Tuesday 29 October 2013

Phoenix 'buzzing' after Schnabel shoot out winner
















MANCHESTER PHOENIX  3 - 2  BRACKNELL BEES  
 (AFTER PENALTY SHOTS 1-0)



Rob Schnabel scores winner in Shoot out for Phoenix



Rob Schnabel scored the only penalty shot in a marathon shootout Sunday night in which it took the seventh round of penalties, before the former NHL defenseman put his penalty past the Man of the match for the visitors Alex Mettam for a 1-0 shootout win and see a reversal of the score the previous night down in Bracknell.

Manchester hoped to avoid their first pointless weekend of the season as they went down to the Bracknell Bees 3-2 after a penalty shoot out. Phoenix had battled back from being 2-0 down at the 'Hive'. Phoenix then saw Jacob Corson-Heron kicked out of game for being 3rd man in during a heated moment in the game, when Richard Bentham boarded Bees player Grant Rounding by the boards and then brought James Galazzi taking action on Bentham, before Heron then got involved too as referee Dave Cloutman, handed out a 5+Match penalty against the Phoenix forward and just a 2+2 for roughing to the Bees man.
Kamil Tvrdek and Matt Foord put the home side 2-0 up, before Jack Watkins pulled a goal back and then late on with 3:30 in the game, Czech forward Michal Psurny popped up and tied the game at 2-2 to send us into overtime. With Neither side scoring in the extra five minutes, we then went to penalties for the 2nd successive game for the Phoenix having lost out to Telford last weekend in similar fashion.


Despite Phoenix forwards Psurny and Bakrlik scoring for the away side, the Bees made it 2-2 after the third round of penalties each and so it came down to sudden death. James Archer stepped up for the Phoenix and saw him fail to score, which then gave Kamil Tvrdek the chance to win it and so he did as he gave the Bees the extra point and set up the return fixture in Ice dome.




Sunday night saw the two sides struggle to get to grips with the game as the Phoenix looked lethargic and sloppy in the passing department, while Bracknell buoyed by their victory the night before had the early chances in the game with Phoenix seemingly still asleep from turning the clocks back this weekend. Manchester were at times looking like a side that was  tired after their punishing game with their opponents for the 2nd straight evening, Bracknell should have took the lead early on when play down the left wing, saw a shot come in and the rebound was stopped by Steve Fone and the puck came out to Grant Round with at over half a net to aim and he contrived to hit the side of the outer post and let Manchester off the hook.

Manchester used that miss as their wake up call in the game as Jack Watkins and Joe Graham went close for the home side, but for the Bees netminder Alex Mettam having yet another stunning game at the Ice Dome for his side. Then at 7:13 Lewis Turner got called for Tripping when he brought down Jack Watkins which then put the Phoenix on the powerplay, it took just 32 seconds into the power play with them taking the lead. As some play by Michal Psurny and Tony Hand by the sideboards saw Hand pass to Franitsek Bakrlik to the right faceoff circle of Mettam , Bakrlik them who took control of the puck and had time to place his shot past the goaltender as the home led 1-0 at 7:45.





The period then became end to end, with Bracknell feeling they should have converted their early chances they created early on as they now found themselves a goal down as Manchester were starting to pick up a bit of steam now. Manchester had chance upon chance on the Bees nets but Mettam was producing save after save to repel the Phoenix attack as they couldn`t find this second goal that would give them a bit of a cushion heading towards the 1st intermission, However the Bees drawn level with 42 seconds left in the first period as Bracknell were putting the home side under  a bit of pressure late on in the period and the pressure told as Phoenix netminder Steve Fone was forced into making a couple of quick saves from rebounds till his luck ran out on the 3rd rebound attempt, with Grant Rounding putting home for the visitors at 19:18 with the home side unable to clear the puck away from goal.
In the Second period the Phoenix huffed and puffed at the Bracknell goals, but always found Mettam that little bit quicker for the home side as he stopped every shot that they threw at him.






