And now for something completely different!

Well, not that different.

Sunday 5th September, Lammas Leisure centre, Sutton-in-Ashfield.

A few months back, having pointed former work colleague and freind Matt Coleman towards Sledge Hockey as a change from Wheelchair basketball, I found myself walking into the Lammas Leisure centre in Sutton, (home of the Sutton Sting), to watch one of the GB Fastrack training sessions. Having come into things quite late, I was slightly surprised at how many established teams there are already – Kingston Kestrels, Grimsby Redwings, Cardiff Huskies and the Nottingham Knights. It was also good to see how many people there were from Battle Back – the Headley Court team, and local wheelchair basketball players looking for something different.  The session went well, ending in a 4 on 4 scrimmage with the “ref”, (one of the coaches), calling the line changes. Chatting with some of the guys afterwards, it seems all of them had a really good time and many want to play far more often. Seems the UK Sledge scene could be looking up.

If you would like to have a go at Sledge Hockey, get in touch with the British Sledge Hockey Association – www.sledgehockey.co.uk and keep your eyes open at a rink near you – following some help with funding, the BSHA are looking to roll out Sledge Hockey programs across the UK.

From and End, to a Beginning…

Well, it’s the first post of the 2010/2011 Season – even if the season hasn’t started yet.

Friday  20th August saw the naming of the last player to join the Peterborough Phantoms senior squad – Darius Lelenas, a 6 foot plus 12 1/2 stone player from Lithuania. Rumour has it that the club were tipped off about this player by long term Latvian Import Maris Ziedins, however there has been no official confirmation regarding this so far.

So, what do the Phantoms have in store for the coming season? First up, the new boys:

Curits Cruikshank – Curtis is, by his own admission, a rookie coach, with the former netminder ending his playing carrer through injury at the EIHL Hull Stingrays, Curtis found himself helping from the bench as an assistant coach, in a season that was a character building time for him. The experience didn’t put him off, and at the beginning of the summer, Curtis was announced as the new head coach for the Phantoms. While he may not have the coaching history and experience of say the Legendary treble winning coach, Colin Patterson, it looks like he’s made a good start to building the team for the coming season, and his emphasis on fitness training in the off season has helped to reassure Phantoms fans that this is the man for the job.

Jeff Glowa – at 34, Jeff is one of the Phantoms older players. The Canadian born forward arrived in the UK in 2004, and until joining the Phantoms this year, has only played for one team – the Hull Stingrays. Jeff stayed with the Stingrays after their drop from the BNL to the EPL where he made his career high 75 point season, (G 40, A 35), in just 46 regular season games. Recent years may not have been as fruitfull, but it was enough to persuade new coach and former team mate Curtis Cruickshank that he is right man fr the team. Jeff, Like Curtis, is also a team mate of…

James Hutchinson. OK, technically not a new boy having been part of the Phantoms set up previously, most notably during the 2008/2009 season. James made an excellent impression on former coach Sylvan Clouthier who described him as being one of the best British Defence men in the, (EIHL), league. A difficult but rewarding season for James in the Elite league has been followed with a call back to the old stomping ground and the Phantoms. Having played alongside Dwayne Newman, James Morgan and Tom Jeffrey previously, he should fit right in with minimal fuss.

Steve Duncombe - courtesy of BIH

Steve Duncombe is sheffield born and bred and spent all bar 9 games of his senior domestic service playing for Sheffield clubs, The Spartans, the Scimitars and the EIHL top dogs, the Sheffield Steelers. Funnily enough, the 9 senior games he didn’t play for Sheffield, were, coincidentally, at the Peterborough Phantoms in the 02/03 season. Steve Duncombe will not be unknown to Phantoms fans either, having spent the last 4 1/2 seasons playing in the EPL for the Sheffield Scimitars. Steve was described as a solid Defenceman, and I suspect will be missed by the Steeldogs, (as the Scims are now), in this upcoming season.

Darius Lelenas – at the moment Darius is a bit of mystery, his figures, supplied by Eliteprospects.com, aren’t overly inspiring, however he has respresented his home country internationally for many years and continues to do so, his last season with HK Breast in Belarus show just 10 points, (G 5, A 5), in a 40 game season, however, the team sheet for last season seems to show a total of 2 lines, while other teams, like Sokol Kiev appeared to have squads 30 players strong. So, comment on Darius will have to wait until we’ve seen him play.

Onto the returning players:

From the back:

Damien collecting a deserved MOM Award

Damien King. Damo recieved limited ice time last season, mostly down to challenge matches and the two matches Stephen Wall missed through injury. However, in these matches, Damo was impressive, and in one game against the Basingstoke Bison, was just 12 minutes from recording a clean sheet. This season could be the last time we see him as a back up. With Curits Cruickshank now contributing to his development alongside Stephen Wall, with some ice time to put his skills into practice, it won’t be long until he is ready to be a starting netminder.

Sure hands

Stephen Wall – What more can you say? He’s been the solid building block of the team for a few years back, and last season, regardless of the teams results, was probably one of his best, with him standing on his head to keep scorelines closer than would otherwise have been. I think the only thing stopping Stephen Wall from playing Elite League as a starter, (and giving good cause for Dave Simms to revise his opinions on British Netminders), is Stephen himself.

