Carlon makes the switch to the Lightning

The MK Lightning has confirmed the signing of British forward Tom Carlon for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons; as they continue to show their intent on challenging for EPL honours next season.

It is a great pick-up for Head Coach Nick Poole, as he adds the highly-rated forward to his British contingent. He said that the chance to sign Tom for the Lightning on a two year deal was an opportunity not to be missed. “I’ve spoken with Tom over the past few summers about him coming to play in MK, and I’m very pleased that we have finally captured his signature. He is a big strong player that I’ve admired since I saw him play junior hockey. Over the last few years he has gained confidence and become one of our league’s best British forwards.

“Tom is ambitious, he wants to win trophies and we know he’ll fit right in with our style of play. He’s a very good skater with an excellent shot and will immediately improve our offence, and he brings a lot of experience at international level and also from his time in the Elite league. His size and strength will add to our forecheck and he will be a real thorn in the side of opposition defences.”

Carlon makes the switch to MK for 2013-14.

Carlon makes the switch from the Lightning’s local rivals; the Peterborough Phantoms after three and a half seasons with the Cambridgeshire club.

The Telford born forward began his junior development with the Telford Wildfoxes aged 14 and began to progress through the clubs rankings, with his skill and ability earning him call ups to the Great Britain Under 18 and Under 20 selection between 2003 and 2005. He has captained the GB U18’s and has won several gold medals at international level.

Icing full-time for Telford, Tom also enjoyed guest appearances with the Coventry Blaze in the Elite League and was signed on a permanent basis in 2006; when the club took the League Championship.

In 2007 he made the switch back to the English Premier League and headed south to join the Bracknell Bees. 2008 marked a switch back to his home-town team; however with the Tigers unable to compete in 2009 due to financial reasons he made the switch to join the new league champions for his first spell with the Phantoms. After two seasons he made the switch to join the Jets, but financial difficulties saw him released mid-season and he made a return to the Phantoms.

Tom is very capable in the forward position and has good positioning and awareness on the ice. He is also able to score and will give the Lightning added fire power across their forward lines. However he is not a player that will score 50 goals a season and his abilities are utilised elsewhere. A player that is not afraid to put his body on the line or through a hit when needed; he is a great addition to Poole’s team.

He is coming off the back of his second best season in the EPL in terms of point production having scored 54pts from 21 goals and 33 assists. It will be interesting to see if Tom can once again be part of a championship winning side and what role he will play in MK depending on the further signings made by Poole.

Bison’s Owen calls it a day

Greg Owen retires from ice hockey after 12 seasons.

Basingstoke Bison’s British star, Greg Owen, has announced his retirement from professional ice hockey, just over a week after the conclusion 2012-13 EPL season.

The 31 year old centre, is currently with the national squad ahead of their Division 1A World Championship in Hungary this coming week, however has advised that following the completion of the tournament on 20th April he will be hanging the skates up for good.

Owen got his first taste of ice hockey in 1996-97 icing for the Oxford City Stars in the English Division 1 for only 3 games. Over the next 4 years Owen represented both the GB under 18 and under 20 sides in the World Junior Championships; whilst also registered with the Notre Dame Hounds in the Junior A Saskatchewan Junior Ice Hockey League.

2001-02 saw Owen ice in his first full season for the Hounds, registering 70 points from 63 appearances. The following season saw a return to British shores when he joined the Bracknell Bees in the Ice Hockey Superleague. He split his time between the Bees and Milton Keynes Lightning in the 3rd tier English Premier League. Owen went on to score 63 points from 40 goals and 23 assists during 36 games for the Lightning whilst also helping them to capture the play-off title.

2003-04 saw a return to the Bees in the newly formed British National League (BNL). Owen went on to win the double with the Bees in 2004-05 as they claimed the BNL title and the Challenge Cup in only their second season in the league.

The 2005-06 season marked the first appearance that Owen would make for the Basingstoke Bison, during two separate spells with the Hampshire squad, having been signed from the champions by coach Mark Bernard. With Bernard’s departure in 2006, current Player/Coach Doug Sheppard took over the helm and with Owen back for a second season he formed the infamous partnership with line mates Brad Cruickshank and Greg Chambers. As part of the “Bison Line” Owen went on to have a break-out year in senior hockey scoring 54 points from 53 starts.

Despite the departure of Sheppard, following the appointment of Ryan Aldridge as player/coach of the Bison, Owen returned to the Herd for a third season in 07-08, registering almost a point per game as he racked up 52 points in 54 appearances.

France came a-calling in 2008 as Owen made his first move abroad since his early career to join Briançon in the French Ligue Magnus. A more competitive league than the EIHL saw Owen score just 21 points during the 25 starts. He was also called up to represent GB during their 2010 pre-Olympic qualifying rounds in Poland. However GB finished 3rd in their group and missed out on qualifying for the final Winter Olympic selection.

A year later marked the return back to the UK and the EIHL as Owen joined the Coventry Blaze. He was reunited with former line-mate Chambers and with Head Coach Paul Thompson adding Cruickshank at the 2010 trade deadline, the former “Bison Line” was once again together however this time causing terror for the Blaze. The Blaze tasted success with the capture of the EIHL league title and Owen’s first title in the top flight league.

