There were lots of positives to last weekend’s games and hopefully we can continue to build on this. The intensity and work rate from the players was excellent on both nights. Having lost a hard fought battle on Saturday night, it was imperative for us to come out strong again Sunday in Guildford. For the first five minutes of the game we had the puck in the Flames end, creating numerous scoring opportunities. The key to this hockey game was always going to be team defence. I said previously that if a team plays too “open” in Guildford, they would be heavily punished. I think that all of our guys had strong games and played a big part defensively in keeping the Flames attack in check.

The refereeing was much better last weekend. Joy Tottman called penalties on Saturday but let the game flow. I do not want to see a penalty called every shift and I am quite sure that the supporters do not either. The game is faster and more exciting being played 5 on 5. We must bear in mind the quality of the product on show. The new icing rule has still caused us some problems. The rule is fine but I feel that there is no reason for a referee to call a penalty on an icing if a player steps off the ice, then realizes he is not allowed to come off so he gets back on the ice. Some referees have used discretion and “let it go” which is appreciated by everyone; another referee has called this a penalty claiming that this is the rule.

This weekend begins with the Peterborough Phantoms coming to town. Peterborough accomplished an incredible feat in winning the treble last season. Two important players have left to play in the Elite League. James Hutchinson has gone to Hull and Craig Peacock has joined Belfast. Both players were very instrumental in the success of the Phantoms last season and I am sure that they will both be successful at their new Clubs.
Although losing key players, the Phantoms will have another strong year. The key players for their team are Jason Cassells, Brent Gough and Stephen Wall. We will need to get players to the net against Wall and finish rebounds.

We will know in the next day or two how long Jamie Line will be out of action for. We hope to have Jamie back with us very soon, but we do not want to rush him back into action too early. He is the type of player who can provide the team with a spark with his hustle, tenacity and speed.
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Article published courtesy of the Basingstoke Gazette, Thursday 24th September 2009.