The attacking play was mainly down in the Bracknell zone with Manchester continuing to pummel the Bees with chances, but just couldn`t find a way past Mettam at all. Phoenix had the Bees players run ragged as they kept possession superbly as they nearly retook the lead when, Psurny had an effort trickle behind Mettam as he took the sting of the shot and he was called upon once more was the Bees netminder, with Jack Watkins getting his effort turned away and with good play the puck came to Bakrlik who was positioned at the front of the net, but the Czech forward fired over the bar somehow and thoughts were creeping in whether they could score past Mettam again.
Tony Hand went to the penalty box at 26:06 for a dubious Tripping call that looked more like a dive than a trip as the Bracknell players seemed to try and jump over the stick and go to ground. During the penalty kill for the Phoenix ,Michal Psurny produced a fantastic solo effort to almost single handily kill off the penalty all by himself as he stalked the Bees players in their own zone and then held the puck up by the boards for a good 15 seconds as the time on the penalty ticked down.

                                                                                         




James Galazzi then took a trip to the penalty box for Tripping at 33:43 which saw the home side struggle to put a decent powerplay together as the home side tried hard to get the goal they deserved in the period. Bracknell were still looking to find a way back and couldn`t find anything to get them going, luckily for them Alex Mettam was standing on his head for his side which was frustrating the home side and he was the proverbial brick wall. Richard Bentham had a great chance as he was put through one on one with Mettam and the netminder once again thwarted another Phoenix attack.

Eventually the home side scored the elusive second goal, when Luke Boothroyd put Robin Kovar through down the left wing and the Czech forward used his speed and vision to drag the lone Bees defencemen out of position and pass across ice to James Archer, who was skating hard up ice on the right wing. Kovar fed the Yorkshireman and he buried it for a 2-1 lead at 38:26.
Phoenix found themselves back on the power play once more when Pavel Strycek boarded a Manchester player at 38:50 and saw Phoenix play out the period on the power play with not much of a threat on goal.






In the final period of play Andy McKinney was called by Referee John Liptrott for Boarding at 43:17 in the period and it took all of four seconds for them to score off it, thanks to Sam Oakford firing home off the faceoff win, by Bees Captain Rob Lamey to tie the game at 2-2 at 43-21.
The contest was closely fought and ebbed and flowed between both sides, with Phoenix looking likely to score then play would switch in a blink of an eye and then it was Bracknell that looked more likely to score and this continued for the whole of the period and made a fascinating game. Galazzi went in the box again for the Bees on a Delay of game call at 46:36, when he chose to sit on the puck from a faceoff and refused to move. The referees knew what he was trying to do and so pointed to the box and have him sit for 2 minutes despite him not agreeing and fighting his corner over the decision.
Mettam stops Michal Psurny
In the final 5 minutes of the third it became a shoot out, with both sides having chances to win it regulation. Mettam breathed a huge sigh of relief late on when a puck seemed to become loose and the puck fell a foot from the back post with every player and officials on the ice losing sight of where the puck was.  Bracknell in the final couple of minutes seemed to create a couple of good chances themselves with the home side fans desperately not wanting to see more overtime at the Ice dome. In all honestly if it wasn`t for Mettam then Phoenix would have been out of sight due to the chances they created as the shots on goal told the story of the game with the home side out shooting their guests by 52-30.





Fone saves Bendik Penalty
3rd period came to a close and despite another overtime period scoreless between the Phoenix and Bees in following nights, we went to a penalties and a 3rd successive penalty shoot out for Manchester having lost both previous shoot outs again Telford last weekend and the Bees the night before.  After the traditional opening 3 rounds of penalties and as neither side were able to find a winner we went to sudden death. The shoot out carried on, with save upon save and miss after miss by both sides till then in the Seventh round of shots, when Czech D man for the Manchester Phoenix Rob Schanbel stepped up and fired past Mettam to give the Phoenix a 1-0 lead, meaning that the Bees shooter had to score to keep the game going. Grant Rounding was their seventh shooter and was their most threatening player in the game in attack. The Bees forward tried to make a move but lost the puck and gave the home side a massive two points, to put the Phoenix back at the top of the table by a solitary point ahead of 2nd placed Basingstoke , who crushed the then joint leaders Guildford Flames in Hampshire 5-1.


Tony Hand`s men now prepare for yet another tough weekend, as they take the trip over the Pennines to Sheffield to take on their local bitter rivals the Steeldogs at Ice Sheffield before facing the Milton Keynes Lightning at home at the Ice dome on the Sunday night as they hope to start a new winning streak.


