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 – 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 – Swindon Wildcats vs Telford Tigers 20/1/24
Posted: 23/01/2024 Filed under: Banners On The Road, NIHL | Tags: Banners On The Road, NIHL, swindon wildcats, telford tigers Leave a commentNIHL National Division
Swindon Wildcats 3-0 Telford Tigers
Wildcats: Nell pp, Malasinski, Tower
Tigers:
The Grind: I stepped out into the darkness. For whatever reason the only light around me was the lights shining from out of the Link Centre itself. A swimming gala meant that my preferred parking space was gone and I was left parking in the pitch black.
After ambling my way into the rink and finding out the faceoff was delayed by half an hour, I headed to the corner, where I stood with the members of Maccas Talk Hockey and others to watch the game.
This was a game I was looking forward to for a number of reasons. Aside from being within easy driving distance, Swindon are a fun team to watch. Telford are a side with a lot of guys that I respect on it and I’d not seen them live for some time. Both teams had played on the Friday evening and this was an interesting set of circumstances to see both sides. How would the hosts deal with the emotional outpouring the night before in beating Milton Keynes in the first leg of the cup semi final? How would Telford respond to losing 5-1 to Leeds less than 24 hours previously?
The answer was, initially, slowly. This wasn’t unreasonable, in the main. With this being the second of three games in three days for both the Wildcats and the Tigers, the idea of energy conservation made sense. It wasn’t that neither side wasn’t trying but the feeling out process that usually besets games, rather than being tentative was just being done at three quarter speed. Also, given Telford have always thrived when grinding teams down, that they might play the long game wasn’t a huge surprise.
The problem was, at least from the experience of the neutral watching the game, the first period didn’t get out of that gear. When updating on Twitter/X, I called the first period “pedestrian” which I maintain was a fair assessment. There were powerplays in both directions but the defences did a really good job of nullifying the attacks. The hosts had probably edged the frame on the number of quality chances but the game needed something more.
The second period provided a swapping of momentum but no real improvement in the flow of the game itself. Telford were by far the better side in this frame, having more shots and troubling Renny Marr more than the hosts troubled Brad Day. What the Tigers were lacking was that little bit of attacking creativity. The Wildcats defence was being stretched but not strained to the point of making a deadly mistake. If Telford’s attack was lacking bite, the Swindon one was lacking cohesion. It was passes astray, nothing flowing and just feeling a touch disjointed.
After 40 minutes, the game was needing something, anything to bring it to life. People around me were pondering if they’d ever seen a game finish regulation at 0-0 After killing off a penalty taken by Gaël Lubwele late in the second, the Canadian drew a penalty out of Henry Adams early in the third and cometh the hour, cometh the Swindon powerplay. It was the textbook style seen many a time where the puck was moved around and there, at the hashmarks was Aaron Nell to slam the pack past Day to finally break the duck and a collective sigh of relief came from most of the fans in attendence.
Then, moments later it was 2-0 as the audience blinked and Tomasz Malasinski had ripped a shot past Day from the hashmarks.
From that point on, it looked like Telford would struggle to score though they continued to put the pressure on. The game had become necessarily more open, the Tigers forced to push the pace of the game more than they’d needed to in the previous 46 minutes as they now needed goals. This did allow the Wildcats chances as well, Glenn Billing ringing a shot off of the corner of post and bar but both sides came close. The Tigers’ best chance came as they attempted to bundle over the line with a few people in front, only to be denied by Marr’s best snow angel and the whistle of Mr Pickett.
Instead what came shortly after was the hammer blow. A shot from Lubwele rebounded back to him so he shot again. A heavy deflection off of a Tigers’ stick saw the puck spiral through the air. Colby Tower, not one to give up on a play, thrust his stuck towards the puck enough for the puck to deflect off of the shaft of his stick and over the line. From there, all that was needed was for the host to concentrate and allow Renny Marr the shutout to add to his tally.
This was not the greatest game of hockey that I’ve ever seen. As an entertainment spectacle, it was an encounter that left a lot to be desired. The game didn’t flow very well, both teams stifled each other at points and neither side seemed to have many ideas in terms of attack.