Despite returning for a further two seasons with the Blaze, they could not reach the same heights as in previous years, and following the conclusion of the 2011-12 season he announced that he would prefer to move closer to home (Reading); sparking a many rumours as to his intended destination.

With Sheppard returning to lead the Bison for the 2012-13 season, he looked to put a competitive team together to launch a full challenge in the EPL. Turning to previous team-mates Sheppard announced that former Bison and 06-7 team-mate, Owen had signed for the season ahead alongside his former line-mate Chambers.

Sheppard lead the Bison to their best ever league finish in the EPL with 2nd and also taking them to their first play-off finals weekend, reaching the semi-finals where they lost to eventual winners Manchester.

Having assembled a competitive team, Sheppard would have surely been hoping to keep the core of his players for the next season, with Owen being one of huge experience and influential to their title challenge.

The loss for the Bison will prove a huge void to fill ahead of the 2013-14 EPL season with Owen still one of the top Brit centres in both the EPL and EIHL. Many expected him to be re-signed by Sheppard for a further season as they continue to lead the Herd charge back to success; however you cannot fault or be angry against a guy that wants to give up a huge part of his life and passion for his family.

Owen is one of those players that can frustrate the hell out of an opposition. He plays a clean, fast and clinical game on the ice. He can create plays and act as a set-up man which was evident during the seasons he spent alongside Cruickshank and Chambers; but he can also hit the net himself when required. His first season in the EPL saw him amass a season high points total from 30 goals and 37 assists for 67 points. He was the second highest point scorer for the Bison, behind only Chambers; and he was also 6th highest British point scorer for the whole league.

Owen played with a level or maturity and experience, which would on some occasions, make him oblivious to the watching fan, as he went about his business on the ice and did it well! He was also a leader and respected by both his team-mates and fellow players.

Sheppard commented to the Basingstoke Gazette, “I am so glad to have played with Greg and he was a great leader for the team. I can understand that he now wants to spend time with his family.”

So what is next for Owen and the Bison? Well I am sure Owen will continue to be involved in ice hockey in some capacity whether it is watching and cheering on the Herd next season or in another way. For Sheppard the search now starts for a replacement and what big shoes they’ll have to fill.

Good luck in everything you do in your future Greg!!!

Bracknell Bees set for new management

A new management team is in order for the EPL’s Bracknell Bees, after the current duo announced they are stepping down after 5 and half seasons in charge at the Hive.

Katie Eleftheriou and Stuart Robinson took over the operating license of the club in December 2007 following the financial collapse of then owner, David Taylor. The pair have guided the club through the hard times over previous years and leave the club in a lot better position than when they took over; both on and off the ice.

The Bees were formed in 1987, under the ownership of John Nike and joined the Division 2 of the Heineken League. Their first honours were gained during the 1989-90 season when they won the English League Division 1 title and gained promotion to the Heineken Premier Division.

The Bees joined the newly formed Ice Hockey Superleague (ISL) for the 1995-96 season and were expected to be one of the smaller teams in comparison to their arena based rivals. However Coach Dave Whistle took the Bees to the title in 1999-00 to claim only the club’s second league title in their history.

The Bees withdrew from the ISL at the end of the 2002-03 season and with Manchester and Ayr ceasing operations; it spelt the end of the ISL as a viable league in Britain. They joined the British National League (BNL) finishing third in their first season. However the team romped to claim the league and cup double during only their second season.
After the double winning season (04-05) John Nike announced that he would no longer be funding the team; however would remain owner of the Bees name/branding. Local estate agent David Taylor stepped up to form a new team and was granted a license by John Nike to use the Bracknell Bees name.

With the BNL folding, the Bees joined the English Premier League, which effectively became the second tier level of British Ice Hockey behind the Elite League.

In only their second season in the EPL, new coach Ryan Aldridge took the team to the league title, whilst also capturing the play-off crown for a season double. In 2007 the Taylor’s announced that they would be taking over ownership of the Basingstoke Bison in the EIHL alongside the Bees and that Aldridge would depart to coach the new team.

The Taylors ran into financial difficulties early in the season and their contract with Planet Ice to run the Bison was terminated. The troubles were mirrored at the Bees and following rumours of unpaid bills, player wages and team unrest, the Taylors announced in December 2007 that they were to relinquish the operating license for the Bees.
This brings us fall circle back round to the current management team of Katie and Stuart.

Just a week after the Taylors walked away from the club Bees fan Katie and Supporters Club chairman Stuart came together to create, Bees Ice Management Ltd; and took over the operating license of the team for the remainder of the season. Despite the off-ice difficulties the Bees had a fairly successful campaign, finishing 3rd in the league, winning the EPL cup and finishing runners up to the Slough Jets in the play-off final.

The following season saw changes afoot for the team, as Adam Bicknell became head coach and was joined by Peter Russell as bench coach. The team suffered heart-break in the cup and play-off finals and finished the season without a trophy for the first time in 5 seasons.

