Phoenix deny Flames the Treble in Play-off Final

The Guildford Flames were denied the chance of securing the Grand Slam treble as they lost 5-2 to the Manchester Phoenix in the English Premier League Play-off Final on Sunday at the Skydome Arena, Coventry.

The Phoenix were in fine form and had the killer edge right from the off. Their potent powerplay was put to the test in the first half of the opening period and Captain  Luke Boothroyd gave the Phoenix the lead when the Flames were handed a ‘two many men’ bench minor penalty at 08:56. The Phoenix had a further powerplay opportunity just two minutes later however were unable to take advantage and so the first period ended at 1-0.

Luke Boothroyd celebrates the opening goal with his Phoenix team mates. Photo bty David Steadman.

At 26:37 the Phoenix doubled their lead, when James Archer found the back of the net. Holding the advantage the Phoenix upped the pressure and despite going short-handed after Richard Bentham was called for tripping, Michael Psurny was able to extend the Phoenix’s lead to three at 16:06. The Flames were unable to find a way back into the game and the second period ended at 3-0.

Nathan Rempel sparked life back into the Flames just 40 seconds into the final stanza with a well placed strike beating Stephen Fone. But a further short-handed marker by player/coach Tony Hand 47:09 killed off any hopes of a comeback by the Double Champions.

Nathan Rempel bagged an early comeback goal in the third. Photo by David Steadman.

The Phoenix added a fifth with just over 10 minutes remaining to put the game out of reach. Psurny earning his second of the evening to make it 5-1. A late consolation goal just over a minute later by Branislav Kvetan did littel to dampen the heart broken Flames as they came ever so close to the treble for a second year running.

Psurny and the Phoenix celebrate the 5th goal of the game. Photo by David Steadman.

 The Play-off title will come as to great relief to the Phoenix and Coach Hand, having been runners up a year earlier, and struggling for consistency or form druring the regular season. The Play-off crown is one that has eluded the Phoenix since dropping to the EPL; having only won the League title in only their second season in 2010-11, despite reaching the final four in the previous three seasons.

The Flames will feel a little dis-heartened having lost out on the acclaimed treble for the second year running. However two out of a possible three trophies is not something to be sniffed at, especially as they retained the same titles they had worked hard to claim a year ago.

The season is now officially over and now begins the summer in which every coach will look at every avenue available, to strengthen and develop their team ready for the 2013-14 season in September.

A final congratulations must go out to the Manchester Phoenix on winning the Play-off Final!!!

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.

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

Flames show their class against the Lightning!

With their sole match of the weekend, the Flames turned up to the Guildford Spectrum fresh faced on Sunday afternoon to face off against the MK Lightning. Two victories in the opening weekend saw the Flames sit at the top of the standings and they were looking to make it 3-out-of-3 in front of a bumper crowd. The Lightning travelled to Surrey having secured a shock victory against the Manchester Phoenix and looked to make it a double against the Flames. Shocking you may say; well when any team can fire 8 past the Phoenix, you start to question what the Manchester squad had for lunch that day.

Ref Matt Thompson was giving his arm a proper work out during the game and it was first raised at 7:53 when Savage was called for slashing; having retaliated for a late hit along the boards. However Michael Farn was called for interference less than a minute later to put the game 4-0n-4. It then took just 14 seconds before the Flames found the net, a great effort by Kohut to find the way past Mettam.

With the Flames working well and the game flowing nicely, they were gifted their first powerplay of the game at 14:49 when Lewis Christie was called for high sticks. The powerplay unit went to work and Ben Campbell found the net at 16:18 assisted by Longstaff and Kvetan to give a two goal lead. Less than a minute later and the Flames were on the back foot once more with Kvetan called for roughing. With all the chirpiness and digs aimed at Branislav during the first period it was only a matter of time before he stuck back. The penalty kill team were on top form and were able to see out the period holding on to the 2 goal lead.

Kvetan takes exception to a late hit.

The Flames started the second period in penalty trouble when Kvetan was called for 2+2. Having circled around the net Kvetan checked Adam Carr into the side boards. However player/coach Nick Poole didn’t like the hit the big Slovakian gave and jumped in with a late hit of his own. The ensuring disagreement between the two players saw Kvetan called for the initial high sticks (however I did not see his stick raised when he gave the hit) and received a further 2 minutes for roughing. Poole got off lightly in terms of penalty infringement and a beating by Brani and sat out the 2 minutes for roughing.