On the Blue Line

Gravy - Post game

Tom Jeffery – a youngster, but with a mass of potential and has already represented GB at under 20 level a number of times. When paired with Dwayne Newman last year the two were very effective, pairing experience with fast skating, however, thanks to this experience, he’s already playing beyong his years.

One of the EPL highest scoring D Men

James Morgan – stuffed the fans of other teams’ catcalls of him being a chicken and refusing to fight with one devastating bout in Milton Keynes> however, there is far more to James’ game than that. One of the EPL’s highest scoring defence men and someone who plays both ends of the ice with great skill. Yes, he aggrevates opposition players, but no more or less than than say Michael Wales, but his playing ability speaks far louder.

The nicest, most polite person to ever beat another player into a bag of jelly

Dwayne Newman – Off ice, Dwayne is one of the nicest, politest most freindly people you can hope to meet, always has time for the fans and a great insparation to the younger and aspiring players. On the ice however, he is a monster defending his zone like it was his personal ice, and will literally throw his body on the line to block shots. This commitment and determination saw Dwayne selected as team captain lastseason, a role he will hopefully continue in.

Forwards

Tom Carlon – a large, aggressive, consistant forward and even during the lean times he was good for at least a point a game. First came to promenance for me with the Halloween game against the Bracknell Bees. After Joe Miller had taken a couple of big hits, Tom stepped in to prevent some pretty classless gloating from a now departed Bees player, and imparted a pretty solid education in the process. Tom isn’t afraid to play very physically and along side the now departed James Knight would often crash through a defence, with no less skill than Callum Fowler or James Spurr could, and often did, skate round them.

James Ferrara – James arrived part the way through last season having returned to us from the Elite League’s Nottingham Panthers. James arrived at a difficult time last season, but his impact, along with other mid-term arrivals, James Knight, Warren Tait and Doug MacIver, helped to turn a disappointing season into a hopeful one. James’ clear talent could see him back in the EIHL at some point if he wants to, but their loss is our gain.

Luke Ferrara – Younger brother of James, Luke has progressed through the Junior ranks at Peterborough

"Little" Luke Ferrara

 and has shown that the Hockey gene runs strongly through the family. In his first season as a prospect player Luke impressed even among the treble winning team and was one to watch. He spent much of last year playing beyond his years, and along side Tom Jeffrey earned a call up to the GB Under 20 team, and scoring against some of the toughest defenses in their group. luke’s first EPL goal came last season with an assist to his older brother, and once the duck was broken, more followed, including while playing internationally. This season will see his 2nd senior year. He is a young, agile player who is increasing in confidence, so expect to hear more about him in the coming years.

Warren Tait – Warren is another player that arrived in Peterborough following a stint in the EIHL. By choice a forward, Warren found his first few games in a Phantoms shirt playing in defence, but even having not played for a while, Warren hit the ground running, and was skating rings around any hapless opposition players not entirely on the puck. Back in his forward role Warren racked up the points, although also making a name as a very effective PK player.

Shaun Yardley – when partnered with line mate James Spurr, Shaun is one of the most deceptively dangerous players around at the moment. Shaun is able to read the play very well and put himself in the right place at the right time to feed either of his line mates, or in the right place at the right time to frustrate the attack of his opponents. Often over looked Shaun is infact one of the team’s key players.

James hoisting one of three trophies won that aseason

James Spurr – most often on the same line as Shaun, James is a nippy, experienced skater with the scoring touch, and with a cool, level headed approach on the ice working very well with his line mates. As with Shaun, I don’t think the Stats tell the whole story, James heas often stepped up when the team needed it most, and was recently, (and affectionately), described as a “Pest” by new coach, Curtis Cruickshank. Again, like Shaun, James is a very under rated player, and one of the key players for next season.

Always smiles after scoring. He smiles a lot.

Maris Ziedins – with just under 80 points to his name for the last two seasons, Maris is a player that is involved with a good offensive move everytime he’s on the ice, either battling to get the puck off the boards and out to his line mates, or magically finding the clear space to make the hard work of the others worth while. Equally, his commitment to his team off the ice is no less important, and was rewarded last season with the A, backing up Dwayne’s Captaincy. Although he was one of the highest scorers last season, I’d not be surprised to see him pick up the most assists this season as he is a natural born play maker.

Joe Miller – on a bad day, Joe is one of the top Brits playing in the EPL. Having sat out a good chuck of last season with a broken

Another goal for Miller.

 cheek bone, the serious implications of the injury means that he is now playing in a face cage. Being stuck behind bars though has done nothing to mute Joe’s passion for the game and his passion for the team. This same passion is probably Joe’s only “failing” as well. as it has on occasion landed him in the penalty box. Joe was one of the top scorers last season, something it would be unsurprising for him to repeat. His leadership qualities on the ice as well would make him my first choice for captain after Dwayne Newman, especially if he can reign in his temper at appropriate moments.

