Panthers v Bison - Game thread

[Optic]

think that was just playing because we was singing we want 10

[cat]

WOW! Tonight was fantastic!!

I love ice hockey! I am so happy that its season time again! The game was brilliant and the atmosphere was great! I have to admit that i was a wee bit scared at first when we were 3-1 down but as soon as the team got into it i never looked back!

Awesome isnt the word!

Im so excited about the season now! The brit boys look ace and im glad to see that Neilly is getting a lot of ice time! Gutted about Meyers and i hope he isnt too badly hurt.....

Well done to Clarkie for the hattrick!

I cant think of any more adjectives to describe how im feeling right now! Buzzing would be one!

[matt44]

It was nice to score 9, escpecially when you consider we had Blaz playing on D most of the game.

Who needs Tessier when you have McAslan!!!!!!!!!

The reason why Shmyr and Cooke hardly got on in the 2nd was because it was constantly a
Powerplay/Penalty Kill, so they never got chance.

The 3rd period was the best as there was actually some 5 on 5 hockey!!!!

[Alf Garnett]

cat said:

I cant think of any more adjectives to describe how im feeling right now! Buzzing would be one!

Purring might be more apprpriate,given your username.

[matt44]

cat said:

I cant think of any more adjectives to describe how im feeling right now! Buzzing would be one!

Thought you couldnt think of anymore!! ;D

[Jonno]

The positives first...

1. A 3 point weekend that I think many would have taken before it began.
2. The forwards looked very sharp and lively with some excellent movement. Look capable of scoring plenty this year, however I sense that they may have to (see neg's 1 and 2).
3. Very impressed with Clarke, Mcslan and Krajicek. Neil also had a decent game.

The negatives...

1. The defence seem more interested in joining the attack and tonight abandoned their station far too often. I lost count of the number of breakaways the Bison managed to create; definitely a problem that Ellis needs to address.
2. Lindsay does not fill me with much confidence. With the defence that we have it is surely vital that we have a matchwinning keeper. Admittedly my opinion is based on only one game but Lindsay does not appear to be this.
3. Meyers injury. He was shaking hands with his left hand after the game. Certainly don't need any more players out; hopefully is nothing too serious.

A couple of more general points...

1. The ZT was an absolute farce. After the 1st period I was pretty gutted at the amount it was affecting the game; almost turning it into a non contact sport. Fans don't go to games to watch penalty after penalty. It spoke volumes when the Panthers fans were booing even when a Bison player was binned. If things do not improve, this experiment will backfire greatly on the sport. Fans will not keep coming to games that are dominated by the refs, games that have the excitment and intensity replaced by frustration. Thankfully things improved slightly in the 2nd and by the 3rd Boniface seemed to have lost his whistle.
2. Not a fan of the new way announcing the players names, rubbish!

Well done Panthers, bring on the Phoenix!

[lockerbie]

I made a comment after the open training session that I thought Shmyr might be a little slow. I eat my words. I thought he was great. His stik handling and the way he put himself smack bang in front of the net impressed me. For such a big guy I expected him to just goon things up a bit but he really is a very good player.

[Optic]

yeah Shmyr looked good for his size, not fast...but not slow

this could have easily been 13+ goals for panthers tonight

[debnbaz]

Good game tonight. Got a bit worried early on when this "big fast hard checking team" wasn't fast or checking, but that changed and made us both smile

Gutted that block 15 was quiet again... must move seats to be with you loud folks. When Clarkie's 3rd (?) went in you could hear the puck hit the padding at the back of the net - which is a shame when we were so loud at the start of the night!

New music: bad idea. Kind of killed the atmosphere, but I suppose when we get used it things will improve. The surname thing is a bit poor - I'm sure we'll get used to it. We like to bring folks to the game who've not watched before and not knowing who everyone is will confuse them somewhat. I did kind of like the new intro, but the music made us chuckle. Deb instantly thought of X-Factor, I giggled at the mental image of the shopping cart intro of Jack Ass the movie (same music for those who didn't make the connection).

