EIHL week 8 round-up
Another busy week of action in the Rapid Solicitors Elite Ice Hockey League and Challenge Cup ending with Belfast continuing to occupy the summit of the regular season standings as they now have done since the 23rd of September, while in the Challenge Cup we have our first confirmed semi-finalist with Nottingham booking their place in the last four from Group B.
We start with the midweek action and the game up in Scotland between Braehead and Nottingham. The home side went into this game unbeaten on their own ice but that record was blown apart by a very slick Panthers outfit who took the points comfortably by 8-3 with both David Clarke and Jordan Fox hitting doubles.
Friday night saw leaders Belfast up against Dundee in both league and cup action and it was pretty straightforward for Doug Christiansen’s men as they came out on top by 7-1 with two goals for Benoit Doucet and Jon Pelle.
On to a full programme on Saturday and it was Giants at home again, this time up against Coventry. And what a shock for the top dogs as not only were they beaten for the first time in 13 games but they were blanked by Peter Hirsch and his Blaze defence, with Hirsch stopping 37 shots while at the other end Paul Thompson’s charges sent the black biscuit into the home net three times.
Other games in the league saw another poor night for Dundee as they travelled from Belfast to Cardiff but came away on the wrong end of another heavy loss – this time 7-3 against Devils, for whom Jeff Pierce scored 3+1 and Max Birbraer 2+1.
A shock in Hull perhaps – or maybe not – with Edinburgh travelling down and winning their 2nd straight road game but a 7th loss in a row for Stingrays. Two goals for Rene Jarolin in this one – a player in form right now!
Two matches in the Challenge Cup on Saturday with the big one seeing Nottingham blank rivals Sheffield 3-0 at the NIC in front of nearly 7,000 fans with Craig Kowalski posting 21 saves and the game winner coming in the 28th minute from Brandon Benedict.
The other match saw Braehead bounce back from their midweek home loss to take two more Challenge Cup points with a 7-4 win over a hard working Flyers side. A treble for home skipper Jordan Krestanovich, while line mate Jade Galbraith picked up 0+5. At the moment it looks like Clan and Giants to qualify from Group A but still time for Dundee to make a late charge and makes things interesting.
Sunday night and the perfect weekend was completed by Coventry as they followed up their success in Belfast with a thrilling 4-3 win over Nottingham at the Skydome in front of close to 3,500 fans. Two goals for sniper Luke Fulghum, including the game winner in the 50th minute. This was a first loss in 8 for Panthers but a very welcome statement of intent from a so-far-this season inconsistent Blaze.
Hull travelled to Dundee and came out on top by the odd goal in three for their first win eight, no doubt fired up by some stinging criticism from their player/coach Sylvain Cloutier after the home loss the previous night against Edinburgh. Christian Boucher played a major part between the pipes with 37 saves.
Edinburgh made it four wins out of five with a 7-4 victory at home against Fife with player/coach Richard Hartmann scoring 3+2, ably assisted by Rene Jarolin 2+3 and Peter Holecko 2+0.
The final game of the weekend saw Sheffield keep alive their Challenge Cup hopes with a 5-3 home win against Cardiff. Jeff Legue and Colt King both counted twice for the Steel City side as they Cardiff and Coventry continue to fight it out for the last four spot along with already qualified Nottingham.