Lightning Strike Twice but Phantoms Fire Five

One of several lengthy stoppages for disciplinary reasons

 

Heat from the lights in the penalty sections of the scoreboard has made a significant contribution to global warming this weekend.

A Ferrara.  Could be James, Robert or Luke, who knows?

  

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Sunday 14 October 2012 at the Peterborough Arena
Result	Peterborough Phantoms 5 Milton Keynes Lightning 2
Competition	English Ice Hockey Premier League
Hopping	Number 7 on my rinkhopping list.  Peterborough is the only town in which I have ever skated myself.  This is of no significance whatsoever.
Pre-match preparation
MK won the reverse fixture 4-1 yesterday – they are the higher-placed of the two teams in the league at the moment.
This match in one sentence
Let’s give sticks to twelve angry men and send them out on ice to chase a puck and see how many different penalties they can accrue in 60 minutes.
So what?
Lightning drop to 5th and Phantoms remain 9th but close the gap on the Bracknell Bees.
The drama unfolds
Phantoms took the lead on the unzambonied ice within two minutes.  Will Weldon was given the goal, which trickled over the line under netminder Alex Mettam, and there were assists for two of the three Ferraras in home colours.  I thought it might even have hit the post initially before bouncing back and in off Mettam, but I can’t be sure.  In any event … 1-0 After about 4 minutes we had the first of several stoppages while the officials regained control and filled in penalty paperwork in triplicate.  Lightning’s Adam Calder was given a match penalty for high sticks and everyone’s adrenaline level went up by a few notches.  Eventually the game restarted with 5 on 3 – not sure what the other Lightning player had been penalised for, probably for comparing the referee’s DNA to that of a sea slug.  One of the fouls was so obvious even I saw it.  Ondrej Lauko smacked in a shot assisted by a Ferrara, maybe the same one as before, who knows.  Much merriment in the home seats.  2-0 The game was really rather tetchy (and very entertaining for that, it has to be said), and I took a long clip because I was expecting a UN Peacekeeping Force to turn up any minute.  Phantoms are in white.  The penalty count went up, but crucially, Lightning failed to score in their period of 5 on 3.  One Phantom was unluckily caught up against the wall next to the Lightning bench, who tried to pull his head off and eat it.  I don’t think there was any significant time where both teams were at full strength on the ice.  Phantoms’ Jozef Sladok was dismissed for roughing.  2-0 at the end of the 1st period There was enough of the Sladok penalty left for Lightning to pull one back at the start of the second through Lukas Zatopek.  2-1 It was still 4v5 however as Phantom replied with a shorthanded goal from Tom Carlon on the break.  A crucial moment.  3-1 Grant McPherson pulled the margin back to one very soon afterwards, though.  There were less than five minutes gone in the period.  3-2 It was soon time for another rush of penalties.  I am still coming to terms with the intricacies of this game but it appeared that a Phantom accused a Lightning player of pulling his stick out of his hand in a routine midfield tussle.  This impression was heightened when said Lightning player seemed to furtively swap sticks when he got back to the bench.  I can't be 100% sure, but I was suspicious.  Sticks look remarkably alike to the novice.  The stickless Phantom was not happy to say the least.  We ended up with penalties for Lightning (holding stick) and Phantoms (interference).  Interference in this context means rugby-tackle on ice, it would appear.  Then we had a few minutes of 5v5 outfield until Lightning were penalised yet again, for failing to smile when crunching an opponent against the plexiglass or something.  Here’s a clip from the powerplay – but there were no more goals before the buzzer.  3-2 at the end of the 2nd period The final period was slightly more placid.  Phantoms sealed their win with two well taken goals from Carlon and a Ferrara (James I think).  Phantoms netminder Damien King was kept busy enough but this was a night for the home supporters to savour.  They do enjoy a win over the local rivals in these parts.  Final score 5-2
The programme
A good read, but the A4 format will play havoc with my filing system
Something random
The Northern Hemisphere Net Coriolis Force Zamboni Clockwise Rotation Theory remains intact!  The Peterborough beast was uncooperative after the warm up so I had to remain on tenterhooks until the end of the first period.  I am delighted to report that it followed the same pattern as every other one I have seen on my travels.
What Next?
I hope to get to an FA Vase replay during the week, and an FA Cup tie at one of Fylde, Hastings, South Park or Yate next Saturday, with the aid of a tetrahedron.  Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for announcements!