Lindsay did ok. Stopped everything he should have, let in 3 of 4 breaks and one tip in got past - otherwise did ok. Spilled into the slot alot, but so long as he does that when surrounded by Black and Gold we don't mind the odd heartattack!

Was most impressed with the work rate. Even when winning by 3 we didn't ease off and sit on the lead.

[Alf Garnett]

Good first post.

Welcome to the forum.

[KimThePanther]

Topsy-turvy would be the best way to describe this one. The first period was attrocious. I'm a firm believer in zero tolerance and I'm willing to be patient as in the long run the game will benefit BUT I sincerly hope that I don't see many more periods like that. Thankfully the remainder of the game suggests that won't be case.

Basingstoke worked really hard during the first, completley stiffling us on the powerplay. I thought we'd be in for a great night after Jan Krajicek put us 1-0 up after 17 seconds but the Bison responded well and capitalised on some rather suspect defending. Their equaliser went ulmost unchallenged and their second goal came from poor defending too. When they went 3-1 up after nine seconds of the second period to say I was worried would be an understatement.

Thankfully (for us) that's where be began to get into the game ourselves. We seemed a lot fitter than Basingstoke and as the game went on it showed. The Bison didn't play too badly but after conceeding three goals in as many minutes they seemed to lose an awful lot of composure and we took the game by the scruff.

Offensively the Panthers were excellent and their effort was also outstanding. McAslan looks like a real sniper, Clarke seemed back to his best and generally going forward the Panthers really impressed me. Early worries would be the defence which looked none existant on occasions and the powerplay which was uneffective. It's strange - a 9-4 scoreline and I think I left the NIC with more questions than answers.

One more thing - the whole match presentation was terrible. There was nothing for supporters to join in with during stoppages in the game, it just seemed like an endless list of sponsors which really killed off the whole atmosphere. Thankfully by the third we were back to the stuff which the fans were familar with and could join in with.

[andyd]

Seems like tonight was better...I'm certainly happy with a 3 point weekend!

Amazing that we already seem to be nosediving into injury problems, especially with it being the BRITS who are going down...very frustrating.

It sounds like we are shaping up well but I'll admit the reports I'm hearing about Lindsay hardly fill me with confidence or excitement.

A quick point about ZT. For the first couple of weeks it probably will be frustrating but let's not forget it will take players a while to get used to it, it's not possible to just flip a switch and adapt to it instantly. If it's the same in a month then I'll be worried but I think ZT will vastly improve our game in the long run.

[debnbaz]

andyblath said:

Good first post.

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you

[Alf Garnett]

andyd said:

A quick point about ZT. For the first couple of weeks it probably will be frustrating but let's not forget it will take players a while to get used to it, it's not possible to just flip a switch and adapt to it instantly. If it's the same in a month then I'll be worried but I think ZT will vastly improve our game in the long run.

The ironic thing here is this.

Fans, players and coaches have all called for the better players to be adequately protected, As soon as this happens the stripeys are panned for being picky.

I just hope that the players work it out rather than the officials lose their grip on what should be called.

[Peacock]

You cannot blame the Ref's for a lot of what they're going to call.

It's down to the players to play within the rules, not the Ref's to be lenient.

It took a few weeks to sort itself out in the NHL, and I'm sure that will be the case here. If nothing else we'll see which teams have the intelligent, adaptable players.

[debnbaz]

The zero tolerance was ok at the end when the players/refs got a grip on what's ok and what's not. It seemed like alot of the crowd had no idea about it at first. Several folks in block 14 were complaining loudly at Boniface at first - I guess someone explained though.

Personally I like it. I prefer this style of hockey over trap hockey from last year. I mean, how many goals in the first 2 games? It's crazy. 3-1 down at the end of the first last year was game over. Bison would have sat on that lead and played trap hockey until the final hooter.

