NIHL Weekend Preview

WEEKEND

PREVIEW

NIHL NORTH DIVISION 1 MORALEE CONFERENCE

Saturday 8th October 2016

Billingham Stars vs. Whitley Warriors

Solway Sharks vs. Sutton Sting

Sunday 9th October 2016

Billingham Stars vs. The Dragons

Following last weekend’s home victory for Solway Sharks, and a thrilling Tyne-Tees derby at Hillheads, another busy schedule awaits the Northern Trio this weekend.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

First to take to the ice are Billingham Stars who play host to Whitley Warriors in the reverse of last Sunday’s NIHL North Cup fixture. With both teams competing at a fast pace last weekend, it can only be hoped that the intense nature of the Tyne-Tees derby is continued on Saturday. Placed third in the North Cup competition at present, the Stars head into this game on the back of their 5-4 win over their local rivals and will arguably be spurred on by this result with the knowledge that they are able to defeat their opposition having struggled to do so in their previous campaign. Recording one win from four league games against the Warriors in their last season, Billingham narrowly lost out twice to David Longstaff’s side both at home and on the road, but an exhilarating 4-4 draw at Whitley Bay ice Rink in October and a victory on home ice at the close of the season show that the Stars have what it takes to challenge their adversary. Whilst making amends for their overtime loss to Solway Sharks two weeks ago with a regulation win against the Warriors, the Stars demonstrated a great deal of skill. In particular, new import Daniel Palmebjörk was very deserving of his Man of the Match award, the forward tallying two goals and working hard to test Whitley’s defence on several occasions. Joining him on the score sheet was fellow Swede Dennis Boström who ultimately confirmed Billingham’s win by grabbing the side’s fifth goal. Also the only player to light the lamp in all four games against the Warriors last season, Boström’s goal scoring prowess will certainly be called upon on Saturday with both imports hoping to find the back of the net once again. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Whitley Warriors, on the other hand, will be hoping to travel with a full roster as several key players missed out last weekend, including skilled defenceman Harry Harley. By contrast, the input of long-serving Warrior Callum Watson was considerable on Sunday as the forward scored two goals to enhance his team’s chances of competing in the cup competition. Whilst Whitley were unable to gain anything from this fixture, the side certainly came within touching distance of overtime and, as a result, will be out to avenge their narrow defeat on Saturday. Currently sitting at the foot of the North Cup standings, the Warriors have racked up three league defeats and three cup losses to date, managing a single point in all competitions. However, it is clear that the Hillheads outfit are continuing to progress as the weeks go by. Already, the side have shown a great deal of fight against Telford Tigers to gain a draw and again, in their encounter with Billingham last Sunday, the team persevered to chip away at the deficit until the final second of the game. Taking to the road on Saturday for a second successive derby game, the Warriors will be hoping to better their last result against their rivals and, better still, to claim their first victory of the season. In preparation for this cup tie, Whitley Warriors’ player-coach David Longstaff noted: “This Saturday is a cup game so we’ll be able to try some new stuff because the cup is not our priority after losing the first three games. We’ll be using this game to get ready for next week’s league game.” Meanwhile Billingham’s Chris Sykes shared: “This is a big weekend for the Stars. A double header at home and four points to pick up! Saturday sees the Warriors coming to The Forum for the return leg. As always, it should be a good battle. We obviously prefer our own rink and feel like we can make a statement on our ice and play some nice hockey.”

Also playing on Saturday, Solway Sharks host Simon Butterworth’s Sutton Sting for the second time this season, having already clashed with the outfit on the 17^th September. Winning 4-1 at home, the Sharks will go into this game aiming to make more of their chances in front of goal, having failed to reach their full potential against the Yorkshire-based team just a few weeks ago. Travelling with a little over two lines for their last trip, the Sting proved challenging for the Sharks, with some outstanding netminding from Dmitri Zimozdra preventing Solway from running away with the game. Unhappy with some of Solway’s play in this encounter against the Sting, Martin Grubb will expect better from his side who have pulled off some impressive victories so far, emphasised by the side’s 9-2 win over Whitley Warriors. As well as making a comeback from 5-2 down in the final period of their North Cup fixture against the Stars two weeks ago to take the game into overtime, the Sharks also defeated the Barons last Saturday. Continuing to utilise the skill and strength of their offence to build up some great form in the Moralee Conference, Solway received the news this week that forward Richard Bentham has chosen to return to former club Blackburn Hawks. Whilst this may have been unexpected, the Dumfries outfit have such quality in their roster this season, with several players contributing in front of goal, that this departure is unlikely to change the overall dynamics of the team. Meanwhile, aside from this, it is probable that the Sting will again travel with a small squad to Solway, the team having made the trip in September with only thirteen skaters and two netminders due to the reduced size of their roster this campaign. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

