NIHL Weekend Preview

WEEKEND

PREVIEW

NIHL NORTH DIVISION 1 MORALEE CONFERENCE

Saturday 16th January 2016

Solway Sharks vs. Blackburn Hawks

Sutton Sting vs. Billingham Stars

Sunday 17th January 2016

Whitley Warriors vs. Telford Tigers

Billingham Stars vs. Sheffield Senators

For ice hockey fans in the North, a jam-packed weekend of NIHL action awaits as Solway Sharks and Billingham Stars look to hold onto the momentum gained in last weekend’s victories whilst Whitley Warriors aim to bounce back from their defeat against Blackburn Hawks with a win over third placed Telford Tigers.

Solway Sharks are first to take to the ice on Saturday, playing host to Blackburn Hawks, and both sides go into the game on the back of victories, the Sharks having defeated Sheffield Senators 14-0 last Saturday and the Hawks clawing their way back to snatch a 4-3 lead over Whitley Warriors.  With Martin Cingel and Stuart Andrews both making their return from injury last weekend, the Sharks look a force to be reckoned with as they continue to settle into their 2015-16 campaign. Now five points from sixth place, which is currently occupied by the sinking Spartan’s, Solway have a real chance to progress; two points would bring the side closer to a change in league position whilst presenting the team with a chance to compete with Billingham Stars. Currently, the Teesiders are tied on points with Sheffield Spartans but go ahead in the league standings, having played fewer games than Martin White’s line up. In comparison, Blackburn are now nine points clear at the top of the table and the Lancashire outfit has not lost a game to the Sharks this season, picking up eight points against Solway in all competitions.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

With defencemen Chris Arnone and Kim Miettinen currently the best in the league having accumulated fifty eight points between them, Solway will certainly have their work cut out on all areas of the ice. To combat Hawks’ extremely effective offensive play, the Sharks will need to be at their best on Saturday to challenge Blackburn, but with a hat trick from Juraj Senko last week, and two goals each for Ross Murray, Duncan Speirs and Martin Cingel, Grubb’s line-up will attempt to reproduce this quality in front of goal, though they will recognise that the Hawks provide a completely different challenge to that of the Senators with experienced netminder Daniel Brittle likely to start in net. Sharks’ coach Martin Grubb told NIHL Northern Trio: “We know that we are going into a tough game against the league leaders and the team that has been most consistent but we will go into the game with confidence. We got some much needed match fitness last weekend and we got Martin Cingel and Stuart Andrews back from injury so we have a few more options and we have worked hard in practice to ensure we are ready for this game. Danny MacKriel has done a great job this year and will come looking for the points but we are confident if we can execute our game plan, stay disciplined and take our chances, then we can win the game.”

Solway are not the only team hoping to climb the league table however, as Billingham Stars look to continue their great start to 2016 with a four point weekend. Encountering Sutton Sting on the road on Saturday, Terry Ward’s Stars will be searching for yet another victory against the side they defeated twice in November. Swedish import Dennis Boström, forward James Moss and former Sting player Chris Sykes were all able to grab goals against Sutton last but, with netminder Dmitri Zimozdra between the pipes, John Ross’ team did not lose without putting up a fight first. Billingham’s last fixture against the Sting was a particularly fiery one, leaving referee David Emmerson no choice but to dish out fifty seven minutes worth of penalties over three periods with Stars’ Andy Finn ejected from the game for a slashing offence and the Sting’s alternate captain Ryan Johnson receiving 2+10 for a check to the head.

Sutton’s fortunes have not improved since the two sides last encountered each other, the Sting remaining adrift at the bottom of the table with only Sheffield Senators worse off than themselves. Three points separate the side from Solway Sharks but, as the Dumfries outfit begin to recover lost ground, Sutton must continue to pick up as many points as they can in order to compete with their opposition in Division One. In the past, the Sting have been powerful on the ice, finishing third in their first season in the Moralee Conference, but their 2015-16 campaign has differed greatly with the team only picking up five victories. Despite this, Sutton also managed one of the greatest shocks of the season when they unexpectedly drew 2-2 against league leaders Blackburn Hawks on home ice, having lead from the fifteenth minute of the game.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

With a home advantage on Saturday, the Sting will be up for the challenge against the Stars and just two points would both give Ross’ team a much needed confidence boost and the green light to contest Solway’s occupation of seventh place. Returning to Teesside, Billingham will then host the second of their double header when they travel back to The Forum on Sunday, encountering foot-of-the-table side Sheffield Senators. Icing sixteen year old netminder Angus Laing against Solway Sharks last Saturday, the shorthanded Senators ultimately failed to respond to an ever-increasing deficit against Martin Grubb’s side. Playing on away ice for a second consecutive weekend, the Senators are set to take on the Stars in what should be another difficult fixture for the side, though the Sheffield-based team has the capacity to score goals, with Nathan Parkes-Britton, Thomas Humphries and Alexander Harding racking up forty eight points collectively.

