Opposition opinion – Nottingham Lions

October 7, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

In the first of hopefully a regular feature, we take in an opponent’s opinion on our forthcoming encounter. Katie the Nottingham Lions’ Press Officer is first up.

Nottingham Lions head to Hull this weekend for the first meeting between the two teams this season.
Despite usually being at opposite ends of the League tables, games between the Jets and Lions have usually been close affairs, and the 5-5 tie in February effectively ended the Lions’ hopes of retaining their Championship.

This season is a bit of a transition for the Nottingham side. With Joe Graham, James Neil and Robert Lachowicz to the EPL’s Manchester Phoenix, Sam Bullas to a struggling Swindon Wildcats side and Tom Norton staying in Nottingham but moving to the Panthers full-time. Neil, Lachowicz and Bullas will be on 2-way deals with the Panthers, and Norton will play for the Lions. Despite losing these players, the Lions have signed some new faces for the 2009-10 season.

Daniel Taylor, a forward, joins from Telford Titans; Robert Ferrara, defence, signs from Peterborough Phantoms – both players are now studying at University in Nottingham. Tom Parker & Nick Whyatt join from Coventry Blaze’s ENL side, although Whyatt is not a ‘new boy’ having played for the Lions in their EPL days. The biggest pre-season signing has to be that of former Milton Keynes Lightning defenceman Chris McEwen. Unable to commit to the Lightning full-time, the Nottingham-based player has signed for the Lions and will play when work & family commitments allow.

The success of Nottingham’s Junior Development continues as 4 new youngsters are playing for the Lions – Callum Bowley, Will Weldon, Tom Soar and net minder Brandon Stones join Josh Ward as ‘part-time’ Lions. Josh is already well-known to defence men around the League and he scored in the Lions triumphant trip to Coventry as they picked up the Playoff Championship trophy in April.

Kingston Jets probably have not had the season-openers they would have wanted – having won 1 game out of 4 and only scoring 8 goals, but conceding 29. But as the Lions know games against teams towards the bottom of the League table cannot be taken lightly any longer. The Lions’ new defensive pairings are starting to gel, and with 19 point scorers out of 22 out skaters the points can come from anywhere.

My verdict? Should be a fast game with the Jets looking to kick start their season but I think that the Lions are too strong for the Jets.

Prediction: A 6-4 win for the Nottingham Lions.

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Jets Vs Lions Preview

October 6, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

This weekend sees the Nottingham Lions come to ‘The Hanger’ to face the mighty Jets. The Lions, as expected have made a strong start to their league campaign with four wins and one defeat against the unbeaten Whitley Warriors.

The Nottingham outfit are part of a trio of teams who are expected to challenge for the title this year, alongside Sheffield and Whitley Bay.

Nottingham has an outstanding record since the 07/08 season with only three teams managing victories against them; Whitley Bay three times, Sheffield twice, Billingham once. A further two teams have taken points off them with a draw, Coventry Blaze and the Jets in the 08/09 season.

It is fair to say the 5-5 draw in February ultimately cost the Lions back to back title wins as they finished the season level on points with Sheffield who had a better head to head record. At the time of the game the Lions were missing four players, who were representing Great Britain in the University games.

The off-season has seen the Lions lose James Neil, Robert Lachowicz and Joe Graham to Manchester Phoenix. Sam Bullas has joined Swindon Wildcats and Tom Norton has moved up to the Panthers EIHL side on a two way deal. Between them they accounted for 30% of the Lions goals last season and around 40% of Lions total points.

So are the Lions weaker than last season? Possibly, losing that many quality players would hurt any team. However they have started the season strongly despite the loss and Nottingham seem to have a never ending production line of talent coming up through the junior development system. Last season the Lions averaged 4.03 goals per game, through their six games this season have averaged 5.0 goals per game. Defensively in 08/09 the Lions kept the opposition down to an average of 2.17 goals per game, while this season the margin has been slightly higher at 2.66 goals per game.

The last six meetings between the two sides see the Jets record stand at 0-5-1. In that time the Jets have notched 14 goals to the Lions 30. Interestingly the Jets averaged 2.75 goals per game last year against the Lions, higher than the Lions 2.17 goals against per game.

