Slava returns to fly the Jet

As taken by the official press release HERE!!!

The Slough Jets are pleased to announce the return of Slava Koulikov who will once again lead the team for the 2013/14 season. The dangerous Russian born forward has made the UK his home and being EIHA trained qualified is without doubt one of the best British forwards in the league.

Slava was appointed as Head Coach last summer following the departure of Doug Sheppard but the timing of his appointment meant he was already behind other team’s Coach’s in his recruitment process. This year, as a returning Head Coach Slava has already spoken to the core members of his squad from last season as well as speaking to players that he would like to join his team for the new campaign.

The 34 year old first came to the UK in 1996 and has played for various Hull sides before joining the Slough Jets, first as a player under coach Pete Russell and then returning as Player/Coach after a season with Manchester Phoenix. In his 17 year British career he has forged a reputation as one of the premier British trained talents in the country.

The Ekaterinberg born player was the Jets third top point scorer last season, scoring at over a point a game despite missing parts of the season through injury but is looking forward to the challenges of a second season as Player/Coach. Koulikov said; “I’m happy to be back for second season and I’d like to thank Zoran and Ghislaine for giving me this opportunity as to me it felt like we had some unfinished business last year. We had a very different team last season with so many changes but we got a cup final appearance and went out cruelly in OT in play-offs.”

He continued; “We’re trying to build on the team from last year, we were strong towards the end of the year. The boys played well and I’m pleased with the condition of the team when we finished. We finished a long way ahead of 6th place and only a few points away from 4th or 3rd. I’m sure we can build on last season, learning for what went wrong and improving on our weaker areas so we can be even more competitive this season.”

Team owner Ghislaine Nassif said; “I’m pleased Slava has decided to return and very much looking forward to the new season. He has some exciting plans to strengthen the team and I’m sure it will provide our supporters with an exciting season.”

Director of Operations Steve English said of Slava’s return; “We’re delighted that we have been able to retain Slava’s services for the new season. The team and fans were both disappointed to not win a trophy last season but the hard work done by Slava cannot be underestimated. He was appointed late last summer but took the job on and built a competitive team from what was available at the time. As the season progressed he made moves to strengthen the team but injuries then robbed the Jets of the top 4 position they deserved. Slava has explained his plans for the season ahead and it promises to be an exciting season.”

English continued; “We will hopefully be in a position to announce some of our 13/14 players shortly along with the new season frequent flyer packages and personal sponsorship details.”

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.

Emersic back to strike with the Lightning

The Milton Keynes Lightning announced at their end of season awards night that Slovenian forward Blaz Emersic will be returning to the Lightning fold for a third straight season.

Blaz Emersic returns to the Lightning in 2013-14

 Emersic joined the Lightning in January 2011, following off-ice issues with the Slough Jets, and quickly became a fan favourite with his scoring ability registering 39 points in 28 games. He returned for 2011-12 and showed his vast experience and ability in front of net scoring 72 points from 34 goals. This past season he has once again been a consistent point scorer, coming second only to Leigh Jamieson for the season total, with 70 points overall.

Blaz is the kind of player that you know you can rely upon to put the puck in the back of the net, night in or night out, or be the set up guy. 103 assists over two and a half seasons shows that he is not afraid to be the set up guy.

Head coach Nick Poole said to the MK website; that signing Blaz was a statement of the club’s ambitions for next season.  “He is one of the first names on the team sheet each matchday – and the fact that his is the first signing we can announce gives an indication of how strong a team we want to put together for next year.  I’ve used the phrase before that he’s like a Rolls Royce, because his form is so consistent – and that is still true. 

“Blaz is a leader in our room with his professional approach to the game, and is a great role model for younger players.  Whenever I talk to the lads in the off season, the first question they always ask me is if Blaz is coming back – and that just shows how highly-regarded and respected he is by his peers.”

With Blaz taking up the first import slot on the team’s roster for next season it will be interesting to see if Poole re-signs this seasons imports, or goes for someone fresh next season.

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.

Guildford Flames secure the Double Double!

