Weekend Review

Panthers have brilliant weekend, which is made even better with rivals Steelers loosing twice...

Sheffield steelers had a terrible weekend of hockey which saw them have two losses. The worst game of the season so far for them saw them get hammered by big rivals Nottingham panthers, 7-3 on Saturday in Nottingham! But a great result for panthers who had signed new d-man Nick Anderson in the week to replace injured Eric Werner.

  A dreadful first period for Sheffield which saw them go 3-1 down despite scoring first but three unanswered goals would give panthers the dream start including a great finish by David Clarke. Steelers got back into it with a nice shot to beat Kowalski in the panthers goal. But Chris Caparo wouldn't let it go and put Nottingham 4-2 up by the second break. The third would see panthers put the game away but steelers scored a cracker! Panthers though would press harder to win with three other goals. This would round off an amazing night for panthers with their best game so far! Leigh Salters fantastic seventh goal would grab him man of the match. HIGHLIGHTS HERE:

Sunday saw another great night for panthers, beating Cardiff devils 5-3 in Wales who have had 3rd backup Greg Balis in goal, who is sharing ice time with backup Joe Myers to replace injured keeper Dan LaCosta. But Sheffield's bad nightmare continued, loosing out to Braehead clan 5-4 after a shootout, to get revenge on all the defeats Steelers piled on them last season. And who else to get beaten by, than last seasons coach Ryan Finnerty. Wouldn't of thought of that 7 months ago! Ryan Finnerty beating Sheffield! Highlights of that big game here:  

Stars streak ended Friday, but doesn't stop their destruction of the EIHL...

Dundee won. Thats one sentence you'll hear a lot this season. Their streak was ended Friday by Belfast giants, loosing out 5-3. But that didn't affect them in the slightest. Saturday they would blitz Cardiff Devils 7-0 on a great night of hockey with a huge crowd at Dundee ice arena. The first period would have a brilliant start as stars went 3-0 up by break one. Brock McPherson would open the scoring,and start off an amazing night. Their would be two goals in the second and third from a range of players including two from Nico Sacchetti. 

  Dundee fans would go home with smiles on their faces, which would get ten times better with a second shut out in a row for stars goalie, Dan Bakala. They beat Edinburgh capitals 3-0 and yet again Sacchetti got two goals. Seems a pattern now, Bakala gets a shutout, Sacchetti scores twice! Thats happening often this season! Highlights of win over devils here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQCcuHMktho

Blaze backup Goss to the rescue...

Coventry blaze had a great game at the skydome on Sunday. In a challenge cup game against Hull stingrays, it was at 13:08 that the disaster of loosing starting goalie Mike Zacharias occurred. But thankfully, it was young Brit Adam Goss that came to the rescue! He made some amazing saves, and led blaze to a high scoring 7-4 victory. It was one of Coventry's best performances of the season so far, with Adam Henrich opening the scoring for blaze. From that point on, they showed true character for the rest of the game but Hull did do well to keep the game in reach including Guillame Doucet scoring twice. He's turning into a goal machine isn't he! Blaze though dominated the game and deserved the win. Highlights here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuLEpDcU46I&feature=c4-overview&list=UUmwcMWn7iQVvzx1DWD3hPhg

They also had a fantastic 2-1 shootout win at Fife on Saturday with a big crowd at the flyers barn. Flyers looked in control for most of the game.  They took a 1-0 lead via Steve Gunn into the first two breaks  and as the clock ticked down, it was looking to be flyers night but with nine minutes to go blaze finally got the goal they pushed for all game. It would be another goal machine for Coventry that scored, Michael Henrich. For what looked to be an easy win would then go to sudden death penalty shots! This shootout went on for a while but eventually a blaze goal followed by a flyers miss would turn an easy win into a turn around loss for Fife. 

A giant shocker for Clan...

Another good crowd in Belfast saw them stun Braehead clan despite a very tight game throughout. This game saw many turning points and this could go any way. Former giant Matt Towe scored against his fomrer club at one point. There were many turning points including a Colin Sheilds hat trick to have the game 4-4 going into the final minute. Overtime was on the horizon but with six point one seconds left, Chris Higgins scored and left clan stunned and the Belfast arena literally exploded with noise! Belfast fans had a great night and everyone in Belfast went home happy. Clan fans however weren't. They bounced back though with a 5-4 shootout win(report at top of post with highlights) in Sheffield for a mixed weekend. A 5-4 defeat and a 5-4 win. 

Stingrays comebacked by Capitals beofre blaze defeat for bad weekend...

Saturday in Hull was a bad one despite leading 2-0 ended up getting comebacked by Edinburgh Capitals for a 5-3 loss. It was followed by a 7-4 defeat in Coventry(report further up post) which led to a bad weekend. Its not been too good so far for Rays and after their brilliant pre-season, their was confindence and people thought this was their year. But shockingly, they've dropped and lost their spirit. This team is good though and can go far.  They can do it if they push a little further. 

EIHL TABLE AFTER THIS WEEKEND:

Pos	ELITE	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS
1	Dundee	6	5	1	0	0	10
2	Belfast	4	3	1	0	0	6
3	Coventry	4	3	1	0	0	6
4	Nottingham	4	3	1	0	0	6
5	Braehead	4	2	2	0	0	4
6	Sheffield	3	1	1	0	1	3
7	Hull	3	1	2	0	0	2
8	Edinburgh	4	1	3	0	0	2
9	Cardiff	4	1	3	0	0	2
10	Fife	4	0	2	0	2	2

Dundee still lead the pack, is this their year? Its going to be close this year! All the teams look strong and we have a battle now! Its only week two. And we are already in full swing! Whats your thoughts? Comment below! 

Posted by Rhys Williams