EPL LEAGUE TABLE :
1Manchester Phoenix149122733122
2Basingstoke Bison149113573921
3Guildford Flames149023665020
4Milton Keynes Lightning127104514116
5Sheffield Steeldogs155217506215
6Swindon Wildcats133316404813
7Slough Jets134108465810
8Peterborough Phantoms124026385910
9Bracknell Bees143128415610
10Telford Tigers13310938568



PHOENIX TV:http://youtu.be/AnBkrmWyG8I

PHOENIX PODCAST:  http://manchesterphoenix.blogspot.com/2013/10/to-buzzer.html?spref=bl


Monday 21 October 2013

Phoenix lose out in controversial game!



















MANCHESTER PHOENIX  4 - 5  TELFORD TIGERS

(2-1 After penalty shots)






Sunday Night saw a very controversial game at the Altrincham Ice Dome as two calls going the way of the Visiting Telford Tigers seen the Shropshire side come back from two goals down, to win the match in a penalty shootout and leave the home side in all aspects seething with some very questionable decisions in a crazy third period.
Both sides had come into the match on the back of losses on Saturday Night with the Tigers losing at home to the Guildford Flames 6-2, while Manchester had lost in a tough game down in Basingstoke, with the Bison coming out on top winning 4-2.



Phoenix was missing key defenseman Rob Schnabel in the line up after he was injured in the Basingstoke game. Schnabel got hit to his solar plexus in the first period by a stick, which resulted in Manchester missing their big Czech D man for the game against the Telford outfit.  In the first minute of play in the game, Joe Graham saw his shot deflected by Robin Kovar as Declan Ryan made a stop in the Tigers nets, Kovar then had another effort just go wide of the net as the home side started off brightly.
However Phoenix seemed to be resorting to the same tactic in the opening 10 minutes of play as they were breaking away and then trying to pass it to the back post where there was no one coming in to put home most of the time. Richie Bentham and Ex- Tigers player Andy McKinney went on a breakaway for the home side and saw Liam Chong skating hard to get to the back post and get contact on it, but Ryan was quick to deny him.




Manchester then went on the power play after Nathan Salem was called for Tripping at 6:38 in the game. Manchester didn`t make use of the extra man advantage as one attack summed up the Phoenix play while on the power play, that being when the passing was slow and pedestrian at best. Bakrlik was the shooter on the point ready to blast one and when the puck came towards him, he went to one time it from the blue line but saw his stick brake and brought an end to the play as Manchester was stop start as the game was becoming very scrappy now. 
Telford were starting to frustrate the home side now with their good defensive display and were out playing Phoenix in the opening period so much, that with good pressure and play it saw Telford take a lead at 11:20. Slovakian Marek Mikusovic had an effort which Steve Fone saved and then saw the rebound from Nathan Salem stopped to by Fone as well but the netminder couldn`t stop the third shot as Mikusovic scored for the Tigers as they led 1-0.




Phoenix almost scored from the restart when Psurny and Hand broke away on a 2 on 1, only for a Tigers Defenceman to block Tony Hand shot on goal and clear the danger for the Tigers. Ben Wood then had an effort on goal which saw his shot whistle past the Tigers net, however Phoenix kept possession still and saw the puck flash across the face of goals with no one there to score.
 Phoenix almost drew level when Hand let loose a shot which was saved by Ryan but it was spat out straight to James Archer and the forward just couldn`t put it in to tie the game.
There was chaos at the other end then, when the puck seemed to settle next to Fone near post and saw a mad a scramble as the puck came loose in the Phoenix crease and Fone dived onto the puck to get the whistle, Phoenix were playing far below the standard they had so far this year. Then just before the 1st break Joe Graham was called for Hooking at 18:15 as the Tigers went into the break the happier side by far.





Phoenix in the second period looked a lot brighter and more cohesive than in the 1st by a distance. Manchester managed to kill off the power play that the Tigers were on and then minutes later drew level, when Tony Hand scored to make it 1-1 at 21:50.
 The home side then created a chance with Hand and Bakrlik all skating forward before Bakrlik lost control of the puck in the Tigers Zone, till he battled back to win it and then laid it off for Luke Boothroyd and Ryan flashed a glove to stop the defender from giving them the lead. 
Liam Chong and a Telford player collided at mid ice to which Chong picked himself up from the deck and got in position at the front of the net to which he direct the puck on goal, but only to see Ryan yet again stop him and then the puck got played across goals where James Archer was waiting and with a huge target to aim at, but Ryan while down made a breathtaking save to rob Archer as all Phoenix players and fans alike couldn`t believe he saved it.




