WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 (MORALEE)
Saturday 23rd September 2017
Telford
Tigers vs. Solway Sharks
Sheffield
Steeldogs vs. Billingham Stars
Sunday
24th September 2017
Whitley Warriors vs. Nottingham Lions
Billingham Stars vs. Blackburn Hawks
(National Cup)
Fixture:
Telford Tigers vs. Solway Sharks
Date: 23rd September 2017
Venue: Telford Ice Rink
Faceoff: 5:30pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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After
last weekend’s close cup encounter with Billingham Stars and a lucky escape in
Nottingham, Solway Sharks will head to Shropshire on Saturday for a
top-of-the-table clash against Tom Watkins’ Telford Tigers. With both teams
having claimed maximum points from the three league games they have played to
date, and Solway only ahead on goal difference, this game is set to be an enthralling
one as the defending champions of the NIHL ready themselves for an encounter
with last season’s EPL leaders.
Whilst
Solway will hope to utilise the skill and speed of left winger Steven Moore,
the firepower of Iain Bowie and the strength of alternate captain Ross Murray,
the Tigers will no doubt make the most of three-time EIHL champion Jonathan
Weaver, experienced forward Rick Plant and Canadian-born captain Jason
Silverthorn who have collectively tallied nineteen points in three games. So far,
Telford have recorded a 4-3 overtime victory against Sheffield Steeldogs,
battled to claim a 5-2 win over Nottingham Lions and were also successful in a
5-3 clash with Solihull Barons last Sunday. Like Solway, the Tigers have also
managed a 100% record in the NIHL National Cup competition, recording two wins
against Basingstoke Bison in recent weeks to maintain momentum. As such, this
fixture will prove to be a tough contest between two exceptional outfits as
they strive to avoid their first defeat of the season at all costs.
Looking
forward to this encounter, Sharks’ Head Coach Martin Grubb shared:
“Saturday will
provide our toughest test to date against a very strong Telford Tigers’ team.
They have great experience, skill, structure and are very well-coached so we
know how tough this will be. Tom may not have a big squad but the players he
has available will make them hard to beat so we will need to go with confidence
and stay disciplined and, if we can play well away from the puck, we will give
ourselves a chance.”
Also
taking time to consider this clash, Telford’s Jack Watkins observed:
“This weekend
should be tough. Solway had a strong team last season and they have pretty much
the same team from last year. We have had a good week at training, working on a
few new things for Solway. We will have to play our systems and have everyone
on the same page. I’m really looking forward to a top-of-the-table clash so
early in the season.”
Fixture:
Sheffield Steeldogs vs. Billingham Stars
Date: 23rd September 2017
Venue: Ice Sheffield
Faceoff: 7:30pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Suffering
three consecutive cup defeats since the opening weekend of their 2017-18
campaign, Billingham Stars will hit the road this weekend with hopes that they
can collect two points against Sheffield Steeldogs, having so far won only one
game from five across all competitions, their lone victory arriving in a
one-sided 11-3 affair against The Dragons in their first game of the season.
Missing out on maximum points by a goal in their last four encounters, the Stars
will hope to play with an extra edge to their game when they face Ben Morgan’s
team this weekend to ensure that their results begin to reflect their work
rate. With alternate captain Chris Sykes and Latvian import Deniss Baškatovs
currently Billingham’s top points scorers with six points each from two league
games, the Teessiders will expect the duo to again make an impact whilst hoping
that usual assets Michael Bowman, Callum Davies and Michael Elder can also get
on the scoresheet.
The
Steeldogs, by comparison, will be pleased with the start to their campaign,
having won two of the three league games they have played so far, their only
defeat in overtime to Telford Tigers. Accomplishing a 5-4 victory over Solihull
Barons almost four weeks ago, the Steeldogs then managed to dominate in a
feisty clash with Blackburn Hawks last weekend to claim a 4-1 home win and now
find themselves sitting in fourth place with five points. With a great deal of
talent on their roster, including top point scorer James Spurr, Slovakian
import Milan Kolena and player-coach Ben Morgan, the Steeldogs are just one of
the many formidable outfits in the NIHL at present, making this game another
must-win if the side want to hold onto their position to contend with those at
the top of the table.
Commenting ahead of this fixture,
Steeldogs’ defenceman Tom Barry told NIHL Northern Trio:
“I think personally we’ve got off to a great start
with five points from three games; all three games against tough teams as well.
We’ve all started to settle as a team and all of the lines are helping to
contribute towards getting the win. I expect the game against Billingham on
Saturday to be a fast, physical game as the Stars have a very good team. They
have plenty of skilled guys so I am sure it’ll be a close game but I am
confident that we can get the job done and come away with two points.”
