NIHL Weekend Preview

WEEKEND

PREVIEW

NIHL NORTH DIVISION 1 (MORALEE)

Saturday 24th February 2018

  Solway Sharks vs. Billingham Stars

Sunday 25th February 2018

 Whitley Warriors vs. Telford Tigers
Hull Pirates vs. Solway Sharks

Billingham Stars vs. Solihull Barons

Fixture:    Solway Sharks vs. Billingham Stars

Date:        24^th February 2018  

Venue:     Dumfries Ice Bowl

Faceoff:  7:00pm

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Set to confront Billingham Stars for one last time this season, Solway Sharks will certainly not underestimate the Teessiders when they head into this home clash against their close rivals after suffering a disappointing 7-5 defeat to the side when they made the trip to The Forum last month. Achieving a 4-3 lead in this contest by the end of the second period, the Sharks were frustrated to see their hard work dwindle in the final stages of the game as the Stars scored four goals in the third stanza before Solway managed a last-minute consolatory goal. Often fierce and fiery fixtures, this game is expected to be no exception, particularly as both teams look to make up for recent form in which the sides have both lost two of their last three games; the Sharks recording consecutive losses to Whitley Warriors and Hull Pirates before Sunday’s 6-3 win over The Dragons whilst Billingham recovered from a heavy 12-3 loss to Telford Tigers with a win over Nottingham Lions, only to lose out to Sheffield Steeldogs last weekend on home ice. With few games remaining now that the season is drawing to a close, every point makes a great difference to each team and as such, Solway will set their sights on securing fourth position to ensure they finish ahead of Solihull Barons who are just four points behind the Dumfries outfit whilst the Stars will target seventh place in their efforts to narrow the margin between themselves and Steven Duncombe’s Blackburn Hawks. As each team will be prepared to give their all to claim a victory on Saturday evening, this meeting will no doubt be another interesting encounter between two close rivals.

Speaking ahead of this fixture, Solway Sharks’ Head Coach Martin Grubb acknowledged:

“Games against the Stars are always tight affairs and we need to solely focus on our own performance and limit the mistakes we’ve been making recently or we will get punished. We know we need to be consistent between now and the start of playoffs and we need to start now.”

Fixture:    Whitley Warriors vs. Telford Tigers

Date:        25^th February 2018  

Venue:     Whitley Bay Ice Rink

Faceoff:  5:00pm

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Heading into another single-game weekend, Whitley Warriors will ready themselves for a demanding home fixture against title contenders Telford Tigers who have so far accomplished three victories over the Hillheads outfit this season and will aim for another to complete the four-game series. Losing out to the Tigers by just six goals to three in what was a highly entertaining encounter at Whitley Bay Ice Rink in October, the Warriors will hope to contend with the Shropshire outfit for a second time, knowing that they have what it takes to challenge Telford for the points. However, having lost out to Tom Watkins’ team twice on the road by quite some margin, Whitley know that a repeat of their previous home encounter against the silverware hopefuls will be difficult, particularly as the Tigers are now aiming for the top spot and need to bounce back after last weekend’s consecutive defeats to Sheffield Steeldogs and Hull Pirates who are also in the running for the league title. By comparison, the Warriors will head out in search of two points to continue to compete with Solihull for fifth place; David Longstaff’s line-up currently find themselves three points behind the Barons and will look to eliminate this margin in the coming weeks to ensure that they finish the season in the best possible league position. Having recorded victories against Sheffield Steeldogs and Solway Sharks in two positive home games, it is clear that Whitley can make for difficult competition on their smaller ice pad. In consequence, the side will take encouragement from this when they head out in search of victory of Sunday.

Looking forward to this game, Whitley Warriors’ player-coach David Longstaff shared:

“We’ve had two good results at home so hopefully we can get a good result. Telford will be trying to prove a point after a below par couple of weeks for them.”