Telford then retook the lead at 27:35 when a bit of scramble at the front of Phoenix occurred and when danger looked to be averted, Callum Bowley appeared from nowhere and just lifted it high into the Phoenix nets for a 2-1 lead as Phoenix defend just stood there like statues with the goal a bit against the run of play in the second.
Less than a minute later Phoenix responded when a Robin Kovar shot was redirected in past Dec Ryan, as he saw it trickle in to make the score 2-2 at 28:19.
Telford then had a goal disallowed when a Phoenix player had got stuck in the back of the net and with the goals off its moorings as well, it was was fairly clean cut itwas no goal. The Phoenix player just managed to get out of the nets while the nets were still off and once he skated towards to the bench, Telford put the puck in the net and a couple wasn`t happy with the decision, but they knew it wasn`t a goal despite less than half hearted protest, this wasn`t the only disallowed goal in the game.. More on that later.



Tom Watkins then got put in the box for Tripping at 33:26 in the game, while on penalty kill Telford broke away on a 2 on 1 which seen Robin Kovar back check for the Phoenix and managed to cut out a pass for the visitors and then managed to skate up ice and have an effort himself which seen Ryan yet again stop Phoenix.
At 35:25 the home side took the lead for the first time in the game when Bakrlik broke down the left wing before he passed across ice to Kovar who put it home to make it 3-2 Phoenix, with the home side starting to make their dominance count now.
Telford almost immediately hit back when a bouncing puck hit a few legs in front of Fone and seen the puck bobbled just past the post and gave the home fans a huge sigh of relief. Marek Mikusovic then got called for a horrible looking check from behind on a Michal Psurny, that saw Psurny have no way to defend himself and saw Hand skate right over to the Slovakian and have some VERY STRONG words with the Tigers player over the incident, yet all he got was 2 minutes for Cross Checks, when it should have been at least 2+10.





The following power play saw Phoenix extend their lead to a 2 goal lead as Robin Kovar made it 4-2 for the home side, with fellow Czech forward Michal Psurny and Player Coach Tony Hand combining for Kovar to score as it sent the water bottle flying off the nets at 39:11.  That looked at the time to have given Phoenix the edge in the game and Telford seemed to have lost the momentum in the game as Manchester you thought would try to snuff out all hope of a comeback from Telford..well it was going to all go crazy in the third period.
.





Third period saw one of the most Controversial period`s Phoenix have ever been involved with at the Ice dome in their history, as firstly Manchester was penalised for an Icing Infringement at 41:08 to which they successfully killed off, then came the first of the two controversial decisions. 
Phoenix were on the attack and when the puck came to Czech forward Michal Psurny his effort went past Ryan glove and struck the pipe work at the top of the net inside the goal and bounced out for 5-2 with Psurny and Hand started to celebrate as did everyone else in the Ice Dome, however referee Steve Brown who was in as good of a position as you`ll ever get to be in, wave it off for a no goal despite the red light coming on and everyone seeing the puck go in.
Psurny remonstrated along Hand behind the play about the goal not being awarded and saw Telford go right up the other end and saw Mikusovic pass the puck across the face of goal for Adam Taylor to tap in to make it 4-3. An incensed Hand and the normally cool and collected Michal Psurny along with a 1000 Manchester fans was all fuming with the referee up that end of the ice for refusing to give a perfectly good goal and no saw Phoenix a bit on the back foot.



The boos were still ringing round the rink and if they weren`t impressed by the officials on the Telford Tigers 3rd goal, then they would go ballistic over the 4th goal they score as the home side players were seething even more so with the officials. As in the lead up to the goal there was then a blatant off side call missed by the linesman and despite Phoenix fans and Phoenix players shouting "OFFSIDE" the whistle never came and saw Nathan Salem then put home for a 4-4 score line at 50-40 and the boos become even more anger driven by the home fans, as the referees had well and truly lost of control of this game now with their bad officiating. 
Phoenix in truth after the Psurny "goal" lost their heads too and never fully focused properly after that incident, as now it was Telford in the ascendancy in the match. Mikusovic had a great chance to give the visitors the lead late on in the game when Luke Boothroyd stood on the puck just outside the Phoenix zone, the Tigers forward collected the puck and saw him skate it back in and saw his shot saved by Fone. As time dwindled away and so did the chance of a game winner in regulation so we went to Overtime.



