Banners On The Road – Streatham IHC vs Slough Jets 25/2/24

Posted: 27/02/2024 | Author: | Filed under: Banners On The Road, NIHL | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

NIHL 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 Road – Slough Jets vs Chelmsford Chieftains 6/1/24

Posted: 09/01/2024 | Author: | Filed under: Banners On The Road, NIHL | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

NIHL 1 South

Slough Jets 7-4 Chelmsford Chieftains

Jets: Goodchild x2 (1sh), C. Mohr x3 (1pp), S. Mohr, Minter

Chieftains: Lack, C. Bartlett x2, Baldock

All it should be: Pulling into the parking space that I like to use in Slough, I have to confess that I was feeling a little excited about this game. Maybe it’s not the highest level of hockey in the world but a top of the table game with league title implications just means a bit more wherever it is.

Slough and Chelmsford are two sides that I’ve seen before this season but the game against each other promised much. The visitors, full of some decent prospects and a group of players with hundreds of games of experience at the Elite League and National Division experience after their revamp in the summer taking on the hosts, the youngest team on average in the division, the future of the sport and a side that Lukas Smital has drilled to the nth degree.

An injury to Jets’ starting goalie, Brett Massey say Ruari McGibbon take the role between the pipes in one of the biggest games of the season so far but he wasn’t the one initially troubled. The Jets came flying, if you’ll pardon the pun, out of the gate and a pass from Seb Mohr deflected off of a stick to Jack Goodchild who beat Jordan Lawday under his arm after just 46 seconds.

From that point there was something of a stalemate as the sides settled into how they seemingly wanted to approach the game. Not unreasonably for such a young side, Slough were going for speed and intensity and, a bit more aggression than I anticipated they’d employ. The visitors, rather than forcing the play seemed to wait and see if the youngsters would tire themselves out or they’d exploit the gaps that would appear if they overcommitted. They did overcommit as a quick break saw Cam Bartlett feed Alan Lack to tie the scores and the visitors took the lead shortly after as Bartlett sorted himself out, picking the pocket of the defenceman and beating McGibbon in close.

The response of the hosts was to not deviate from the plan and they kept pressing which led to an equaliser and the resumption of their lead. Extended time in the attacking zone saw a loose puck fall to Christian Mohr. The elder of the Mohr brothers fired, and whilst Lawday made the initial save, the rebound sat up and the score was tied thanks to Mohr not giving up on the play.

The third was the Jets turning the tables on the visitors when they forced the mistake. As the Chieftains looked to reset on the powerplay, a poor pass attempt from Leigh Jamieson was picked up by Jack Goodchild who picked the same spot for his second goal as his first to give a 3-2 scoreline by the time the first ended.

The second period saw a better showing from Chelmsford who spent the first half of the second trying to turn the screw. It was excellent pressure and the visitors were showing why they cause so many problems for teams. The puck movement was crips and their ability to work the puck around patiently then put it on net showed the experience edge that they had but they were frustrated by some resolute, if at times manic, defending from the Jets.

We all know the sort of reward that this kind of pressure brings. The Jets got a powerplay for an interesting looking charging call on Alan Lack and it cost them. Jacob Minter fed Christian Mohr whose shot squeaked its way through Jordan Lawday and over the line.

The Jets had their tails up and as was the way of this game they got punished. Just after Christian Mohr had nearly scored a spectacular hattrick goal on the penalty kill, the Chieftains regained the zone and kept pushing. Some good work by Damon Porter saw him come around the back of the net and find Cam Bartlett at the hashmarks to slam home and reduce the deficit to 4-3.

Then just after the start of the third, it was a tie game. Out of seemingly nothing at the start of the third, Ollie Baldock took the feed from Sasha Maltsev and he found a small available space. The game now sat on a knife edge and it was time to see if the Jets would crumble under the weight of their opponent’s experience or defy their elders.

The answer was defy. The Jets immediately stepped up the intensity and forcefully pushed the Chieftains out of the game. Ollie Hemmings-Maher did some excellent work holding off a defender to lay up the puck to Christian Mohr who took a step and fired home for 5-4.

Roughly two and a half minutes later, the Jets left the Chieftains chasing the wind and a superb passing move freed up Seb Mohr, who had spent most of the game being held at bay by Leigh Jamieson, take advantage of a bit of space to rush to the crease and beat Lawday sliding to his left.