Telford will obviously be frustrated to be shutout but there were a couple of positives to be taken from the game for them. 3 goals conceded or not, it was a decent defensive performance. Against a team like Swindon who have been scoring for fun recently, Tom Watkins’ side did a really good job of not letting Swindon get into their rhythm for over two thirds of the game. Rhodes Mitchell-King got man of the match and it’s entirely fair because the Tigers’ blueline group gave a solid performance even in the third.
The problem for the Tigers was just the lack of any attacking bite. What they did to Swindon at the back, the Wildcats also did to them. However where Swindon could rely on an extra bit of quality to make something happen, the Tigers felt a bit hit and hope. I hate to say it, but they missed a Jason Silverthorn type.
For Swindon, it was a case of repeating an old maxim; good teams find a way. If you can play below par and then not only win but shutout the other team, you’d take that. The flip side of the disjointed and clunky attempts at offence is the patience that they showed. It’s easy to be frustrated when things don’t work but the Wildcats persevered and got the result. They were value for it.
Lowlight of the night: That it took two periods for the game to come to life.
Highlight of the night: The Nell goal was nice
Banners On The Road – Swindon Wildcats vs Sheffield Steeldogs 16/12/23
Posted: 19/12/2023 Filed under: Banners On The Road, NIHL | Tags: Banners On The Road, NIHL, sheffield steeldogs, swindon wildcats Leave a commentNIHL National Division
Swindon Wildcats 8-2 Sheffield Steeldogs
Wildcats: Lubwele x3, Malasinski, Sayers, Jones, Whitfield, Plews
Steeldogs: Kirk, Dancer
Finding the missing Link: I had a ticket to the game back on 23rd September and remember getting a message from Ben Callaghan, the Wildcats press officer at the time explaining what had happened, I resolved at the time to be at the first game back, whenever that happened.
As time ticked on, many of us wondered when that would be. The extent of the damage was so great to the Link Centre that the word was originally January for the return at best so when the word came that December was about to be Hockey Month in Swindon, I readied myself for buying tickets.
Aside from someone driving out of Link Avenue with full beams on and nearly blinding me, it was as easy as ever getting into the building. Upon entering the rink, I was greeted with two things; the light reflecting off of the ice and the smell of industrial solvent. The Link, as it stands, is not full done. Behind one of the goals is still cordoned off and the flooring in parts is temporary but it was there. It was open with people inside it.
The Wildcats took to the ice for warm-up to a thunderous applause as the Steeldogs took to the ice with a number of absentees such as Matt Bissonnette, Jack Brammer and Lee Haywood and added an array of youngsters.
It was the hosts, clearly chomping at the bit to get going who put on the immediate pressure and got an early breakthrough. After the first line were unable to score, the second line made an impact. Reed Sayers’ pass set Colby Tower into space and a neat pass found Gaël Lubwele to fire home just after the two minute mark.
The Steeldogs didn’t have much of a response to the near constant pressure from the Wildcats. The visitors, short on bodies as they were, just felt slightly disorganised and unable to get much going. Their play felt staccato and had little flow to it.
They did however get a lifeline. A powerplay opportunity gave the Steeldogs some time and space to move the puck about and with their hosts stretched, they struck. The pass came across the front of the net and Jonathan Kirk had pinched in off of the blueline to get the puck past Renny Marr for 1-1.
The response from the Wildcats at full strength was to give them no quarter. The hosts’ second goal was a lovely, flowing move that the defence had no response for, Glenn Billing feeding it for Tomasz Malasinski to make it 2-1.
The first ended early and it made me and a few others hold their breath. Mr Ions and Mr Jarvie as officials were unhappy with the ice in one of the corners. Being as the game was in the 19th minute, the sensible decision was taken to take the first break there and allow some work to be done.
It seemed touch and go for a bit after work was done, the ice cut then more work done but eventually the first was allowed to restart, was completed and the second started shortly afterwards.