Phoenix had the better of the chances in the extra period of play as Luke Boothroyd had a couple of chances in the space of 20 seconds, as he went from one end to the other and then battled back in the Tigers zone for the puck and managed get off another effort.
Psurny came close but Ryan stopped him and with the scores still deadlocked we then went to the penalty shot. Phoenix went first though Michal Psurny, who was still angry over the disallowed goal seen his penalty saved by Ryan.
Telford then had Nathan Salem score for them before Robin Kovar tucked home his penalty to make it 1-1, Marek Mikusovic missed his shot and when Luke Boothroyd took the 3rd one for Phoenix and pulled it wide it then came down to Callum Bowley who scored and gave Telford a very fortunate win under the circumstances and left the Phoenix with a real nasty taste in their mouth over the 2 goals scored by the Tigers in the 3rd.
Tony Hand and Phoenix still argued with the match officials and saw Tony Hand pick up a 10 misconduct penalty at the end as well to cap off the end of a controversial third period and game.





game highlights:  http://youtu.be/obQ3jTRQJ4M



Thursday 17 October 2013

New PODCAST episode

https://www.spreaker.com/user/peterbrads/b_a_s_c_ep8

Football round up, NHL and NFL news. Speedway, cricket,rugby talk. And UK Ice Hockey based.

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Female view point of going to ice hockey

This is a really interesting blog article written by a female Belfast Giants , based on her experiences 
http://www.kingdomofthegiants.com/news/article/523/are-you-actually-watching-the-game?/

Phoenix and Flames share wins in double header














MANCHESTER PHOENIX  7 - 4 GUILDFORD FLAMES






The top two in the English Premier League faced off against each this past weekend with both sides winning their respective home games, as come the end of the weekend it saw the Manchester Phoenix move two points clear of their nearest rival the Guildford Flames in the league standings.





Saturday night saw the Surrey based Flames host the Phoenix in the first meeting between the two sides this season, it also could have given a psychological edge to one of the two teams at this early season over the double header.
A big crowd at the Spectrum saw the Guildford Flames take a two goal lead late on in the opening period thanks to goals from ex Manchester Phoenix players Curtis Huppe & Tom Duggan, as the Flames went into the break 2-0 up.


Second period seen the Phoenix launch a comeback as first off James Archer pulled a goal back for the visitors, before Robert Schnabel then put one past Mark Lee as Manchester battled back from two goals down to draw level at 2-2.
In the final period of play both sides pushed for the go ahead goal as both defences stood firm and repelled the others attacks.
 Then with over five minutes left in the game, James Archer was tripped in a goal scoring opportunity and saw the official signal for a penalty shot for the away side which handed Phoenix a chance to take the lead at a crucial time. Unfortunately for the visitors his effort was saved by Mark Lee so we stayed level, as we got into the final two minutes of the game it was almost scripted for Tom Duggan to haunt his old side and he did just that when he scored with over a minute and half left in the game. Guildford had drawn first blood in the double header with a 3-2 victory and so we moved onto to Altrincham for the second match of the weekend.




Sunday saw the two sides go to battle yet again, but this time in Phoenix back yard where Manchester had the best attacking record in the league scoring 34 goals. From the opening faceoff it looked like this game would be another tight affair between the two fire based sides with neither giving an inch to the other team as this match could have had a little bit of an edge depending on the result. Manchester scored the game opening goal after Michal Psurny skated down hard after a puck which wasn`t collected by the Flames player behind his own net, that saw the Czech forward feed player coach of the Phoenix Tony Hand, who was free in the zone and Hand had plenty of time to slide it home for a 1-0 score at 6:02 and had the home fans celebrating the opener.
From that goal Guildford seemed to tighten up at the back and squeezed the Phoenix forwards out of their zone and pressured them back into their half of the ice. Guildford Flames then started to turn up the heat on the Phoenix, after a build up of pressure in the Phoenix zone saw the visitors pressure finally tell when at 13-18, Ben Campbell scored for the visitors with ex Phoenix forward Marcus Kristoffersson and Milo Melicherik assisting on the goal which then had the travelling supporters up on their feet.