During the 2008-09 season Katie and Stuart had announced that they would not be running the team beyond the end of the current season. However without a new owner forthcoming, they announced last minute, that they would continue to run the club under revised budgets; rather than let the club fold.

Coach Adam Bicknell retired from professional hockey to concentrate on local league football and so the search for a new coach began. With the Telford Tigers struggling financially, their coach Claude Dumas joined the Bees for the 09-10 campaign. Dumas signed the fan favourite pairing of Michal Pinc and Jaroslav Cesky for the new season as well as Andrius Kaminskas. With a budget much less than the top teams in the league, the Bees struggled to compete and ended the season in their worst league position of 9th since dropping to the EPL.

Dumas retired at the end of the season and was replaced by the Bracknell Hornets coach Gareth Cox. Cox kept hold of the majority of the previous year’s team including Pinc and Cesky. Once again the team struggled to compete on an even-keel with the other teams and ended the season in last place, once again failing to make the play-off finals.
Lukas Smital and Martin Masa re-joined the Bees for the 2011-12 campaign having both played for the club during the double championship season in 04-05. Smital joined Cox as assistant coach and together the pair looked to re-build the team for the season ahead. Other returnees for the season included netminder Tom Annetts; following a 2 year spell in Basingstoke, defenceman Carl Graham, and forwards Matt Foord, Rob Lamey and Shaun Thompson.

Despite a competitive squad the Bees once again missed out on the play-offs, by a sole point to the Peterborough Phantoms; for a third successive season in the bottom two.

This current season (2013-13) saw much of the same with Cox building on the foundations of the previous year’s work. Once again a competitive squad was assembled including imports Marcel Petran (who departed in December for Arlan Kokshetau), Jan Bendik and Pavel Strycek.

The team looked to have regained some of their competitive edge and won 24 of the 54 regular season games, to finish in their highest league position in 4 years, as they beat the Swindon Wildcats into 6th place and were finally a play-off contender once more. The Bees faced the eventual play-off champions, the Manchester Phoenix in the quarter finals and lost 10-6 on aggregate.

So after 5 and half years at the helm of the Bees, it does seem a good time for the pair to step down and allow new management to take the team onwards and up. From near financial collapse in 2007 to play-off quarter finalists in 2013, whilst on a much smaller budget compared to teams around them, you have to take your hat off and congratulate Katie and Stuart on the hard work they have done and achievements they have made. Although success on the ice has been hard to come by with three seasons in the bottom two of the table, the off-ice development of the team, means there is a future ahead for the Bees.

With attendances on the rise with attractive hockey on display at the Hive, sponsorship for the team strong (despite the economic climate) and the team starting to make their way back up the rankings you have to say the new management will have a lot to live up to.

The club will ultimately be looking for a top 5 finish next season, having greatly improved during this current campaign. Anything other than beating or matching this year’s results in 2013-14 will be seen as a step backwards, for a club that was once at the top of British ice hockey.

Expect to see a good core of this season’s players return for another year with the odd change and improvement made here or there.

The John Nike Group will be announcing who will be appointed as the new licencee of the Bees for the years ahead; in the coming weeks.

EPL Semi-final Contenders Confirmed

Last weekend saw four quarter final match-ups take place on Saturday and Sunday and after 480 minutes and a few seconds of tense hockey action, the contenders for the EPL semi-finals have been decided.

The Guildford Flames took their 4-1 advantage from Saturday and extended it further for an 11-3 aggregate score against the Peterborough Phantoms.

The Basingstoke Bison secured their place at the finals weekend in Coventry for the first time since they dropped to the EPL with an overtime winner on Sunday against the Swindon Wildcats.

The Manchester Phoenix overturned a one goal deficit on Saturday to beat the Bracknell Bees 7-2 on Sunday to secure their place for the fourth year running.

The Slough Jets come back from 4-2 down on Saturday to force the game into overtime but Milton Keynes’ overtime strike fired them into the final 4.

Here is a game-by-game summary of the quarter finals.

Guildford Flames [11] v [3] Peterborough Phantoms
The Double-double champions went into the quarter final the favourites to progress to Coventry. Having secured the EPL Cup and league titles in the weeks preceding the fixture the team was full of confidence, whilst the Phantoms would be hoping for an upset as in 2011. On Saturday the Flames travelled to Peterborough for the first game and after a feisty affair took a comfortable 4-1 advantage into their home leg on Sunday; with a brace of goals from Curtis Huppe and individual efforts from Rick Plant and Paul Dixon.

On Sunday there was a vibrant atmosphere at the Spectrum, with the Kids go free offer packing the rafters to capacity. Despite early chances the first goal did not come until the 13th minute. Damien King seeing the better of Dean Holland’s wrap around attempt; however the rebound fell straight back to Holland who fired the puck from an acute angle past the post. The Phantoms struck back quickly as Maris Ziedins found the net to equal the scores; however the Flames advantage was re-stored before the end of the period with Nathan Rempel finding the net to make it 2-1.

A pair of goals from Curtis Huppe and Branislav Kvetan in the second period stretched the Flames lead to three going into the final period.