The Wildcats, finally at home after so long, were not in the mood to be accommodating hosts. An early powerplay saw Edgars Bebris set Reed Sayers away for a fantastic shot into the top corner and less than two minutes later, Chris Jones had added to the tally to make it 4-1 and it felt like the rout was on as the visitors just had no way to stop what was coming towards them.
A timeout and a bizarre shift were the Steeldogs’ top line were on the ice for at least two minutes yielded very little offensively but they did manage to keep the Wildcats at bay for about 10 minutes of game time which was an improvement on the performance seen up to that point.
However it wouldn’t last as the resolve lessened and the pressure in front of net told, albeit the Wildcats 5th came from someone less well known for his scoring, Stevie Whitfield’s shot from the blueline deflecting off of a Steeldogs player past Dimitri Zimozdra and in. A second from Lubwele just before the end of the second making it 6-1 felt like the game was over with 20 minutes to go.
Zimozdra was replaced at the start of the second by Dan Crowe. It should be noted that Crowe is clearly a very talented netminder, his performances for MK last season and Sheffield this speak of a young man with a bright future but he had a nightmare first three minutes in this game. Inside a minute, Tyler Plews scored a goal similar to that of Whitfield earlier just 55 seconds into the third. Shortly after, playing the puck behind his net, Crowe cleared it straight into the netting to the point where he played the puck and stared at the ceiling in one fluid motion. Then on the ensuing delay of game induced powerplay, Lubwele scored his hattrick goal.
There was a brief spark of life from the visitors and a first Steeldogs goal for Aiden Dancer, appearing at the back post to tap past Tyler Perre who had replaced Marr after the 7th Wildcats goal. From there, the Steeldogs gave their youngsters a ton of ice time and the game meandered towards the conclusion that the script probably desired. The Wildcats were back where they belonged and the roster had shown up to make sure it was a happy homecoming.
This was, not by design, my first time watching the Sheffield Steeldogs this season after the change of ownership and the dumpster fire that surrounded it. Much like watching Fife last Wednesday, it’s harsh to judge the entire season solely on a short benched roster, but the lack of any real game plan bar “try not to concede” that was confusing. With a Wildcats side clearly very emotionally invested in the game and pushing hard, you’d have expected a team to sit back and absorb pressure, yes but also to try going for old fashioned road hockey and trying for the counter. There wasn’t much of that. In fact there was more of it when the youngsters were let loose in the third period.
On that note, for a game that clearly went all kinds of wrong, Jason Hewitt deserves credit for taking the reigns off and letting the kids play. Dancer got the goal but Tate Shudra looks like he will be the absolute business as this level before too long.
Ultimately this was a night for the Steeldogs to take on the chin and move on from. There will be other days.
Swindon are a side I’ve inadvertently seen a lot of this season and things have slowly come together for them. Once they got past the initial shock earlier this season of all that had happened and once they were settled, they’ve slowly gotten better and better till the point that they’re at now where they are legitimately contenders for the playoffs come the end of the season.
On a night where emotion could have gotten the better of them or the occasion could have overwhelmed what was happening, Swindon put on a consummate team performance. The Steeldogs weren’t good in the game, they were downright bad but Swindon were also very good. Rolling their lines frequently, everything that needed to clicked on the big night. Aaron Nell’s side got scoring across the lines, goals from the back end as well as 4 goals from the very impressive second line of Lubwele, Tower and Sayers, the later who has to be one of the underrated young prospects in the league.
The real headlines in Swindon of course will be reserved for the continued run of Tomasz Malasinski, seemingly on yet another run of his life. The top line for the Cats of the Pole with Aaron Nell and Balint Pakodzi looked like it would score at will, even more so than the second line that scored more than them. Class is permanent and Malasinski is class. Steve Nell recently called him the best all round player in the league and it’s a fair argument on current form.
Top drawer imports aside, the real story here for the Wildcats is just how cohesive it all was for them. There are nights where you play well and win, other nights where you play well and lose but on this night when everyone was finally back in the building and willing them on, everything worked. Maybe the ice had its issues, maybe the lack of signal made the card machines fail but it didn’t matter. The hockey was good and Swindon fans get to see it up close and, more importantly, at home.