There was a pushback from the Chieftains as they looked for a way through and given how the scoring had been going, if they’d gotten one then they certainly would believe that they would get two. Instead a slashing call to Lack put the Jets to the powerplay and they dropped the hammer blow. Jacob Minter took the pass at the top of the crease and niftily backhanded the puck through the legs of the netminder. From there, the game was academic.

This was all made relatively moot the next night thanks to a comfortable Chelmsford win back at the Riverside and ultimately the entire weekend was two things; a superb weekend of hockey that advertised South 1 as a place where good hockey and brilliant for Streatham.

These two sides beating each other is not a surprise in and of itself. They’re very different and it was a fascinating clash of styles and cultures. I criticised Slough’s lack of flexibility with their game plan in the past and I’ve criticised Chelmsford’s tendency to back off from really putting their foot on the throat in the past, both of those came out here and that’s what Streatham will exploit because whilst Streatham at times are a bulky juggernaut that changes course slowly, they do exploit the weaknesses of opponents in time.

Irrespective of that, this was a superb game of hockey. It was fantastic value for money and gave you all the bits that you want out of a game.

For the Jets, in spite of Christian Mohr scoring a hattrick, there was only one player getting the beers and that was Ruari McGibbon. Aside from the fact that neither Mohr brother nor Jack Goodchild need a man of the match accolade, this was arguably McGibbon’s coming out party. Having patiently waited behind Brett Massey this season, an injury late in the week meant that the former Junior Jet who turned 18 on Christmas Eve was thrown into a massive occasion. At the start he did look a bit nervous and potentially will want a couple of the early goals back but his defence played well in front of him and he grew into the game. He stayed calm in the frantic moments in front of him, he started to make more and better saves as the game went on. It obviously didn’t go as well the following night and there’s no shame in losing to a good team but he did also beat that good team. The pipeline of talent at Slough rumbles on.

The Chieftains at times looked like they just didn’t quite click into gear. They have all the tools, they have a group of talented players but they couldn’t outwork Slough and that burned them. There were mistakes made that were capitalised on, there was frustration creeping in and there was just not enough of an answer to the questions asked by Slough. They clearly found them the next night, but a 4-point weekend was needed for either of these sides to put pressure on the Redhawks. Points you have are better than points you don’t and whilst hockey wins, both sides will kick themselves after this weekend.

I will say this; if this game comes up again and you can get to it, go. You will not be disappointed.

Lowlight of the night: Seeing Conor Dudley’s name on the Jets gamesheet, realising that he’s old enough to play senior hockey and feeling old. Congrats though, young man.

Highlight of the night: The whole game.

Banners On The Road – Slough Jets vs Invicta Dynamos 18/11/23

Posted: 22/11/2023 | Author: | Filed under: Banners On The Road, NIHL | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

NIHL 1 South

Slough Jets 6-4 Invicta Dynamos

Jets: Goodchild x 3 (1sh, 1 pp, 1eng), Hemmings-Maher, Bradburn, Mohr pp

Dynamos: Springer-Hughes, Huggett x2, Scott

How it fits together: Having done it in Guildford earlier this season and seen separate teams from the same rink, it was exciting to head back to Slough for a different purpose. During their days in the old English Premier League, the Slough Jets were always an entertaining watch. Then when the money ran out and the Zoran Kozic era ended, they disappeared to reform in NIHL2. A National Division 2 title later and after a long rebuild under Lukas Smital, the Jets are now not just being talked about but giving Streatham something that they desperately needed; a challenge.

Also rebuilding in their own way, the Invicta Dynamos have had an inconsistent season but have a variety of top end weapons in South 1. Where the Jets had built on kids, as we know from earlier in the season, Karl Lennon had taken some chances on guys with his roster.

The immediate difference between Jets and Bees games was noticeable right away. Bees games are punctuated by a sudden onrush of fans into the seats just before faceoff. When I arrived at the rink, there was a larger visible queue as well as parents milling about after the junior game but very few turned up later.

The other immediately noticeable thing was the difference in the number of players. Slough took to the ice with a bench at maximum size and Invicta definitely weren’t. Lennon himself was dressed and there were a lot of absentees. The list would also grow after this game.

It was all energy from the Jets to start the game, with the visitors keen to sit back. It gave the impression of making the game a bit one sided when actually it was a lot of effort by the hosts to be rather easily dealt with in the final third. However the pressure was obvious and Slough were crafting chance after chance.