Fixture:
Whitley Warriors vs. Nottingham Lions
Date: 24th September 2017
Venue: Whitley Bay Ice Rink
Faceoff: 5:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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This weekend sees Whitley Warriors take on Matt Bradbury’s newly
promoted Nottingham Lions, having last played the club in their 2011-12
campaign. Former title rivals prior to the Lions’ sudden relegation in March
2012, the Warriors enjoyed some enthralling encounters with Nottingham as they
competed for the top spot in the English National League. One game of particular significance was a
sensational 4-3 home win for Simon Leach’s Whitley Warriors in 2010, the side only just snatching the points to
progress to silverware success.
Whilst the Warriors will look to build on last weekend’s 11-6 road win
over The Dragons with a victory on Sunday, the side are aware of the
difficulties facing them, with Nottingham proving to be stubborn opposition in
their recent defeats to Telford Tigers, Hull Pirates and Solway Sharks. So far, Lions Marc Levers, Ondrej Pniok, Richard Slater and Warren Tait have shown
themselves to be threatening in front of goal, meaning Whitley’s defensive
line-up will no doubt have their work cut out when they take to the ice this weekend. However, the home team will certainly set their sights on maximum
points heading into this fixture as they prepare to utilise their strong offensive
line-up which last week included alternate captain Shaun Kippin, Canadian
import Philip Edgar, forward Ben Richards and player-coach David Longstaff.
This game a welcome reunion between the former title rivals, Nottingham will
set out to claim their first points of the season whilst Whitley will give
their all as they look to climb the league table.
Sharing his thoughts in anticipation of this
fixture, player-coach David Longstaff noted:
“It should be an entertaining game. They’ve had some
unlucky results so far and probably have the best goalie in the league. We’ll
be missing some players so I expect a game that could go either way.”
Meanwhile, Nottingham’s alternate captain Adz
Andrews also turned his attentions to Sunday’s game against the Warriors:
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Photo
Credit: CHUD Photography
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“Going into Whitley will be a different kind of game
to what we have played so far. Whitley have always been a physical side and you
know when you’ve played a game in their barn. They have a good mix of speed and
toughness with guys like Shaun Kippin, Josh Maddock and Jordan Barnes so it
will be a battle. A lot of our guys haven’t played that far North for a while
but we have the depth and ability to change how we play this year as there are
no easy games so we will go into Sunday’s game with the same mentality: work
hard for three periods, try to win a period at a time and hopefully have
something to show at the end in the points department.”
Fixture:
Billingham Stars vs. Blackburn Hawks
Date: 24th September 2017
Venue: The Forum
Faceoff: 6:30pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Facing
Blackburn Hawks for the third time this month, Billingham Stars head into their cup fixture against the Lancashire outfit aiming to improve on their
latest 3-2 loss to the side. In their most recent defeat to the Hawks, Billingham cancelled out Rick Bentham's opening goal through Chris Sykes but a second goal from Bentham, and input from alternate captain Luke Boothroyd, saw Sykes’ fifty eighth minute effort prove to be too little, too late.
Whilst
the Stars have found themselves without injured netminder James Flavell since the
start of the season, the side calling upon young shot stopper Callum Reynolds in place of absentee Mark Watson last weekend, Blackburn also announced changes to their netminding line-up in
recent weeks, revealing the departure of former Phoenix shot stopper Stephen
Fone which saw the return of Niks Trapans as backup to current first choice
Stuart Ashton. Meanwhile, the Hawks have also signed Sheffield Steeler Kieran
Brown on a two-way contract which has so far proven to be incredibly beneficial
for Steven Duncombe’s men, the youngster achieving three goals and three
assists against Hull Pirates last Saturday before tallying an assist in a
difficult game against the Steeldogs. With Billingham hoping to finally get a
win over the Hawks as they sit at the bottom of their NIHL National Cup group
with just one point, Blackburn will hope that they can benefit once again from their new signing this weekend as they look to achieve maximum points from this contest with the aim to challenge Solway
Sharks for the top spot in the coming weeks. Always entertaining no matter the
outcome, this game will no doubt prove to be as highly competitive as
Billingham’s recent encounters with the Hawks and is therefore not one to be
missed.
Approaching this weekend’s double header, Billingham’s
alternate captain Chris Sykes shared:
“It’s a big weekend for the Stars. We have our first
challenge against ‘EPL’ Steeldogs and we are quite excited by it! I’m going
back ‘home’ to Sheffield and I’m looking forward to it! Big league points are
up for grabs and it’ll be a tough test but we will go there wanting to snatch
two points. Then we are back home against the Hawks in the cup. They keep
getting us by one goal so far this season so it’s time to put that right.”
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