Care: Combustible Materials

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 14 November at The Thunderdome, Planet Ice, MK
Result	MK Lightning 5 Guildford Flames 6
Competition	English Ice Hockey Premier League
Hopping	Have discovered rinkhopping this season and this isn’t my first visit, but it was such a big game that it deserves some more attention.  These are the top two teams in the second tier of competition in England.
This match in one sentence
Heartbreaking for Lightning after they have reeled Flames in over the last month, but the visitors were lethal from short-range in a compelling contest.
So what?
Guildford stay top – MK needed the win to displace them.  These two teams meet again in Surrey on 5 February and by then it may turn out to be a must-win for Lightning.  As of now, Guildford have opened a three-point lead and halted a recent run of defeats.
The drama unfolds
I got there early to get right up against the Perspex for this one.  Harder to keep up with the action when filming clips, but closer and more visceral.  Lightning came out flying and took the lead through Leigh Jamieson.  1-0 A 2-minute penalty for interference for Michael Wales allowed eventual man-of-the-match Rick Plant to get an equaliser from the resulting powerplay.  1-1 The first clip will cause gloom in MK and joy in Guildford.  With Flames’ David Longstaff serving 2 minutes for cross-checking, Nathan Rempel breaks away to give the lead to the visitors.  Note the goal-line technology that confirms the score with the red light behind the goal.  It’s a man with a switch.  1-2 Here endeth the first period, and the second got feistier after Pucky the mascot had done the YMCA dance.  Here’s the Lightning equaliser from Adam Carr.  2-2 However, within second of the restart, Plant got his second of the night.  2-3 Nathan Rempel was the first to sit down for roughing.  This is much more serious than “handbags” in football, and greatly enjoyed by all present, it would seem.  The third clip includes a closeup of referee Goodwin to remind those with an MK postcode to cross him off the Christmas card list.  It also finishes with Matt Towe’s goal that gave Flames a two-goal advantage.  2-4 Mr Goodwin continued to be the centre of fan attention, with Grant McPherson (Lightning) and Neil Liddiard (Flames) coincidentally penalised for various combinations of roughing, interference and looking at the linesman with narrowed eyes. Lightning fought back and scored before the interval through Wales.  All to play for in the final period – brilliant stuff.  3-4 Lightning made a sensational start to the third.  It was Jamieson scoring again, only 14 seconds in.  4-4 However, within two minutes Rick Plant completed a hat-trick…  4-5 … before Lightning drew level once again with Carr’s second goal.  5-5 The decisive goal came from David Longstaff.  5-6 My other clips are from the frantic final minutes.  There had been angry exchanges and stick-waving between players on the bench which saw McPherson get a penalty for incitement.  The final play was a 6-on-5 with netminder Alex Mettam removed but Flames held on for what may turn out to be a vital win.  Fantastic entertainment, it has to be said.  Final score 5-6
What Next?
An as-yet unexplained tangent on Thursday which will appear as a blogpost on Friday.  For football, FA Vase Round 4 on Saturday and if weather permits it will be a random selection!  For ice hockey ... am now jumping in the car to get to Guildford Flames v Slough Jets!