Then out of nowhere, they were behind. The Dynamos had not had many chances but they caught the Jets flat footed. Some neat cycling of the puck saw Ruskin Springer-Hughes take the puck down low and with few options, he fired on net. The puck hit something and it was enough to deflect the puck off of Brett Massey’s equipment and in.

The Dynamos were immediately on the front foot when they were given a powerplay and they immediately felt the sharp end of the Jets’ sword. Jack Goodchild, the league’s top scorer, poked the puck loose and sprinted away. Owen Rider saved the shot but the puck squirted free from under his arm and sat on the goal line. Goodchild, who was averaging 3 points per game heading into the game, was on the spot to poke the loose puck over the line to tie the game.

The first period chugged to its conclusion and the second started in a similar way. The two sides were cancelling each other out until Josh Condren got into an altercation with Lewis Clark. The Dynamos man was called for roughing and this saw the Jets poke their nose in front. On the man advantage, Luke Smital fed Ollie Hemmings-Maher who used the screen in front of Rider to good effect and ripped it home to give the Jets the lead.

However the Dynamos hit back almost immediately. Mads Thune’s shot was tipped in front of Rider by Tommy Huggett to tie the game at 2-2. From here the visitors realised that they needed to press and see what they could do before the legs on the bench started to tire.

Instead they were handed two gifts. The first saw Invicta go to a tried and tested tactic for many years, tee up Dan Scott for a shot. Massey read the shot well and pushed out his blocker to deflect it away. However the Jets’ goalie got the angles wrong and instead of meeting the meat of his equipment, it clipped the bottom edge, sending the puck careening downwards into his own net.

The second came a few minutes later. Having upped the intensity, sensing that now was their chance to try and convince their younger opponents that they were in charge, the Dynamos sprung the two one one. Tommy Huggett looked up, saw the pass and fired it across but it didn’t find his team mate. Instead the puck took a massive deflection off of Timo Lindgren and found its way past Massey to make it 4-2. As the second period came to an end, the Jets looked lost, seemingly putting effort into just doing anything.

That second period break came at the right time for the Jets. They needed a regroup and a rethink.

The Jets came flying out of the dressing room, pun intended and pushed Invicta onto the back foot. The Dynamos were expecting this however and seemed initially to be dealing well with the pressure. However they hadn’t, and I confess I hadn’t either, banked on Kyle Bradburn just appearing out of nowhere and firing past the glove of Rider less than 5 minutes into the third.

The Jets kept pushing but fell foul of the official. Luke Smital was called for elbowing, which sorry to the Jets fans around me as it was 100% an elbow, and then Seb Mohr was called for tripping. They survived the Dynamos powerplay and when the visitors were called for too many men, it seemed that the door was open.

Then Joe Stephenson had a brain fart and opened the door wide open for them. Seemingly goaded into reacting by Jack Goodchild, Stephenson threw off his gloves and started throwing hands. The issue is that Goodchild didn’t reciprocate, utterly uninterested in fisticuffs. Stephenson got a 5 and a game miscondcut for fighting the unwilling combatant and the Jets shot the Dynamos down.

Goodchild struck during the period of 5on3 as the neat passing gave him space to skate into and pick the top corner of the net to tie the game. The powerplay continued and eventually came the hammer blow. The move to feed Goodchild was repeated in the opposite direction, Seb Mohr taking the feed beating Rider past his blocker to make it 5-4 with just over three minutes to play.

An exhausted Dynamos didn’t have the legs or ideas to come back, struggling even to get the space to get Owen Rider out of the net for the extra attacker but when they did, Smital and Goodchild played a bit of hot potato with the puck, Goodchild eventually slotting into the empty net for his hattrick and his 20th goal in his 13th game this season.

The Dynamos will rightly see this as the one that got away. The short bench obviously didn’t help but they tried and did all the right things. They couldn’t make the Jets for energy or speed so they didn’t try to. They knew what they had, veteran savvy and the ability to disrupt a heavily passing orientated game.

Whilst there was a lot of injuries and guys missing, the big names were there and mostly seemed to be effective. Stanislav Lascek and Mads Thune look as good as any import seen at this level. Tommy Huggett, Josh Condren, Ruskin Springer-Hughes and James Laming got stuck in as well. I was also very impressed by the energy and output of Brandon Chard. Thune took the man of the match but it really should have been Dan Scott. Aside from showing repeatedly in this game why he’s arguably one of the best players in this division, he must have played somewhere between 40-45 minutes of this game. The man was a machine.

