made out the best of the Bison situation then it’s arguably the Raiders. The additions of yet another former Bison captain in George Norcliffe as well as Zack Milton sees the Raiders add 120+ points of British scoring to their forward lines. That is nothing to be sniffed at. If these two settle, danger awaits everyone who visits the Essex side.
Expectation Floor: It needs to be said; with the steps others have made, have the Raiders kept too much faith? I see them repeating their place in the playoffs but they could be in for a scrap to do so.
Expectation Ceiling: If it all goes right, they could be the Peterborough of 23/24 in terms of a league finish.
Sheffield Steeldogs
The Overview: Off the back of their well deserved playoff title in 2022, I and many others wondered what Sheffield Steeldogs we’d see in 22/23. What we got was OK. It was decent but at times it felt like Sheffield would sabotage themselves. They had the quality but not the consistency at times. Where Peterborough fell away because they didn’t have the legs, Sheffield fell away because they just didn’t seem to be able to execute. They did play some very good hockey into the bargain. Jason Hewitt, Alex Graham, Matt Bissonnette, Jon Kirk, Ben Morgan, Dmitri Zimozdra; there was quality across the line up and then break out seasons for Brady Doxy and Jack Brammer added to the combination. The playoffs were arguably a disappointment. After demolishing Swindon, the last minute goal to lose to Romford in the semi finals felt like a let down but it had been an alright if not a great season.
Then the summer happened.
Greg Wood was relieved of his coaching duties and after a few announcements, everything went quiet. Whilst he wasn’t returning to the club, the untimely death of Alex Graham was a gut punch to the entire Sheffield hockey community. Nobody expected any news for a bit but still nothing came. Then we had the entire sorry saga. Reports of a hostile takeover, financial issues, Steelers’ owner Tony Smith swooping in to save the day only to be rebuffed by the other owners then let in after a groundswell of public anger towards a variety of entities. Ultimately we have a lot of the names we expected to be back but a few bits remain unknown at the time of writing. Hewitt is the new coach, we know that much but the roster stands at 11 forwards, 7 defenders and the very handy looking goalie tandem of Dan Crowe alongside Zimozdra. It looks light currently but still decent
Biggest Loss: After the summer they had, we’re leaving this blank.
Biggest Gain: Jonathan Phillips. Do we really have to say anything else here? Great Britain captain, one of the finest players of his generation and he’s there on the doorstep. He could have easily walked away from hockey after his time in the EIHL but instead swaps orange for blue. That alone will get a few extra Steelers fans through the door.
Expectation Floor: Given all the upheaval this off-season you’d forgive them for having a wobble to start the campaign. How will Hewitt’s coaching style work in Sheffield after his last outing in Hull? There’s a chance they miss the playoffs but it’s very small.
Expectation Ceiling: Top 4 would be the ceiling here but I don’t see them as immediate title challengers if I’m honest.
Of course, it’s all just conjecture until the teams hit the ice. You can keep up with the National Division as well as all the news from the NIHL every week on the BOTW What’s Current Stream, live Wednesdays at 8pm on our Youtube channel.
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Running with the Herd – Bison vs Milton Keynes Lightning 4/3/23
Posted: 08/03/2023 Filed under: Bison, NIHL, Running with the Herd | Tags: basingstoke bison, milton keynes lightning, NIHL, Running with the Herd Leave a commentNIHL National Division
Basingstoke Bison 0-7 Milton Keynes Lightning
Bison:
Lightning: Talbot x3 (1pp), McKenzie, Sarkanis, Chamberlain pp, Hamill
In the course of writing this blog over 12 years I’ve always tried to write what felt fair to write. Maybe it was a case of misplaced loyalty to a sense of objectivity, maybe it was more of a nod towards the fact that the players are better at this sport than I could even hope of attempting to dream to be. However when it comes down to it, reflecting on this game I realised that all I ever tried to do was be honest to what I’d seen. If you’re honest, you’ll generally end up being fair even if people disagree with you on individual details. So let’s see how this goes, shall we?
For the MK Lightning, the game ended up as a walk in the park. That’s not to say they weren’t challenged, they had something of a contest for 40 minutes but ultimately were too clinical through 40 minutes and forced the collapse in the last 20.
