NIHL Weekend Preview

WEEKEND

PREVIEW

NIHL NORTH DIVISION 1 MORALEE CONFERENCE

Saturday 19th November 2016

Telford Tigers vs. Solway Sharks

Sunday 20th November 2016

Whitley Warriors vs. Blackburn Hawks

Sutton Sting vs. Billingham Stars

Solihull Barons vs. Solway Sharks

Following on from the five games played collectively by the Northern Trio last weekend, all three teams take to the ice once more as their frantic schedule resumes. Whilst Solway Sharks are confronted with a double header on the road, Billingham Stars will play Sutton Sting for the first time this season and Whitley Warriors will host Blackburn Hawks for a fourth time as the two prepare for another NIHL North Cup encounter.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

First to faceoff will be Solway Sharks as Martin Grubb’s men make the trip to Telford Ice Rink, having only just received a visit from the Shropshire outfit last Saturday. Still unbeaten in the Moralee Conference this campaign, Solway Sharks will be eager to hold onto their current record when they face the Tigers but will also be aware that their opposition will be out for revenge after last weekend’s defeat. Managing a 6-2 victory over the Telford on home ice in their previous encounter, Solway will aim for a better start to their game, having conceded in the third minute of play. Whilst the Sharks gradually developed their dominance against Daniel MacKriel’s men on home ice, Saturday’s road trip could prove to be heated if last weekend is anything to go by. With ninety one penalty minutes handed out to the Tigers in comparison to Solway’s sixteen, this fixture has the potential to boil over, particularly if MacKriel’s side continue to struggle in the way that they have recently. Having lost eight of their eleven games to date, Telford have found themselves battling for points, often with a depleted squad, against the strong opposition of Division One. Though on paper their roster appears to be a highly convincing one, the Tigers have suffered due to injury, work commitments and sickness of late to accumulate only four points whilst amassing almost three hundred penalty minutes. To put this into perspective, Telford finished their 2015-16 campaign with four hundred and forty two penalty minutes in thirty one games and are presently not far off this total with less than half of their league fixtures played. As a result, the Tigers’ lack of discipline has seemingly contributed to their poor form, though they have been left little choice other than to fight back as they flounder at the lowest point of the NIHL table. Whilst a win for Telford would see the side go level on points with Blackburn Hawks, two points for Solway could see the Sharks go four points ahead of close rivals Billingham Stars ahead of Sunday’s game. Looking ahead to this contest, Head Coach Martin Grubb shared: “We go into this game knowing we will need to play better than we did last weekend as Telford are a good team and we had to battle hard to win in Dumfries last Saturday. We know they will be stronger at home and we need to ensure we go there and execute our game plan to get the two points we want.”

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Setting out to ensure that this does not happen, Billingham Stars will make the trip to Ice Sheffield to take on Sutton Sting for the first time this season. Taking the momentum of three league victories and a cup win into this game, the Stars will be more than up for the contest as they face a Sutton outfit who are still bouncing back from a shaky start to their season having recorded four losses in their first five games; the other a 4-4 draw against the newly promoted Dragons. Meanwhile, over the course of Billingham’s last four games, forward Chris Sykes has shown himself to be one of the Stars’ greatest assets, scoring six goals and five assists to find himself the league’s top points scorer at present. Equally, Sutton’s Lloyd Gibson also finds himself amongst some of the league’s finest, immediately slotting into the NIHL to score eight goals and six assists in the nine games he has featured. So far, Simon Butterworth’s team have yet to score more than six goals in a game as Sutton’s characteristically strong, but defensive, approach to such fixtures often results in low scoring, closely contested affairs which leave little room for error. One player particularly worthy of note for the Sting is impressive young prospect Joe Colton who has tallied thirteen points in just ten games. Earning himself a goal and an assist against Whitley Warriors last weekend, Colton has a great deal to offer his team who will plough forwards with their sights set firmly on maximum points in a bid to reduce the void between themselves and David Longstaff’s men. Billingham, on the other hand, will look for no less than victory as the Teessiders strive to keep pace with current league leaders Solway Sharks in the hope that they can snatch top spot in the coming weeks. Considering this clash, Star Chris Sykes expressed his thoughts ahead of the contest: “We haven’t played Sutton yet so Sunday is our first meeting this season. They have the same core players as the last couple of seasons and they have made some good additions also. It’s my old team so I want to beat them more than anyone. We are up for Sunday and ready for a battle down in Sheffield. Sutton won’t roll over and they can’t be taken lightly so we are prepared and ready to go.”