Ultimately, tired legs combined with Joe Stephenson not heeding the words of Admiral Akbar (it’s always a trap, friends) took their toll. The difference between success and failure are usually thin margins but this really was there for Karl Lennon’s side and they couldn’t drag it over the line.

Slough will obviously be very pleased. Lukas Smital’s young charges were tested, fell behind, faced a bit of adversity and pulled it around. I said last season watching highlights from the Jets that they were a fun team to watch. With my eyes on them and this, my second viewing of them of the season, I can safely say it again that you will not be bored watching this roster.

Still missing Christian Mohr to suspension didn’t seem to bother the top end of the Jets. Jack Goodchild and Christian’s brother Sebastian combined with Luke Smital as the top line and at South 1 level it looks utterly terrifying. Smital, known to South 1 and National Division fans as a gritty and aggressive player happy to go to the front of the net is the perfect foil for Goodchild, a talented finesse goalscorer and Seb Mohr who feels like the second coming of Vanya Antonov. Mohr in particular looked superb in this game although for scoring a shorthanded goal, a powerplay goal and an empty netter, you can’t begrudge the beers going to Goodchild.

However it wasn’t just those three. Up front, Ollie Hemmings-Maher and Roman Cathcart looked solid and the depth forwards like Lewis Clark and Kyle Bradburn appear to have found a solid niche.

It wasn’t Brett Massey’s best night in goal but he did well to recover from a couple of mistakes and keep his composure. His defence didn’t do a lot wrong over the course of the evening and held firm at the end when it needed to.

My big criticism of Slough is they’re almost too structured. Having a coach like Lukas Smital, there was always going to be a system, there was always going to be a lot of passing and everyone needs to buy in. The problem is that it was almost too obvious at times. Invicta had long periods where it looked like they’d solved Slough a bit, forcing the young side in a bit of a panic and just doing the same thing faster and hoping for better results. The youthful exuberance is great but it must be tempered with calm heads and ultimately a plan B. If they develop one, a really solid one, this team could win the championship and that’s not hyperbole.

All in all, this was a good game. Everyone told me that Streatham vs Chelmsford would be the game of the weekend but as Streatham cruised to a 6-0 win, I think for once I can claim to be right.

Lowlight of the night: The Dynamos third goal, oofff.

Highlight of the night: There was a moment in the first where Seb Mohr and Dan Scott were battling for the puck and it was just superb viewing.

Banners On The Road – Oxford City Stars vs Slough Jets 24/9/23

Posted: 26/09/2023 | Author: | Filed under: Banners On The Road, NIHL | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

NIHL 1 South

Oxford City Stars 0-6 Slough Jets

Stars:

Jets: S. Mohr x3 (1pp), C. Mohr, L. English

Back to Earth: When the terrible news hit that The Link Centre in Swindon had flooded and the Wildcats’ game with Sheffield was postponed, I hunted around for somewhere to go. Oxford seemed the logical choice. I’d been to Gosport the weekend before so going back so soon wasn’t a first choice, I’ve owned and loaned a jersey and I’d never been. That seemed as good an excuse as any to head north. A big thanks to the City Stars for sorting me out a ticket for the game.

I’d never been to Oxford. My mother was born in the city but it’s a place I’ve gone through and past but never been to. The city has a rich hockey history, the City Stars being founded in 1984 and I’d obviously heard of the club but I’d never seen them. They were a name I’d heard but had never had the chance to actually go. I was always going to go this season and when the weekend became free, the chance needed taking.

After eventually finding somewhere to park and getting into the rink, I was confronted by a sight I wasn’t expecting. The queue to get in was long but I’d not appreciated just how much of a slope that I was walking up. Upon walking in, I found myself in one corner of the rink with the ice surface spread out before me. The rink has bench style seating down the sides and a walkway around the top leading to the seats. With a bumper crowd in for the game, the seats were full as was the walkway with people, including myself, finding any spare space to stand in to watch the game. It’s a fun setup and gave a very close experience as everyone is on top of the action looking down on it.

For the first I took up a position by the Jets fans who had filled what I assume is the away block. After a allowing a wry smile across myself when the rink announcer mentioned Banners On The Wall as Tom Banner was announced on the ice, it was down to business.

