GB face Japan in penultimate game of tournament

Great Britain’s senior mens team are set to face Japan later on today in their penultimate game of the Division 1A World Championship tournament in Budapest.

So far in the tournament GB have struggled against their opposition and are yet to secure their first points of the tournamnet following a 4-2 defeat to Hungary, 5-0 to Kazakhstan and 5-1 against Italy on Wednesday. Their rivals today are Japan who currently occupy 4th spot in the table after their sole victory against Korea on Wednesday.

GB started the tournament in high spirits and pushed Hungary all the way in their opening game on Sunday night; however they have been left in deep water following the tough defeats to Kazakhstan and Italy. Japan have also struggled so far in the tournament with defeats also to Kazakhstan and Italy and their only victory coming against the lowest ranked side Korea.

GB will also end the tournament tomorrow afternoon when they face Korea. As with GB themselves and also Japan, Korea have struggled to match the pace of the top 3 in the group, however were able to record an impressive shoot-out victory against Hungary on Monday. They currently sit just above GB in the group standings with 2 points and GB will surely be looking for two victories from the final games to make the jump above at least one if not both of their rivals.

Today’s game will once again be shown on Premier Sports live on Sky with a face-off time of 16:00. Tomorrow’s final game against Korea starts at 12:30.

Chieftains and Raiders through to Play-off Final

With the EPL and EIHL both finishing in early April there was still plenty of action to keep the fans interested in ice hockey for a little longer before the summer takes over.

Last weekend saw the semi-finals of the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) South 1 play-offs. With the Chelmsford Chieftains already crowned league champions they would be looking to do the double in the play-offs.
As expected the semi-finals featured the top four from the league and two epic battles were drawn. Chelmsford would face Invicta whilst the two Raiders were locked in battle.

Invicta went into their semi-final the under-dogs knowing they had only beaten Chelmsford once in six attempts this season. Thanks to goals from Ross Brears, Julius Sinkovic and player/coach Gary Clarke the Chieftains took a 3-2 lead into the second leg on home ice.

On Sunday the Dynamos gave everything they could to get back in the game and a 13 goal thriller was decided in favour of the Chieftains after the two legs were completed; to progress to the play-off finals.

On Saturday the Wightlink Raiders were at home and knew they need a comfortable cushion to take into the second leg in Romford; which would be the last ever game to be played at the Rom Valley Way Ice Rink and home to the Raiders for the past 20+ years.

The Raiders put in a spectacular performance on home ice to take a two goal lead into the second leg in Romford. However the tables were turned the following night as Romford clawed back the two goal deficit, scoring with just 10 seconds remaining to force overtime.

However the game would be decided on the dreaded penalty shoot-out. The first two attempts were missed by both clubs, but Richard Facey stepped up for Wightlink and calmly slotted his shot home to put them ahead. Romford’s Danny Marshall was up next but he could not match Facey and his shot missed giving the victory to Wightlink and sending them to the play-off finals to face Chelmsford.

In the NIHL the play-off final is a two game contest with a home and away fixture to decide the winner; unlike the EPL/EIHL which is decided in one game at the finals weekend.

The Raiders will play at home on Saturday 20th April before heading back to Essex on Sunday for the final showdown of the season.

Play-Off Semi Finals
Saturday 13 April 2013 – Leg 1

Wightlink Raiders 4-2 Romford Raiders
Invicta Dynamos 2-3 Chelmsford Chieftains

Sunday 14 April 2013 – Leg 2

Chelmsford Chieftains 7-6 Invicta Dynamos
Romford Raiders 4-2 Wightlink Raiders

GB blanked again by Kazakhstan in 5-0 drama

It was day two of the World Championships (Division 1A) in Budapest and Great Britain faced Kazakhstan, looking for their first win in the tournament.

The last time the two countries met the Kazakhs gave a fine performance to blank GB 6-0 in the final Olympic qualifiers in Latvia back in February.

With that, surely at the back of their minds, they went into the game hopeful of a better performance and a little bit of revenge.

The game started with the better chances going GB’s way. On three separate powerplay opportunities mid-way through the period, GB had their best chances; however Kazakh netminder Vitali Kolesnik was up to the task and kept his clean-sheet.

With it looking like the first period would end scoreless, the Kazakhs showed their prowess on offense and scored two late goals; just 19 seconds apart.