The Phantoms job of a comeback was made even harder early in the third period when Ben Campbell found the net. With the game entering the final 10 minutes Jez Lundin comfortably put the Flames five goals in front with a blueline strike. Minutes later and James Ferrara was able to grab a consolation goal for the Phantoms only for Huppe to add his second of the evening with just over a minute remaining in the game. A game very much subdued than the previous night was brought to life in the dying seconds as Scott Greenfield and Greg Pick dropped the gloves to round up the final period.

A 7-2 victory on the night secured a 11-3 aggregate win for the champions who will be keeping their fingers crossed they can secure the grand slam they were so close to winning last season.

Basingstoke Bison [5] v [4] Swindon Wildcats (after overtime)
The Bison went into the quarter final short benched through injuries and with two of their junior players on international duty in Estonia; but they were hoping for some luck. Having never reached the finals weekend in their three previous seasons, the pressure was on player/coach Doug Sheppard who led the Slough Jets to the Play-off crown in 2011-12.

A very tight opening game at the Link Centre saw both teams’ level terms after 60 minutes. The Bison opened the scoring through Joe Greener but the Wildcats responded in the second period with Aaron Nell grabbing the first of his hat-trick. By the mid-way point of the game ex-Wildcat Jaroslav Cesky’s pair extended the Bison’s lead to two. But Nell added a second before the period was over. A final strike in the final 5 minutes earned Nell a well-earned hat-trick and set up an epic battle in Sunday’s game back at the Basingstoke Arena.

There was not much two split the two sides as the opening period got underway, but Joe Rand put the Bison ahead at 14:51. It took some time but the Wildcats were able to respond and Sam Bullas brought the game level once again at 22:23. Neither side could find the go ahead go with both netminders on top form and with the game drawing to an end it was clear that overtime or penalties would have to settle this tie.

With the Wildcats penalised for too many men just before the final buzzer the extra period was 4-on-3 in favour of the Bison. Taking full advantage straight away Cesky wound up a slap shot from the point only to be denied by the post. However the puck bounced across the crease to a waiting Greener who fired home to seal the victory for the Bison and secure their place in Coventry.

Manchester Phoenix [10] v [6] Bracknell Bees
With both teams enjoying a strong end to the regular season it was always going to be hard to pick a winner from this quarter final. With a comeback win against the Sheffield Steeldogs in the final game of the season the Bees secured 6th place and had made the play-off quarter finals for the first time since 2009-10.

On Saturday the Phoenix made their way to the Hive for the first leg; however it was not to go their way and the homeside took the opening victory 4-3 with goals from Shaun Thompson x2, Scott Spearing, and Grant Rounding. It was, as they would say, a proper play-off encounter and a very close game right to the final buzzer.

On Sunday the Phoenix were back in their own barn and hoping to give the home fans something to cheer about. Unlike the previous night the Phoenix took a first period lead which they would not give up for the remainder of the game. With the Bees hitting penalty trouble early in the encounter goals from Flaten and Psurny gave the Phoenix the aggregate lead at 5-4.

The homeside started the second period as the first ended and extended their lead further when James Archer set up Robert Schnabel for the game winning goal in the 26th minute. With the game at 4-on-4 following an altercation between Spearing and Pozivil, Andy McKinney made it 4-0 on the night just before the mid-way point.

Going into the third and final period the Phoenix held a 3-0 aggregate lead over the Bees. However hopes of a sparks of a comeback were made when Oliver Bronniman found the net at 42:01. But a second goal by Schnabel killed of any hopes of a Bees comeback. Lukas Smital did grab the Bees a consolation goal on the powerplay, but their inability to keep out the penalty box lead to their downfall as Boothroyd made it 6-2 with less than 10 minutes to play. With the game drawing to an end the Phoenix were able to grab a final marker at 57:04 with McKinney grabbing his second of the game.

Milton Keynes Lightning [5] v [4] Slough Jets (after overtime)
Neither team could be seen as the favourites going into the weekend, but the Lightning took the advantage in Slough on Saturday. The Jets opened the scoring through Ciaran Long but ex-Jet Blaz Emersic was on hand to grab an equaliser for the Lightning before the end of the opening period.

The Lightning seemed to be firing on all cylinders for the second period and peppered Greg Rockman with 21 shots in the Jets goal however only a single marker found the net as Kamil Tvrdek scored on the powerplay giving the visitors a one goal lead heading into the third period.

The Jets seemed to overturn their own performance and dominated for much of the final period, but it was the Lightning to get on the board first as Chris Wiggins netted their third at 50:11. Just over a minute later and Nicky Chinn scored on the powerplay to extend the Lightning’s lead to three with less than 8 minutes remaining. But the Jets kept up the pressure and Dan Davies kept the deficit to just two scoring at 54:14.

On Sunday and back in MK the Lightning only had to hold the two goal lead and bag a couple of early goals to extend their advantage but it was Slough that were calling the shots. The Jets took an early lead in the opening two minutes to make it 4-3 on aggregate score. Before the period was up, Blaz Emersic was called for checking from behind and ejected from the game.

