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Monday, 6th February 2006

Wednesday night's British Knockout Cup action saw Coventry Blaze on a road trip to Hull to take on the Stingrays, with the Blaze sitting pretty with a 12-0 aggregate lead from the first leg. Referee Paul Staniforth had little to do other than call the goals in this second leg, with only one penalty called in the entire game, that dubious honour going to Pavol Mihalik of Coventry who picked up a holding minor in the first period. It was Hull who came out strongest in this fixture, getting on the scoreboard after just 28 seconds through Lee Mitchell to make it 1-0 on the night, 1-12 on aggregate. Mark Florence added to Hull's tally in the fifth minute before Adam Calder responded for Coventry two minutes later. Despite Mihalik's holding penalty, Coventry popped away a short hander through Tom Watkins to tie the game on the night. Tom Carlon and Evan Cheverie piled on the misery for Hull with a pair of goals for the Blaze to put the scores at 2-4 on the night, 2-16 on aggregate before the end of the first period.

The second period saw a spirited fightback by Hull, with Lewis Day putting the cookie in the jar on a solo effort and David Williams sliding home Hull's fourth the tie the game on the night, with Sam Roberts in the Hull net stonewalling Coventry's 20 shots. But the third period was all about the Blaze, with Hull being limited to just four shots on goal whilst the Coventry outfit peppered Roberts with 28 shots, of which five made it into the twine. Pavol Mihalik opened the third period scoring in the 42nd minue, then it was Russell Cowley's turn less than two minutes later. Adam Calder put away his second of the night to make it 4-7 on the night before Dan Welch added another and Tom Carlon rounded off the match at 4-9, 4-21 on aggregate. Blaze netminder conceded four goals from 17 shots, whilst Sam Roberts in the Hull net let in 9 from 69, giving the Hull goalie the better save percentage on the night, although that particular stat will be of little comfort to the Stingrays.

The following night saw more Knockout Cup action, this time down in Cardiff where the Devils were hosts to Sheffield Steelers in the first leg of their tie. Phil Hill got the home side off to an early start with a powerplay marker in the third minute with Kent Simpson sitting in the Sheffield sin bin on a tripping minor, and Brad Voth added in the 12th minute to extend the Devils' leag to 2-0 by the first interval. A scoreless second gave way to a tense third, where Louis Goulet put the game out of Sheffield's reach in the 52nd minute. Netminder Peter Aubrey posted a 31shot shut-out to help Cardiff take a 3-0 lead into the second leg.

Friday night saw Elite League action in Belfast when the Giants took on the visiting Edinburgh Capitals, who were relishing their newfound move off the bottom of the table. Their joy was somewhat tempered by Theo Fleury, who opened the scoring in just over a minute to give Belfast the early advantage, then added a second early in the second period. Martin Cingel brought one back for the Caps going into the second interval, but a powerplay marker from player-coach Ed Courtenay was enough to put the game firmly in Belfast's favour, the clock running out on a 3-1 scoreline. Mike Minard in the Giants net faced a total of nine shots, whilst his team peppered the Hull net with 37.

Saturday night saw new league propper-uppers Basingstoke Bison at home to Cardiff Devils, who were icing without Mark Richardson and Rejean Stringer. Basingstoke were first off the mark through Shawn Maltby, who found the net on the powerplay in the 5th minute. Less than five minutes later Neil Francis had evened things up, popping the puck past player-coach Mark Bernard in the Bison net. Bernard was called into action from the face off in the second period, with a Mike Garrow shot deflected away by the netminder only to be redirected into the net by defenceman Andrew Sande only nine seconds into the period, Cardiff taking a 1-2 lead. Doug Sheppard restored parity three minutes later only for Brad Voth to restore the Cardiff lead less than a minute after that, the scoreline sitting at 2-3. Nathan Rempel extended the lead to 2-4 just before the second interval. Not to be outdone, Greg Chambers pulled one back for the Bison halfway through the third period, but despite Basingstoke's efforts they were unable to tie the game, the clock running out at 3-4 to the visiting Devils. Coach Ed Patterson was philosophical about the victory, saying "We did what we had to do to win but it definitely was not our best game in a while. We were fortunate to get away with a win and as long as those bad habits are a one night thing that's fine."

Newcastle Vipers were on the road in Nottingham on Saturday night, with the Vipers trying to take second place away from the Panthers in the league table. A quick goal from Matt Beveridge gave the visitors the lead inside of two minutes, only from Bradnin Cote to find the net twice before the first interval to give Nottingham a lead going into the second period. Cory Morgan re-tied the game late in the second period, and Jonathan Weaver put the Vipers in the driving seat again in the 45th minute. Andre Payette extended the Newcastle lead less than a minute later, and even though Matt Mayers brought the scoreline back within one goal in the 53rd minute, Beveridge popped home his second of the night to seal the game at 3-5 and give Newcastle the valuable points, putting them above Nottingham in the table.

Sheffield's home fixture against last season's Grand Slammers Coventry Blaze saw Martin Klempa post a 25 shot shut-out in the Blaze net whilst his predecessor Jody Lehman coughed four goals in the Sheffield net. Evan Cheverie opened the scoring in the 14th minute with Pavol Mihalik making it 0-2 less than a minute later. Joel Poirier made it 0-3 in the second period and Dan Welch made it 0-4 in the third.

Sheffield were in action again on Sunday, this time away to Cardiff Devils. A scoreless first period was nontheless packed with incident, most notably when Ron Shudra and Dennis Maxwell jumped in during a fight between Regan Darby and Kent Simpson, resulting in Maxwell and Darby both being ejected from the game by referee Nigel Boniface. Next to drop the gloves were Brad Voth and Jason Robinson, with the on-ice officials earning their stripes in trying to separate to combatants. On the scoreboard, it was Jeff Burgoyne who broke the deadlock just after the half hour mark, putting the puck past Jody Lehman in the Sheffield net to give Cardiff the lead. This did little to settle the atmosphere, Neil Francis and Jason Hewitt chucking the knuckles in the 37th minute. The third period saw Brad Voth receive his marching orders from referee Boniface after protesting a cross-checking call. Sheffield were unable to capitalise on the resultant powerplay, and had to resort to pulling the netminder in the dying minutes of the game, however the plan backfired as Jonathan Phillips popped home an empty netter to give Cardiff the 2-0 win. netminder Peter Aubrey posted a 34 shot shut-out for the Devils.

Sunday night also saw the second night of Newcastle and Nottingham's home and away series, with the Panthers taking the bus up to the MetroRadio Arena to take on the Vipers. Ex-Manchester Storm players Curtis Bowen scored on the powerplay to give the visitors an early lead, only for Jan Krajicek to tie the game in the 12th minute. Just before the interval a chance fell to Cory Morgan on the powerplay and he capitalised, giving the Vipers a 2-1 lead at the first break. Shaun Sutter tied the game with the second period's only goal, and a scoreless third period saw the game go to overtime, where a bullet from Rob Wilson saw the Vipers take the extra point and strengthen their hold on the league's second place.

Edinburgh Capitals were at home on Sunday to Coventry Blaze, on the road for the second night in succession having beaten Sheffield the night before. Neal Martin opened the scoring for the Blaze in the first period, and the first interval arrived with the scoreline still at 0-1. Caps player-coach Tony Hand tied up the game in the second before Dino Bauba gave the Caps the lead two minutes later, but Dan Welch proved the man of the hour with a hat-trick in the second period. A second goal from Tony Hand before Welch completed his hat-trick saw the period end 3-4. Jeff Hutchins put the puck away twice in the third period to give Blaze the points, the match ending 3-6 to Coventry.

by Richard Allan

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