NIHL Weekend Preview

WEEKEND

PREVIEW

NIHL NORTH DIVISION 1 MORALEE CONFERENCE

Saturday 14th November 2015

Sheffield Spartans vs. Solway Sharks

Sunday 15th November 2015

Sutton Sting vs. Solway Sharks

Solihull Barons vs. Billingham Stars

Sheffield Spartans vs. Whitley Warriors

With NIHL league success all round for our Northern Trio last Saturday and Sunday, coaches Martin Grubb, David Longstaff and Terry Ward are in for yet another challenging weekend as their sides hit the road to encounter some tough NIHL competition.

First to take to the ice will be Solway Sharks who make their way to Ice Sheffield. Up against the Spartans, who lost out to Whitley Warriors in their last fixture, Solway will encounter the unpredictable Sheffield outfit, aware that their own form has not been up to scratch this season. Currently making slow progress, but progress none the less, the Sharks sit in seventh and are only two points off stealing the Spartans’ spot with three games in hand. It would therefore appear that the time is now for the Sharks; they cannot afford to miss this opportunity to climb the league table and simultaneously cause problems for league rivals Billingham Stars. With three hundred penalty minutes on the league board, more than any other team at present, Martin Grubb will feel that the Spartans’ weakness is certainly discipline and will likely drill his team for power plays, particularly as Solway have not always been able to make the most of their man advantage so far this season.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

With GB under 20 squad player Duncan Speirs and twenty two year old forward Michael Corbett shining against Solihull Barons on Saturday, Grubb will be looking for more of the same as his side search for their fifth league win of their 2015-16 campaign, though the Dumfries outfit will of course be without Martin Cingel who suffered a broken collarbone, leaving the import on the side lines for the foreseeable future. In contrast, Martin White will hope that a home advantage allows him to have a full squad at his disposal having left behind several key players, including Tom Parkinson, Marcos Stefanco, Shaun Wild and netminder Andy Bagshaw, in their 6-0 defeat to Whitley Warriors last weekend.

If Solway should win, a victory would reenergise the Sharks before their second consecutive away game to Sutton Sting on Sunday. Staying in Sheffield, Solway will take to pad 2 for their game against John Ross’ sinking side but, with both teams in need of points and the Sting still showing their determination in spite of their current league position, this could easily prove a difficult fixture for the Sharks. Only last weekend, the Sting were defeated by Billingham Stars at The Forum but they certainly did not take the loss without a fight, opening the scoring and attempting to bounce back when the Stars went ahead in the game.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Currently, the Sting have several strong players in their ranks with Latvian import Vjaceslavs Movko, player-coach Ross and James Spurr comprising Sutton’s top points scorers and, though they have only achieved two wins from ten games, the side still have a lot to offer to the NIHL and must turn their season around game by game, in the same way that Solway are approaching each game with a view to build up good form. As Sutton will go all out for the points on Sunday, Solway will ultimately need to be at their very best but it may be that the momentum of back to back away games carries the Sharks through unscathed. In the event that Grubb’s side leave Sheffield with four points on Sunday, there is little doubt that the playoffs spots will be within touching distance, especially if Billingham suffer a defeat to Solihull Barons on the same day.

Terry Ward’s Stars make the trip to Hobs Moat Road this weekend in a bid to wreak their revenge after their home loss to Perry Doyle’s Barons back in mid-October. Having iced a full bench against Sutton Sting last Sunday, Ward will want the same again from his team to ensure the Stars’ continued progress in the league. With Solway Sharks slowly creeping into the points, and both Solihull and Telford performing at their best in recent games, the Teesiders must up their game to maintain a good league position and to also find more consistent form. Although the side sit fifth with eleven points, they have shown themselves to be unpredictable from the very start of the season, giving varying performances which have seen the side unable to produce more than two consecutive wins. Perhaps this fixture will present an opportunity for Billingham to break this cycle, though there is no doubt that Solihull will certainly make life difficult, the Barons looking to bounce back from last weekend’s double defeat which prevented their winning streak from snowballing any further. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Following a turbulent contest against Telford Tigers, Solihull go into their game against the Stars with a need to be more disciplined, having racked up an astounding one hundred and eighteen penalty minutes, Slovakian import Tomas Janak, player-coach Perry Doyle and Ryan Selwood all receiving ten minute plus twenty minute misconduct penalties and were subsequently ordered off the ice. With the adroit Thomas Soar on their side, Solihull can only hope that their top point scorer will be at his best on Sunday. Already accumulating an impressive thirty one points from twelve games, Soar is certainly an asset to his club and works with creative players Edward Eaton, Niklas Ottosson and Janak to help his team climb the league table.

