Opposition opinion – Nottingham Lions

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.

Jets Vs Lions Preview

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

Blackburn Hawks downed

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.

Jets Vs Hawks Preview

So this weekend the Jets will attempt to win their first game on their fourth event. It is safe to say the start to season has been somewhat of a disaster with 25 goals leaked and only 3 scored so far.

This weekend sees the Blackburn Hawks visit Hull Arena for the first of four match ups between the two sides. Many pre-season predictions seem to have the Jets and the Hawks battling it out at the basement this year and early season form would appear to support that theory with the Hawks picking up one win in their first five games this year, against Trafford Metros last weekend.

Perhaps their form isn’t quite as black and white as the Jets however. Looking at the Hawk’s results and reading their un-official forum it appears as though all their games have been close affairs, losing by no more than two goals (including empty netters) in each of their defeats so far.

In the last ten meetings between the two sides the Jets record stands at 3-6-1* including cup games, with the goal scoring 39-52 in the Hawks favour.
In the league and at Hull Arena the Jets are 1-2-0 in the last two seasons, with scoring 11-14 in Hawks favour. With both sides desperate for a win this one looks potentially a close match up. If the Jets play to their potential they can hopefully get off the mark for the 2009/10 season.

Editor’s Prediction: 4-3 win for the Jets.

* One game awarded 5-0 to Jets.
J4L

Rad Sheep announce 3 year deal

Kingston Jets are pleased to announce they have agreed a 3 year sponsorship deal with kit suppliers RAD SHEEP.

For the start of the 2009/10 season RAD SHEEP have created a new logo and kit design for the Jets team.

Elliott picked for GB Under 18’s

Kingston Jets forward Adam Elliott has been chosen to play for Great Britain Under 18’s.

Elliott, 17 will represent the nation twice in March of this year. Elliott will be away on the 4th/5th March and will play in Estonia between the 13th and the 20th of the same month.

Meanwhile, Kingston Jets make the short trip down the M18 to Sheffield this weekend to face the Sheffield Spartans. Face-off at iceSheffield is at 4.30pm.

Jets stun Blaze in pursuit of play-off spot

Kingston Jets gave themselves a fighting chance of a play-off spot thanks to a 7-2 home victory over Coventry Blaze ENL.
The game began at a frantic pace and the Jets were quick to extinguish the Blaze as they secured a 4-0 1st period lead.
New signing Patrik Zgibor continued his fine form since signing from Sheffield Scimitars as he bagged the opener with a wrist shot after skating the length of the ice.
3 minutes later the Jets were 2-0 up thanks to a shorthanded marker from former Hull Thunder forward Mark Florence. Florence latched onto an inch perfect, tape to tape pass from Zgibor.
On 7:38 the hosts made it three as the same partnership combined for a second shorthanded goal on the same penalty kill.
Kingston all but ended the game 32 seconds before the first intermission when Dan Sayer and Matt Jeffcock assisted Adam Elliott for the Jets’ fourth.

It was obvious what had been said in the away dressing room during the break as it took the Blaze just 23 seconds to grab their first of the night.
However, Rodgers held strong between the pipes to eliminate any pressure the visitors had.
The Humberside outfit extended their lead on 38:14 through Matt Jeffcock with assists from Dan Sayer and Mark Florence.

The third period began with the Jets again on top. A scuffle behind the Blaze goal led to Jamie Cobley and Dan Sayer sitting 2+2 for roughing along with Hunt and Jones for the visitors.
Last seasons 7th place team weren’t finished yet though as pacey forward Ben Lowe celebrated his 18th birthday with a brace to end any hopes of a pleasant debut for Blaze back-up Jacob Smith.
Coventry did grab a late consellation but the night belonged to the Jets as they enjoyed a well-deserved victory.

Sam Cooper

Jets beaten by Blaze

This weekend saw the Jets travel to the Coventry Skydome for the first time to face the high flying Coventry Blaze ENL side. Three weeks earlier Blaze soundly beat the Jets 8-2 at Hull Arena, with only 11 skaters making the trip to Coventry the Jets faced a daunting task.

First Period
The opening period saw the Jets get off to the worst possible start, conceding within the first 17 seconds of the period through a Lukas Szabo goal. The Jets terrible start was further compounded when Tom Ledgard doubled the Blaze lead just 7 seconds later, leaving the Jets trailing 2-0 after just 24 seconds.

Blaze extended their lead to three half way through the first period with Joe Henry adding the Blaze third goal at 10.13. Jets already short bench then received a blow then Jamie Cobley was assessed a 5+game penalty for an accidental high stick at 10.30.

Many at this point expected the game to resemble a cricket score come the 60 minute mark, however in true Jets fashion the team gave its all and battled on regardless. Three minutes before the end of the period Jets persistence paid off with Ben Lowe reducing the deficit assisted by Matty Jeffcock at 17.20.

Period shots: Blaze 15 Jets 10
Penalty Mins: Blaze 4 Jets 27

Second Period
The second period saw just two penalties assessed and as such end to end hockey ensued as the Jets searched for another goal. Dan Sayer finally beating Hartley at 34.31 to bring the Jets within one goal, while at the other end of the ice Karl Holmes kept the Jets in it turning away 21 shots in the period.

Period shots: Blaze 21 Jets 11
Penalty Mins: Blaze 2 Jets 2

Third Period
After 24 seconds of the opening period not many people would of expected the third period to start with the Jets just one goal behind. However Andy Daintith’s team have proved in the past they never quit and came out looking to take the game to the Blaze in the third.