However, Billingham have the upper hand when it comes to offensive play, import Boström having scored twenty goals and accomplishing nine assists in just sixteen games. Additionally, Sykes and Callum Davies have also exceeded the twenty point mark, whilst Michael Elder continues to impress on a weekly basis. Though Billingham will be without key player, Paul Windridge, the captain reportedly requiring knee surgery following the an injury sustained against Blackburn Hawks in December, the Stars will do everything they can to climb further up the league table in his absence having made significant progress over the last two weeks, twice triumphing over Solihull Barons.

Looking ahead to Stars’ weekend action, Sykes took the time to speak to NIHL Northern Trio: “This weekend is another big weekend for us and we would like to take a maximum four points from it which will be a tough task to start with away at Sutton. They play well on the big ice and they have a good team. I have played on the team and I know how hard Deemer [Dmitri Zimozdra] was to beat between the pipes on practice, never mind in a game. So we are going there to play the same game we played in Solihull, fast and hard-hitting, making sure we are defensively minded and clinical in front of goal. We have only played Sutton once away this season and it was a hard fought game in which we came out victors. So I’m hoping for the same result this time and getting those two vital points to start the weekend off and continue our January push to the playoffs.”

Last but not least, Whitley Warriors take on Telford Tigers at Hillheads on Sunday in their first home game of 2016 following their away defeat to Blackburn Hawks last weekend. With nine points separating David Longstaff’s side from poll position, his team now have a great task on their hands if they are to challenge for the NIHL title but they have made such a fantastic improvement on their league placement since last season that a top four finish for the side would be an achievement in itself.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

With two wins and a draw against Jason Parry’s Telford Tigers, the Warriors will hope to secure the points against the Shropshire outfit but they know it will be no easy task, with nothing separating the two teams in their first fixture and two 4-3 score lines narrowly going in Whitley’s favour. In each encounter that Whitley have played against the Tigers this season, they have secured points in the last three minutes of the game; Whitley scored on 58:56 to make it 3-3 back in September and in a second away fixture in November, the Warriors took the lead on 58:27 through blue liner Dan Pye. Similarly, on home ice, Longstaff’s line up battled to regain the lead, having lead up until the forty ninth minute of the game, eventually edging ahead on 57:25 through Ben Richards. This highlights just how closely contested these games have been between the two sides as both teams continue to compete from the first face off to the final second of every game.

When travelling with a full line up, Telford are at their strongest, James Smith, Callum Bowley, Adam Taylor and experienced import Karol Jets making an impact against some of Division One’s toughest teams. Sitting in third, Telford are five points behind Whitley Warriors so a victory for the home side is essential if they are to enhance the gap between themselves and Parry’s men. Telford have had mixed results of late, losing 8-1 to Blackburn Hawks, drawing with Sheffield Spartans and more recently winning and losing 4-2 against Sutton Sting. Whitley, on the other hand, have endured four consecutive games against Blackburn Hawks over the last month, winning once, drawing once and losing twice to the side who were previously undefeated this season. In light of past fixtures, this game promises to be highly entertaining with little separating the two teams. Player-coach Longstaff told NIHL Northern Trio: “It’ll be a tough game against the third place team. It’s important to keep our unbeaten home run after not playing there for four weeks. I don’t really worry about other team’s players to be honest. We just try to work harder than the other team and hope the bounces go our way.”

For ice hockey fans hoping to catch a game, there will be plenty of opportunity to do so over the weekend with Solway Sharks hosting Blackburn Hawks from 7:00pm at the Dumfries Ice Bowl on Saturday whilst Billingham Stars travel to Ice Sheffield to encounter Sutton Sting from the later time of 7:30pm. This will be followed by a faceoff between Whitley Warriors and Telford Tigers from 5:00pm on Sunday and a clash between the Stars and the Senators at The Forum from 6:30pm.

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