So overall, I would see this as a squad light in numbers, but heavy in talent and quality. The light numbers could cause un-needed problems if there are a few injuries, however, the fitness training has been at a previously unknown level, so the short numbers shouldn’t be an issue on game nights. It does mean though, that if any player doesn’t perform to the standard the coach and management expect, there will be nowhere for them to hide.

Still, with just over three weeks until the first challenge game against Milton Keynes, we’ll know soon enough.

Next time, I have a look at the other teams that make up the EPL this season.

Please note: All images are used by kind permission of Peterborough Phantoms and Paul Young/Nene Digital and copyright remains with them unless otherwise stated.

And so it ends for this season

This weekend saw the play off quarter finals between 3rd placed Manchester Phoenix and 6th Place Peterborough Phantoms. The odds were in favour of the Phoenix however the Phantoms had a fighting chance. Key to making it to the semi finals in Coventry would be taking a lead into the second leg, but despite a valiant fightback on the Saturday which saw the Phantoms come back from 1-3 down to tie the game at 3-3, a tough away leg at Manchester faced the Phantoms on the Sunday night.

Phoenix scored early and again put 2 goals between themselves and the Phantoms, however, as with the night before the underdog Phantoms fought back and tied the game at 2-2. As the game looked like it was going into overtime, luck, that most fickle of mistreses, deserted the Phantoms and with less than 2 minutes to go Manchester scored again to make it 3-2, (6-5 agg), and book themselves a quarter final slot in their inagural season.

In all a cruel fate to befall the Phantoms having worked so hard in both games, but the better team won. It doesn’t mean that the Phantoms wouldn’t have made equally worthy winners, but as with such contests, one team has to win, the other loses. The Phantoms begin their summer break now, a week earlier than they would have hoped, but if it’s any consolation to them, the league winners, Milton Keynes Lightning will also be starting their summer break a week early, having been on the recieving end of a shock home defeat to 8th placed Swindon Wildcats. Good luck in Ceventry Swindon!

Play Off Time

Well, the league is over and Milton Keynes Lightning have taken the crown following a very consistant performance over the season. The league table now leaves the rankings as:

1. Milton Keynes Lightning
2. Slough Jets
3. Manchester Phoenix
4. Guildford Flames
5. Basingstoke Bison
6. Peterborough Phantoms
7. Sheffield Scimitars
8. Swindon Wildcats
9. Bracknell Bees*
10. Romford Raiders*

*Did not qualify for the play offs.

The top 8 qualify for the play offs, 1st plays 8th, 2nd plays 7th, 3rd plays 6th and 4th plays 5th. The focus of this piece is the 6th Vs 3rd tie. In this case, Manchester Phoenix Vs Peterborough Phantoms.

On paper you would expect Manchester to cruise this, the record between the two is Manchester 4, Peterborough 2. The last win by Manchester on 7th of March had to go to overtime, and the last two meetings between the teams at Peterborugh have both been won by Peterborough. The goals scored between the two is much closer – Manchester scored 25, Peterborough have scored 23. Equally, the games have been quite close with only one game having a winning margin of more than 2 goals, the December 10th game where the Phantoms ran out as 8-4 winners.

It must be said though, that anecdotally at least, Manchester have been playing better since the departure of Ed Courtney. The last meeting between these two teams was a narrow 2-1 victory for the Phantoms, a game that Manchester needed to win to ensure their 3rd place position. Peterborough have continued to be hit and miss, although on the upside, the hits seems to be pretty impressive and aside from the 5-1 loss to Basingstoke weekend before last, the misses seem to be pretty close.

Going on what the boxing fraternity call the tail of the tape show even less light between the two teams.
In terms of height and weight, Manchester edge both by grams and milimetres with just 530grams and 4mm in height between the two.

The Players

Starting at the back with the Netminders – Steve Fone Vs Stephen Wall
After being at Coventry last year, Stephen Fone has been this year’s starting netminder for Manchester, having played 46 games this season to finish with a GAA of 3.62 and save percentage of 88.5%, although this is a better GAA than Wall, (3.77), Wall’s save % is better at 89.8%, which given how badly the Phantoms have been outshot, especially at the beginning of the season makes the just under 90% save rate all the more impressive. The back ups are just as close with King having a 0.1% better save percentage. Between the pipes, the situation would seem to favour the Phantoms.

Defence is an area of weakness for the Phantoms, certainly at the beginning of the season where a lack of cohesion caused no end of issues. However, as the season has drawn to a close, the Phantoms D has tightened up tremendously. Bolstered by the presence of Doug MacIver the Phantoms D is probably running better now than it did at any point during their treble winning season.
Manchester’s defense has been shaky through the season, underpinned by Hiatian Andre Mattsson and young but highly influential captain Luke Boothroyd. The defense is probably Manchester’s achilles heel but this has improved towards the end of the season with probably their best away performance being at Peterborough a few weeks back restricting the Phantoms to just 2 goals. That said, in the same match, a phenominal performance by Stephen Wall and the much improved defence kept Manchester to 1 goal. So as with the netminding, there’s virtually nothing between them.