It was the Jets that were having the better of the chances and they levelled the game at 28:47 with Long grabbing his second of the weekend with a powerplay strike. Both teams were able to hold on for the final 30 minutes and neither could grab a go ahead goal, forcing the tie into overtime. With the 5 minute overtime period underway it was Captain Adam Carr that was able to fire the Lightning into the semi-finals with a well-placed strike past Rockman.

On Saturday the semi-finals kick off at the Skydome Arena in Coventry. The first game will see the double champions Guildford take on the MK Lightning at 3pm before the Bison and Phoenix go toe-to-toe at 7pm.

EPL 2012-13 season draws to a close.

The English Premier League (EPL) 2012-13 regular season campaign came to a close on Sunday, following the final games for eight of the teams. With the league title already decided by Guildford, there was not much to play for, except the final play-off positions for two of teams. The Bracknell Bees and Swindon Wildcats were separated by just two points going into their final matches.

The final weekend was split over three days, with the final instalment of the War of the Roses, between the Manchester Phoenix and Sheffield Steeldogs kicking off proceedings on Friday night.
The Phoenix got the better start of the team sides, as Tom Duggan hit twice in the opening period and followed up with his hat-trick strike early in the second. With Bari McKenzie adding a fourth the Phoenix took command of the game after 40 minutes.

Just 48 seconds into the final period and Edgar Bebris pulled one back for the Steeldogs. Joachim Flaten restored the four goal lead minutes later only for Andrew Hirst to pull another back in the 45th minute. Duggan added a fourth to his tally just 30 seconds later as the Phoenix looked to kill off the Steeldogs, but the Dogs had other ideas and came steam rolling back barking aloud. Hirst got his second of the game. Despite losing Ben Morgan to a match penalty for slashing the Steeldogs did not give up their attempts for a comeback and two shorthanded goals with just 63 seconds remaining set up a nail biting finish. Bebris add his hat-trick marker to level the scores and send the game into overtime.

Composure was restored during the extra period and Duggan fired the Phoenix to a dramatic victory, with his fifth of the night.

On Saturday only six teams were in action for their final weekend. The Bracknell Bees made the trip north to face the surprisingly in form Telford Tigers, as they looked to push Swindon for that 6th spot.

However as with many teams in recent months, the Tigers were too strong an opposition on home ice and sent the Bees packing on the wrong side of a 5-2 score-line.

The second team battling for that 6th spot in the league was Swindon Wildcats, who welcomed the League and Cup champions to the Link Centre for their final home game of the season. With Guildford resting a number of their key players for the final weekend, it looked like it could be a walk over for the Cats, however 29 saves by back-up netminder and ex-Wildcat himself; James Hadfield, helped secure a 5-3 win for the Flames, which would result in a final day battle between the Bees and Wildcats for 6th place.

The only other match-up for the night was the Milton Keynes Lightning and Slough Jets. Always a close encounter between the two sides, it proved so again as the Jets bounced back for their mid-week defeat in the cup to win 3-1.

To Sunday and the final day of the regular season for eight teams; with the Lightning and Peterborough Phantoms earning a night off ahead of next weekend’s play-off quarter finals.

The Manchester Phoenix hosted the team of the moment, the Telford Tigers, looking to secure their final four point weekend of the season. Once again the Phoenix raced to an early lead and by the third period were 4-1 up on their Shropshire rivals. However a three goal haul in 39 seconds pulled the Tigers back level with just minutes to spare. The Phoenix nightmare continued as they lost the lead in the 58th minute and the Tigers held on to end their season with a four point weekend.

The Basingstoke Bison hosted the Swindon Wildcats for their final home fixture, with both teams looking to end the season on a high, however it was the homeside that were celebrating after 60minutes. A hat-trick from Player/Coach Doug Sheppard and an EPL first goal for youngster Cameron Wynn, the Bison raced to a 6-3 victory, cementing the Wildcats to 7th place in the league standings.

The Bracknell Bees welcomed the Sheffield Steeldogs to the Hive knowing that a win could see them snatch 6th place in the standings. The Dogs pushed the Bees all the way, but eventually the homeside took the win they needed to jump above the Wildcats.

The final match of the weekend was a repeat of the mid-week Cup Final clash between the Flames and Slough Jets. The Flames were 5-0 in the head-to-head standings against the Jets for the season; as the visitors looked to make it 5-1 and deal out some revenge from losing the cup. As the previous night the Flames were resting some of their regular top line players ahead of next week’s play-off quarter finals, as did the Jets with Dan Milton taking the place of Greg Rockman in the Jets net. Mark Lee started the encounter for the opening period but was replaced by James Hadfield for the remainder of the game.

The Flames opened the scoring with Neil Liddard’s strike finding the net in the opening minutes. However the Jets struck back with two goals of their own, firstly Pavel Gomeniuk levelled the scores 22 seconds after Liddiard’s strike. Then Daniel Rose put the visitors ahead in the 15th minute. Branislav Kvetan got the only marker of the second period on the powerplay following Mindy Kieras being called for slashing; which saw the two sides enter the final period on level terms.