St Margaretsbury Good News Today

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 7 January 2012 at The Recreation Ground
Results	St Margaretsbury 2 Holmer Green 0 (and MK Lightning 7 Telford Tigers 2)
Competition	South Midlands League Premier Division (Step 5)
Hopping	A local one for me today, #446 on the lifetime list, followed by some Premier League ice hockey action.
This match in one sentence
A goal in each half from St Margaretsbury and Holmer Green failing to test a substitute keeper until it was too late.
So what?
St Margaretsbury are solidly mid-table but Holmer Green are facing a relegation battle.  Only Hanwell Town are below them, by three points but with a game in hand.
Something random
Composition of Scooby-Doo tree and not-quite-full moon not quite at the intersection-of-thirds No 26
The drama unfolds
The first incident of note came after 7 minutes.  The two photos show a routine-looking goalmouth incident and its outcome.  St Margaretsbury are in the red-and-black.  Actually, the unlucky keeper, Bert Greenwood could have had a full burial and memorial service before anyone noticed his plight, so I hope he got some better attention later on.  Number 10 and captain Anthony Anstead took the Number 1 jersey and in goal-chasing mode I decided to hang around at that end, anticipating a Holmer Green barrage. Here are some clips to set the scene. Actually, the home side began to look the more likely to score.  Adam Lawton shot over after a nice move with triangles in it, and David Edmee in his pink boots was looking direct and tricky.  Meanwhile, the new number one was coping well enough as this clip shows. St Margaretsbury tool the lead after 31 minutes with an explosive contender for goal-of-the-season from Leigh Rose and his distinctive hairstyle.  A long ball was flicked on, it fell and sat up nicely and he half-volleyed it from about 25 metres into the top right corner.  A wonderful goal.  1-0 With the sun appearing low in the sky and making photography tricky, I completed my circuit just before half-time and took a clip from behind the other goal.  There was no further score before the interval.  1-0 at half-time The second half was preceded by a wonderful announcement to St Margaretsbury’s Adam Lawton… “Adam, your mum’s here now, pull your finger out!”  I wonder if this would have worked on Peter Odemwingie earlier in the season, but never mind. The ref forgot momentarily that the teams change ends at half-time and there was a comedy moment when a Holmer Green player shouted, “What ARE you doing?” to get the reply, “Giving you a freekick!”.  You just don’t get these things in the Premier League. Holmer Green started the half strongly and for a time an equaliser looked to be only a matter of time.  However, they soon conceded a freekick by fouling #9 just outside the box and Ed Taylor’s direct left-foot shot curled round the wall into the corner of the net.  The keeper Nick Hancox didn’t even have chance to dive, and it looked a soft goal.  2-0 After that, the game became even and end-to-end.  St Margaretsbury rattled the bar.  Holmer Green had a goal disallowed when they thought that the sub keeper had dropped the ball rather than being fouled.  Edmee continued to cause problems, and Joe de Silva had a very good second half in midfield for the visitors.  Holmer Green hadn’t done a lot wrong, but they hadn’t done enough in the final third.  My last clip is taken from the main stand side in the closing minutes and catches the away supporters' bemusement at the disallowed goal.  Final score 2-0 There was time for a quick jaunt up the M1 to watch MK Lightning demolish Telford Tigers 7-2 in the English Premier League of ice hockey.  The visitors took a two-goal lead in the first period and a major shock was developing until the home side woke up.  They drew level in the second period, and this clip shows the turning point – a power-play goal to give them the lead for the first time in the match.  They never looked back and added four more in a one-sided third period.
Man-of-the-Match
Honourable mentions to Edmee and de Silva, and of course Anstead for a clean sheet from his unexpected stint between the sticks, but I give the nod to St Margaretsbury’s #9 Leigh Rose for the finish and the indirect assist which decided where the points went today.
A snippet from the programme
Mostly adverts of course, but very nicely produced to a high standard.  I liked the announcement of cheaper bar prices for members by a new bar committee.  A learning point for all clubs in the eastern counties, perhaps? “One of their first actions taken was to aggressively re-negotiate with the Green King Brewery to get a better deal on the cost of the bar products.”
What I learned today
The club was founded in 1894 as Stanstead Abbotts FC.  The change of name to St Margaretsbury was a condition of the move to their current location in 1962.  The ground is in a very pleasant setting alongside a waterway (not sure what exactly but it connects to the Lee Valley waterways to the south), but alas, no ballboy-in-a-boat as far as I could see.  The large building visible in the background of the early clips is part of Amwell View, a specialist special school (yes, special schools can have specialist status too) for children with severe learning difficulties.
What Next?
No idea – follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for announcements!  MK Lightning have a big game against league leaders Guildford Flames next weekend.

Modus Hopper Random On Ice

The surface is prepared by this contraption ...

First period action (also below)

 

Second period from the endzone

Mesmerising surface repairs between periods (I don't get out much just lately)