Forwards are where Manchester are probably stronger on the face of it, Jaakko Hagelberg, Robert Lachowicz and Tony Hand are the names that most peopel are aware of, however with Stephen Wallace and Greg Wood, Manchester have good depth through the lines, and while his negative reputation has proceeded him, Andre Payette has benefited massively from the change in league to one where his playing ability can come to the fore rather than his fighting prowess, (his PIM have dropped from the record season of 07/08 of 326 to “just” 184 for this season).

However, don’t think it will be all one way, The Phantoms forwards have been hitting the back of the net regularly with Miller, Ziedins and Gough leading the way none of the forwards are particularly goal shy. Where the Phantoms have the advantage is that in play, all of them are happy to play a happy physical checking game and tend not to throw their toys out of the pram when they get back what they give out. Manchesters ;ast appearence at Sheffield tells a slightly different story, however, that was in the league, the play offs are a different kettle of fish all together.

Players to watch

Manchester

Tony Hand is the obvious one along with Jaakko Hagelberg, however it’s the quieter Brits who I feel will win or lose this one for Manchester – especially Adam Walker – you don’t score over 30 goals in this league unless you’re pretty damn good, and over 40 is exceptional – Walker has 43 this season. I would rate him as a bigger threat than Hand or any of the imports Manchester fielded this season including Ed Courtney. In defence, Luke Boothroyd and Andre Mattsson, Mattsson is far more physical but like Payette, is sometimes easier to skate round as Callum Fowler demonstrated back in December.

Peterborough

The Obvious players to watch are Joe Miller and Brent Gough, however, I think the ones to watch will be Calum Fowler, he’s yet to hit the form he showed before his broken jaw, but he has the speed and skill to literally skate rings around Manchester, and the vastly under rated Shaun Yardley and James Spurr. From their position on the “third” line, these two have worked together for many seasons and have managed to slip under most teams radar to be a very dangerous and productive pair.

So I guess the question now is how do I see this playing out? Unlike other three I’d say this one is too close to call. If both teams play to their best possible games I could see this going as far as overtime on Sunday. It could be down to which team blinks first and in that, I’d say 50.000001% Manchester – 49.999999% Phantoms – it’s that close.
We’ll know by Monday I guess.

Lightning fizzle

Peterborough Phantoms 6

MK Lightning 2

The last game of the regular season, and the Phantoms local rivals, the MK Lightning came to town.  The 2009/2010 League winners, versus the 2008/2009 League, (EPL Cup and Playoff),  winners. A small measure of controveseybefore the game even started when it was revealed that the MK were resting all four imports, and bringing in 5 players from the MK Thunder to bulk the lines out.

1st Period

All thoughts that this was a “Nothing game” went out of the window the second the puck dropped with the import-less Lightning on the back foot from the outset. With MK and the Phantoms icing their backup netminders, Alex Mettam was having to start work early as the Phantoms pushed forward. With the lightning defence working sporadically Mettam made some important stops. However, no man can stop a tide and at 14:26 Shaun Yardley, making his 351st appearence in a Phantoms shirt with a goal assisted by Luke Ferarra and James Spurr.
It was clear from MK that their inability, even at this stage, to score against the team they’d been able to beat with ease this season was grating as James McPherson recieved 2 minutes for roughing on James Morgan, the latter wisely just skating away on this occasion. The Phantoms power play expired and a little over a minute later, Callum Fowler recieved 2 minutes for hooking just 7 seconds before the end of the period.

2nd Period

As the teams came back out it was still a close game, MK having 1.53 remaining on their power play. However, it was the Phantoms Penalty Kill that had been so dangerous all season that continued to make Mettam earn his pay. As one MK power play fizzled they were given a second bite at the pie. following a heavy Doug MacIver hit that creamed an MK player into the boards, the huge Canadian D man found himself on a 2 minute high sticks call. This time the MK power play seemed to stagger closer to the goal and Damien King made some excellent stops including some dangerous looking one on ones. The Phantoms also ran into a little penalty trouble with first James Morgan recieving 2 minutes for roughing at 26:53 and just over a minute later, Dwayne Newman made an unusual trip to the penalty box for high sticks. With MK on a 5 on 3 it looked almost a foregone conclusion that MK would be able to claw back a goal but it wasn’t to be, first back to 5 on 4 then full strength, the Phantoms saw off the power play. Still, if it wasn’t one it was the other as Leigh Jamieson took 2 minutes for the lightning after being caught hooking. The play pushed back towards the Lightning goal and while they returned to full strength a minute later one of the stand in forwards for MK wearning Smulters #20 shirt drew  delayed penalty that resulted in James Spurr neatly burying the puck in the back of the net at 32:12. As play continued back and forth it was clear that MK looked lost and certainly missed having Pool, Zapotek Kalgoum and Smulter on the ice. With just over a minute left in the period, Tom Carlon playing his signature skilled physical game powered through and assisted by the lightning fast Callum Fowler blasted his shot into the MK net leaving the score 3-0 at the end ofthe second.