Frantisek Bakrlik put the Jets ahead once more in the 47th minute, but two quick responses from Dean Holland and Nathan Rempel saw the homeside take the lead with just under 10 minutes remaining. The goals kept coming however and Michael Wales pulled the Jets level once more in the 53rd minute, before Gomeniuk bagged his second of the night to put the Jets ahead, seeing the game end 5-4 in favour of the visitors.

So after 54 games, it comes down to one final weekend for the play-off quarter finals, before the final four teams head to Coventry. Who will be there, well make sure you come back and see who makes it and who doesn’t.

Week 9 Round up

Wednesday 7 November

Milton Keynes Lightning (3) vs (2) Slough Jets

 

Saturday 10 November

Swindon Wildcats (4) vs (2) Telford Tigers

Slough Jets (2) vs (0) Milton Keynes Lightning

Basingstoke Bison (3) vs (1) Guildford Flames

Sheffield Steeldogs (6) vs (3) Bracknell Bees

Manchester Phoenix (7) vs (5) Peterborough Phantoms

 

Sunday 11 November

Guildford Flames (3) vs (2) Basingstoke Bison

Bracknell Bees (4) vs (5) Slough Jets

Telford Tigers (4) vs (1) Manchester Phoenix

Sheffield Steeldogs (2) vs (3) Milton Keynes Lightning (ST)

Peterborough Phantoms (4) vs (3) Swindon Wildcats OT

Weekend Round Up – Week 7

Saturday 27 October

Swindon Wildcats 2 – 4 Basingstoke Bison

Guildford Flames 5 – 2 Peterborough Phantoms

Bracknell Bees 4 – 5 Telford Tigers (OT)

Slough Jets 5 – 7 Manchester Phoenix

MK Lightning 1 – 0 Sheffield Steeldogs

 

Sunday 21 October

Sheffield Steeldogs 3 – 7 Guildford Flames

Basingstoke Bison 4 – 3 Swindon Wildcats (OT)

Telford Tigers 3 – 0 MK Lightning

Manchester Phoenix 7 – 1 Bracknell Bees

Peterborough Phantoms 3 – 0 Slough Jets

 

EPL League Standings

1. Manchester Phoneix

2. Basingstoke Bison

3. Guildford Flames

4. Slough Jets

5. Bracknell Bees

6. MK Lightning

7. Swindon Wildcats

8. Sheffield Steeldogs

9. Peterborough Phantoms

10. Telford Tigers

Weekend Preview – Week 3 Saturday

This weekend sees the Flames face-off against two of their biggest rivals from Berkshire. On Saturday they travel to face the Slough Jets before welcoming the Bracknell Bees to the Spectrum on Sunday.

Slough Jets – the Jets are a relatively new looking squad following the departure of Doug Sheppard and some key players to the Bison during the summer. Returning to the team in the role of player/coach, after a year with the Manchester Phoenix, is Slava Koulikov. The Russian born Briton will be enjoying his third season with the Jets, having flown in mid-way through the 2009-10 season, from the EIHL Hull Stingrays. The 34 year old has shown his class in the EPL registering over 50 points in each of the three seasons so far.

Netminding – this has remained fairly unchanged for 2012-13 with play-off winning netminder, Greg Rockman, returning for a 4th consecutive season with the Jets. Since joining Slough, Rockman has won 2 playoff titles and the EPL cup and will be looking to add to that this season. The formality at the back gives confidence for the new coach and will be a stable rock from which the team can build from. Although not the best goalie in the EPL, looking shaking and unsure at times, Rockman can pull game winning performances from thin air; which has seen the Jets enjoy success in the previous seasons.

Back up for this season comes in the form of previous Bison junior Danny Milton. Milton has spent the past couple of years with the Slough organisation, with their ENL entry, competing in 23 games for both the South 1 and South 2 teams. It’s a good move by Slough to promote their ENL goalie into the EPL roster; however no one is expecting to see Milton challenge Rockman for starting orders. Given his ability the new coach will ride Rockman into the floor; however will he have the confidence in his back-up should the worse case scenario happen. Rockman is a competent netminder and will keep Slough in with a shout of honours this season; however their competitive edge may wane if Milton is called upon for more than the odd game here or there.

Defence – it’s a rather revamped defensive corp this season at Slough having lost 4 of their regular starters from last season (Symonds and Sullivan to the Bison, Waller to the Bracknell Hornets and Galazzi to his job). Coach Koulikov has also gone the route of Manchester and signed two import defenceman for the season.

Mindaugas Kieras returns for a second season with the Jets; however after his lowest scoring season since coming to British Ice Hockey with the Edinburgh Capitals he will be looking to get back to his scoring ways this season. Last season he was called upon to be more defensively minded than he has been at previous teams and was unable to join the offensive rush; which is where his strengths lie. A killer slap shot from the blue line will keep many netminders on their feet (or skates) during the season.