[Deleted]

Now THAT was entertainment ;D

However, I don't see us winning anything if we defend like that. No disrespect to the Bison but better teams will take us to the cleaners!
Got to say that I didn't have a problem with ZT. Boniface called it exactly as he did in Sheffield last night, the players are just going to have to learn, and once they do I'm sure we'll see more games like we had tonight.
What did please me was the amount of scoring chances we created and put away. McAslan's SH effort was the pick for me, a beautiful finish. Neilson's netbuster was also a great goal.
Also, a banner that looks the part at the stage end. Proper retired numbers & an honours board showing our true history & heritage. About time!
And finally, yet another happy note. We're already 3 points clear of the Steelers ;D

[calle77]

What an amazing game! A fantastic TEAM effort. My only complaint was the way the players came out onto the ice. I was really looking forward to hearing Black and Gold being played as we welcomed each player individually. It's much better when Gary Moran intoduces each player as they skate out. Thought the music was a disappointment throughout the game. It's great to have new songs but you can't beat hearing the old favourites to welcome the season back.
The team were fantastic. Credit to Mike and Calle. An exciting season ahead. ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Lord of the Rinks]

cat said:

I cant think of any more adjectives to describe how im feeling right now! Buzzing would be one!

The CAT that got the cream, as Twiggy would say "can you see what I did there"

Funny how Nigel put the whistle away in the 3rd period. If we can play like that, (have one bad period and 2 good) every week, the futures bright the futures Black & Gold

Credit to the Bison, they are no push overs.

[ashotinthedark]

Actually this isn't the first time Panthers have tried to get the crowd to shout the surnames of the players, they tried it in the old barn for a couple of games, I think it was in the 98-99 season. It went down like a lead balloon so they dropped it. Moran had heard about it from the German leagues, where they do it all the time, and thought it might be a good idea to try it.
On a side note my family and I haven't been regularly for a couple of years, we have been living abroad, and we were very impressed with the increased crowd participation, particularly the chants, some of which we thought were very inventive - seems the atmosphere of the Arena, while not the same as the old place, is developing a character all of its own, which can do nothing but enhance the chances of turning it into Fortress Lower Parliamanet Street, bring it on, a great game and hopefully a great season.:-)

[Lord of the Rinks]

calle77 said:

What an amazing game! A fantastic TEAM effort. My only complaint was the way the players came out onto the ice. I was really looking forward to hearing Black and Gold being played as we welcomed each player individually.

It would be better if you could hear something, where we sit all we heard was garbled noise over the pa system, with the odd name being clear. I have had a word with one of the chief steward who said he had complaints from other blocks and he would try to get things sorted for the next match against Manchester.

If it doesn't the a few more ought complain. If you are one of those who marks down all the goals, penalties etc, during the game, I hope you got them all.

[Rob #12]

Got some of the pics uploaded ;D

www.panthersonline.co.uk/index.php?page=latest

Greg Chambers = Fred Flintstone

[ted]

Good game.

3 point weekend isnt to be sniffed at... I cant help thinking it was a degree of luck though. Our D is offensive at we havee caught with our pants down too many times.

Offensively very happy. everyone doing their job and its working well.... nice to see some gritty players and battles aroung the front of the net. Still could do with taking more shots IMO..

Lindsay... Im HOPING he clicks and im HOPING he comes good... but if he stays like this id consider getting a new guy in. Hes the weak link.... every time anyone is one on one i assume its a goal.

The game? gutted abount injuries, dunno what happened to bison TBH? they just gave up!

[Dips]

How did Rod Stevens play tonight, nothing has been said about him?

[carolle]

matt44 said:

icehockey said:

Going on tonights pims for Basingstoke,

I don`t think I`ll get lonely on the penalty bench tomorrow.

Ahh well if you DO get lonely, look up to me and the gang at the front of block 5 and we'll give you a wave!

Didn`t get chance to wave in the 1st period