3rd Period

As the teams came out it was clear that the three unanswered goals had dented MKL’s pride but there was little that MK could do against a fired up Phantoms team, and 3 minutes into the period, a Doug MacIver howitzer of a shot left Alex Mettam shell shocked and the score at 4-0. At the restart the Lightning caught a lucky break with Adam brittle being one of only two MK players to beat the phenominal Damien King just 15 seconds after the puck was dropped. Less than a minute later and the simmering tension between MacPherson and Morgan boiled over with punched being thrown, even it appeared, after the linesmen had stepped in to seperate them. Eventually the two were seperated and while the Ref and Linesmen conferred, a light hearted game of puck tennis broke out between the two netminders. Following the scuffle, the penalties were announced, MacPherson recieved 5 + Game for roughing, while Morgan recieved 2+2 for roughing, 10 minute personal misconduct, and also 5 + Game for roughing. With both players ejected from the game, Luke Ferarra sat Morgans minors, effectively missing the remainder of the game. From here the game settled and the Phantoms, despite being 1 player down for 4 minutes continued to dominate the game raining shots seemingly at will on Alex Mettam, who belaying his back up netminder status showed significant skill to deny the Phantoms marksmen. It wasn’t to last thought, with just over 5 minutes to go, another of the MK stand ins recieved 2 minutes for hooking, and the phantoms power play kicked in. After a minute, a Joe Miller shot rebounded kindly for Warren Tait who put away the Phantoms 5th goal of the night, and following a Michael Wales trip, a blue line bullet from Canadian Sniper sent the game to 6-1 at 56:51. MK spent the remaing 3 minutes on the defensive, but for MK, villain turned hero again as Micheal Wales neatly deked King for the MK consolation goal at 58:12. A final roll of the dice by MK with 20 seconds to go was easilt deflected by King and Doug MacIver collected the puck and ran down the clock for a 6-2 Phantoms victory.

Phantoms – 6
Goal   Scorer                   Assist              Assist                  Time
1          Yardley                Ferrara L       Spurr                   14:26
2          Spurr                     Yardley          Miller                  32:12
3          Carlon                   Fowler                                           38:50
4          MacIver               Gough                                            43:01
5          Tait                         Miller              Ziedins               55:12      PP
6         Gough                    Ziedins            Tait                      56:51      PP

Penalties
Fowler               Hooking                19:53          2 minutes
MacIver            High Sticks           22:08         2 Minutes
Morgan             Roughing               26:53         2 Minutes
Newman           High Sticks            28:08        2 Minutes
Morgan             Roughing               44:11         2+2 Minutes
                             Misconduct          44:11         10 Minutes
                             Roughing               44:11         5 + Game

Lightning – 2
Goal          Scorer             Assist            Assist             Time
1                 Brittle             Christie         Jamieson      43:16
2                 Wales              Towalski                                 58:12

Penalties
MacPherson         Roughing            16:47           2 Minutes
Jamieson               Hooking              29:12            2 Minutes
MacPherson         Roughing            44:11            5 + Game
Green                       Hooking              54:18           2 Minutes
Wales                       Tripping              56:18           2 Minutes

Stampede!

Peterborough Phantoms 4

Basingstoke Bison 6

The Phantoms played host to one of the three teams fighting for third spot this evening as the Basingstoke Bison came to town.

1st Period

Things started brightly for the Phantoms, coming off the back of a 5-1 defeat to the bison less than 24 hours before hand, as they immediately looked to stamp their authority on the game, and certainly looked to have the better of the chances, especially when young Joe Edwards, in a rare Bison call up, recieved the first penalty of the night for cross checking at 5:58. Although the Phantoms were making Tom Annetts work hard, they couldn’t find a way through and the Bison saw off the power play.  However, the effort being put in by the Phantoms finally payed off at 9:55 when Luke Ferrara and James Spurr combined to set up Shaun Yardley for the first goal of the night.  

The Bison fought back but the Phantoms kept the run of play until the last 5 minutes when Callum Fowler picked up a 2 minute minor for hooking, and the Phantoms had their first penalty kill of the night. As the penalty wound down, a Bison attempt to crash the net resulted in a little push and shove which saw the Phantoms facing a 5 on 3 for 15 seconds at 17:15. The Phantoms survived the 5 on 3, and literally a second after going to 5 on 4, the Bison finally found a way through the Wall to level the score with a power play goal.  This brought the Phantoms back to full strength for the final 2 and a half minutes before the period ended 1-1.

2nd Period

As the 2nd period started the fans hopes of a swift fightback were dashed as Shaun Thompson got on the end of a Sam Zajac rebound for the Bison to go 1-2 up less than 2 minutes after the start. The Phantoms began to regroup and caught a break when Shaun Thompson was pulled up for a trip at 23:29. The Bison Penalty kill proved inpregnable in this and the following penalty, this time a 2 minute bench minor for changing on an Icing call, and the full strength Bison went on the offensive. After soaking up wave after wave of attack the Phantoms defence cracked, and assisted by Annetts and dangerman Ondrej Lauko, Andy Hemmings got Bison’s third. just 3 minutes later, Lauko was back, this time, Hemmings and Tony, (not Kenny), Redmond, doing the set up work as the Bisons 4th hit the back of the net. A few minutes after that following a period of pressure, the number 13 proved unlucky for Stephen Wall as Thompson, assisted by Mindaugas Kieras scored his second and the Bison’s fifth at 37:17.
Wall seemed to have had enough and was replaced by back up, Damien King. over the next 2 minutes King only faced one shot, and the period ended 1-5, although Phantoms forward recieved a 2 minute delay of game call less than a minute before the break which seemed to prompt heated words between players on the bench.