Juraj Senko was set to join Kieras on defence having been dropped by Telford. However a suspect injury identified during pre-season resulted in Senko being dropped by the Jets before the season got underway. Senko has returned to Edinburgh in the EIHL for the season. His replacement comes in the form of former team-mate and Phoenix star Ladislav Harabin. The Slovakian defenceman had spent the past two seasons with the Phoenix, scoring nearly a point per game from the blueline, however he found himself out of work for 2012-13. Koulikov jumped at the chance to sign Harabin after the Senko episode and the team may be better for it. Harabin is a solid defenceman and will give confidence at the back.

Back for another year is Adam Greener and promoted to full-time action is Sam Godfrey. Both are known for their stay at home defensive qualities and will be good additions to the back end. Also joining the defence is Dan Scott. The Invicta Junior spent last season with Hull and registered 2 points. Scott has previous EPL experience having iced for Telford in 2010/11.

Forwards – of course Koulikov will be a feature on the forward lines and will be a solid British registered player for the Jets. Koulikov is often touted as being an import quality British forward, much in the same way as Tony Hand, however is often criticised for his work rate and enthusiasm. However he’s scored 194 points in the EPL in the last 3 seasons; so is by no means a slouch and should do well this coming season.

Jets lost 5 regular forwards during the summer; including their top scorer, player/coach and top British forward leaving a big gap to be filled by the new coach. However fan favourite Darius Pliskauskas has returned for a third year with Slough. Pliskauskas rightly has a reputation as one of the best goal scorers in the EPL with his speed and eye for goal unmatched by many. 108 goals in 107 EPL regular season games over the last 2 seasons shows why Koulikov was desperate to keep the star.

The second import forward, Frankie Bakrlik,  flys in from Fife having spent the last season split between the Flyers, Coventry Blaze and Hull Stingrays. So a player that hasn’t been able to settle anywhere in the EIHL. Despite the disrupted season between 3 different teams he did manage to score 52 points; showing he is no slouch when it comes to point scoring ability. Will he match Calder for point production – I’m not too sure; however you’d expect a player of his calibre to be scoring over 70 points in the EPL.

Gone are Ryan Watt (Braehead) and Joe Greener (Bison) who were arguably two of the better British forwards for the Jets last season. However this will give Aaron Connolly and Dan Davies a chance to shine for the Jets. Davies is coming off a 66 point season in 2011-12; however had his efforts somewhat overshadowed by players like Greener and Watt. Connolly on the other hand is young. Only 19 but he managed to score 30 points in what was a break out year in 2011-12. He is still developing and will benefit from playing with players of the quality of the coach himself and Bakrlik.

Josh Bruce joins the Jets after a 41 point season for Telford. Second, only to Scott MacKenzie, Bruce outscored all of the Tiger’s imports last season; showing he will definitely add some good British fire-power to the Jets forward ranks.

Returning to the third line is Terry Miles. Having benefited from the Lightning clear-out he’ll most likely be partnered during the season by Matt Towalski and Michael Wales. Towalski is particularly a good pick up by Koulikov. Although he’ll likely be partnered with Wales for familiarity he is more than capable of playing second line minutes and will be able to provide cover should it be necessary. Wales is an experienced player at this level and will skate through a wall for the team; he is most likely to be replacing Greener’s “toughness” on the Jets roster.

Alex Barker is also joining the Jets after a disappointing year in Bracknell. Having scored over 60 points in the ENL in previous seasons, Barker’s 7 point production last term was under-expectation; most likely by both parties. His move to Slough will most likely see him develop further on a team packed with talent. He’ll most likely get a good rotation on the third line when the opportunity presents itself.

Summary – looking on paper you could say that the Jets team looks weaker than last season. However Koulikov has taken a different direction to Sheppard in terms of team building. The 2+2 import set up is proven to work at this level and will give the Jets a solid back end. Their goal will be to break down teams and to stop them getting through to Rockman in net. With the addition of Harabin over Senko they definitely have quality back there.

Although they have lost 5 of their top scorers, which amassed 283 points combined, Koulikov should not worry with the quality of players he has. Darius is well used to the system in Slough and will once again cause problems for teams with his speed and puck handling ability. Koulikov and Bakrlik will also input high scoring during the season.
You can never rule out the Jets. Although at times they have struggled to string together a consistent 54 game performance; they are always in with a shout of the cup or play-off titles. They currently sit 2nd in the league standings behind the Flames with 3 wins from 3 games. Having beaten Telford (5-3), Swindon (7-3) and Sheffield (5-2). They have already shown they have the ability to score a high number of goals.

The Flames have often struggled in Slough; however their performances so far have shown that they have the intensity and ability to go out and attack the game how they see fit. It will be a close encounter and they will push us right to the end but I see another result in line with that from last Sunday against MK.

Opening weekend brings double delight!

So the opening weekend of the 2012-13 season is done and dusted; and what a relief it is! With their opening day opposition once again the Telford Tigers, the opening game of the 2011-12 season may have been lingering in the back of the mind of Coach Dixon as they took to the ice on Saturday evening. But the shocking 4-1 loss from one year previous was not repeated to the delight of the fans.

With a wobble from the home-side in the opening encounter it was the visitors to take the lead in the 2nd minute as James Preece netted for the Tigers. However the Flames were quick on the attack and within a minute were back level as Curtis Huppe netted from Ben Campbell and Jozef Kohut.