Collecting the puck from his own blueline, Konstantin Romanov skated through the neutral zone making an initial pass to Andrei Spiridonov who gained the zone. With Romanov clear of the last defender he skated in un-opposed and put the pack past Belfast Giants’ Stephen Murphy.

The second game moments later when Roman Savchenko made a diving poke check in his own zone to win the puck. Maxim Belyayev collected the puck and made a quick break down the right hand side, cutting inside he was knocked off the puck by Robert Dowd; but Ilya Solarev came from nowhere to fire the puck through traffic and past Murphy.

Matthew Myers battles for the puck during GB’s game against Kazakhstan

With a two goal deficit GB were not out of contention but had to create something big. They got an early opportunity just minutes into the second period on the powerplay. With the puck worked from behind GB’s net Colin Shields worked up centre ice and flicked the puck over to Dowd; with a backhand pass to Jonathan Weaver, the Nottingham Panther took a big slap shot from the blueline but was denied by the chest of Kolesnik.

Another chance and another missed opportunity came for GB. Ashley Tait worked the puck well from the corner and worked the puck to Phil Hill to the right of net. A sliding pass in front, through traffic, found its way to Danny Myers at the back door; but once again GB was to be denied by Kolesnik.

Despite looking the better team for the majority of the second period, GB hit penalty trouble late on, when David Clarke was called for cross-checking at 38:39. Less than 30 seconds later and GB were down to three men with Matthew Myers being called for delaying the game at 38:56. With the two man advantage the Kazakhs worked the puck well. With a big slap shot from the right face-off circle by Yevgeni Blokhin the puck was deflected off Murphy onto the backboards.
Dmitri Upper kept the puck in the zone and worked it back in front to Roman Savchenko who fired a strong wrist shot past Murphy on the glove side. The goal ended the second period and gave Kazakhstan a 3-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.

Robert Farmer and Ashley Tait battle for the puck in the corner.

The Kazakhs started the third period still on the powerplay. Working around the zone the puck was fed to Savchenko on the blueline. A big slap shot was deflected at first but found its way to Vadim Krasnolslobodtsev on the right and he left no doubt firing his shot past Murphy.

Mid-way through the third period and the Kazakhs almost made it 5-0. A well worked play saw Konstantin Savenkov break down the right after a long pass from his own zone. Skating in on Murphy the chasing Luke Boothroyd brought the Kazakh down and a penalty shot was awarded.

Savenkov stepped up and started zigzagging down centre ice. With a deke he fired the shot to Murphy’s right only to be denied by the post. Just over a minute later and the fifth goal did come; when Blokhin slotted home a pass at the back door with less than 10 minutes remaining. GB held on during the final phase to avoid any further heart break with the game ending 5-0.

Robert Dowd is tripped whilst working the puck in the zone.

It was a frustrating game for GB who looked the better side of the two for the majority of the game. However they were denied time and time again by Kolesnik and did not, despite their chances, look likely to beat the Kazakh goalie.
GB must now re-group and keep their heads held high ahead of their clash on Wednesday against Italy.
Kazakhstan and Italy have led the way so far in this tournament and GB will be hoping for a better performance to halt the winning run of their European neighbours.

After the game, David Longstaff said; “We did not deserve to lose that game in the way we did. We created so many chances but just could not find a way past their netminder. He had an excellent game and stopped us on so many occasions.”

“We can be proud of the way played the better hockey against a higher-ranked nation. There are plenty of positives despite the defeat. We will now rest up ahead of our next game.”

 

In the groups other games, Italy recorded their second victory of the tournament with a 4-1 beating over Japan. Whilst Korea gave the shock of the tournament so far coming back from 4-1 down to score three unanswered third period goals to tie the game. With overtime unable to find a winner, penalty shots were required where Korea overcame Hungary. This leaves GB in last place in the table and promotion hopes slipping away..

1.  Kazakhstan 6pts

2. Italy 6pts

3. Hungary 4pts

4. Korea 2pts

5. Japan 0pts

6. GBR 0pts

 

GB v Kazakhstan Updates – Period Three

Kazakhstan stretched their advantage further in the third period with the game ending a disappointing 5-0.
Inside the opening 2 minutes Vadim Krasnolobodtsev scores making it 4-0. With less than 10 minutes remaining Manchester Phoenix defenceman was called for hooking on a breakaway attempt and a penalty shot awarded. However Stephen Murphy was up to the task and denied Savenkov.