Richard Bentham was given his second penalty call of the game after he had already collected a Holding call at 9-56, he was then given a two minute penalty for Tripping at 15:45 as referee Dave Emmerson sent him to the box. Manchester`s penalty kill was very good as they were stopping all Flames scoring opportunities that came in their power play, Guildford were by far the most dominant side in the opening period as the puck seemed to be drawn to the Phoenix end like it was a magnet.
Phoenix did take a couple of shots on James Hadfield in the nets for the Flames as he was unaware of where the puck was at times, with the home side knocking on the door on when they attacked.
The Flames should have took the lead, when after a play by Steve Fone`s right-hand post, the puck was pushed loose into the slot where a open Ben Campbell managed to somehow pull his shot wide of the target when the Guildford man had half a net to aim at.
Time ticked down to signal the end of a good period of hard clean competitive hockey between the sides, with both sides going into the period probably happy not to be trailing. Phoenix really needed to cut out the loose sloppy passes they were performing in the period and they need to open play up a bit more as Guildford was suffocating them in mid ice.




Second period of play saw Manchester retake the lead after Andy McKinney  controlled the puck and then the young forward fired a blast over Hadfield shoulder to go top corner, gave the Phoenix the lead again for 2-1. That lead lasted all but 43 seconds when at 22-05 the Flames broke up ice through Duggan who was put through by Jozef Kohut and the livewire forward raced away from the Phoenix defence to back handed past Steve Fone in the Phoenix nets to tie the game up at 2-2, it also gave the Flames a bit of a momentum boost at that point as the Phoenix went a bit flat for a 5 minute period.
This then saw Guildford take the lead in the game courtesy of a slip in the Phoenix zone by a Bakrlik who lost an edge by the board as Stuart Potts was coming over, Potts then had time to pick out Dean Holland who was skating towards goals and he directed it home for a 3-2 Flames lead at 26-57.
Phoenix responded straight away when Michal Psurny had the puck turned and wristed one past Hadfield for 3-3 at 27-55 as the game was nonstop action. We started then to see some feisty play creep into the game as Frantisek Bakrlik was getting involved with Jez Lundin and Branislav Kvetan and at one point felt like the whole Flames bench.




Bakrlik “up and at em” approach seemed to be catching the Flames off their game  a bit and when Neil Liddiard was called for Interference at 32-11 he didn`t take kindly to the official and picked up a 10 minute Misconduct penalty as he reacted. It was the opening the home side needed as it was Mr Power play himself Luke Boothroyd getting the go ahead goal for the home side, when the Manchester defenseman scored for the Phoenix after Psurny and Hand had made the Guildford penalty kill move around. Tony Hand had his blast blocked by Boothroyd who was screening the netminder on the play, but the puck came loose and the Manchester Captain managed to twist and put it in to make it 4-3 at 32-51 for the home side and had the home fans jumping and that started to see some smiles slowly reappear on the home benches faces.



Phoenix then started to take over the second period much like Guildford had done to the home side in the first period.
Phoenix then extended their lead when a beautiful goal by Robin Kovar saw him put the puck in for a 5-3 lead at 39:08, when the Czech player collected a pass from Archer and he quick shot caught Hadfield out and go in the back of the net. Horn sounded for the end of another terrific period of hockey with a bit of bite to the game now as well.




In the third period, the Phoenix and Guildford were still butting heads like it was a level game, yet you`d never know there was a two goal difference between the sides.
Both sides defensively were not that tight with each team having equal amount of chances but finding the netminder`s making some very good saves off the the shots they were facing. With 10 minutes left to go in the game a mad scramble at the front of the Flames crease saw Bakrlik and couple of defenseman trying to stop the Phoenix forward, before Psurny picked the puck up and somehow managed to put it in the net for a 6-3 lead coming at 50-13.
With the game seemingly gone from the grasp of Guildford, the game slowed a touch, but Guildford hadn`t given up hope just yet as they scored a beautifully crafted goal as Kristoffersson danced round the Flames defence as he passed to Campbell who pulled Fone out of position with a cross ice pass, where Kristoffersson was on hand to tap home a lovely move for the away side at 56-52.

Michal Psurny scores Hat Trick and Phoenix 7th


The game was coming to the end but Michal Psurny had the last word as from a weekend of ex Phoenix players scoring against their old side, it was an ex Flames player that started a move off to see the Phoenix round off the win when Joe Graham passed towards the Czech forward and Psurny much like in the Playoff final v the Flames put the puck past the netminder for 7-4 and claimed his first his Hat trick of the season.