3rd Period

As the Phantoms came out for the third, it felt like waiting for an execution, and although there were no signs of the ructions that had run through the bench at the end of the second,  the axe seemed to fall just under 7 minutes in when Lauko and Kieras set up Shaun Tompson for Basingstoke’s sixth goal.
At that point, something clicked and the Phantoms came out to play again. Just before the half way point of the period, Doug MacIver sent fellow Canadian Brent Gough clear and flying up the wing, finding the way through blocked, he centred the puck for Maris Ziedins to fire the Phantoms second past Annetts. With the resurgent Phantoms piling on the pressure, tempers started to fray on the Bison bench. The pressure continued when Captain Dwayne Newman pushed clear and passed to fellow D Man James Morgan un-marked in shooting range who let loose with a shot and a half for the Phantoms third with less than 5 minutes to go in the third period. A rattled Bison began to let the clean play slip and a retaliatory slash by James Morgan earned him a 2 minute stay in the penalty box, however, a short handed breakaway following hard defensive work by Ziedins and Newman saw Brent Gough fire home the Phantoms fourth goal. The Phantoms, now playing out of the skins, fired shot after shot after shot at the Bison goal, with less than a minute left pulling King for a 6th Skater. Continued pressure kept the Bison from bagging the final empty net goal until 4 seconds from the end when the Bison managed a break out and 4.5 seconds later the puck crossed the line, half a second after the buzzer had gone. Final score Phantoms 4, Bison 6.

Peterborough Phantoms – 4

Goal         Score                              Assist                        Assist                  Time
1                Shaun Yardley           James Spurr           Luke Ferrara    9:55
2                Maris Ziedins             Brent Gough           Doug MacIver  48:57
3                James Morgan           Dwayne Newman                                 55:21
4                Brent Gough               Dwayne Newman Maris Ziedins     57:42

Penalties
Callum Fowler            Hooking              15:30     2 minutes
James Morgan           Roughing             17:15     2 Minutes
James Ferrara           Delay of Game   39:12      2 Minutes
James Morgan           Slashing               56:20      2 minutes

MOM – Warren Tait

Basingstoke Bison – 6

Goal        Score                           Assist                      Assist                     Time
1               Ondrej Lauko           Steve Moria         Tony Redmond   17:31  PPG
2               Shaun Thompson   Sam Zajac                                                21:54
3               Andy Hemmings    Ondrej Lauko      Tom Annetts         29:05
4              Ondrej Lauko            Andy Hemmings Tont Redmond  32:23
5              Shaun Thompson    Mindaugas Kieras                                37:17
6              Andy Hemmings      Ondrej Lauko       Mindaugas Kieras  46:43

MOM – Tom Annetts

Rising from the Ashes?

Peterborough Phantoms hosted the Manchester Phoenix at Planet Ice in Bretton for the last time in the regular season.

Manchester made the trip south looking for the points to consolidate third position in the league and looking to put some distance between themselves and fouth and fifth place teams Basingstoke Bison and Guildford Flames only a point behind them.
However, during warm up it looked like the game could be remembered for something other than playing as Phantoms D Man Doug MacIver had very close words with Phoenix Forward and former Elite League adversary Andre Payette.

1st Period

It was clear from the 1st drop of the puck that Manchester were on a mission. With a bench only missing North American hit man Ed Courtney they seemed the stronger of the two sides however it was the Phantoms that seemed to enjoy most of the early posession. It was the Phantoms who recieved the first power play of the game when Manchester defender Joe Graham recieved 2 minutes for Hooking at 10:58. manchester defended well and the penalty expired with no real threat. Following a stoppage 30 seconds later though, Manchester made their first attempt at a power play after the Phantoms recieved a 2 minute bench minor for too many men on the ice at 13:28. The Phantoms defended well, and as so often this season looking more of a threat on the penalty kill than the power play. Around the 15 minute mark Phantoms forward James knight seemed to land awkwardly following a simple challenge and had to be helped from the ice, playing no further part in the period.

While there were no further penalty scores and no goals in the first, it was far from a dull game with end to end action for the full 20 minutes, and Steve Fone for Manchester and Stephen Wall for the Phantoms playing out of their skins to leave the first period goal less.