However, playing the Stars after such a frustrating fixture, the Barons will also be up against Swedish import Dennis Boström, James Moss and Chris Sykes, all of whom have shown their skill and strength in recent games, etching their names onto the score sheet in the process and helping Billingham to recover fifth place.

Solihull dropped into fourth position after their disappointing 9-4 defeat to the Tigers but remain only one point behind Telford and three in front of Billingham. Therefore, the most damage the Stars can do to the Barons is to end up on thirteen points, a single point behind the side, to make the competition for places in the NIHL table even tighter. The advantage of this struggle for points and places is, of course, that every game matters; just one point can have a huge impact on league standings. As a result, both teams will go all out to win the points, though who will emerge from the contest victorious is anyone’s guess; Solihull are a resilient, spirited side but the Stars continue to show their mettle, meaning the clash promises to be nothing but entertaining for fans hoping to travel to the game.

The last face off to take place will be at 6:15 on Sunday between Whitley Warriors and Sheffield Spartans. This Sunday, the tables will be turned on the Warriors as they journey to Ice Sheffield for the contest, the two sides having played at Hillheads last weekend which resulted in a 6-0 victory for the home side. 

Still occupying second place at the moment, the Warriors must increase their lead to remain abreast of league competition as Telford Tigers and Solihull Barons could easily displace Whitley should those two teams continue to progress and the Warriors falter in the next couple of weeks. With this threat in mind, David Longstaff must prepare his squad for the trip as the team’s previous outing to Ice Sheffield saw his side manage an average 6-1 against the bottom placed the Senators and, whilst the Sheffield outfit must be credited for their performance, undoubtedly more was expected from Warriors’ fans following their teams superb start to the season.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Whilst the Spartans may benefit from the momentum of back to back home games, their first against Solway on Saturday evening, Whitley will look to take a win away with them from Sheffield and, should they do so, the Warriors will edge ahead of league leaders Blackburn on points with the knowledge that the seemingly invincible Hawks have three games in hand to play. However, should they fail, the mid-table struggle will only intensify and the Spartans, who have now played thirteen games, need to pick up points to chase that all-important playoff spot; last season Sheffield secured fourth position, their first playoff placement in the NIHL since their 2009-10 campaign, in which they eventually suffered a semi-final loss but to compete with the best is certainly the aim of coach Martin White and his team so there is little doubt that the side’s strongest players Stuart Brittle, Nicholas Manning and Ollie Barron will let Whitley leave with the points that easily.

Failing to place the puck in the net and, in the end, being overrun with penalty minutes, the Spartans are unlikely to make the same mistakes on their home ice and should get goals on the scoreboard this time around. Warriors’ domination in their last fixture saw the side have fifty one shots on Spartans’ goal to the twenty three fired at their own. This is something that White will be hoping to turn around whilst Longstaff will be searching for a repeat performance from his own side, the Warriors precise passing and pace packing a punch in front of goal.

For fans hoping to attend any of these fixtures, Solway Sharks face off at Ice Sheffield against Sheffield Spartans on Saturday at 3:45pm and take to pad 2 on Sunday at the same rink at the later time of 4:15pm against Sutton Sting. Also at Ice Sheffield on Sunday are the Whitley Warriors who will encounter the Spartans at 6:15pm whilst Billingham Stars make the trip to Hobs Moat Road to face off against Solihull Barons at 6:00pm.

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