Less than 20 seconds later and Jonathan Weaver was also called for hooking gifting Kazakhstan a 5-on-3.
Just over a minute into the powerplay Yevgeni Blokhin scored the final goal of the game gifting Kazakhstan 5-0 victory and their second of the tournament.

GB v Kazakhstand Updates – Period Two

With the period looking like it would remain scoreless, with chances for both sides, Kazakhstan scored with 8 seconds remaining to lead 3-0 going into the third and final period. Roman Savchenko added to the first period strikes to give Kazakhstan the advantage.

GB v Kazakhstan Updates – Period One

In the second game of the World Championships in Budapest GB face Kazakhstan. However after the opening 20 minutes GB are 2-0 down with a big performance needed to get back in the game!!
Despite early penalty trouble for Kazakhstan they took the lead through Konstantin Romanov at 17:42. Just 19 seconds later and it was 2-0 when Ilya Solarev beat Stephen Murphy to double the lead.

GB suffer first game defeat to hosts.

Hungary 4 – 2 Great Britain

Great Britain opened their Division 1 A World Championship tournament in Budapest with a loss to the hosts, Hungary, in a 4-2 thriller.

The hosts had the better chances of the early exchange of the opening 20 minutes, however it was GB that got on the scoreboard first. With GB holding possession in the offensive zone, Ashley Tait fed the puck across ice to David Phillips on the blueline who fired a shot on goal. With Levente Szuper screened in front the shot floated through the five-hole to give them a 1-0 lead at 16:06.

GB celebrate the opening goal of the game against Hungary

The second period started with GB conceding their second penalty of the game as Jonathan Weaver was called for hooking. With the man advantage Hungary set about breaking down the GB defence. Working up the ice Marton Vas fed the puck to Balazs Ladanyi in the centre circle. Making his way to the left of the zone he centred the puck to the unmarked Gergo Nagy who one timed his shot past Stephen Murphy to level the scores early in the middle stanza.

Just before the mid-way point of the game Hungary took the lead for the first time. Janos Vas’ shot from the right was deflected away by Murphy but only as far as Marton Vas who fired the shot into the empty net from the left.

Less than two minutes later and GB were back in it at 2-2. Gaining the puck on the blueline Weaver made a quick pass to Rob Dowd who was rushing down centre ice. Despite a trip he was able to flick the puck on goal. With the initial shot blocked the puck bounced loose in front for Colin Shields to slot home and tie the scores.

Ladanyi put the hosts in front again at 36:37 for a lead they would not surrender. Working into the GB zone he fired a shot from the left face-off circle which was deflected past Murphy for 3-2. Hungary would have gone into the break with a two goal cushion, but their fourth effort was washed out, giving GB a glimmer of hope in the final 20 minutes.

Shortly after the break GB went close to equalising the scores once again when Matthew Myers big slap shot from centre ice only to be delfected away; but Phil Hill almost went close collecting the rebound and working his way around the back of the net, but Szuper was up to the task and the scores remained 3-2.

Hungary did grab a fourth in the game with less than 10 minutes to play. Arpad Mihaly worked behind the GB net before turning and releasing a shot on Murphy. With the shot going wide the puck worked is way around the boards to the blueline  where Andras Horvath slapped the puck back into the zone, despite a block by Robert Lachowicz the puck dribbled through to Ladislav Sikorcin, with a big slap shot the puck beat Murphy on stick side to make it 4-2.

GB had a late chance on the powerplay but couldn’t make it count and so the game ended with defeat.

Head Coach Tony Hand said to IHUK; “This was a performance to be proud of but sadly it did not go our way. We perhaps were not spot on offensively in the first period, but we got better as the game went on.

“The guys gave everything they had and threw their bodies on the line. We must not get too down and must lift ourselves now for tomorrow’s game.”

GB see themselves in 4th place in the group behind opening day winners Italy, Kazakhstan and Hungary.

Kazakhstan beat Japan in the opening game of the tournament 5-2, before Italy provided a clinicaly performance to romp to a 4-0 victory over Korea.

GB will face-off against Kazakhstan in the second game today, after Italy beat Japan 4-1 in the early game of the day.

