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Post by lukethomas on Oct 11, 2005 7:39:35 GMT
Hey guys,
Thought id give you an update on Sundays game as no one else has yet!
We travelled to Whitley Bay with a short bench once again. 10 senior players and 2 juniors (i think!). The game was delayed due to the zamboni braking down and spilling oil all over centre ice. This was cleared and game got started. Lions started slow in the first period, with Whitley up to the usual tricks with high sticks, elbows, even a two handed slash infron of the ref that wasnt called. This carried on for much of the 1st and the 2nd, with the score 5 -1 to whitley. Lions lost Nicky Dodwell for the 3rd period after he was checked into the goal when on a breakaway. We then lost Mark Hallam to a high stick in the face, which led to a hospital visit as it looked like someone had sliced his upper lip with a knife.
The game then got interesting. Lions came back to 6 - 5 with just 2 minutes to go, and had a 5 on 3 powerplay. This was reduced to 4 on 3 powerplay as Craig Poynter was thrown out of the game for Misconduct. Then the cruelest of bounces beat David Radford at the blueline who lost his footing, and Whitley took the breakaway chance and made it 7 - 5 with 45 seconds to go. Lions finished by scoring again 15 seconds later to make the final score 7 - 6.
A great performance from all the lads, in difficult situations. The ice was bad, refereeing yet again awful, and Whitley wanting a boxing and cheapshot match more than a hockey game!
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MP
Paul Adey
Hail hurts and rain is cold. Summer in the mountains
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Post by MP on Oct 11, 2005 9:38:45 GMT
Thanks for that Luke - thought the scoreline looked interesting on Icehockey News but hadn't come across the details anywhere.
A lively game by the sound of it!
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Post by quoththeraven on Oct 11, 2005 9:38:54 GMT
Even the women's team in Whitley are rough, so to go there expecting something close to basketball is naive . Good old Whitley Ice Rink eh? Third in the country behind Billingham and Gillingham. Still, you've come out of a tough game with your pride and dignity, and I'm sure you'll get a good result against Newcastle on Sunday .
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Post by carolle on Oct 11, 2005 11:29:41 GMT
They did very well as by the end of the game Lions had 3 spare players on the bench and they had 13 spare. Stef Dodwell also took a nasty slash to his wrist. Had to laugh at Winn from whitley in his bright blue visor...someone should tell him to take the protective film off before he play`s, ;D he may have been able to see who he was skating into better,although he could see perfectly well when he did his attempted spearing. Hope Mark is ok as it was a VERY nasty injury, even though according to their supporters around us.. "He never touched him" "He just acting" and after seeing the pool of blood on the ice "He`s done that himself" They did comment that thats how they play hockey up north, I`m sorry but to me thats NOT hockey that they play.
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Adam
Chick Zamick
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Post by Adam on Oct 11, 2005 19:30:09 GMT
The Lions games just seem to get rougher and rougher by the sounds of it...someone is going to get seriously hurt!!
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Post by lukethomas on Oct 11, 2005 20:56:22 GMT
They are. Each game sees at least one match ending injury, and its not long before we see a season ending one. When i was younger, around 13 and 14 and playing with Solihull Blaze, i had the opportunity to play ENL, but got warned off it at the time due to the reputation the league had for been 'Bush League Hockey', as i remember Mark Budz calling it! it seemed to get better over the years, but now is getting worse. Marks injury was really serious, and wil be supprised if he doesnt have to have some form of plastic surgery to piece his upper lip back together. One of Whitleys players had just returned from a 2 year suspension for two handing someone in the face, that just sums it up i think! Trouble is, when you start complaining about the refereeing, you just get told your moaning because your losing! I dont mind losing, as long as each game is reffed fairly and consistantly. One example of inconsistent refereeing was the visors on Sunday. Most of our players put face cages back on as they were told by Meyers the week before they were illegal. Yet Whitley had a player in a bright blue visor, and many players with what we were told were illegal visors, yet the referee claimed that he thought they were fine!