Also considering this encounter, Telford Tigers’ forward Scott McKenzie revealed:

“We need to approach this weekend’s games with a play-off mentality. Although results haven’t gone our way, we have played a lot of games in a short amount of time against good sides so we will need to brush ourselves down and get back to work this weekend. Two gritty victories really gives us a fighting chance to stay in the league title race. We are fully aware that Sunday’s trip to Whitley is going to be tough. They have been on a bit of a run at home and have really tightened up defensively. We are expecting a strong Whitley performance but are hopeful that we have enough to bring the two points back to Shropshire.”

Fixture:    Hull Pirates vs. Solway Sharks

Date:        25^th February 2018  

Venue:     Hull Arena

Faceoff:  5:30pm

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Travelling to Hull Arena to face the Pirates after only just confronting Jason Hewitt’s outfit last Saturday in an enthralling meeting which ended in an 8-5 defeat for the Sharks, Solway will prepare for another tough test against the title contenders who will not want to miss out on a single point in their quest for silverware success now that the final strait of the season lies ahead. Sat just behind top-of-the-table outfit Sheffield Steeldogs ahead of this weekend’s games, the Pirates will aim for a six-point weekend going into their busy schedule which consists of a Friday night clash against the Steeldogs, a battle with Telford Tigers on Saturday evening and Sunday’s home encounter with the Sharks. Hoping to make the most of these games in hand, Hull will ensure this contest is a hugely challenging one for Martin Grubb’s men who will set out to improve on last weekend’s performance after the side found themselves trailing by 4-1 in the early stages of the second period. Temporarily recovering from this, the Sharks managed to snatch four goals in less than five minutes to take the lead ahead of the third stanza but the Dumfries outfit failed to maintain this, conceding four goals in the final period to miss out on the points. Yet to win against Hull as a result, Solway will set out to triumph over the side for the first time this season besides heading out with the objective to make amends for last weekend’s defeat. This, combined with the Pirates’ title hopes, should make this game another highly entertaining one with the outcome set to contribute to the fight for top spot.

Adding to his earlier comments, Sharks’ Head Coach Martin Grubb admitted:

“Last weekend we competed in small spells against a very, very good Hull team and we need to concentrate for sixty minutes to give ourselves any chance. We know we have the ability to cause any team problems and we need to ensure we stick to our game plan and execute it perfectly to try to get any points.”

Also looking ahead to this game, Hull Pirates’ defenceman Chris Wilcox shared:

“This weekend is probably our biggest of the year as we play Sheffield on Friday, Telford on Saturday and finally, Solway on Sunday. With it so tight at the top, it will be a tough weekend against teams that surround us in the league. All three games will be tight encounters and hopefully we can come out on the right side of the results. Sunday sees Solway travel to us and we know they are an organised outfit that can punish our mistakes. If we play like we did for fifty minutes of our previous encounter, we are confident in getting a good result.”

Fixture:    Billingham Stars vs. Solihull Barons

Date:        25^th February 2018  

Venue:     The Forum

Faceoff:  6:30pm

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Following their road trip to face Solway Sharks at the Dumfries Ice Bowl on Saturday evening, Billingham Stars will return to The Forum on Sunday to take on the fifth-placed Solihull Barons. Having lost out on the road to the side in December, the Teessiders most recently faced the Barons in consecutive games mid-January, first suffering an agonising overtime defeat in front of a home crowd before losing out by five goals to one at Hobs Moat Road. As such, the Stars will aim to add to the single point they have claimed against the Barons this season with a view to progress in the league standings. Taking a great deal of momentum into this game following a narrow 3-2 loss to Sheffield Steeldogs, a win over Nottingham Lions and a hard-fought 6-5 victory over Blackburn Hawks, Solihull have shown that they have what it takes to contend with the tough opposition of Division One this season and will look to extend the margin between themselves and Whitley Warriors this weekend to secure fifth place in the coming weeks. As such, Billingham will face a fight for the points when the two battle it out for one last time this campaign, the side looking to challenge the Hawks for seventh position with a positive result from their penultimate home game.

Going into this weekend, Stars’ alternate captain Chris Sykes considered his team’s upcoming double header:

“It’s a tough weekend for the Stars again. It looks like our playoff position is either seventh or eighth so the last few games are all about getting ready for the playoffs. This weekend is a tough one against Solway and Solihull. I’m hoping for four points for us.”

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