The last time the two countrys met at the final Olympic qualification game in Latvia, Kazakhstan had the measure of GB and won 6-0. This is definitely something GB will be hoping to revenge when they take to the ice at 3pm.

Backroom calling for GB legend

All-time Great British legend David Longstaff will be joining the back room staff for the upcoming Division 1A World Championship tournament in Hungary later this week.

Longstaff, a veteran with 101 caps at international level, retired from playing duty earlier this year after nearly 20 years in the GB set-up. He made his first appearance for GB in 1994 and has been a vital addition in major tournaments and world championships since.

He is coming off the back of a league and cup double for the Guildford Flames in the English Premier League and his experience and eye for talent will be greatly used during the tournament.

Longstaff commented to the IHUK website; “I am very proud and honoured to be asked to join the GB staff by Tony Hand. I loved playing for the national side and now to back with GB again is fantastic.”

“We have a great group of guys here and I am looking forward to being involved.”

Head Coach Tony Hand added: “Lobby had a fantastic playing career for GB and he is a terrific addition to our staff.

“He has always been a popular player in the dressing room and his 101 caps at international level prove he has the experience.

“We will use that experience and he will scout other teams at the tournament – something which is very important when you play five games in such a short space of time.”

It is a smart move by Hand and the GB organisation to include Longstaff within the team; in a support capacity. Whilst he will not be lacing up the skates, his eye for the game and ability to read plays will prove vital as GB lock horns with the likes of Italy, South Korea, Kazakhstan and the hosts Hungary during the round robin tournament.

Hand names 22 man squad for World Championships

Great Britain’s Head Coach Tony Hand has named his 22 man squad for the World Championships in Hungary later this month; showing minor changes to the roster that made the trip to the pre-olympic qualifers in February. A strong 41 man squad was announced just over a week ago, with notable inclusions from English Premier League (EPL) teams; two of which have made the final cut.

Four changes have been made to the team that was originally selected for the final Olympic qualifers in Latvia in February. Steve Lee, who was replaced by Jonathan Weaver for Latvia due to injury, has been included from the start. Fellow defender, Luke Boothroyd, has also been included fresh from his play-off winning services for the Manchester Phoenix. Forwards Ben Davies (Cardiff Devils) and Aaron Nell, of the EPL Swindon Wildcats, have also made the cut in the 22 man squad.

Luke Boothroyd has been included in the team to fly to Hungary. Photo by David Steadman

Unfortunately Ben O’Connor has been denied release from his KHL club to attend the tournament; whilst Rod Sarich, Mark Garside and Jason Hewitt will also miss out.

GB have began their training camp this week, following the EIHL and EPL play-off finals weekend, before heading out to Hungary on Friday.

They will face the hosts in the first match of the Division One – Group A tournament. The teams play a single round-robin series. Each teams plays each opponent once and the winner of the event will be promoted to the Top Division. The last-ranked team will be relegated to Division I Group B.

Coach Hand said: “All games are tough at this level and they will be five difficult games for us throughout the tournament.

“We are taking a strong team away with us, even though we have key guys out. I would love the team to come away with a medal.
“We are looking forward to the three-day camp now and get ourselves prepared for an important week.”

Netminders

Ben Bowns (Hull Stingrays)

Stephen Murphy (Belfast Giants)

Defencemen

Danny Meyers (Sheffield Steelers)

Dave Phillips (Belfast Giants)

Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils)

Mark Thomas (Sheffield Steelers)

Steve Lee (Nottingham Panthers)

Luke Boothroyd (Manchester Phoenix)

Jonathan Weaver (Nottingham Panthers)

Forwards

David Clarke (Nottingham Panthers)

Robert Dowd (Troja-Ljungby)

Robert Farmer (Braehead Clan)

Ben Davies (Cardiff Devils)

Phil Hill (Cardiff Devils)

Robert Lachowicz (Nottingham Panthers)

Matthew Myers (Nottingham Panthers)

Greg Owen (Basingstoke Bison)

Craig Peacock (Belfast Giants)

Aaron Nell (Swindon Wildcats)

Ashley Tait (Sheffield Steelers)

Colin Shields (Belfast Giants)

 

The schedule of the games are as follows;

14th April@19:30 – Hungary v GB

15th April @16:00 – GB v Kazakhstan

17th April @16:00 – GB v Italy

19th April @16:00 – GB v Japan

20th April @12:30 – GB v South Korea

EPL Play-off Semi-final Scores

The first game of the day featured the EPL League and Cup (Double) Champions the Guildford Flames, who took on the Milton Keynes Lightning. Always thrilling encounters, today was no different as the Flames came from behind in the third to take victory in dramatic fashion.