A brace of penalties quickly came for the home-side as they found themselves on the wrong side of Thompson’s arm. First  Andrew Sharp was sent to the sin-bin for high-sticking at 4:38. Then Neil Liddard was called for the same penalty at 11:01. This did not limit the prowess however of the Flames attack and at 13:38 Ricky Plant put them in front; assisted by Stuart Potts and Sharp.

Coach Dixon was called for a roughing minor at 14:19 and shortly after Branislav Kvetan joined him in the box for another roughing minor penalty at 14:48. This gave the Tigers there best chance to strike back with a equaliser whilst holding the 5-on-3 advantage. But the defence held firm and were able to see out the remainder of the period to hold the one goal advantage at the first break.

Exactly 7 minutes into the second period, Captain David Longstaff found the net to extend the lead further; assisted by Jez Lundin and Nathan Rempel. Just over a minute later Huppe got his second of the evening assisted by Kohut to stretch the lead to 3. Five minutes from the break, the Flames put the game out of reach of their northern rivals when Longstaff added a second to his tally with assists going to Rempel and Hemmings. With Sharp returning to the box at 39:21 the Flames had to kill off yet another Tigers powerplay, but ended the period with a commanding 5-1 lead.

Rempel battles for the puck in the corner.

With the Flames holding a 4 goal lead to open the third and final period, their attack did not let up and Rempel scored in the 46th minute assisted by Longstaff and Liddard. The Tigers showed that never give up spirit that runs deep through the core values of their team and Jarolsav Cesky added a second marker for the Tigers; but it was too little too late for the Shropshire team when Huppe got his hat-trick goal with less than 10 minutes on the clock.  Hemmings added a final strike in the closing stages of the game assisted by Scott Greenfield and under 18 prospect Ben Edwards.

Huppe scores his third of the game.

With the Tigers a much improved team this season, some expected a challenge like the previous year, however the Flames displayed a controlled and tactical game plan to stretch the opposition out with the depth of skill and ability. The 8-2 result is a fair reflection of the game for which the Flames dominated for the majority.

On Sunday the Flames headed north west across Surrey and into Berkshire to visit the “Hive”; for the first season encounter between the close rivals. Unlike the previous evening the Flames came out the gates running and took an early lead courtesy of hat-trick hero Huppe, with the single assist to Kohut.

Marcel Petran was called for the first penalty of the match for holding, giving the Flames a powerplay opportunity, which is always a dangerous prospect for any team to face. Longstaff made the most of the man advantage to score his first goal of the evening at 10:32. Just over a minute later Matt Foord and Shaun Thompson combined to set up defenceman Sam Oakford as the Bees reduced the deficit by 1 whilst short-handed. Ex-Flame Lukas Smital grab the equaliser at 13:22 assisted by Petran to bring the teams level at the first period break.

Smital grabbed the equalising goal.

Just before the mid-way point of the game Dixon put his side back in front with a well timed strike, assisted by Longstaff and Rempel. In the 33rd minute the Flames were back in front with a pair, thanks to Longstaff’s second goal of the game, to give the visitors an advantage they would not give up for the remainder. With the Flames holding a 4-2 lead going into the second break the Bees were wondering what their game plan should be for the remaining 20 minutes.

But it took just 40 seconds after the re-start for the Flames to find the net once more. Kvetan’s strike extending the lead to 3 with a whole period still to play. With the Bees unable to find a way past the wall that was LEE; Lundin took exception to Jan Bendik shooting the puck at the Flames netminder after the whistle and the two dropped gloves to settle their differences.

Lundin and Bendik come to blows

With just 5 minutes remaining Rempel grabbed the Flames’ final goal of the game but the Bees were not done and Thompson scored a powerplay strike in the final 2 minutes. But it was not enough to overhaul the remaining 3 goal deficit and the Flames secured their second victory of the weekend 6-3.

The opening weekend has shown a lot of positives for the defending league champions. The adjusted lines seem to be working well, with Huppe and Kohut combining effectively. Longstaff, Rempel and Hemmings also seem content on the second line which will be encouraging to Dixon as the weeks pass by. Sharp seems to have upped his game vastly over the summer break and is now a welcomed sight on the third line. It was also pleasing to see under 18s prospect Ben Edwards receiving a decent amount of ice time on Saturday against the Tigers.

The defence also looks to be improved with Jez giving some decent performances despite coming off the back of major surgery at the end of last season. Kvetan is showing the same skill and potential as last season and it will be great to see what he can do over the whole year.

Next weekend the Flames have just one game on Sunday against the MK Lightning. Not taking anything away from the Tigers or Bees (i’m sure they’ll do well during the year) this is the first test for the champions. The Lightning are a new look team after the summer changes and pack more punch than has been seen in recent seasons. It’ll also be interesting to see how last term top scorer copes in his new environment. However the Lightning are coming off the back of a double victory against Peterborough and may be out to prove their worth. Any which way it’ll be a close and physical game so make sure you’re at the Spectrum on Sunday at 18:00!!