WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 (MORALEE) PLAYOFFS
Saturday 17th March 2018
Billingham Stars vs. Sheffield
Steeldogs
Whitley Warriors vs. Telford Tigers
Solway
Sharks vs. Solihull Barons
Sunday
18th March 2018
Sheffield Steeldogs vs. Billingham Stars
Telford
Tigers vs.
Whitley Warriors
Solihull
Barons vs. Solway Sharks
Fixture:
Billingham
Stars vs. Sheffield Steeldogs
Date: 17th March 2018
Venue: The Forum
Faceoff: 6:00pm
Fixture:
Sheffield
Steeldogs vs. Billingham Stars
Date: 18th March 2018
Venue: Ice Sheffield
Faceoff: 5:30pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Ian Hanlon
|
Facing
consecutive games against NIHL North Division One (Moralee) champions Sheffield
Steeldogs as a result of finishing in eighth position, Billingham Stars will
first confront Ben Morgan’s men on home ice on Saturday before making
the trip to Ice Sheffield on Sunday in
the hope that they can progress to the next stage of the competition. Buoyed by
last weekend’s derby victory over local rivals Whitley Warriors, Billingham
will head into this contest with much momentum but also the knowledge that
these two fixtures will be incredibly difficult, particularly as the Teessiders
have yet to win against Sheffield this season. Losing out by seven goals to
three away from home in September, the Stars went on to record a 7-4 defeat in
early October before achieving a point against the side in an overtime loss just
weeks later. More recently beaten 5-1 by the Steeldogs in front of their home crowd, Billingham
were disappointed with this result, having demonstrated their ability to contend
with the outfit at The Forum earlier in the season; player-coach Michael
Bowman the only man to find the net, his unassisted shot ensuring Sheffield did
not leave with a shutout. Aiming to give themselves the best chance of success, the Stars will target a positive home performance on Saturday evening and will hope
for top points scorers Chris Sykes, Deniss Baškatovs and Michael Elder to be on
top form in front of goal, the trio collectively racking up one hundred and
sixty eight points between them during their league campaign, with Sykes sixth in NIHL North’s points production chart. The Steeldogs,
meanwhile, will look to Slovakian imports Milan Kolena and Adrian Palak, who have a total of sixty two goals and fifty
seven assists between them, to make an impact alongside forward James Spurr, defenceman Ashley Calvert and player-coach Morgan. Likely to be a highly competitive game as a
result of the offensive prowess of both teams, this playoff encounter will
certainly be one to watch.
Speaking ahead of this fixture, Stars’
alternate captain Chris Sykes admitted:
“This is a big weekend against the Steeldogs. It’s
going to be tough and we are up for the battle. They won the league because
they’ve been the best team all year long but we want to cause an upset and that’s
what we will try to do.”
Also looking forward to this playoff
double header, Sheffield’s captain Lewis Bell shared:
“We now have the task of resetting and getting our
focus back after the obvious celebrations from winning the league over the weekend.
It was a massive high but the boys are now working hard to put that to the back
of our minds and concentrate on the new challenge, starting with a tough
weekend against Billingham.”
Fixture:
Whitley
Warriors vs. Telford Tigers
Date: 17th March 2018
Venue: Whitley Bay Ice Rink
Faceoff: 5:00pm
Fixture: Telford Tigers vs. Whitley Warriors
Date: 18th March 2018
Venue: Telford Ice Rink
Faceoff: 6:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Preparing for a difficult clash against Tom Watkins’ third-placed Tigers this weekend,
Whitley Warriors will first play host to the side on Saturday evening at
Whitley Bay Ice Rink before making the lengthy trip to Telford on
Sunday to take on the Shropshire outfit in a second challenging fixture against
the side. So far this season, the Warriors have been able to put up a fight
against the Tigers on home ice but have yet to find the back of the net whilst
on the road; Whitley suffered a 6-3 defeat at the beginning of
October in a competitive clash between the two outfits before losing out by
seven unanswered goals in Telford one month later and again in an 8-0 road loss in January. These results were followed up by an impressive narrow 3-2 defeat at Hillheads last month
to show that the Warriors have what it takes to contend with their tough
opposition should they have a strong team available this weekend. Bouncing back
after finding themselves two goals behind in their most recent encounter with
the Tigers, Whitley were able to eliminate their deficit courtesy of Canadian
import Philip Edgar and player-coach David Longstaff but a goal from Tigers’
captain Jason Silverthorn with just sixty eight seconds remaining prevented the
game from going into overtime. Looking to at least put up a fight at Hillheads,
the Warriors will plan to travel to Telford on the back of a solid home
performance to ensure they have the best chance of progressing to the next
stage of the competition. This season, Longstaff has been Whitley’s key
playmaker as well as the side’s top points scorer, having tallied seven goals
and an impressive thirty eight assists whilst Edgar has produced the most goals
for his team, hitting the net thirty times in thirty one games besides notching
eleven assists. Meanwhile, Warriors’ captain Dean Holland, alternate captain
Shaun Kippin and forward Ben Richards have each accomplished more than thirty
points for their side, with Holland close to equalling last season’s points
total and both Kippin and Richards bettering their points production this campaign. Likewise, the Tigers have a considerable amount of
firepower in their ranks with captain Silverthorn and alternate captain Rick
Plant respectively the league’s third and fifth highest points scorers this
season. Together, the duo have been responsible for sixty one goals and one
hundred and four assists for Telford and they will certainly be ready to cause
problems for Whitley’s defence this weekend alongside forwards Scott McKenzie,
Warren Tait and defenceman Jonathan Weaver to name but a few. Likely to be
another battle between two teams prepared to give their all, these
meetings will surely be entertaining if the sides’ most recent encounter was
anything to go by.