Last night the Guildford Flames became the only franchise in the English Premier League, to ever secure back-to-back double championship honours; with the league title and EPL Cup. Having secured their second consecutive EPL League title a few days earlier, everything was set for a tense encounter between the Flames and Slough Jets in the second leg of the Cup Final. Holding a two goal margin over their rivals, the Flames were hotly tipped to retain the Cup for another year; and with the Spectrum full with 2012 Slough and Guildford fans a 5-3 score on the night sealed the deal for the men from Surrey.

With Nathan Rempel called for an early charging penalty in the 2nd minute, the Jets got their first opportunity of the game, however it was the Flames that were the more dominant side during their penalty kill period. A clearing puck from the Flames’ zone sent David Longstaff on a breakaway, only to be brought down by Mindy Kieras after crossing the blueline. To everyone’s amazement however referee Dave Cloutman saw no issue with the challenge and no penalty was called.
It was the homeside who were first on the board at 09:40. David Savage carried the puck into the zone and shot at Greg Rockman. With the Slough netminder unable to control the puck a scramble ensued in front of net and Savage was able to poke home the puck to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.

The Jets were back in the game a few minutes later as Frantisek Bakrlik made a great move to beat Mark Lee for an unassisted strike to level the game at 1-1 at 12:19. The Flames continued their dominant style of play and just before the period buzzer the they were back in front as David Longstaff found the net from a tight angle at 17:45; giving the homeside a 2-1 lead going into the second period.

The Jets came out in attacking style in the middle stanza and were creating numerous opportunities, however to no avail. A mid-ice steal saw Longstaff skate into the Jets zone down the right side. Milos Melicherik rushed into the zone from the left and was unmarked at the back door as a cross ice pass from the Captain was coolly flicked past Rockman giving the Flames a 3-1 lead for the only marker of the period.

With a huge mountain to climb the Jets came out once again on the attack, however an early period tripping penalty for Darius Pliskauskas put them on the back foot; but the Flames could not capitalise on the advantage.
With the clock ticking down, all seemed lost for the Jets, but with two goals in three minutes they were right back in the game.

A fine strike by Kieras found the gap in Lee’s defences and the game edged closer at 3-2. Just under three minutes later and Dan Scott pulled the visitors level with 6 minutes to play. Just past the 5 minute mark, Jets coach Slava Koulikov called a timeout to formulate their strategy for the final minutes of the game.

With the game entering the final minute of play, Rockman raced to the bench for the extra skater, only for Milos to steal the puck in the Flames zone as he reached the bench. Firing the puck down ice it slid into the open net with ting of the back bar. With 40 seconds left to play and the Jets winning the centre ice face off, they proceeded into the zone and again Rockman raced to the bench. Again the puck was stole on the Flames’ blueline by Curtis Huppe. Rushing up ice towards the empty net, he fired the puck from his stick as he took a tumble to the ice. With the two empty net goals the game was sealed up and with seconds remaining no chance of a Jets come back. The game on the night ended 5-3 giving the Flames a 9-5 aggregate score across both legs of the final.

Summary

This wasn’t really a stand out game. An epic tale that demonstrates the true skill and talent in the EPL. However it was a tight encounter and both teams seemed up for it on the night. However the physiological advantage the Flames held over the Jets with a two goal margin did start to show through and desperation seemed to be strife amongst the Jets contingent. The Flames did show a good forecheck throughout the game and any attack was broken down well, except for a small lapse in concentration during the middle of the final period which saw the Jets grab two quick goals to equalise the game. However any hope of a dramatic comeback didn’t seem forthcoming and the hesitant nature of the decision to pull Rockman is probably want counted towards the two empty net goals.

A word on our opponents

Firstly, the Jets come in and played the usual style hockey they usually demonstrate. They did seem a bit thin at the back and in some ways did surely missed the presence of Adam Greener at the back. Rockman, as shown a few times this season, had a shocker of a game and would surely like the first two goals back which seemed to float straight through his five-hole. Big questions will need to be asked by the coach during the summer as to whether Rockman is brought back for another season at the Hangar.

Wales. Well Wales was his usual chirpy self. The player you either love, or love to hate. However the biggest agitator on the night seemed to be Ciaran Long. The numerous digs at Brani, Milos, and Holland had me wondering whether a beating was due at some point in the game. It didn’t come however and he lived to fight another day, Sunday perhaps.