Lowlight of the night: The injury to Vlads Vulkanovs, never nice to see.
Highlight of the night: The Sayers goal was very pretty.
Banners On The Road – Solway Sharks vs Swindon Wildcats 4/11/23
Posted: 08/11/2023 Filed under: Banners On The Road, NIHL | Tags: Banners On The Road, NIHL, solway sharks, swindon wildcats Leave a commentNIHL National Division
Solway Sharks 4-8 Swindon Wildcats
Sharks: Gardiner, Dunbar, S. Henderson, Tonnar
Wildcats: Cowley PP, Lubwele x2 (1pp), Jones, Nell, Whitfield, Malasinski pp, Bullas
Given the length of the trip, this piece will be part travel log, part hockey analysis and I make no apologies for that.
What a long strange trip it’s been: As my front door shut behind me, I can tell what that look from my wife meant, “I love you and you’re insane for doing this”. The trip one way to Dumfries in the car was listed by Google Maps as 6.5 hours. This doesn’t account for stopping anywhere so of course it was a longer trip than that. After stops at such scenic locations as Warwick Services, Keele Services and Lancaster Services with its absurd tower, the answer to the question of “how far does a tank of petrol last in a Honda Jazz?” is from Southampton to the Morrisons in Penrith.
Eventually I made it into the AirBnB at 6pm on that Friday night. After a bit of a hunt for some food, battered haggis and chips with a can of IrnBru, and a call home to check in, I ended up going for a late night walk to get my bearings. The AirBnB was listed as a 4 minute walk from the Dumfries Ice Bowl. It was half of that at best and suddenly I was confronted by the place, lights all on in the darkness. I poked my head around the door as the Sharks have their last training and watch for a few moments before heading out into the night. Someone I was due to meet there has had to change their plans so after taking in the night air, I headed back to get some sleep knowing I’ll see enough of the place tomorrow.
Saturday was a jam packed day. After breakfast, I sat down to prep my commentary notes. The joy of doing the colour commentary is the level of prep is generally a little bit lighter than play by play because you need to add context rather than necessarily be utterly factual. I spent some time refamiliarising myself with the teams, getting basic stats down and a few bits of information before heading out to explore Dumfries itself.
Dumfries isn’t a big town by any stretch of the imagination. It strikes me as a place that if you live there, then you live there but you need to go elsewhere to do stuff, a fact that was re-enforced by some that I spoke to. In many ways, this is where the Sharks could step in and make themselves that go to attraction for the local area. Football is obviously the big sport in that part of Scotland but it strikes me that in a town that doesn’t have many attractions to locals, Solway have a chance to fill that gap in the market.
However for me on a tourist run, I loved the place. Dumfries is picturesque without feeling overly busy. They make a big deal of the famous 18th century poet, Robert Burns, who lived in Dumfries for three years before his death, and the trail around the town was a great way to get to see the place and get some culture in whilst working off the dinner from the night before.
After lunch of liver, neeps and tatties and a pint in The Cavans Arms, a brief nap led into the warm-up act. For someone who grew up hearing the classified football results, the name Queen of the South was one of those little eccentricities that you heard but was of another world.
Instead, walking into Palmertston Park felt like walking back in time. The modern 5g pitch belied the classic look of the place. The two ageing looking stands with seats on either side combined with a terrace behind the goal not in use and the other that I chose to stand in felt like a throwback to another era. The tea bar wasn’t a shack in the corner, instead it was a hole in the wall at the back of the terrace, allowing a chance to get one of my favourite photos from the trip. Top of the table Falkirk went ahead early but credit to Queens who fought back, got an equaliser and looked the more likely to score in the second half. 1-1 was probably a fair result. As the crowd headed out of the stadium past the Ice Bowl, I headed back to my digs to get my stuff and the real event of the day.