Despite taking an early powerplay, the Flames could not capitalise and it was the Lightning who found themselves in front when Captain Adam Carr fired past Mark Lee to give the Lightning a one goal lead in the first period. However the Flames were able to re-group and took advantage of the additional man as Nathan Rempel fired them back into contention with the equalising goal just over a minute later. Neither team could find the net for the remainder of the period as the scores remained level after 20 minutes.

A sole marker in the middle stanza saw the Lightning take the lead once again in the game with Michael Farn’s 27th minute strike. A tense final period was in store and when David Longstaff levelled the scores in the opening two minutes of the final session the Flames were once again back into contention.

Despite their chances neither team could find the go ahead goal, but with just under three minutes remaining in the period, Rempel was able to break the deadlock and put the Flames ahead with his second of the evening. Even after pulling netminder Stephen Wall for the extra skater the Lightning were unable to level the game and so the Flames secured their place in Sunday’s final; to keep up their hopes of securing the EPL Grand-slam.

In the second match of the evening, it was a first for the Basingstoke Bison who were visiting the Skydome Arena for the first time since dropping to the EPL in 2009. Despite being short benched the Herd were fired up for the occasion and player/coach Doug Sheppard was leading his men in search of the club’s first silverware in 13 years. Having lead the Slough Jets to victory over the Manchester Phoenix a year ago he was well placed to deal with the pressure the play-off finals weekend can sometimes throw at teams. Tony Hand was looking to end the season on a high after failing to match up to both the Bison and Flames during the regular season.

Despite their early chances, including a powerplay opportunity, the first goal swung in favour of the Phoenix as James Neil’s shot beat Stevie Lyle to make it 1-0 to Manchester. Just over three minutes later and the Herd were back in the game as Greg Owen levelled the scores. With the Phoenix killing off another powerplay chance in the final stages of the period, it was to no avail as Sheppard fired the Bison into the lead before the close of the period.

With the second period underway, netminder Stephen Fone was a rock at the back for Phoenix, stopping a huge chance for Joe Greener to extend the lead further. Moments later and the Phoenix were back into the game, with Hand finding the net. With both teams running into penalty trouble neither were able to find the upper hand in the middle phase of play. Fone once again kept the Phoenix in the game with a big stop on a one-on-one break against Joe Miller before Lyle repeated the action at the other end of the rink against Michal Psurny. With the period drawing to a close the Phoenix were able to find the go ahead goal with Flaten’s powerplay strike beating Lyle.

With momentum swinging in favour of the Phoenix, it appeared that the Bison had got an early equaliser in the second period only for Jaroslav Cesky’s shot to be wiped off and no goal given. In a sign of frustration Cesky slashed his stick across the glass at the goal judge and earned himself a misconduct penalty. Moments later and the equalising goal did come when Greg Chambers found the bet in the 43rd minute; leaving it all to play for.

It appeared it was a session of tic-tac-toe on the score board. Just over a minute after Chambers levelled the scores Psurny grabbed his second of the game to put the Phoenix back in front. A further minute on and the scores were once again level with over 10 minutes remaining. A period of 5-on-3 was gifted to the Bison but they couldn’t take advantage to take the lead once more. With the game drawing to a conclusion overtime was needed to find a difference between the two evenly matched sides.

With the extra five minutes unable to find a winner, the dreaded penalty shots were called upon. First up were the Phoenix and Psurny who bagged his hat-trick marker to put the Phoenix ahead.

Next up was Cesky for the Bison, who made no mistake in making up for his earlier disallowed goal, firing past Fone to level the scores. Captain Luke Boothroyd was next but his effort just missed. Joe Rand put the Bison ahead with his well taken penalty and it was all down to Miller to win it for the Bison; but his shot missed extending the tension further.

McKenzie stepped up for the Phoenix and his shot got the better of Lyle as he levelled the scores at two a-piece. James Archer was next up for the Phoenix who fired them straight into the play-off final with a well worked penalty shot. Sheppard was next for the Bison but his missed shot ensured the Phoenix would make the final for a second year in a row.