They are second for a reason. Even without one of the league’s premier British scorers (albeit Sean Norris is lucky to have only gotten a 6 game suspension for his hit) and one of the better offensive defencemen in the league, the shock and awe tactic worked. They were one step ahead of the Bison from buzzer to buzzer. Defensive gaps were exploited, board battles one and most importantly, they just found every ounce of space that the Bison didn’t cover. Sam Talbot’s first goal was symptomatic of the entire piece as he was left alone with nobody within 2 strides to fire home.
Jordan Hedley wasn’t tested enough over the course of the evening, though was called into action on a couple of occasions, Milique Martelly is one of the best prospects in the country and certainly made a couple of very good defensive plays and the MK blueline did its job but with all due respect, this was a game about the Lightning’s attack. How Sam Talbot didn’t get the beers in the game is a mystery but it wasn’t just Talbot and the sharpshooting attack of him and Deivids Sarkanis that did the business here. It was a case of MK’s depth being on show. It was Bobby Chamberlain’s powerplay goal, it was Tim Wallace doing the mix of skill and grit that he regularly shows but it was also goals for guys like Zaine McKenzie and Cameron Hamill, who for my money would have had the beers for a high energy, high effort performance that was rewarded with a goal. It was professional, it was focussed and it was a job well done.
An MK fan who follows the BOTW Twitter said they felt the scoreline flattered the Lightning. If the game had been played on the first two periods, I’d have probably agreed with them. You’ll have to indulge me because the only thing that has been going through my mind is the following
Ultimately over the course of 60 minutes, that performance from the Basingstoke Bison was not acceptable. It wasn’t good enough. There is no deep level of analysis to be given after a game like this. As the club fight for their playoff lives, it felt like the performance was devoid of strategy, structure and style. They were outplayed and even worse at home, outworked. The Bison have scored 1 goal in 9 periods and have been shutout at home in consecutive games. This cannot happen to a team that is hovering between playoff qualification and an early end. If they play like this, they will throw their chance at the post-season away.
This team has had a bad year. It’s had more downs than ups, more wrongs than rights but they have the ability to end this season well. They can make the playoffs, they can fight over two legs probably against the same team that put them to the sword in this game and maybe even spring a surprise. If they repeat that performance against the Bees and don’t snap out of this run, the season will be done and they know that.
Fix it themselves was what this site said. They have no choice now.
Running with the Herd – Bison vs Milton Keynes Lightning 1/1/23
Posted: 05/01/2023 Filed under: Bison, NIHL, Running with the Herd | Tags: basingstoke bison, milton keynes lightning, NIHL, Running with the Herd Leave a commentNIHL National Division
Basingstoke Bison 1-5 Milton Keynes Lightning
Bison: Milton
Lightning: L. Stewart x2, M. Stewart, Knaggs, Norris
Running with the Herd – Bison vs Milton Keynes Lightning 18/11/22
Posted: 22/11/2022 Filed under: Bison, NIHL, Running with the Herd | Tags: basingstoke bison, milton keynes lightning, NIHL, Running with the Herd Leave a commentNIHL National Division/Cup
Basingstoke Bison 1-8 Milton Keynes Lightning
Bison: Milton
Lightning: Grinell-Parke, Sarkanis, Talbot, Hopkins, Norris x2, Griffin, Chamberlain
Running with the Herd – Bison vs Milton Keynes Lightning 23/2/22
Posted: 27/02/2022 Filed under: Bison, NIHL, Running with the Herd | Tags: basingstoke bison, milton keynes lightning, NIHL, Running with the Herd Leave a commentNIHL National Division
Basingstoke Bison 1-5 Milton Keynes Lightning
Bison: Doughty
Lightning: Chamberlain pp, Stewart, Christie, Cowley, Norris
This match report is coupled with an experiment that I did with our regular Wednesday night live the “The What’s Current Stream”. Every Wednesday night at 8pm, over on the site’s Twitter page, @BannersOTW I run down all the action from across the NIHL. You don’t need a Twitter account to watch, only to join in the chat. Make sure to join us this week.
First
Second
End:
Andrew Day was correct; the next goal was crucial. Unfortunately for the Bison, Brendan Baird tried to get the puck out of his skates and kicked it right to Russ Cowley.
