The CHL continued for Nottingham Panthers today who faced possibly their toughest ever game against Lulea hockey! The Swedish outfit cruised to a 10-1 demolition of the Panthers, who were great right from the off. Lulea scored two bouncy deflections in the first period very quickly, but a scrum around the net was eventually smashed home by Brandon Benedict for 2-1.
Going into the second period, it looked like it was going to be tight right to the end, both teams playing exceptionally well, but Lulea scored 2 quick goals for a 4-1 lead. Panthers changed goalie from Craig Kowalski to former Hull netminder, on his Panthers debut; Martins Raitums. It wasn't a good start for the Latvian, conceding his first shot for 5-1 Lulea! A stunning few saves came up for Martins though, but some good moves by the Lulea players forced 3 more goals to have the game put to bed by the end of the second. An 8-1 scoreline had smashed the Panthers.
Panthers came out a lot stronger in the third period, some great chances just didn't go Nottingham's way, and Lulea added salt to the wound, with two late goals. They had scored earlier though, only for it to be waved off by Mike Hicks! The Panthers outfit had been hammered, but to be fair this team was much higher rank, and was a whole new test for the GMB Nottingham Panther. It could of been a whole lot worse, so the team has rose to the challenge and should be proud of their efforts!
The Panthers are in France for pre-season action this weekend so their CHL campaign resumes on Friday 5th September when they play Lukko again away in Finland, then Sunday 7th September (My birthday!) Lulea are up again away in Sweden as Panthers follow the same formatted schedule as this weekend (Friday vs Lukko, Sunday vs Lulea) except they are away this time! This is on the opening EIHL weekend so their Elite League campaign starts a week later than everyone else. 13th September when they take on Cardiff Devils at their home rink, the NIC in Nottingham! CHL action resumes Tuesday 23rd September when DEL (Germany) side Hamburg Freezers visit Nottingham for another action packed CHL game. Their final game (unless they make the quarter finals) is Tuesday 7th October when they meet Hamburg for the second time in Germany to end Panthers CHL adventure, unless they make the quarters.
Your thoughts
One Sheffield Steelers fan tweeted us (@EIHLNation)
"I thought your team put in a good performance despite them been a cut above and should be proud"
And a very proud Panthers fan
"I thought today's game was an excellent game to watch although the Panthers did suffer a heavy defeat, we were playing 1/2 who was a class above anything we have seen in the uk with a far bigger budget but gives the Panthers match practice."
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