The game: Swindon fans were making their way into the rink by the time I get in to the Ice Bowl. Having had such a long journey, some were milling about in the foyer but most headed to the bar and cafe area upstairs. After shaking a few hands, including that of “Mr Showbiz” John Strange, the Sharks’ co-owner, assistant coach Jaime Thomson introduces me to Sharks TV voice, Owen Blackstock. Owen is a tall man, at least head and shoulders taller than me and I learn quickly that he’s incredibly well prepared. I get copies of the gamesheet, take a walk around the ice surface, a custom I have when visiting a rink for the first time, and before I know it, Owen and I are stood at the back of Block B, headsets on and ready to go.
The pre-game tributes to Adam Johnson are fantastically observed by everyone. As this was the first game for either side since the tragic passing of the Nottingham Panthers’ forward, it was a necessary memorial for the shock that this was to the hockey world that happened in a place and involved teams central to the sport in this country. However eventually, it was time to get back to the business of the sport that we all love.
The first period itself was one that ultimately felt like the teams were cancelling other out for large chunks of the frame. After an initial Swindon surge in the opening stages, the teams seemed to come to something of an impasse before Nolan Gardiner broke the deadlock. However from that point, the story was the inability of the Solway Sharks to learn from their mistakes. The hosts ended the period behind after taking two penalties and conceding two goals as Russ Cowley and Gaël Lubwele found the net after some defensive breakdowns.
The second started similar to the first but rather than weathering the storm, the Sharks let the Wildcats almost drown them. Goals in short order from Chris Jones and Aaron Nell made it 4-1 and it felt like an uphill battle was on. Solway kept getting themselves into penalty trouble but the sides managed to keep the goals flowing. John Dunbar managed to capitalise on a rebound from a Stuart Kerr shot to make it 4-2 but a second of the night from Lubwele, a shot teed up for the former Bison at the hashmarks. Scott Henderson, one of the top scorers in North 1 last season, has had a quiet start to the campaign and reduced the deficit to two before a seeing eye shot from Stevie Whitfield deflected off of a home player’s stick past Calum Hepburn and in to make it 6-3.
A three goal deficit is able to be overcome but the near immediate goal from Tomasz Malasinski to make it 7-3 early in the third made it feel like game over. Struan Tonnar scored arguably the goal of the night though, the Solway captain skating out of defence and striking the puck past the ear of Renny Marr who seemed to lose sight of the puck or was put off by the off-speed shot. However the Sharks were still a bit at sea where effort couldn’t bring execution and a well taken goal late on put the game to bed. A shot from Edgars Bebris was tipped expertly in front by Sam Bullas and at 8-4, the game wound down to its conclusion.
Swindon looked solid enough in this game. It was road hockey played to perfection. Off the back of a long bus trip, they got the legs moving quickly and applied pressure in all the right areas. They were challenged, they certainly didn’t have it all their own way but this is a game where that extra bit of experience and a settling of the Wildcats’ situation won out. This established core knows how to win hockey games and they adapted where their hosts didn’t. They didn’t fall foul of the officiating, they stuck to their game plan and gave a very solid team performance in a rink that they’ve not played in together. Malasinski got the beers on this night which was fair enough albeit there wasn’t a particular standout due to the nature of how the Wildcats approached the game. I might have leaned towards Lubwele for the two goals but I would.
The Sharks continue to lack that little bit of nous as a group. One of the things that they’ve not managed to quite get sorted is their repeated making of the same mistakes. The defensive breakdowns in front of net, the lack of learning how the officials were approaching the game, they just didn’t seem to adapt appropriately to the situation that they found themselves in. It’s that naivety that they still appear to have weeks into the season that could ultimately prove to be their undoing when it comes to making the playoffs.
Don’t misconstrue that, they’re an entertaining team with some very good individuals in it. I have a lot of time for Kell Beattie who took the man of the match beers but for me, the answer was Callum Boyd. Boyd has not committed full time to the club this season, work commitments outside of hockey sees him on a two-way with Kilmarnock Thunder, but this was a stellar performance. Boyd missed warm up due to finishing work late, missed most of the first then proceeded to hit the ice like a freight train and be the most impactful and impressive player for his club despite his diminutive size. Ultimately though for the Sharks, it was summed up well by Tonnar in his post match interview. When asked how he felt, he had one word for the assembled masses. “S***e!”