The later part of the period was marred by some unsavoury incidents. After getting two sizeable and unnecessary whacks on the wrist, Liam Morris went swinging for anyone near him. Sean Norris and Sam Talbot both sat slashing penalties and Adam Laishram got a major and a misconduct after fighting Morris then being abusive to the officials. This then saw Jay King look to get a measure of retribution and his wild hit on Norris saw him take a boarding major then have to fight Hallden Barnes-Garner. This coupled with Bobby Chamberlain seemingly wanting to argue with the Bison players on the ice, off the ice and even the crowd saw the game end with a rather grumpy albeit flat tone as the game was out of sight after Norris’ well taken goal.
The Lightning will be pleased with this. They were clinical enough in the later stages of the game to make up for the fact that they made little of the running for the majority of the 60 minutes. Matt Smital played well but also had to ride his luck at times, lurching from post to post and at times not getting his rebounds as controlled as anyone would have liked. However when it worked, it worked and his defence were able to clear the shots that he couldn’t hold. Sometimes you have to shrug your shoulders, tip your cap and move on.
The Bison had multiple chances to do something with this game and weren’t effective. The powerplay feels snakebitten, constantly having good ideas but poor execution and seemingly a desire to want to make one pass too many. The old maxim of “don’t yell shoot on the powerplay” still stands but the concern is that there’s that extra look for the hole that is just right to shoot into. This isn’t porridge for Golidlocks. However the flip side is this is a team that has had defensive insecurities and the last thing they want is to force a shot that isn’t there and give up a shorthanded chance to a team with Sean Norris and Sam Talbot, a team so fast that before you could blink they’d be through the back wall.
The effort was there for the most part, just not the execution and at times that’s what the Herd need to focus on. In a game with a netminder who was regularly flapping at times, the one goal came when somebody got in close and didn’t give him time to think. The lack of adaptation and repetition to keep on with that and instead return to trying to pass and skate round a team that was quicker than them seemed an odd choice.
The one thing that did work was the third line combination. Paul Petts had arguably his best game of the season and between him, Hallam Wilson, Alex Sampford and Ryan Sutton rotating around they were the line who caused MK the most problems in this game. They forechecked well, they defended well, they didn’t give the opposition time on the puck, they created chances. The only thing they didn’t manage to get was a goal.
The game was a good snapshot of the Bison’s season; the pieces are talented, the pieces are there. It just didn’t work. Being without Adam Jones obviously dents a defence but the other players there are not slouches either. They should have won this game. That will sound odd to hear after they lost 5-1 but it was there for the Herd to win. They have to start putting games like this into the win column, games where they have the majority of the puck, dictate the majority of the play. They won’t win them all but they do have to win more.
Running with the Herd – Bison vs Milton Keynes Lightning 27/11/21
Posted: 28/11/2021 Filed under: Bison, NIHL, Running with the Herd | Tags: basingstoke bison, milton keynes lightning, NIHL, Running with the Herd Leave a commentNIHL National Division/Cup
Basingstoke Bison 2-4 Milton Keynes Lighting
Bison: Doughty, Morris
Lightning: Talbot, Landsbergs, Chamberlain pp, Norris
The usual format of Running with the Herd has been put to one side today. Also two words need to be said before this piece really starts and they’ll make more sense later but they are this; they know. Keep those words in mind.
As Basingstoke fans woke up on this Sunday morning, they faced a sight that they haven’t had to see for some time; the Bison being bottom of the table. The Autumn Cup campaign ended with a damp squib and the league campaign has now seen the Herd start moderately then lose six consecutive games to find themselves propping up the table, a sight not seen since the club’s final Elite League season where they lost every game in the second half of the season.
That was a dark time and given the club’s run through the English Premier League and into the National Ice Hockey League structure, to see the club in the current league position is a lot to take for some. The tenure of Ashley Tait as coach has generally been marked by a side that maybe lacked that certain something to be league champions but could be relied on to play attractive hockey with a massive dose of heart and grit.
Far from it be from me to question the heart and grit of the roster, if anything there was far too much grit at times and some very obvious heart and character shown but the hockey at the moment just isn’t working. The hockey on display from the Herd last night wasn’t attractive, it wasn’t even close to organised. It was a frustrating, disjointed mush.