2nd Period

The second period began as the first had ended with both teams fighting hard. It has to be said, that Manchester came out of the blocks a bit faster and gave the home netminder some work to do before the Phantoms settled down. A frantic period of defending around the half way point led to an interesting Cross Checking call against the Phantoms number 8, Tom Jeffrey at 29:58 and another penalty for the Phantoms to kill. It was during the penalty kill, that the returning number 12, James Knight agaim landed awkwardly, appearing to do some serious damage to his knee. Helped from the ice by his team mates, he would play no further part in the game. As the Phantoms got back to full strength, the game resumed it’s frantic end to end battle until just before the 35 minute mark and Captain Luke Boothroyd recieved 2 minutes for boarding. The Phantoms power play began to look threatening, but just before Manchester returned to full strength, Maris Ziedins was called for tripping at 36:32 giving a brief period of 4 on 4. With manchester back to full strength 12 seconds later they immediately began to threaten and following a rare defensive error from two of the Phantoms forwards, Tony hand set up Robert Lachowicz to put Manchester on the scoreboard at 38:13 for a Power Play goal.
The Phantoms fought back for the remaning minute of the second period but it wasn’t to be, the period ending 0-1.

3rd Period

As the third period began it was clear to see that the Phantoms were not going to let the game go without a fight. With both netminders having to perform acrobatics, making stop after stop the pressure on the Manchester defense started to tell and following a smart break by Callum Fowler, James Ferrara got the Phantoms onto the scoreboard at 49:12. Spurred on by this, Manchester threw everything they had at the Phantoms goal but could find almost no way through. On the one occasion they had Wall beaten, they were defeated by the pipe work, the frame ringing as the puck came back onto the ice. Manchesters desperation to retake the lead cost them as Stephen Wallace recieved 2 minutes for high sticks. manchester killed the penalty with some comfort, but it was not to last as D Man James Morgan and Canadian sniper Brent Gough set up Maris Ziedins for the Phantoms second goal at 54:55. On the restart Manchester redoubled their efforts, throwing the kitchen sink at the Phantoms. Their efforts looking to have paid off when Tom Carlon recieved a 2 minute Hooking call at 58:28 leaving Manchester on a power play for the final 90 seconds of the game. Shot after shot rained onto the Phantoms goal with Wall living up to his name. At the very very last 2nd it looked to have paid off as the puck crossed the line merest fractions of a second after the buzzer went. Phoenix hopes were dashed as referee Joy Tottman waved off the goal leaving the final score at Phantoms 2, Phoenix 1. Post buzzer protests from manchester import Andre Payette gained nothing but a 10 minute misconduct penalty and the visitors left ultimately disappointed.

Peterborough Phantoms – 2

Goal              G                      A                     A                 Time
1                   Ferrara J       Fowler                               49:12
2                   Ziedins           Gough           Morgan     54:55

Penalties
Bench                         Too many men               13:28     2 minutes
Jeffrey                        Cross Check                    29:58     2 minutes
Ziedins                        Tripping                           36:32     2 minutes
Carlon                         Hooking                           58:28      2 Minutes

Manchester Phoenix – 1        

Goal              G                      A                     A             Time
1                    Lachowicz    Hand                              38:13       PP

Penalties
Graham              Hooking              10:58            2 minutes
Boothroyd        Boarding             34:44            2 minutes
Wallace              High Sticks         50:52            2 minutes
Payette              Misconduct        60:00           10 minutes

MOM

Phantoms – Stephen Wall
Phoenix – Steve Fone

Raiders visit

Last night saw the Romford Raiders make their final visit for this season, and if rumours are to be believed, their final visit tp Peterborough in the EPL.

There had been quite some coverage in the press of the build up to this game, mostly covering the possibility that it could turn into an out and out gong show. . There was also a counter release by the Raiders management stating that their players would be there to play only, however, nobody seemed to take that too seriously. Come Sunday evening and Romford turned up with half a bench, (9 out skaters and 2 netminders), I guess a lot of people felt rather let down and that it would be a dull whitewash.

But then no one thought to ask the half bench Romford brought what they thought would happen…

With just over 2 minutes gone Romford opened the scoring and while James Knight leveled it for the Phantoms it was pretty clear that Romford hadn’t read the script. The period ended 1-1 with clear indicators that as far as Romford were concerned, there was more to come. 

The second period started much like the first, Romford fast out of the blocks while the Phantoms looked bewildered wondering why a 2 line team and it wasn’t long before Romford had scored again. Again, The phantoms came back to level the score but the real marker came just before the end of the period when Romford scored their third to go into the last period 2-3 up.

The third period finally saw the Phantoms engage 1st gear with 5 goals in 12 minutes to go 7-3 ahead with 5 minutes to go. Well, I guessed, that was that. I guessed wrong. Now “everybody knows” that when your 4 goals down with 5 minutes to go it’s hopeless, you give up and the leading team puts 2 more past you and that’s that. Well, everybody’s wrong. Romford realised that the Phantoms had eased off, confident of their sure win giving Romford the opportunity to come back fighting and quick strikes at the end saw Romford come back to 7-5 as the final buzzer went.

I think there are a few things that impressed me, as well as a few things that didn’t.
Romford came to Bretton with half a team, leaving out players due to injury and suspension, but the 11 they brought were without any doubt what so ever the right players. Josef Sladok played for 59:55 of the 60 minutes and more then a few of them were skating open mouthed desperately trying suck down enough oxygen to make the next few metres. That they had the determination even in the last 5 minutes to come back and narrow the deficit to 2 goals. I think the Romford owner, John S needs to make a bulk buy of golden handcuffs because if Romford are to make a future in the EPL – this is the core around which to build the team.