The start of the first was a scrappy mess. The hosts got themselves into penalty trouble and their penalty kill unit needed to be on guard but ultimately, Slough didn’t trouble them. Fresh off a win the night before, the Jets had Jack Goodchild quarterbacking the powerplay. This made sense given the former Swindon Wildcat had had a 4+1 night and scored a last minute winner but the rest of the powerplay unit was static, making it easy for the City Stars to clear their lines.

The problem for the Stars was taking all those penalties meant that their forward combinations couldn’t get their legs going. When the first period actually settled down a bit so both teams could play 5 on 5, they were cancelling each other out. Both Brett Massey in the Jets’ goal and Ross Miller at the other end were being called into action. The Jets were having more chances but the Stars arguably had the more dangerous ones, Massey called into the biggest save, stopping a redirect from Dylan Hullaby with his facemask.

However as the first game to a close, another Stars penalty as Christian Mohr goaded Marcus Mitchell into reacting and they finally came unstuck. The Jets found that little bit of extra space and it was enough for Sebastian Mohr to beat Miller in the dying moments of the opening frame.

The start of the second was as attritional as the first had been. It felt like neither team was sure quite how to poke holes in the others’ armour until suddenly, it was 2-0. The Stars gave the Jets just that extra inch of space too much. The Jets’ top line got the puck moving and Goodchild fed Christian Mohr this time for the shot past Miller for 2-0.

It was 3-0 in the last minute of the second after more elongated periods of Oxford trying but failing to create as Seb Mohr got his second of the night. Blown coverage from the Stars again gave the Jets space which saw them concede.

The third was sadly just a horror show for the hosts as the game got beyond them and the Jets were able to move the puck around at will with Oxford’s forwards seemingly stuck in second gear.

Seb Mohr completed his hattrick, a shot rebounding hard off of Miller and right to Mohr for the easy conversion. The fifth came as the result of a very good screen from Jack Goodchild allowing Liam Clark’s point shot to find a way home. The sixth came as Ollie Hemmings-Maher fed Lewis English from behind the Stars net with just under 6 minutes to go. From there the game meandered lazily to its conclusion.

Slough look good, not perfect but very good. Brett Massey’s shutout almost seemed lost at times given the attacking display but make no mistake, he was challenged in the first and second to keep the net clean. The third was virtually no challenge for him but it said something about how his teammates played for him when, with the game long over as a contest, first and second line guys were throwing themselves in front of shots to make sure that he got that shutout. His defence almost went unnoticed which is pretty much what you want.

However the Jets’ top line were understandably the stars of the show, pardon the pun. The Mohr Brothers and Goodchild ran the evening from minute one to final buzzer and once they really got going in the second, it was very tough to stop them. The other forwards were there to keep the pressure on and did the job admirably. The question for the Jets is what happens when and if that top line is shut down in an adequate way. The Jets have a very obvious spearhead and if it gets dented for any reason then it will be interesting to see if the forward depth can step in and pull them over the line. I was impressed by Jacob Soper though, can’t forget to mention him.

I said that the Jets were fun when I watched their highlights last season, they delivered in person in spades.

As for Oxford, in front of their biggest crowd for some time, it was less star and more meteorite crashing to Earth. They fluffed their lines big time.

It’s a shame as there’s clearly a lot of promise there but it’s a matter of all the pieces doing their jobs together at the right time. After having a really good chance through Hullaby, there was no driving of the net. The early penalties made it hard for the Stars to find a rhythm but it seemed that going forward they got no rhythm at all going. Simon Anderson’s side looked stifled in attack and it became clear that goals were going to be hard to come by on the night as all the big names misfired.

Ross Miller did find up until the ballooning rebound for the Jets’ 4th goal and his defence tried but it was one of those nights where nothing seemed to work. Danny Williams got man of the match for his effort though I was impressed by Harry Hatfield who I’m informed was only -1 on the night despite his large amount of ice time.

The Stars need to find a way to come back and not dwell too much on this. The issue for the Stars is this is 1 goal in 2 games and 11 conceded. They need to find their scoring skates soon.

Will I be back in Oxford? Absolutely. The atmosphere that Shane Moore is trying to cultivate was fun and I love the building itself. However if I return and the scoreline is similar, I venture that I’ll be banned.

Lowlight of the night: Apart from some of the excessive and utterly lacking in creativity in terms of swearing from a section of the the home fan base, just how Oxford looked so blunt in attack.

Highlight of the night: Seb Mohr looks the absolute business.