A few beers, some good chats, slightly confusing Russ Cowley with my presence and a simple sentence from Sharks’ coach Martin Grubb, “you’ll have to come again won’t you.”
Yes, I will.
Crystal Ball Thinking part 3 – BOTW previews the National Division
Posted: 01/09/2023 Filed under: NIHL, Preview | Tags: NIHL, solway sharks, swindon wildcats, telford tigers Leave a commentWelcome back to the third and final part of BOTW’s National Division preview. 8 teams have been given an examination and we’re down to the final 3. Remember that you can check out part one and part two. 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.
Solway Sharks
The Overview: On Sunday 16th October 2022, in their 9th game of the season, the Solway Sharks fell 2-1 away at Whitley for their second loss of the season. They would not lose again for the entirety of the campaign. That loss to the Warriors was the only time in 2022/23 that the Sharks lost in regulation. For so long they had been on the outside of the level above looking in. After their demolition of Streatham in the 2022 Division 1 National Final, the calls were loud. After they did it again in 2023 and completed their “Shark Slam”, it seemed as though they would be undeniable. The new ownership came on board and the starting gun was fired. The Kings of the North wanted the whole island to take notice.
Martin Grubb had a few changes to make. The retirements of Richie Bentham and Gordon Horne were known about which were coupled with the departure of Jonathan McBean to Dundee along with Liam Danskin, Cam Hammil and fan favourite, Peter Gapa but the new look Sharks kept the faith in what came before and augmented.
For all the fan favourite names retained like Struan Tonnar, Calum Hepburn and Scott Henderson, there are additions. Bari McKenzie and Liam Stenton were tempted back to Dumfries. Kell Beattie cut Hull out of his deal to commit to Belfast and Solway alone, Curtis Warburton joins to make a superb 1-2 punch in goal and new GM Craig Peacock along with the ownership convinced John Dunbar to try a new on and off ice role. The hype and excitement is palpable in South West Scotland. It’s time for their mettle to be tested.
Biggest Loss: People will point towards Peter Gapa but the biggest loss is their safety net. This team has dominated North 1 for so long that even if they had a setback they knew that they could rebound from it. It will be harder to do that now and the question of how this roster responds to adversity is hanging over them ominously.
Biggest Gain: You can point to Dunbar or Mason Alderson or any of the new imports but the biggest gain is the flip side of the coin from the above. How will they respond to adversity? We don’t know but this is the point. The Solway Sharks stood at a precipice; to push on or to stagnate. The safety net has gone from below the trapeze. It is everything that Martin Grubb has wanted. They want the test. They want to prove that they can do it. The challenge is the reward.
Expectation Floor: This is a total shot in the dark. The floor could literally be the floor. I don’t think they’re the 11th worst team in the league but with so many returnees from the North 1 season, are they good enough for this level? Missing the playoffs is a possibility.
Expectation Ceiling: The ceiling is high, not title winning high but top half certainly if everything goes their way. Maybe this time Coventry calls without a date against Streatham.
**EDIT TO ADD** Shortly after the publication of this piece, Solway announced that Sharks’ general manager, Craig Peacock will ice for the Sharks. This gives us the somewhat unusual situation of the general manager being coached by his technical subordinate. British hockey does love its knots that it ties itself.
Does this ultimately change my prediction for the Sharks? No. Peacock strengthens the top 6 but he doesn’t remove or greatly answer all of the questions. Do the Sharks have the depth across the squad? Can the new players gel with the established core from the division 1 domination? Time will tell.
Swindon Wildcats
The Overview: The joke about the Swindon Wildcats for many years is that they were the best team on paper. Heading into the 22/23 season there was a lot of positivity about the club’s chances. The results were mixed. The performances of Aaron Nell and Tomasz Malasinski were all star worthy as the top two forwards on the team, combining for 90 goals and 211 points. There was also the emergence of some up and coming young talent like Reed Sayers, Jamie Smith, Alfie Druett and son of a local legend, Dylan Lipsey.