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Also icing on Sunday, Solway Sharks will complete their double header with a trip to Hobs Moat Road as they prepare to confront Perry Doyle’s steadfast Solihull Barons. Having played one more game than Solway so far, the Barons have eleven points from nine games and could edge closer to second place as they continue to compete in the higher positions of the Moralee Conference. Meanwhile, victory for the Sharks could place them on twenty points this weekend to skip away from their opposition at the top of the table, though the side would have to record a win over Telford Tigers first in order to achieve this feat. Recording a 3-1 home win against Solihull in October, the Sharks know that Doyle’s men will be out to seek their revenge and, with their previous encounter against the Barons so close, this game will be far from one-sided. Boasting a great deal of quality across all areas of the ice, Solihull’s forwards are particularly strong with Josh Bruce, Joe Henry and Niklas Ottosson three of the side’s top points scorers at present and, also shining this season, junior Matthew Maurice has demonstrated his ability in front of goal to average just over a point per game. As both of these outfits were triumphant on home ice against each other last season, this may suggest that Solihull have the advantage over the Sharks this weekend but with Solway much improved this campaign, and the Barons continuing to pose a threat to those they face, a hard fought but enthralling battle is likely to unfold between these two once again. Adding to his earlier comments, Grubb stated: “Solihull are a very good team with lots of depth and it’s always a tough place to play so we will need to be ready. We will need to be focused and be solid all over the ice and make sure we play a smart road game to give ourselves a chance to win. We will go into a very tough weekend looking for four points and we will battle hard to keep our run going.”

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Last, but not least, David Longstaff’s Whitley Warriors will play host to Blackburn Hawks in their third NIHL North Cup encounter against the Lancashire line-up. So far, the sides have both recorded home victories against each other but Blackburn’s 6-0 defeat to the Warriors will still be fresh in the minds of most Hawks’ fans, this being the result which, in effect, led to Matt Darlow’s departure. As a result, player-coach Steven Duncombe will set out to prove a point on Sunday, his side having also suffered an 8-2 league defeat to the Warriors at the end of last month. With enforcer Andre Payette becoming reacquainted with Reece Cairney-Witter in Whitley’s last encounter against the Hawks, the Warriors will be prepared for quite the contest, particularly as they have little to lose in this cup game; ranked in fourth place, Whitley find themselves at the bottom of the North Cup standings, meaning the only way is up for Longstaff’s battling unit. By comparison, Blackburn sit in second place and a regulation win against the Warriors on Sunday would bring the team within one point of current leaders Solway Sharks who have tallied fourteen points across the six games they have played to date. Regardless of the result however, this game is certain to be one to watch with this the last time the sides play each other before the New Year. Speaking to NIHL Northern Trio, player-coach David Longstaff highlighted: “We’ll be trying some different line combinations and trying to get some ice time for some of the players who haven’t seen a lot of playing time.”

For those fans hoping to make it to one of these games, Solway Sharks face off against the Tigers at Telford Ice Rink on Saturday from 5:30pm. On Sunday, Whitley Warriors host Blackburn Hawks at Hillheads from 5:00pm, Billingham Stars travel to Ice Sheffield for a 6:00pm faceoff against Sutton Sting and similarly, Solway Sharks faceoff at the same time as they prepare to encounter Solihull Barons at Hobs Moat Road. Can’t make it to a game? Fear not! The listening details for NIHL Radio are below.

NIHL Radio Listings

Saturday 19th November

5:30pm on NIHL Radio 1

Telford Tigers vs. Solway Sharks

Commentators: Oz Phillips and Ben Simister

Sunday 20th November

5:00pm on NIHL Radio 1

Whitley Warriors vs. Blackburn Hawks                                                                       

Commentators: Bryan Shuttleworth and Adam Mackman

For more photos from IceHockeyMedia, please visit: http://www.icehockeymedia.co.uk/.