It’s all very cyclical; when a team suffers with injuries, bodies get tired so results don’t come, so the team goes on a bad run, so the bodies get more tired from all the things you try to do to get back to winning ways, so the results don’t come and on and on it goes till the snake eats itself.
The team’s highest scorer is out, two of its depth forwards are also out, the back-up goalie is out (and thanks to Danny Milton for standing in) and whilst that feels like a slight dent it doesn’t help. Adam Harding was in a rich vein of form, Hallam Wilson and Paul Petts are not 40 point guys but they have a job and do it well. They allow those tired legs to get a rest. Players who are less tired make fewer mistakes and make better decisions.
Poor decisions cost the Herd. The performance of the Bison last night again saw them playing really well for about 15 minutes but you can’t short shrift any team in this league. The Milton Keynes Lightning scored some very nice goals in this game but they did not offer more than any other team that the Bison have played in this poor run. They too have injuries and were missing arguably their number one defenceman. They were there for the taking. Instead the Herd spent the better part of two periods leaving the paying public scratching their heads as to the game plan beyond charging around trying to check Sean Norris and Sam Talbot through the glass and riling up Bobby Chamberlain, though reputation belies that’s not a difficult task.
How and why Norris and Talbot left the club isn’t public knowledge but something clearly wrangles with the team and that’s fair enough. Hockey is a business but there’s egos and loyalties in business all the same. If someone feels wronged, that’s their prerogative. Norris and Talbot are also arguably the two premier players on that MK team, certainly the most skilful so focussing your defensive game on slowing them down is not an unreasonable strategy but going after the two of them seemed to come at the expense of anything else strategically. The passing was wayward, the breakouts stagnant, the shooting chances were minimal through the first two periods. Matt Smital is a promising young keeper but he didn’t face a serious shot on his net till the third period.
The third period seemed to kick the Herd into life a bit. A dirty goal when it was really needed from Aidan Doughty got the tails up and a superb solo run and shot from Liam Morris, aided somewhat by the space created by Leigh Jamieson falling over, had the Herd on level terms. They started playing hockey; good, solid, structured hockey that MK didn’t have an answer for.
The MK Lightning were alright on this night, controlled or clinical might be the best word because I don’t think either side really dominated the play in this game. Through the first forty minutes of play they had the best shot, over-exuberant celebration or not there was no denying the quality of Sam Talbot’s goal that sent Alex Mettam’s water bottle into a firework impression. A win’s a win, you beat what’s in front of you but ultimately the Lightning didn’t offer a massive amount compared to what else seem from other teams. Maybe that’s symptomatic of the game though; the Lightning didn’t do much because they didn’t need to. In the end it was a goalie in bad form making a mistake and a well taken goal from a fast player that ended the game as a contest late in the day.
The Bison’s netminder doesn’t have his eye in, the defence are tired and the big names in the forwards are not performing at the moment. The Herd are currently being carried in games by George Norcliffe and Liam Morris, the only two players I’ve seen really absolved of ire within the fanbase at the moment.
Thus we return to the two words at the start of the piece; they know. The Basingstoke Bison from John Neville to Ashley Tait to Elliott Dewey as captain to the rest of the roster know that this isn’t a good thing. Jokes about athletes not being smart aside (especially when the captain of the team is a qualified cardiac physiologist making the joke somewhat redundant), they’re not idiots. They know that the performances aren’t good enough, they know that things are wrong.
We can’t sit here and absolve blame via circumstances by saying “guys are hurt” or “we’ve had it worse” because irrespective of what’s happening, the performance wasn’t good enough. There have been line changes, special teams changes, everything they can change so far they have bar the personnel and even that might come at some stage. It’s not easy coaching, playing for or following a team in the midst of a slump when you can see and know the quality in it.
Leeds raced to the Autumn Cup final and are inconsistent in the league. Peterborough lost their first six league games and are now mid-table. Hockey turns on the smallest of things sometimes. This team is full of good players, players better than their league position. My experiences feed my bias so I always tend to lean towards the feeling that things will turn in the end. That’s just how hockey is. Something will click and there’s a team in line for an almighty slapping on the scoreboard. The Basingstoke Bison are able to turn this around. We hope.
Banners On The Wall 