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Post by Nottingham Lions on Oct 11, 2005 21:25:28 GMT
I've spoken to Mark Hallam today, and he's OK.
He's had stiches both on the inside and outside of his lip, and was seen by a plastic surgeon at Rotherham hospital on Sunday night, after being transferred there from North Tyneside General where he was initially seen.
He's still having trouble talking, but he shouldn't be off the ice for too long.
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Adam
Chick Zamick
Posts: 7,519
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Post by Adam on Oct 11, 2005 21:33:27 GMT
I've spoken to Mark Hallam today, and he's OK. He's had stiches both on the inside and outside of his lip, and was seen by a plastic surgeon at Rotherham hospital on Sunday night, after being transferred there from North Tyneside General where he was initially seen. He's still having trouble talking, but he shouldn't be off the ice for too long. OUCH!!
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britfan
Terry Kurtenbach
be very afraid
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Post by britfan on Oct 11, 2005 21:58:31 GMT
was seen by a plastic surgeon at Rotherham hospital on Sunday night, more like monday morning, lol
i didn't want to see the cut but got forced to see it when one of the players came down the bus with a picture of it on his phone (i couldn't hide quick enough) was horrible!
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MP
Paul Adey
Hail hurts and rain is cold. Summer in the mountains
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Post by MP on Oct 11, 2005 23:13:00 GMT
Trouble is, when you start complaining about the refereeing, you just get told your moaning because your losing! I dont mind losing, as long as each game is reffed fairly and consistantly. One example of inconsistent refereeing was the visors on Sunday. Most of our players put face cages back on as they were told by Meyers the week before they were illegal. Yet Whitley had a player in a bright blue visor, and many players with what we were told were illegal visors, yet the referee claimed that he thought they were fine! Makes me wonder if the referees feel intimidated in some of these games/rinks. They certainly don't seem to give players the protection they deserve. The tinted visors seem to be causing confusion - I was under the impression that they weren't permitted.
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Post by quoththeraven on Oct 12, 2005 8:05:15 GMT
They did very well as by the end of the game Lions had 3 spare players on the bench and they had 13 spare. Stef Dodwell also took a nasty slash to his wrist. Had to laugh at Winn from whitley in his bright blue visor...someone should tell him to take the protective film off before he play`s, ;D he may have been able to see who he was skating into better,although he could see perfectly well when he did his attempted spearing. Hope Mark is ok as it was a VERY nasty injury, even though according to their supporters around us.. "He never touched him" "He just acting" and after seeing the pool of blood on the ice "He`s done that himself" They did comment that thats how they play hockey up north, I`m sorry but to me thats NOT hockey that they play. You forgot "honestly your Honour he just fell!" And of course had it been on a Whitley player there would have been a riot. Anyway on to my serious points. I'd also like to wish Mark a speedy recovery. There are thugs and goons in all levels of hockey and it's part of the reason why the sport struggles to get mainstream attention. There are teams in ENL South who have been midtablers at best the past two seasons but all they do when they concede a few goals is start fights and cheapshot people. Fighting is accepted as part of hockey, which is fair enough, but this whole attitude reflects very badly on the teams who play in the EPL Cup, because EPL refs think that because we play in a "bush league" that all our players are untalented thugs. Obviously this isn't case with any team, but it is how the league is perceived. You're right that hockey should be played in a good spirit but again, there are some who will do whatever they can get away with. The fact that the Lions only lost by one goal despite all the injuries caused by cheapshots reflects better on them, because of the dignified way in which they handle themselves on the ice.
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Post by lukethomas on Oct 12, 2005 8:47:38 GMT
Very well said quoth. The league this season has some very skilful players, i hate to say it but even one of Whitleys biggest goons, Dunn, showed some very skilful play when he started playing hockey and not cheapshots. It just gets ruined by the few who just want to fight. The ENL is now really the development league, with the BNL folding and EPL been the top league. So surely something has got to be done to raise the standard of officiating. This is where the Elite league clubs could be looking for new talent, but its not going to show if players arent allowed to show what they can do without getting a stick in the face!