They faced further trouble when two minutes later Kohut was called for a curious 2+10 minute misconduct for checking to the head. Despite the man advantage the Lightning could not make the most of their opportunity and it was Huppe that jumped on a loose puck at the edge of the zone and skated in alone on Mettam; firing hire for a short-handed goal to give the Flames a 3 goal lead.

The Lightning were clearly looking frustrated at their performance and the sloppy play continued. Leigh Jamieson was called for a clear slashing penalty at 28:13 to give the Flames their second powerplay of the evening. Milos then found himself of the end of Thompson’s disapproval firstly being called for hooking at 32:49 and then again for slashing at 38:46. However in between Milos’ visits to the box, Ben Campbell was able to bag his second goal of the game unassisted at 35:37 to give the home-side a commanding 4-0 lead to take into the third stanza.

Campbell bagged 2 goals and an assist against the Lightning.

The third period started as the second ended, with the Flames dominating possession in the Lightning’s zone. At 42:13 Mettam was called for slashing, a strange call to see made, but obvious to Thompson all the same.

Just 4 seconds after the powerplay expired Kvetan fired a shot from range to give the Flames a 5-0 lead with 16 minutes still to play. The Flames then found themselves on the back foot once more with three penalty calls in quick succession. Firstly Skene was called for tripping at 44:55, then Milos for high-sticks at 45:12, lastly Lundin was called for slashing at 46:55. This gave the Lightning a 5-on-3 advantage for over 2 minutes, and making the most of the extra skater, Blaz Emersic got a goal back at 47:17. Adam Carr bagged a second marker at 49:54 to bring the score to 5-2.

Just over 2 minutes had been played when the ice was dipped in darkness thanks to a lighting failure. The players returned to their respective benches while the issue was sorted however quickly returned to the changing rooms when rink staff notified that a surge in power tripped the lights; resulting in a length delay for the re-start. Approximately 20 minutes later the lights fired into action and the players returned to the ice to see out the final 10 minutes of the game.

Having got two goals in quick succession before the lighting failure the Lightning came out and looked rather subdued. They never looked eager to get the loose pucks or to make a play from the neutral zone. This worked against them and further still when Zatopek was called for holding at 13:33. With the Flames unable to convert the powerplay opportunity they were gifted a second with less than two minutes remaining when Ross Green took a seat for interference.

Able to hold out despite attack after attack from the Flames forwards the Lightning were granted no further embarrassment. Man of the matches were Kvetan for the Flames and Christie for the Lightning.
After Campbell’s 3 point display many were surprised by the choice; however Kvetan’s stone wall was an element that allowed Lee to almost record his first shut-out of the season. 5-0 with less than a period remaining it looked good but the Lightning just managed to find a way back into the game for about 2 minutes. Maybe the MOM was awarded for Kvetan being able to keep it cool under such targeted hits and aggression from the Lightning team.

Summary – with news floating down to the Flames’ faithful the previous evening of the demolition of the Phoenix in MK many were hoping for a very challenging game. What was delivered and seen by over 1800 fans was far from that. Whether MK had run out of steam having played out of their skins against Manchester the previous night or whether they just weren’t up for it; only they will know. In certain parts of the game they were non existent in a rather dominant display by the defending champions.

Campbell has definitely stepped up his game, which many hoped he would, with the departure of Towe. Longstaff seems to have shaken off any summer-blues and is back to his best. His puck handling and ability to read the game paying dividends for his line. Leading the points for the team with 8 shows he can still cut it at this level.

It was interesting to see Milos given a run out against the Lightning rather than playing with Rempel; who had two weeks games under his belt. Whether he was carrying a minor injury or it was Milos’ opportunity to build up to his required number of games for play-off activation we don’t know. He seemed rather rusty in the first period but as the game grew older he was chasing the loose pucks and was creating plenty of chances alongside Kohut.

Huppe and Kohut seem to be in a groove of pure ability and skill at present. Indeed  7 points apiece after just 3 games is a good showing from two of your import forwards. Rempel is also right in there with 5 points from 2 games and I am sure there is plenty more to come from the three of them.

Plant/Potts/Hemmings/Sharp – all seem to be doing the job asked of them. Potts looked like a little jack russell puppy on Sunday, constantly chasing after the puck carrier and causing issues for the Lightning going forward. Hemmings seems to have rightly earned his place on the 2nd line at present. He is throwing some good hits and is connecting well with Longstaff.

Our defence seems to be solid so far and there aren’t many complaints about any of them. Jez and Kvetan seem to be the stand out players so far; but the other 4 are all putting in good performances at this early stage.

Top of the league with a game in hand after only the second week is definitely what we wanted to see the Flames come out and do!!