One thing I will say is that whether you like the style of game he plays, Wales was very gracious in defeat and showed a higher level of maturity than what we are sometimes witness to, to stay on the ice with the team whilst the Flames collected their Cup showed the kind of sportsmanlike behaviour that is sometimes amiss. The fans also did the Jets proud and kept up the noise throughout the game and unlike their fellow fans from Basingstoke, despite how late the evening was, stayed to see the presentations and celebrations.

3 Stars of the Game

So Savage was awarded the man-of-the match award, however at About the Ice we prefer to do things a little more American style and pick the 3 stars of the game.

Well of course he was going to feature; David Savage. Savage has once again upped his game this season and will surely have EIHL bosses a calling. Not only great defensively, with the numerous poke checks to break down any attack, he was also showing good movement going forward and on quite a few occasions danced through their defence and into their zone.

Milos – The team just seem to play at another level when Milos is on the ice. The move with Longstaff for the third goal was just sublime and shows why he should be back in a more permanent basis next season. I don’t think I saw him lose a single face-off throughout the game and this is what is needed from your only natural centre on the team.

Any number of players could have been picked for the third star but I am going for Holland. He never gave up throughout and really made his presence on every shift known. Throwing big hits and taking a few himself, he is a work horse and will keep going until it is time to retreat to the bench.

Jets crash land in burst of FLAMES

With the action returning to the Spectrum on Sunday, the Flames were looking to extend their 6 game win streak when the Slough Jets visited Surrey. The Flames had extended their unbeaten run to six the previous evening with a 3-2 win in Milton Keynes against a hard fighting Lightning side. The Basingstoke Bison loosing 3-0 at home to the Sheffield Steeldogs, the Flames could also more importantly stretch their lead to 8 points in the league battle, which they did in fine form with a 4-3 thrashing of the Jets.

The Flames were without Ben Campbell and Stuart Potts through injury; whilst Jozef Kohut took to the bench to allow Nathan Rempel to ice. Also dressed were Chris Cooke and Scott Greenfield however neither saw ice time during the game. The Jets were without player/coach Slava Koulikov and Adam Greener as their injury woes continue.

With Matt Thompson dropping the game for the opening face-off the game was underway and the Flames immediately looked to try and take the game to the Jets. However neither team could find a footing in the opening minutes, but the Flames were gifted an early chance when Mindy Keiras was called for elbowing at 03:49; however they could not capitalise on the powerplay. Shortly afterwards it was the visitors opportunity on the powerplay with David Savage called for interference at 06:15; however the penalty killing unit was up to the task and the game remained level.

Despite the chances coming for the homeside on the rush, it looked like goals would be hard to come by in the game and it wasn’t until the 13th minute that the first marker was made. A good move in front of net saw the puck drop back to player/coach Paul Dixon who fired top shelf past Greg Rockman for the lead.

With the clock counting down the period the Flames were trying to hold possession however with just over a minute left to play the Jets found themselves back in the encounter. A blasting shot by Darius Pliskauskas rebounded to Michael Wales who hacked the puck past Mark Lee to bring the scores level to end the period.

With the second period underway it took just 47 seconds for the Jets to get the go-ahead goal. Nathan Rempel with a miss shot, saw the turn over by the Jets and a fine finish by Frantisek Bakrlik; showing his ability and skill to fire the puck past Lee. The Jets were holding the lead and had the majority of possession for much of the second period. A new level of intensity started to show through and became very physical with hard hits being thrown by both sides. The biggest hit coming from Bransilav Kvetan on James Hutchinson in the corner. With the puck fired around the boards both players rushed to gather it, however a hard shoulder barge caught Hutchy by surprise.

Hutchinson takes exception to the hit from Kvetan.

With the game reaching the mid-way point the Flames were camped in the Jets zone looking for that equallising goal and it came in good fashion in the 12th minute. A quick draw from the face off saw the puck drop to Curtis Huppe in space. With a hard wrister shot the puck whistled past Rockman to level the score and in the process registering his 46th of the season.