However, I bow again to Thomas Graham of The Wildcast; the Wildcats were like a puzzle with all the pieces but it didn’t make a picture. Swindon were inconsistency personified. They were the first team to beat Leeds, they beat Milton Keynes and frequently played well against higher end opposition. They also struggled to beat Bristol till the new year and would frequently trip over against opposition below them. They had firepower galore and an off year from their defence as well as from Renny Marr. Good, not great described the regular season. Disaster would describe the playoffs as they capitulated against Sheffield.
Changes needed to be made to what didn’t work albeit the biggest change fell apart. Reece Kelly’s departure from Swindon without playing a game to go to the EIHL left the Cats with something of a hole defensively. Edgars Bebris remains on defence, something I challenged Aaron Nell about when I interviewed him this summer and the addition of Luc Johnson, another forward converted to the blueline, adds to the unit with the option of dropping Russ Cowley back if needed. Up front, the addition of Gaël Lubwele alongside the returning Malasinski and Colby Tower, his linemate at Nipissing University adds physicality to a top 6 that needed some extra “metaphorical” punch where it had a lot of top end skill scoring. It looks strong but how strong? We’re hopefully not looking at a paper tiger, pardon the mixed metaphor.
Biggest Loss: It really is Reece Kelly. I highlighted his flaws in the Bristol section from last season but he was what Swindon needed on their back end. They don’t get it and there are few options available.
Biggest Gain: Lubwele helps but Glenn Billing returning to Swindon fresh off a cup win in Peterborough and arguably his best season as a senior is a huge addition in terms of creativity and playmaking for them. Rather than needing to rely too heavily on the top line, there’s another really handy puck mover to do some heavy lifting.
Expectation Floor: The Wildcats are too good on first look to miss the playoffs but the bottom end of the top 8 beckons if it all goes sideways and they don’t address their defensive deficiencies.
Expectation Ceiling: I’ll sound mad here but if the stars align, the title is not entirely out of their reach. They might need to win a lot of high scoring games but the top 6 looks very good.
Telford Tigers
The Overview: Heading into last season, the Telford Tigers were the only champions that the National Division had known. The grinding, consistent machine that was the Tigers had been underrated and under appreciated to everyone’s peril. Everyone knew that it would be a tough to keep that momentum but I don’t think anyone in Shropshire knew just how tumultuous of a season it would be. With Austin Mitchell-King and Andy McKinney arguably not replaced, a mix of departures (Dan Mulcahy, Bayley Harewood) and then unavailability, injury and poor form just scuppered the Tigers’ chance to get the wheels really turning. Jonathan Weaver was in and out of the line-up due to stuff outside of hockey, Jason Silverthorn and Nick Oliver’s injuries was bad enough to see both shut down for the season at times, Deaken Fielder broke a leg, it just seemed to be never ending.
However Tom Watkins’ isn’t a bad coach (see more on his thoughts on last season here) and the captures of Tom Carlon, Gareth O’Flaherty and the impressive, Rory Herrman helped turn things around for the Tigers. 7th place was secured and after dispatching of Milton Keynes in the playoff quarter finals, they were within touching distance of the playoff final off the back of Vladmir Luka deciding he would literally do everything himself.
It’s not been a hard reset for the Tigers but they have made some changes. Matty Bloor comes across from the Nottingham Lions to provide a more established backup to Brad Day. There’s not many changes on defence, albeit I think Jack Watkins is better up front myself. Up front is where the additions have come with Brady Heppner and Jesse Sutton added alongside Luka as imports with Harry Ferguson added for extra oomph as Sam Watkins continues to come along nicely.
Biggest Loss: People will say Herrman but the loss of the talismanic Jason Silverthorn who, when fit, has a hockey IQ well above many in the league. He improves any around him.
Biggest Gain: For me, Zaine McKenzie, if he continues his upswing, is going to prove a massive addition up front for the Tigers, given he’ll be training with the Nottingham Panthers.
Expectation Floor: The issue for the Tigers is if they have a season like the last, they run the risk of falling outside the playoffs altogether.
Expectation Ceiling: I’ll say mid table because it’s Telford and they love to prove everyone wrong. I might as well join the line.