With Benjamin Jones the only scorer for Sutton in their previous game against Grubb’s men, Head Coach Butterworth will be hoping for more of his players to get on the score sheet this time around. So far, the Sting’s highest points scorer is former Sheffield Steeldog Lloyd Gibson who has four goals and two assists to his name in the three games he has featured. Not travelling to Dumfries for Sutton’s clash with Solway in September, it remains to be seen whether the versatile forward will make the trip but, if he should, it is likely he will make an impact, having already claimed his first hat trick this season. Sitting in seventh place with one point, competing with the Sharks will be a challenge for Butterworth’s men who will certainly give the game their best in an attempt to create a gap between themselves and fellow foot-of-the-table side Whitley Warriors. Likewise, two points for the Sharks will allow Solway to widen the gap at the top of the Moralee Conference to ensure their occupation of first place when the weekend is over. Looking ahead to Saturday’s clash with the Sting, captain Struan Tonnar told NIHL Northern Trio: “Sutton are always a challenging team to play. They always come with the same high work rate and if they can get the high level of goaltending that they’re known for, it will be a challenging game. We just need to focus on playing our game, play at our pace, move the puck and find the back of the net. We obviously lost Bentham this week but, as much as he’s a nice guy, we have more than enough talent and desire in the room to move on and still keep playing as well as we have been.” 

Last, but not least, Billingham Stars will then play at home for a second time this weekend as they take to the ice on Sunday for a league fixture against The Dragons. Travelling to Deeside for the opening game of their season, the Stars recorded a comfortable 8-1 win against Scott McKenzie’s men. Rather ironically, this is currently the only defeat that The Dragons have conceded so far, having bounced back from this one-sided score line to record a 4-4 draw against Sutton Sting before going on to win their next three games; twice triumphing over Telford Tigers before taking two points from Solihull Barons at Hobs Moat Road two weeks ago. Whilst this is impressive indeed for the newly promoted outfit, the Stars have endured some mixed fortune in the league to date following their opening victory against The Dragons, tallying away losses to Solway Sharks and Blackburn Hawks before defeating Matt Darlow’s side at The Forum on the 18^th September. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

As a result, The Dragons are now placed higher in the league table than the Stars as McKenzie’s men occupy second place whereas the Teessiders sit in fifth position, though tied on points with Blackburn and Telford. Whilst there will be much home grown talent on show in this fixture, it is inevitable that imports from both sides will have a huge impact on this game and will no doubt prove a talking point throughout. Icing for The Dragons, Markus Kankaanranta has accumulated nine points in five games whilst Slovakian forward Filip Supa has accomplished five goals and an assist to date. When compared with the Stars who have played one game less than McKenzie’s men, it is clear that Billingham’s imports are outperformed in the league when it comes to the attainment of player points per game; Swede Dennis Boström has four points in four league games whilst Palmebjörk has only one assist to his name so far in the Moralee Conference. Whilst these statistics fail to take into account the hard work produced on the ice by these players, with Boström the Stars’ top points scorer last season and Palmebjörk claiming two cup goals last weekend, it is interesting to note that Brits Scott McKenzie and Chris Sykes are the respective top points scorers for their clubs. On average, McKenzie has achieved 2.4 points per league game for The Dragons to date whereas Sykes has achieved just over one point less, having played one less fixture than The Dragons’ player-coach. This suggests that both players have better points production rates than that of the imports in their team at present and that home grown talent has made the greatest impact so far. As a result, it will be intriguing to see how these players compete against each other on Sunday, particularly as both teams possess a great deal of quality; import or otherwise. Considering this encounter, Star Chris Sykes added, “Sunday is another massive game as the in-form Dragons come into the Forum for the first time this season. They’ve hit a run of form in the last few games since the opening day defeat which saw us beat them 8-1 so it’s a massive weekend and we’ve been working on a few things this past week in practice. It’s just time to put it together and collect four points for the Stars.”

For those hoping to attend one of these games, Solway Sharks play Sutton Sting at the Dumfries Ice Bowl from 7:00pm on Saturday whilst Billingham Stars host Whitley Warriors at The Forum from 5:30pm. Also, to continue with Whitley Warriors’‘Fill The Rink For Frankie’ campaign, Billingham Stars have organised a bucket collection during this game. If you can not make it to the game but would like to donate, please follow the link provided: https://www.gofundme.com/28mzxuk. On Sunday, the Stars will then play a second home game at 6:30pm against The Dragons as Scott McKenzie’s men pay a visit to Teesside. Unable to make it to a game this weekend? Fear not! Below are the listening details for NIHL Radio.

NIHL Radio Weekend Listings

Saturday 8th October

5:30pm on NIHL Radio 1

Telford Tigers vs. Blackburn Hawks

5:30pm on NIHL Radio 2

Billingham Stars vs. Whitley Warriors

Click on the link to listen: http://tunein.com/.

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