Prepared for a challenge this
weekend, Whitley’s player-coach David Longstaff noted:
“These will be two very tough games. Telford are the
only team we haven’t taken any points off in league play so we’re really up
against it.”
Reflecting on his team’s performance
this season and looking ahead to playoffs, Tigers’ forward Scott McKenzie
shared:
“I think our final league position is a tough one to
take. Our season was really decided through a run of tough games through
February and by a couple of losses. It was a really close finish to the season and
credit to Sheffield for winning out in the final weekend. Playoffs is a completely
new tournament that every team that enters has a chance to win. It’s a great
opportunity to win a trophy in under a month and we are as prepared as we can be
to give it our best shot. We will take Whitley very seriously; we know their
style of play and are prepared for a tough weekend.”
Fixture:
Solway Sharks
vs. Solihull Barons
Date: 17th March 2018
Venue: Dumfries Ice Bowl
Faceoff: 7:00pm
Fixture: Solihull Barons vs. Solway Sharks
Date: 18th March 2018
Venue: Hobs Moat Road
Faceoff: 6:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Set
to confront the fifth-placed Solihull Barons this weekend, Solway Sharks will
take on the outfit at the Dumfries Ice Bowl on Saturday before heading to Hobs
Moat Road on Sunday for the second game of their playoff double header. Winning three of their four games against Solihull this season, the Sharks first
triumphed over the Barons on home ice in October before managing a
narrow 3-2 away win in December and succeeding by five goals to two
last month. However, suffering a 5-3 defeat to Solihull just two weeks ago,
Martin Grubb’s men will have in mind the threat that the Barons pose as they file out onto the ice this weekend. Having finished in a higher league place than Solihull, the Sharks were able to select the order of their home and away
legs and opted to continue their routine, deciding to play at the Ice
Bowl on Saturday as usual. Hoping that this choice will work to their
advantage, Solway will also seek to utilise the skill and goal scoring prowess
of top points scorer Iain Bowie, forward Connor Henderson, left winger Steven
Moore, alternate captain Ross Murray and forward Duncan Speirs, the quintet having
contributed between them eighty five goals and one hundred and twenty nine
assists over the course of their league campaign. Meanwhile, Solway’s defence
will be called into action no doubt by the pace and power of Solihull who also
have at their disposal a strong squad which includes Brittle brothers Luke and
Adam, forward Thomas Soar, Swedish import Niklas Ottosson and captain Josh
Bruce who have achieved just eleven more points than that of the Sharks’ top
five points scorers this season to suggest that this game is going to be a
closely contested one. Setting out to make an impact in front of their home
crowd on Saturday, the Sharks will aim to take a positive result with them to
Hobs Moat Road to ensure that they have the best chances of progressing to
the next stage of the competition, particularly as the Dumfries side are the
defending champions of the NIHL North Division One (Moralee) Playoffs following
last season’s success. Always entertaining and highly competitive, this contest will no doubt be worth the watch as the two sides take to the ice in
the hope that they can achieve playoff success.
Considering this clash, Solway Sharks’
Head Coach Martin Grubb shared:
“We go into this series against a good Solihull team
who will be a threat. We have a decent record against them winning three out of
four games but they were all tight and they will be confident as they won the
last game. We know what we are capable of and have a good experience of the
playoffs so we will be ready to battle for every puck. We would like to go down
to Solihull on Sunday with a lead but we will be looking to win both games to
progress.”
Also sharing his thoughts ahead of this weekend’s double header, Solihull’s forward Adam Brittle revealed:
Also sharing his thoughts ahead of this weekend’s double header, Solihull’s forward Adam Brittle revealed:
“Following our relatively successful season, finishing
fifth, one place behind this weekend’s opponents, Solway Sharks, we are looking
forward to the new playoff format. Recently, we have been in good form, picking
up some good results against tough opposition. Hopefully this will give us the
confidence we need to gain the edge over the Sharks this weekend. Head to head,
we have come up short against Solway, losing three and winning just once. All
games have been very close; they are a good skating team, well-disciplined and
work hard for sixty minutes. I expect this weekend to be no different and we
need to be matching that work rate for all six periods if we wish to progress
to next weekend.”
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