Both sides took a win a piece and shown that this season will be very closely fought as ever between the two sides in the league as both are built mainly on the hockey part than the over the top tactics used by quite a few sides this year. However this weekend served up another great couple of games in the Phoenix/Flames series, If the next four games are half as exciting as the past two games this weekend then we are in for a treat.
Manchester now prepares for the road game at Basingstoke Bison on Saturday evening and then the home game on Sunday against the rejuvenated and newly took over Telford Tigers at the Ice dome next Sunday.









Wednesday 9 October 2013

Phoenix bring the Jets crashing down!











MANCHESTER PHOENIX   12 - 2   SLOUGH JETS 



Victorious Phoenix celebrate






League Leaders the Manchester Phoenix preserved their unbeaten run in the EPL so far this season, with yet another 4 point weekend for the Altrincham outfit which saw them open up a 2 point gap at the top of the table at this early stage of the season after a blowout victory over the Slough Jets winning 12-2 at the Altrincham Ice dome this past Sunday night. Saturday night saw the Phoenix return to the place which saw their triumphant moment last season in the EPL Playoff finals, as they played at the Skydome Arena in Coventry facing off against the "home" team, the Milton Keynes Lightning. The Lightning are currently based there this season due to their rink being refurbished so they are having to play all their home games at the Skydome.



Phoenix took the lead in the contest early on when at 8:23 Frankie Bakrlik scored with Robert Kovar assisting, James Archer then doubled the lead for the visiting Phoenix at 27:27 in the game with Czech forward helping on the goal. Richard Bentham then took a 10 misconduct penalty before Player Coach Tony Hand made it 3 for Manchester, with Jacob Heron and Ben Wood helping out on the goal. The Lightning then struck back immediately when Jokila scored a lovely goal to give the MK fans something to cheer about in the Skydome, but the damage was already done and Phoenix moved to 7 out of 7.




McKinney tip in just misses the goals
Attention then turned to Sunday`s clash with the Slough Jets at the Ice dome, as this was the 3rd meeting between the sides already in this early part of the season. Phoenix had only just clawed victory last time out at the Dome winning 3-2 so it was thought that this game would be of a similar one to that played only a couple of weeks back. The Opening couple of minutes was a tight affair with neither side edging play, the home side was then put on the penalty kill for an Icing Infringement at 2:04 and a High Sticks call going against Manchester D man Joe Graham for a 5-on-3 Power play for the Jets. Phoenix P.K unit looked very assured of themselves as they did a great job to kill off both penalties and looked to take that forward and build momentum and they did just that, as while the Graham penalty was coming to an end and ticking down, Tony Hand intercepted the puck in his own zone and skated off down the left wing on a 2 on 1 breakaway, before the playmaker passed over for Frankie Bakrlik to rifle the puck home into a open net for a 1-0 scoreline and Phoenix shorthanded goal at 5:26.





Andy McKinney then found himself making the trip to the penalty box for a Roughing call at 5:46, with the Phoenix yet again killing off another power play by the Jets and then they were peppering Gregg Rockman in the Slough nets with a lot of shots in the opening period. Slough were definitely not at the races at all in the game as the Phoenix were overloading them with fantastic team play and tremendous work ethic throughout the side.
 Phoenix then got a helping hand from the Jets defenseman Lee Richardson on the second goal , when he passed straight to the stick of Michal Psurny and you don`t need to give him a second opportunity as he put it past Rockman for 2-0 at 11:50 and the Phoenix were flying now. Andy McKinney nearly made it 3-0 soon after for the home side, after his tip-in attempt at the front of the net went just past the post and let the Jets off, as Manchester were hammering home their advantage yet again and could easily have been a couple more goals up by the end of the opening period.