Im glad Mark is ok, i think most of us feared the worse when we saw the gash.
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Post by quoththeraven on Oct 12, 2005 14:18:33 GMT
Very well said quoth. The league this season has some very skilful players, i hate to say it but even one of Whitleys biggest goons, Dunn, showed some very skilful play when he started playing hockey and not cheapshots. It just gets ruined by the few who just want to fight. The ENL is now really the development league, with the BNL folding and EPL been the top league. So surely something has got to be done to raise the standard of officiating. This is where the Elite league clubs could be looking for new talent, but its not going to show if players arent allowed to show what they can do without getting a stick in the face! I've been following hockey for about ten years, and regularly watching it for seven, and the problem of inconsistent officials has always been there. I've never played, and I am probably one of the worst skaters you have ever seen. As I am in no position to give officiating a go I am not going to sit here and slag them all off. However the number of officials has decreased since I started watching and most of those who have gone were the best ones. ENL is always going to be the bottom of the pecking order for officials, and if you go into a game knowing this then you can't complain about the ref afterwards, because in their own way they are all as good/bad as each other. Another point is about development leagues. Where there is an ENL team in the same place as an EPL/Elite team, then they can be successful as development teams. I'm thinking of Sheffield Scimitars last season, Cardiff ENIHL Devils and to a lesser extent yourselves. However at the same time there are teams that are independent of a higher league club, like Invicta or Whitley for example. To use the Dynamos as my example we have mostly got players who play ENL hockey because they have other commitments, rather than because they are not good enough to play higher level hockey. In all honesty we don't have any Elite League calibre prospects yet but I do believe several of our players would not look out of place on a good EPL team. The other thing unique to the Dynamos is that we have a large (for ENL) and passionate fanbase that our players like playing for.
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Post by quoththeraven on Oct 13, 2005 7:13:25 GMT
(new point = new post)
The other thing is that referees have different approaches. Some like to call absolutely everything, which is good - players are less likely to try cheapshots if they know the ref is calling everything. The downside of this is of course that the game is stop-start and not very free-flowing.
On the other hand you get referees who like to let a lot of things go in order to create a free-flowing game. Again it's good because you get an entertaining game where the players take centre stage, but on the other hand there are always a couple who will try cheapshots that they know they'll get away with.
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Shaggy
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Post by Shaggy on Oct 16, 2005 22:17:35 GMT
A nail-biting game tonight for the Lions ended in a 5-4 win for the home team..... a much closer result than it should have been. Newcastle Vipers are just as rough as their EIHL equivalents, and poor Britfan in the away penalty box didn't get much snoozing time! Penalties galore, and plenty more that the ref missed (sound familiar? ;D) Things went wrong for the Lions right from the start, as the Vipers won the initial face-off, drove straight for the net and scored! 9 seconds in, or something like that, and we're 1-0 down! It got to 2-0 later in the first, and the Lions still looked sluggish. A much better second period brought things back to a better state for us, as some of the blizzard of shots started to go in - and the Lions' superior skills started to tell. It finally got to 4-4 with less than a minute to go, Lions were virtually machine-gunning the puck at the Vipers' net, but their netminder (who deservedly got MoM - there could have been no other choice!) was both good and lucky. Finally Stef Dodwell (scoring his second last-minute game-winning goal in as many home games) made it 5-4 with only 6.7 seconds on the clock! The smoothly-skilled Alex Karsay got MoM for the Lions. There were some new faces tonight, with some Panthers fans taking advantage of the £1 off deal.... and I think (and hope!) that they went away entertained..... even if it was only by yours truly having camera problems for the MoM photos! (good job I always carry spare batteries!). Edit: Forgot to add.... shots were 80 by us (now you know why the MoM to their netminder!) and 20 by them.
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Post by Nottingham Lions on Oct 16, 2005 23:03:39 GMT
Thanks to the Panthers fans that came along to the game tonight, it was good to see you here!