As with the first, the clock counted down to the end of the period without much drama, however a slash by Dan Davies to Kvetan in the corner (it happened right in front of me and was clear to see) lead to a retaliation slash from the Slovak tank as he skated away. Living up to his reputation and name as “Big Useless Agitator” Wales took disapproval to the action leading to both benches clearing after the buzzer. Flames enforcer Andrew Sharp was now facing down Wales, and despite his offers to teach Wales a lesson or two in manners, he wasn’t polite enough to accept and Sharpy was left feeling hard done by.

The period break did nothing to dampen the tempers. A trip to Dean Holland at centre ice lead to a short break in play as the blood from his damaged nose had to be scraped off the ice. Once again the visitors applied pressure early in the period and poor defence from the Flames saw Jets take the upper hand once again. Dixon out worked by Bakrlik to feed the puck to Pliskauskas at the back door. Unmarked he was able to wind up and fire the puck past Lee to make it 3-2 at 43:31. Tempers were once again flared with Sharp made contact with Rockman whilst attempting to tip in a Huppe pass from the right wing.

 

 

Rempel levels the scores with a close range strike.

The Flames were able to find the equalising goal, coming at 51:43 from Nathan Rempel. Once again the Flames were peppering Rockman with shots looking for that gap. A blasting shot from point range by the “Slovak Tank” Kvetan resulted in a bouncing rebound into the path of Rempel who was crashing the net. A flick of the stick saw the puck end up on the right side of the post and 3-3 showing on the score board.

 

With the Flames well and truly back in the game; just 15 seconds after Rempel’s strike the Flames were once again celebrating with Huppe grabbing his second of the evening. With Milos winning the face-off and quick feed from David Longstaff gave Huppe room to fire home a buzzing slap shot past Rockman to give the homeside the advantage.

With the game entering its final stage and just minutes left to play, the Jets were gifted their best opportunity to get back in the game and spoil the result for the Flames with a 2-0 breakaway. However the heroics and a stretching right leg from Lee saved the day and kept the Flames in front. Despite pulling Rockman to the bench for the final 30 or so seconds, the Jets couldn’t find the net to level the score. The win and two points staying firmly with the homeside and league leaders.

Talking Points

For the majority of the game the Flames looked the better side and even when behind looked comfortable on the play. The Jets took their chances, the few there were and made them count, however by the 45th minute they looked out of steam and didn’t seem to have an answer for the onslaught from the Flames.

The Jets, with the exception of Wales and Bakrlik, played a good road game and could have come away with the honours if it wasn’t for Rempel and Huppe.

Wales – what a donkey. All mouth and no trousers!! When he wasn’t having a dig at numerous players he was holding up play by whingy to the officials. I think by the third Thompson had enough of listening to what he had to say. I was hoping that someone would give him a battering and I think 4/5 players offered him out on numerous occassions, but he is clever and never bites, but his time will soon come.

Bakrlik – showed glimpses as to why he has played EIHL level in the past and is one of those players that if he was consistently that good could most likely be a very successful player at a high level and also EPL. However it seems he has a short attention span and the glimpses of brillance are diluted by masses of stupidity. Especially after the dirty high elbow hit on Kvetan that was attempting to catch the puck out the air. A jumping check with both skates off the ice should not be allowed and I am surprised he didn’t get called on that.

The Flames, despite being slugish for parts of the game, and struggling to mount an offensive challenge out of their own zone for more than one of the Jets penalty kill sesssions were the better side. Chances were coming fast and often and apart from spells when Huppe when missing, every player was up for it; especially Holland. You have to congratulate that man for coming straight back out after having his nose mate with the ice in the most unfortunate way.

My three star players were;

Rempel – seemed to cover a lot of ice last night and was really trying to get a goal. The elation was clear to see after he scored when he just kept skating into the boards. Also the big centre ice hit on Bakrlik was a pleasure to see.

Kvetan – once again had a solid performance and despite none of his rockets finding their way to the net he was causing trouble for the Jets and Rockman especially.

Savage – it was a hard one to choose between David and Lee. Apart from the leg stop on the 2-0 break away late in the 3rd he had a very average game. Savage was where he needed to be on the ice and like Brani was causing all sorts of trouble with his slap shots and the resulting rebounds.

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.