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Monday, 7th November 2005

Cardiff Devils had a points-filled weekend with victories in both their fixtures despite number one netminder Peter Aubry being sidelined with an injury. Saturday night's game saw the Devils on the road in Basingstoke to take on the Bison, and saw Mike Brabon take over between the pipes for the Welsh team. Brad Voth and Greg Chambers traded goals in the first period to give a one-one scoreline going into the first interval, but after the break Gerad Adams found the net only sixteen seconds into the period to give the Devils the 1-2 lead. A powerplay marker from Louis Goulet and a late period goal from Mark Richardson saw Cardiff sitting pretty at 1-4 going into the second interval, leaving the Bison with a mountain to climb in the third. Doug Sheppard set the Bison rolling early in the third and Basingstoke kept the pressure on right through the period, but Mike Brabon stood fast, only conceding late in the period on the powerplay when the Bison had pulled their goalie to get the extra offensive player, allowing Tony Redmond to put the puck in the net. This wasn't enough to tie the game though, the Devils taking it 3-4 in regular time.

Elsewhere on Saturday evening, London Racers came off second best in a home fixture against Nottingham Panthers despite the Racers opening the scoring through Scott Wray inside of six minutes. David Clarke found the net for the equaliser halfway through the second period, and with the scores level at one apiece going into the third period it fell to Duncan Dalmao to break the deadlock and put the Racers ahead. The lead was short-lived, however, with Joe Cardarelli drawing the scores level. Shaun Sutter gave Nottingham the edge with less than three minutes to go, and Dan Tessier's empty netter sealed the deal, the game ending London 2 Nottingham 4.

Saturday night also saw Belfast Giants at home to reigning Grand-Slam champions Coventry Blaze in a fast-paced game that saw the debut of new Giants signing Colin Shields, with the British player returning to these shores following several seasons in the NCAA college system and with Atlantic City and Greenville Grrrowl. Shaun Skiehar open the scoring for the Giants in the third minute and Steve O'Brien adding to it a minute later. Joel Poirier found the net to put Coventry in the game in the sixth minute, and a session of end to end hockey saw the period end 2-1 to the Giants. It took until halfway through the second before ex-Manchester Phoenix captain George Awada added to the Giants' lead. Barrie Moore brought one back for the Blaze, bringing the scoreline to 3-2 early in the third. Theo Fleury restored the Giants' lead and new boy Colin Shields put the Giants up 5-2.

Newcastle Vipers have finally filled the gap left by the departed Eric Beaudoin with the signing if forward Cory Morgan, formerly of Dundee Stars. Morgan is set to arrive in a couple of weeks, and will most likely play on the first line with David Longstaff and Andre Payette. Longstaff himself is pleased with the signing of Morgan, saying "I remember playing against him last year when he was with Dundee, and he was probably the biggest reason why the Stars went from the bottom of the BNL to Play Off champions. He's quick, skillful and has great hands when handling the puck. He can score goals and make goals, as well as look after himself when needed."

The news of the new signing didn't seem to have a positive effect on the Vipers or even on their home ice on Sunday, with the home game against Sheffield Steelers delayed by two and a half hours due to problems with the ice. After the game eventually started, it was Sheffield who seized the early momentum, Mark Dutiame putting the biscuit in the basket on a solo effort in the thirteenth minute and Andrew Luciuk putting up a powerplay marker late in the period. A scoreless second period saw action with Mike Peron getting his skating orders for a third man in penalty following an altercation between Andre Payette and Jody Lehmann when Payette responded to a slash from the goalie, and a third period powerplay goal from Mark Dutiame gave him a tally of two on the night and gave the Steelers a 0-3 victory, with Jody Lehmann registering an 18 shot shut-out.

Cardiff's second set of weekend points came in their Sunday home fixture against Nottingham Panthers, both teams riding high with victories the previous night. A tight game, there was only one goal, and that went to Vezio Sacratini, the Devils veteran netting a short-handed marker with Brad Voth sitting out a roughing penalty. Mike Brabon notched up a 27 shot shut-out for the Devils, earning him and the team praise from player-coach Ed Patterson. "The desperation and sacrifice on the defence to help Brabon get that shut-out was excellent," said Coach Patterson. "Hockey is eighty percent mental and Brabon just needed to get his confidence and this week he's looked fantastic in practice, the guys just couldn't score on him."

Coventry Blaze bounced back from Saturday night's loss in Belfast when the Giants came to the Skydome for the second night of the home-and-awayer on Sunday. It took until the fifteenth minute for the deadlock to be broken, with Russell Cowley putting the puck in the net for the Blaze, and Dan Welch extending the lead to 2-0 on the powerplay late in the period when Jason Ruff picked up a five plus game penalty for a sticking incident on Pavol Mihalik. Second period markers from Tom Watkins and Joel Poirier extended the Blaze lead to 4-0 before George Awada opened the Giants' scoring late in the period. Steve O'Brien brought the Giants back to 4-2 in the third, but Dan Welch's second of the night put the game out of Belfast's reach, the final scoreline reading 5-2 to Coventry.

London Racers were smarting from their loss to Nottingham on Saturday night when they travelled up to face Edinburgh Capitals on Sunday, so the early marker from Jason Norrie after 86 seconds certainly helped focus the Racers. The Caps equalised through Travis Lisabeth five minutes later and held the Racers to a one-one scoreline going into the first interval. A Scott Wray marker put London ahead in the second, and Edinburgh had no answer, with the icing on the cake coming from Nathan Rempel late in the third period. Final score 1-3 to London.

by Richard Allan

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