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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Goodnight and Good Luck – Gaël Lubwele
Posted: 07/07/2023 Filed under: Bison, Good Night and Good Luck, NIHL | Tags: basingstoke bison, goodnight and good luck, NIHL, swindon wildcats Leave a comment
As we near the end of this series, another name from the Basingstoke Bison roster moves on with the news that Gaël Lubwele has signed for the Swindon Wildcats.
The Montreal born Lubwele played his junior hockey in Quebec before a season in the Western States Hockey League with the Springfield Express in Missouri, where he was the team’s top scorer.
After a year in Albert at Portage College, he moved to North Bay, Ontario to attend Nipissing University. As part of the Lakers’ men’s team, Lubewele was a consistent and impactful player. Playing alongside Colby Tower, with whom he is now reunited at Swindon, Lubwele was the top scorer in his final season of university hockey and was the co-winner of the team’s MVP award.
In his first pro-season, Lubwele was the Bison’s top goal and point scorer finishing with 36 goals and 70 points in 54 games with 135 penalty minutes. He also briefly, according to Wikipedia, owned the MK Lightning.
Wildcats fans are understandably happy with this signing. At the start of last season, it seemed that there was a bit of an uncertainty about players coming to the National Division from USports. It wasn’t a case of people thinking it was bad, they just didn’t know what to expect. USports players had played in the Elite League but had not usually been the players leading the line for the attack and in a 2-import team, that’s what would be expected of forwards.
Lubwele arguably didn’t have much of a choice in a Bison side that needed to lean heavily on its top six. He had quiet stretches for sure but 36 goals in a season shows you just how effective the Canadian was at this level. His shot release in stride was terrifying to watch as keepers just couldn’t get anywhere near it in time. He would also score goals in tight, he would hold off defenders and muscle his way through.
Aaron Nell doesn’t need a first line goal scorer. He has Tomasz Malasinski, he has himself and on that top line is likely to be Balint Pakodzi as that combination worked well last season. Swindon don’t need Gaël Lubwele, top goal scorer. They need the other well documented side of his game. They need a wrecking ball.
Full disclosure: I felt that a fair few of the major penalties that I saw called on Lubwele’s hits last season were unjustified. Some were utterly bang to rights and he has no argument on them, but many felt like he was penalised for hitting incredibly hard. One person involved in the sport in this country told me that Lubwele was a messy hitter, that he didn’t tuck his arms properly and that caused many of his issues. My response was that there’s no penalty for a hit looking messy, is it legal? Ultimately no official is going to get it right 100% of the time but Lubwele ended up sitting out the last weekend of the regular season to make sure he couldn’t pick up another major penalty and miss the playoffs.
There is the risk that Swindon run signing Lubwele if they want him to play to his strengths and ultimately, to what Swindon need. The Wildcats were outmuscled at times last season and the end of their playoff quarter final showed a side frustrated and bullied. Lubwele isn’t there to fight but the physical presence that he provides is something that Swindon lacked up front last season. Tyler Plews on the back end is an old school defenceman and one of the toughest players in the division, Edgars Bebris is a sizeable presence and now on defence, but Swindon lacked a physical presence to lead the forecheck and make other team’s lives miserable. The fact that Lubwele can also put-up points with high end skill makes him a real threat on a Swindon side that also has decent secondary scoring.
Much will be made about a reuniting with his old Nipissing University line mate, Colby Tower but I also believe not being the number one import guy will benefit Lubwele’s play. He’s now cut free from the need to lead the scoring; he gets to be a true agent of chaos, to crash and bang, to force turnovers and then when they think that he’ll just grind them into the dirt and go through them, he’ll dangle them out of their shorts, go round them and score.
That Lubewele and Tower will reunite, at least to begin with, seems a near certainty though who they’re with remains to be seen. A centre like Chris Jones or potentially Russ Cowley who can move the puck feels like an initial starting point or you team them with Sam Bullas and just watch the bodies fly.
Gaël Lubwele, the BOTW Bison player of the year is now not a Bison because he can’t be. He has gone to the club in the division that arguably needed him the most. I can rectify myself to that.
Merci, Gaël et bonne chance.
Banners On The Wall 