Phoenix go close 
In the Second period Manchester Phoenix netted 7 more times in the middle stanza as Manchester went goal crazy! Tony Hand scored the first in the period from after he capitalised on a Luke Boothroyd rebound around the front of the net for 3-0 at 24-39. Robert Kovar then went coast to coast with from behind his own goals as he skated unopposed by a Jets player before feeding Bakrlik on the left and he buried it in the Slough goal for 4-0 at 26:10, Liam Chong then got in on the act too, with McKinney making a nice move down the right wing as when he had Chong skating in support of him, McKinney passed his teammate the puck and he put it high in the net for a 5-0 score at 29:43.  Slough couldn`t stem the flow of Phoenix goals as they kept on a coming, Dan Davies then put his side in more trouble when he lost possession of the puck in his own zone to the Phoenix forwards and Jack Watkins passed it to Bakrlik who shot on goal was stopped and went loose only for Robert Kovar to be on hand to tuck home the rebound for a score of 6-0 to the Manchester Phoenix and the Jets were in free fall and out of ideas. 
Steve Fone then made an amazing save to keep his clean sheet intact, when Slough worked the puck down low Ryan Watt made a spin move which brought the netminder out of the crease and when Watt had the goal at his mercy he fired at an open net, only for Fone to dive across and throw the glove up and rob him of a goal with Watt giving a little tap to Fone after it to say good save, but through clenched teeth you can bet. 




PHOENIX celebrate a goal
Slough then created a bit of pressure on the home side for a period of time in the second, with Phoenix seemingly taking their foot off the gas a bit. A Darius Pliskauskas shot was stopped by Fone with the strong rebound coming out in the slot to which Ales Padelek collected and then wristed one past Fone top shelf at 35:45 to make it 6-1. Hand then grasped his face and dropped his stick as he took a stick to the face from a Jets player which drew a death stare by Hand toward one of the match referees in Dan Boardman, who didn`t see the incident as blood was coming from Hand lip as it had busted his lip. Phoenix weren`t very happy and instead of losing focus it seemed to spur them on as they went on to smashed three more past Slough instead. 
James Archer made it 7-1 at 36:23 when Psurny and Kovar combined for Archer to one time it past Rockman who had looked to have been hung out to dry by his team mates all match, but also the goals were all very well taken too.
Jimmy Archer goes sliding as he scores goal 10
Goal number 8 came in the form of a delayed penalty goal, when a Robert Kovar no look pass was thrown towards the front of the net it was then jumped on by fellow Czech forward Michal Psurny, who despite being hooked he still had the upper body strength to hold him off and back hand in it for a goal at 36-46. The Phoenix juggernaut kept on rolling over the hapless Jets as from a Robert Schnabel blast from the point, the puck came loose around the crease and Jack Watkins was there to control the puck and flip it in for a 9-1 score line as we headed into the second break of play.







EL HAGE is called upon to make a save
Third period saw Jorge El-Hage between the pipes for the home side, as the Rochadale born netminder got more valuable ice time for the Phoenix with, Steve Fone being given a rest in the final period. Goals were still coming though, with James Archer helping Phoenix hit double figures as after Boothroyd fed Psurny the Czech forward then slid in Archer and as he waltzed past the Jets back line and put home under Rockman at 48:01 as he was brought down on the ice. Soon after Richard Bentham made it 11-1 with the young Blackburn youngster started the goal off in his own zone weaving between Jets players, before tapping home from a Kovar  rebound at 49:40. At the 53:05 mark, Jacob Heron was given a 5+Match penalty by Baordman for an apparent slash on a Slough player and saw him hitting the showers early. From that resulting 5 minute major penalty against the home side, Michael Wales scored a powerplay goal as he beat El Hage in the slot to make it 11-2, but Phoenix had the final say on the game as Liam Chong broke away on a 2 on 1 and he finished it off as he skated on goal and fired past the netminder for a 12-2 victory.






Phoenix looked dominant and move on to 8 from 8 and now face the litmus test next weekend as they go in to the double header with the second placed Guildford Flames, looking to gain an early psychological edge in the league early on. As if Manchester could net another big 4 point weekend next week, then it would give Manchester a huge boost early on in the season to go on and give them real belief that this side has big plans this season.




                                                PLD  W   OTW  OTL  L    F      A   PTS   

1 Manchester Phoenix    8   8  0     0   0 53 10 16
2 Guildford Flames            8   6  0     2   0 41 25 14
3 Basingstoke Bison            7   4  1    0   2 23 17 10
4 Swindon Wildcats            8   2  2    1   3 19 23 9
5 Sheffield Steeldogs            8   3  0    1    4 28 39 7
6 Milton Keynes Lightning    6   2 1   0   3 21 21 6
7 Telford Tigers                    7  3 0   0   4 23 24 6
8 Slough Jets                    8  1 1   0   6 24 41 4
9 Bracknell Bees                    8   2  0   0   6 25 37 4
10 Peterborough Phantoms    6  1 0   1   4 13 33 3






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