Goodnight and Good Luck – Marcel Balaz and Roman Cathcart

Posted: 18/07/2023 | Author: | Filed under: Bison, Good Night and Good Luck, NIHL | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The number of remaining Bison is now even lower with the announcement that Marcel Balaz has signed for Bees IHC and Roman Cathcart joins the Slough Jets.

Marcel Balaz. Photo (c) Jo Loat

34 year old Balaz came to Britain off the back of a relatively standard resume for an Eastern European coming to this country. Balaz had an extensive career in his native Slovakia, coming through the youth system at Extraliga club Kosice. Like many Slovaks he was loaned out a lot and split time between Kosice and teams in the Slovak 2nd tier where he was a prolific point scorer, mostly with HC 46 Bardejov. After time with Michalovce and Humenne, Balaz moved to France in 2019 to join Dunkerque.

After muddling through the pandemic as part of Albatros de Brest, Balaz joined Clermont who had an astronomically bad year. Winning single digit number of games, he was announced by the Bison to more derision than fanfare as many opposition fans claimed he wasn’t of the quality for the league. Balaz responded by scoring 25 goals and 66 points in 52 games, including a last minute game winner over the Bees in Slough.

When Marcel Balaz signed for the Herd, I said that he needed to be Michal Klejna than Filip Martinec. Thankfully he was that. Many people felt and said that Balaz wasn’t good enough for the National Division, I said he was and I think that, in the main, I was right on that. An import who is over a point per game is what you’re after and he did what he needed to. He lead the team in shorthanded goals and had 4 game winners, the numbers speak of a man who did his job as best as he could on a team that didn’t live up to its potential.

Where Balaz really excelled though was all the little things. Marcel Balaz is a workhorse. He passes well, he works hard, he goes into the corners he backchecks. He does all the bits you want all your top end players to do. As a player you want your top end guys to have a well rounded game and to do a bit of everything. As the team’s number one centre, he was defensively responsible, distributed the puck and put up points.

The issue for Marcel was that he was less visible at the flashy things and really good at those things people don’t pay as much attention to. This in itself isn’t a terrible thing but in a two import league as the National Division was last season, a guy who isn’t as potent in attack or at least couldn’t put the team on his back and drag a team through sometimes feels like the wrong man to have.

I don’t think this is necessarily fair to Balaz, he’s a very good hockey player but I think a three import league suits him better. Like his former team mate Gaël Lubwele, depending on who the Bees sign, Balaz can now be set up to succeed a bit better. Freed from being arguably asked to do too much, a team with a couple of decent solid goalscorers in Dom Gabaj, Vanya Antonov and Edgars Landsbergs who Balaz played with at times in Basingstoke, means that the Slovak can focus more on his natural game.

Roman Cathcart. Photo (c) Jo Loat

At the other end of the experience scale is Roman Cathcart. The 16-year-old was added into the Bison roster alongside Ollie Hemmings-Maher on what was effectively a 4 way contract seeing the two play for the Bison u18s, the Basingstoke Buffalo, Slough Jets and the Bison across the season.

In 2022/23 Cathcart saw minimal time at the lower levels, scoring 7 points in 5 games at u18 and an incredible 5 points in his lone South 2 appearance with the Buffalo. The majority of his time came at South 1, scoring 2 goals and 9 points in 20 games with Slough and a lone assist in 11 games with the Herd in the National Division.

I’ve said it a few times, but it bears repeating here. I really enjoyed watching Roman Cathcart play. On the Zero Pucks Given podcast at the end of the season when talking about Slough, I said in a season that saw the Bison struggle that one of the better parts of it was watching the Bison’s teenage duo race about. Where Hemmings-Maher was more scoring threat and finesse, Cathcart is a bathtub’s load of physicality.

At 16 years old, Roman is already a very big lad. Like his older brother, Ty, like his relatives the Bairds, Roman was not built to go round you but through you and watching him go chasing after people with zero care of fear was enjoyment personified.

There’s some refining to do obviously. It’s very easy to pigeonhole players of Roman’s skillset and want them to be like Tom Wilson but he really could be a British version of Tom Wilson. 9 points from 20 games at 16 is a very promising start and hopefully Jets’ coach Lukas Smital, a man with a real track record of developing youngsters, can utilise Roman to his potential. He doesn’t and won’t be getting top line minutes as a 17-year-old next season but I’ll certainly be checking out Jets games to see how he progresses. We talk about smoothing down the edges of younger players but some players were made to be sandpaper.

Both players are certain to be popular at their respective Berkshire sides, albeit for different reasons. We wish them both well.