I hope that you enjoyed the game, and will hopefully see you again at another game before the end of the season... ;D
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britfan
Terry Kurtenbach
be very afraid
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Post by britfan on Oct 16, 2005 23:14:51 GMT
it got a bit cold when i was in the penalty box on me tod, lol
got that many in at one point i couldn't open the door properly without taking someones kneecaps with it, lol good job they had padding on, lol ;D ;D
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Post by lukethomas on Oct 17, 2005 10:21:02 GMT
Yet another close game that didnt need to be close. I definatly think the Panthers are rubbing off on us, 80 shots and only 5 goals! We peppered the goalie and just couldnt score! We won the 3 Bar contest tho! Thanks to all the fans that came along, and thanks to the Panthers fans that showed up. a good crowd will always help us, so lets see if we can get double in for our remaining 3 home games, and get us to the playoffs, and even a league title at a push!
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Post by ted on Oct 18, 2005 7:05:44 GMT
Ill be down providing there are no fixture clashes luke!
Youve gotta give credit to their keeper though... he was very pretty good....
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Post by quoththeraven on Oct 18, 2005 8:38:25 GMT
Cutting it fine eh?
Still a win is a win and good win after last week's game.
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Baz
Simon Hunt
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Post by Baz on Oct 18, 2005 10:49:56 GMT
There seems to be an extra word in there Ted, I hope the surplus one is not "good".
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Shaggy
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Post by Shaggy on Oct 18, 2005 23:21:45 GMT
No Panthers game this Sunday! Home or away! But there's a little trip available with the Lions...... The Nottingham Lions will be travelling up to Hull on Sunday to face the Kingston Hawks. Kingston have only got 1 point from 6 games so far, so they are suffering a bit..... but the Lions may be missing one or two with injury, so we can't take anything for granted. There will be spaces available to travel up on the team coach, priced at £5.00 per person (pretty reasonable, yes?). There will be a limited number of seats available - I should find out how many by Friday morning - so if anyone is interested, it will be first come first served (should easily be a dozen seats, hopefully more). I believe that the coach will leave the Silverdale bus depot at 1pm, but that's not confirmed yet - more on that when I get it. I don't know how much tickets are for Kingston games, but it won't be much..... £5 tops. If anyone fancies the trip, please PM me.
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cat
Ross Lambert
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Post by cat on Oct 20, 2005 12:20:23 GMT
There seems to be an extra word in there Ted, I hope the surplus one is not "good". hahahahahaha!!
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Shaggy
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Post by Shaggy on Oct 20, 2005 18:56:13 GMT
No Panthers game this Sunday! Home or away! But there's a little trip available with the Lions...... The Nottingham Lions will be travelling up to Hull on Sunday to face the Kingston Hawks. Kingston have only got 1 point from 6 games so far, so they are suffering a bit..... but the Lions may be missing one or two with injury, so we can't take anything for granted. There will be spaces available to travel up on the team coach, priced at £5.00 per person (pretty reasonable, yes?). There will be a limited number of seats available - I should find out how many by Friday morning - so if anyone is interested, it will be first come first served (should easily be a dozen seats, hopefully more). I believe that the coach will leave the Silverdale bus depot at 1pm, but that's not confirmed yet - more on that when I get it. I don't know how much tickets are for Kingston games, but it won't be much..... £5 tops. If anyone fancies the trip, please PM me. Now confirmed - the team coach will leave Nottingham at 1pm on Sunday.... face-off in Hull is scheduled for 5pm.... so (assuming no problems) the return to Nottingham will probably be about 11pm.
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Post by lukethomas on Oct 23, 2005 22:08:36 GMT
Hey guys,
Just a quick post to let you all know that we won in Kingston tonight, final score 6 - 0. Elsewhere, Whitley Bay have beat Blackburn, who looked unbeatable, and so the league is now wide open once again, for about 5 teams to win.
Im sure someone will post a match report shortly, but im off to bed!
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