Lightning look for the late alliterative leveller 

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 3 December 2012 at The Thunderdome, Planet Ice, MK
Result	Milton Keynes Lightning 2 Peterborough Phantoms 2 (2-2 at the end of third period, no score in Overtime) Lightning win the Penalty Shootout (2-0)
Competition	English Premier League Ice Hockey
Hopping	This was always going to be a blog with tangents.  Having been ill and out of hopping circulation for a week or two, then having a Saturday afternoon school commitment (None but the Brave deserve the Christmas Fair, as they say), I was desperate for some live sporting action and, for the first time, I went to see some grown men try to kill each other with sticks on ice.  A big hello to any of my Canadian or Finnish friends who are visiting my blog for the first time.  I am beginning to understand your passion for this game, you nutters.
This match in one sentence
The league table positions suggest that Lightning made hard work of this victory, because only a late, late equaliser in regulation time gave them the chance to win in a shootout after a goalless period of overtime.
So what?
Lightning are third in the league and Phantoms are ninth (of ten) – and both teams are in action again on Sunday afternoon.  Phantoms get a point for the tie but Lightning get a bonus point for the shootout win.
What I learned today
This is the second tier of ice hockey in England (there is an Elite League, apparently) and there is a limit on the number of overseas players in the squad or on the ice at any given time.  Players come and go off the ice with bewildering complexity as the play develops.  There are relatively few stoppages and the action is fast and furious.  There are normally six players in action for each team at any given moment.  Torvill & Dean it ain’t (thank goodness) with no numbers being held up for artistic impression, and the only axels are on the resurfacing machine.  (Yes, I know that would be axle, but I have a provisional poetic licence.) Lightning’s overseas players are from Canada, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia.  Phantoms have a Canadian player/coach, another Canadian, a Latvian and an imminent Slovakian on their roster. Occasionally one of the three men with whistles in the stripey shirts will see something that means a penalty is imminent, to start the next time the opposition get the puck.  When the stripey arm is raised to signify this, the goaltender will skate towards the bench like a maniac to be replaced by another “outfield” (??) player and increase the chance of a score.  However, if the opposition get the puck, the play then stops and the stripey man will send the offending man-with-a-stick to the sin bin for two minutes and we enter a “power play”.  The announcer helpfully will then tell us whether it was for holding, tripping, interference or attempted murder. There are three periods of 20 minutes playing time.  In this league, this is followed by 5 minutes of Overtime if the scores are level, and a penalty shootout after that if necessary.  At some point, a mascot called Pucky comes on to the ice and does the Macarena, which has to be seen to be believed. I found watching the game from the endzone to be more satisfying – you are admittedly watching through a safety mesh but you can see all of the play and appreciate the patterns.  From the wing stands the nearside view is necessarily restricted.  Next time, I might watch from ice level behind the perspex. The ice-resurfacer (sometimes called a Zamboni in the same way as all vacuum cleaners are Hoovers) is a two-tonne 4WD vehicle powered by LPG which levels the surface with a blade and lays down a fresh layer of heated water which then makes a smooth surface.  It scoops up any shaved-off ice into an onboard bin, is all very technical, and is probably driven by someone called Dave.  There may even be stats on this.  It's an 8-10 minute process to cover the rink.  This one went in a clockwise pattern and I wonder whether they would go the other way in the southern hemisphere. By the way, I can only assume that all ice hockey goaltenders (netminders??)  are certifiably insane. I shall do this again – it was great fun.  Admission was £12, about the same for a step 2 non-league soccer game.  If you go, wrap up warm – not quite as cold as The Hawthorns or Boundary Park but a tad chilly.  It is quite acceptable to cheer when one of the opposing team gets mashed against the boards by a high-velocity incoming player.  There will probably be at least one fight in every game, and with luck at least one of the refs will get mashed too.  Quality.
The drama unfolds
In the first period, Phantoms had more shots on goal although the Lightning approach play looked more elegant to this novice observer.  The visitors took the lead after 11 minutes.  Here’s the clip, and Lightning are in white.  I can’t say much else as I was trying to follow the play and come to terms with the rules.  0-1 at the end of the first period. I moved to the endzone for the second period, and a friendly home supporter helped me to understand the context for the match and what was going on down on the ice.  The home supporters were expecting their team to come out with renewed vigour after some harsh interval words from the management but the visitors got a second goal four minutes in.  0-2 Here’s a second-period clip. It was vital for Lightning to get the next goal and it look them until two minutes before the end of the period to do it.  I caught the goal on video.  1-2 at the end of the second period. In the third period, the Lightning search for an equaliser became more and more frantic and sustained.  Phantoms threatened on the break of course.  Here are two more clips.  The first one shows the open and end-to-end nature of the game at this point, and the second comes with 47 seconds of regulation time to go.  They have taken their netminder off in desperation and thrown on an extra attacker.  2-2 at the end of the third period. There were no goals in overtime, so we went on to a shootout.  2-2 at the end of overtime. In the shootout, Lightning scored, Phantoms missed … and here’s the rest.   This goes in the Lightning scorebook as a 3-2 win, and for the Phantoms it is a 2-2 tie.  Hmmmm. As far as I could tell, no limbs, digits or eyeballs were left on the ice and both teams will be ready for their fixtures this afternoon.  I thoroughly recommend the spectacle!
Man-of-the-Match
Damien King. Respect. Not. A. Clue.  Sorry!  I felt for Phantoms netminder/goalie/lunatic Damien King who seemed to me to have been pretty heroic throughout regulation and overtime, only to see his opposite number (Alex Mettam or Barry Hollyhead, not sure who was on the ice at that point, sorry, but I think the latter!) steal the points with two saves in the shootout.
A snippet from the programme
Look at this! A double page of stats to complete.  Almost a quasi-Excel experience.  Great stuff.
What Next?
No idea – follow my @GrahamYapp Twitter feed for any announcement.