Both sides had chances at each end before Joe Henry took a 2 minute minor for high sticking at 53.38 and Jets looked to add the game tying goal. However Tom Ledgard had other ideas extending the Blaze lead short-handed at 53.57.

Andy Daintith called a time out in an effort to rally his troops however a further two Blaze goals followed from Henry (55.54) and Szabo (56.46) as the Jets short bench began to run out of steam.

James Maughan added a late consolation for the Jets (57.59) assisted by Matty Jeffcock and almost completed a Gordie Howe hat trick in the dying seconds when a scuffle broke out between Jones and McWilliams from the Blaze and Cooper and Maughan from the Jets.

Period shots: Blaze 15 Jets 10
Penalty Mins: Blaze 42 Jets 20

Post Game
Andy Daintith: “We were missing a lot of guys today through work commitments and injuries, losing Jamie (Cobley) early on left us with just ten skaters however the lads came here and battled throughout causing the Blaze problems. Coming into the third period a goal behind we were looking to take something from the game, in the end though our tired legs caught up with us.”

Notes
Images used in this article were kindly supplied by Mark Tredgold. Please visit his site: http://www.tredders.com for more images.

Jets beat Vipers to record first points

Jets earned their first points of the season with an away victory against Newcastle Vipers ENL.

The game started at a frantic pace with Ben Lowe going close off the opening face off before Newcastle opened the scoring off the counter attack through Callum Davies netting after 32 seconds.

The Jets reply came just two shifts later, when Adam Elliott tied the game up, on the power play after 1.17 on a feed from his brother Craig Elliott after some hard work down low.

Kingston continued to pile pressure on the Vipers net throughout the first period and were duly rewarded on 10.35 when defenseman Jordan Davies fired home a wrist shot, assisted by Dan Sayer and Richard Haggar. Shots after the first period were 17-6 in favour of the Jets.

The second period continued in a similar way the first, with the Jets dominating for a large proportion of the period. Richard Haggar added Kingston’s third goal after 27 minutes with a wrap around goal assisted by Dan Hackford and Mark Florence.

Ben Milhench extended the Jets lead to three goals, firing past the Vipers netminder with a wrist shot from the hash marks just before the end of the second period (39.18). Just twenty seconds later the Vipers reduced the deficit back to two after a defensive mix-up saw Graeme Robson poke the puck through Jets netminder Tristain Rodgers legs.

Newcastle came out early in the third period looking to catch the Jets on the back foot. However it was the Jets who opened the periods scoring with Dan Sayer ripping home a shot, assisted by Richard Haggar and Mark Florence.

The Vipers persistence finally paid off when Matt Hinkley scored two goals (45.26 & 50.30) setting up an interesting final ten minutes. Coach Andy Daintith called a time out to try and settle his team and help them reorganise.

Any potential nerves were settled four minutes later when Matt Jeffcock scored in front of the net on a Craig Elliott assist from behind the net.

The final four minutes saw chances for both sides however Jets saw out and danger to record their first win of the season.

Captain Ben Milhench on the game, “I thought we were disciplined out there, which helped us win the game following some of the penalty trouble we got into last week. I thought we dominated for large periods of the game and fully deserved the two points. The score didn’t fully reflect how we played as we should of put away a few more of our chances.”

Mark Florence added, “Its good to get our first win under our belts, hopefully we can build on this and add two points the cup tomorrow against Solihull.”

The news image was kindly provided by http://www.vipersmedia.co.uk view the site for more images from the game.

Jets lose away at Nottingham

After Saturday’s good performance but no points, Jets first away trip was at league champions Nottingham Lions.

Nottingham had suffered a surprising defeat on the previous night at Sheffield losing 4-1, so both sides were looking for their first victories of the season.

The Jets started the better of the two sides with Ben Lowe converting a well worked move between himself and Jamie Cobley after seven minutes. This appeared to wake the Lions bench up, who capitalised on two power play chances on the 12 and 16 minute mark through Ben Bliss and Simon Harrison respectively. Nine seconds after the go ahead goal Lions added another to further stretch the lead, this time through Stuart Bliss. The Jets appeared on the rack, however managed to see the end of the period out without any further damage caused to the score line.

The second period started with the Jets taking advantage of a power play with Ben Milhench scoring a slapshot from the top of the circle on twenty three minutes. The period also saw a Ben Lowe strike controversially ruled out despite clearly crossing the line and hitting the roof of the net, after the goal judge and the referee hadn’t seen it go in.

Jets misery was further compounded when Lions fourth goal was added on forty eight minutes despite protestations about a missed too many men on the ice call prior to the goal being scored. Craig Elliott added a third for Kingston after Mark Florence had slid the puck through Richard Griffiths legs. Jets continued to push for the elusive forth, pulling netminder Karl Holmes for the last minute, however the Lions continually iced the puck and saw the game out.

Coach Andy Daintith on the game, “From our point of view the lads once again played very well. However some of the calls were very dubious on both sides and once again the referee spoiled a good game. The missed call on the disallowed goal cost of the chance of taking anything out of the game.”

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ENL1 Standings

	Team	GP	PTS
	Nottingham Lions	16	26
	Sheffield Scimitars	19	25
	Whitley Warriors	12	17
	Telford Titans	15	15
	Coventry Blaze ENL	14	12
	Trafford Metros	14	10
	Blackburn Hawks	13	7
	Kingston Jets	13	4