What didn’t impress me is that aside from a few exceptions, the Phantoms came out half arsed expecting a walk over and not until the third period did they show what they can do, not until it was very nearly too late.

Still, after the OT win at Slough the night before, this made a 4 point weekend for Peterborough, but I can’t help feeling the real winners were Romford.

What’s been happening?

It’s been a torrid old time in Peterborough recently, some appalling losses, stunning fight-backs and wildly entertaining games. I think if you wrote up what had happened and presented it as a soap it’d be rejected as unrealistic stuff.

Just over a month back Phantoms management decided to part with Canadian coach Doug Irwin, and replace him with his deputy – Tim Peacock. The decision was announced just hours before the game against the Swindon Wildcats, a game the Phantoms had expected to win comfortably.

Not lose 2-4 at home.

It would be a fair representation to say that no one, except Swindon was happy with the result, players, fans, management the lot and certainly the level of comments from the unofficial fans forum, [url=www.phantomsonline.net]Phantoms Online[/url] caused some temporary ructions in the camp. However, the following week the Phantoms visited Sheffield Scimitars, and a feeling of horrible familiarity crept back across the visiting fans, 5-1 down at the end of the second period and with an avalanche of poor refereeing decision against the Phantoms, coach Tim Peacock attempted to speak with the ref at the end of the second, as is his right. Due to what appeared to be heavy handed responses by the linesmen and indifference from the referee, the new coach, just days after calling for more discipline from the team found himself with a 2 minute, 10 minute, game and match penalty, rather unfairly extended, (in my opinion), to 5 matches by the league.

Now at this point, you’d expect a team, 5-1 down, losing their coach and on the recieving end of some of the worst reffing I’ve seen in a long time to put their heads down and roll over.

No, it was like a red rag to a bull*. 4 unanswered goals in 20 minutes from a completely different team that stepped onto the ice for the third. Credit to the Scims for trying to fight back but they were simply out fought all ovet the ice. 5-5 at the end of the third and 2.37 into OT and defenseman James Morgan struck to win the game for the Phantoms.

The following night the Phantoms hosted last season’s arch rivals the Guildford Flames. It was a hard hitting affair with the Phantoms leading for much of what was a hugely entertaining game against one of the top teams in the league. Given the standard of play you’d have thought it was the two top teams in the league instead of one and a team fighting out of the bottom half of the table. With the score at 6-5 with a minute to go, the Phantoms made a very slight slip, but it was enough to allow floppy haired Martin Massa to sneak an equaliser to tie the game at 6-6 at the end of the third. Into over time and the game went to both ends of the rink until finally just under 2 1/2 minutes into OT, former Phantoms favourite and now Guildford sniper Nathan Rempel snatched the OT winner. After the previous weekends performance the fans were ecstatic to come away with 3 points for the weekend.

Last weekend saw a mix of fortunes. a 3-5 loss to the Basingstoke Bison on the Saturday saw the team throw away a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period to a team that played very well. Again, curious referring decisions played their part, but even Phantoms fans will admit, (grudgingly), that the best team won. As it did the following night when the Phantoms visited Romford. The Romford Raiders are effectively coachless at the moment following Jesse Hammill’s return to Canada to take up a career in the oil industry and the rather sudden departure of replacement coach Erskine Douglas, however, injured forward Jon Sitko steped in for what turned out to be a very firey encounter. Much has been written on the forums regarding what went on and unfortunately I was not present to give my own view, however, Stephen Wall, Phantoms net minder recorded his first shut out of the season as the Phantoms ran out 0-8 winners.

Last night was a game to remember without a doubt.
The final score, was Slough Jets 4 Peterborough Phantoms 5 after over time.

The game started well with both sides fighting had and although the period ended 0-0 it was clear that barring a collapse from one side or the other, it was going to be a very hard fought game. The second period started much as the first had ended however Slough went ahead with a quick goal from Jasc Emersic, however, just over a minute later, Welsh sharp shooter Joe Miller pulled one back to level the scores.
A few minutes later, Paddy Ward put Slough ahead again and in the dying seconds of the period Peter Jasik scored again making it 3-1 at the end of the second. Phantoms fans, fearing the worst went to do what they do best – get noisey and boy did they get noisey.
Come the third and James ferarra struck to bring it back to a one goal game four minutes into the period and it was Latvian former Olympic team member Maris Ziedins level the scores. With the game well and truely in full swing Slough pulled it back to 4-3 with Long scoring half way through the period. With the clock running down it seemed Slough were content to play a defensive game, the Phantoms weren’t and 2 1/2 minutes left in the third, Joe Miller came back for his second to tie the game again. With no further score in the third it went to overtime.

OT started off and you could see immediately that for one team in particular, only one result would do – a win and that win came 1 minute and 9 seconds in when defenseman James Morgan scored with a blistering shot to end the game and a jubilant team took two frankly unexpected points.

In theory the Phantoms host Romford Raiders this evening depending on the weather as a sudden snow shower has left local roads difficult this morning. More later.

Cheers,
Dan

Apologies

Sorry, rather slack of me not keeping the blog up however I’m back – MW2 can draw me away for only so long.