The key to the game for the Jets will be a disciplined, defensive effort. As illustrated above, the Lions do not concede many so limiting their goal scoring chances will be vital. The Jets forwards put five up against Blackburn last weekend and hopefully they can carry their scoring form on in this one.

Editor’s prediction – Hoping the Jets can build on last week, I am going to go for a 4-4 draw.

J4L

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Blackburn Hawks downed

October 6, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

The Jets finally got off the mark with their first victory of the season at the fourth attempt with a 5-4 victory over the Blackburn Hawks.

Captain Ben Milhench:

“It was important for us to get the first win under our belts. We have been training hard over the last week to prepare of the game and it paid off tonight. Looking ahead we have a tough run of games coming up and will need to up our game again.”

First Period
The Hawks opened the scoring when David Meikle fired them in front (3.08). Matt Jeffcock levelled the scores less than a minute late (4.01) for the first of a four point night. Ben Lowe doubled the Jets lead (10.39) on a feed from Jeffcock.

First period shots. Jets 11 – Hawks 13.

Second Period

The start of the second period proved somewhat disastrous for the Jets with Richard Hughes chalking up his first of the night (20.40) within forty seconds of the restart to level things up. Within four minutes of the restart Jets fell behind by two goals with Hughes netting his second (23.27) and Sam Dunford extending the Hawks lead (24.21).

The Jets staring a fourth defeat on the bounce came to life around the half way stage of the game. Dan Hackford drew the Jets within one with a nice finish on the poweplay (27.29). Kieran Beach evened up proceedings (33.27), before Ben Lowe adding his second and game winning goal (36.15) on the powerplay with Ollie Lomax sitting in the box on the end of a high sticking call.

Second Period shots. Jets 12 – Hawks 18

Third Period

The third period saw little action as the Jets attempted to shut the game down, while the Hawks attempted to draw level. Rodgers replaced Holmes in the Jets net with eight minutes remaining. The Hawks left their net empty for the last minute of the game but the Jets held out to take the game with a 5-4 margin.

Third period shots. Jets 5 – Hawks 16

Notes

Jets Alex Foreman and Richard Haggar were both missing from the Jets line up. New signing Andy Wile took the player of the game award for the Jets. The official attendance was 49.

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2009/10 Season

October 3, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

Welcome to the 09/10 edition of ‘In the cockpit’. Last year, I rightly predicted that we would consolidate our position in Division 1 despite being favorites for relegation. This year, I will make the same prediction – even though our recent performances versus Coventry, Manchester, and Whitley would suggest otherwise!

The summer has seen some significant changes to our team with four departures and three arrivals. Outgoing players include former Hull Stingrays and Great Britain forward Mark Florence who has retired from hockey due to family commitments. Patrik Zgibor is another who will not be returning this season. Patrik had a massive impact on the outcome of last season, and the lads will miss seeing his postgame ritual of downing multiple shots and then ripping up the dancefloor in his favorite white body warmer! Other departures include the Elliott brothers: Adam is taking a break from hockey while his older brother Craig has joined the Sheffield Spartans.

Incoming players include former Coventry forward Chris Bryniarski and former Newcastle madman Andrew Wile! Pete Gennery has also returned and should make his debut later this month. Moreover, several junior players are expected to break into this season’s team with debuts planned for Ben Sayer, Jordan Fisher, and Tom Ralph. There may be further additions to our lineup because three senior players, who have been practicing with the team, have expressed an interest in signing for the Jets.

Many people expect us to pick up our first win of the season in this weekend’s game versus Blackburn. Like ourselves, the Hawks have made a slow start to the season, but by no means will it be an easy game. Blackburn have become somewhat of our bogey team in recent years, winning six of our previous 10 meetings. However, we have been working hard in practice and we feel better prepared for this game than any previously. Team confidence is at its highest point this season and we will be looking to play confidently against the Hawks. It should be an entertaining game, so why not come down to the Hanger and cheer us on!

Ben Spurgeon
Jets 4 Life

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