It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog on the NIHL so
this one is basically going to be mainly about the North and South One playoff’s
so far and also the latest in the race for the playoffs in North and South Two
as well.
Let’s begin with the
North and South One divisions and following the completion of the regular
seasons, here is how the Quarter Final First Legs of the playoffs panned out:-
NIHL North One (Moralee)
Whitley Warriors 2-5 Telford Tigers
Billingham Stars 3-4 Sheffield Steeldogs
Hull Pirates 12-1 Blackburn Hawks
Solway Sharks 4-4 Solihull Barons
NIHL South One
(Britton)
Streatham 0-2 Swindon Wildcats
Bracknell Bees 5-6 London Raiders
Basingstoke Bison 6-0 Invicta Dynamos
Peterborough Phantoms 4-1 Milton Keynes Thunder
North One (Moralee) league winners Sheffield Steeldogs were
pushed all the way by the lowest ranked playoff side Billingham Stars, however the
Steeldogs did take a one goal lead into their home leg, whilst second placed
Hull Pirates and third placed Telford Tigers also recorded wins, with Pirates
netting twelve in their first leg tie.
And it was no surprise that Solway Sharks and Solihull Moors, who
finished on 41 points a piece in 4th and 5th respectively,
drew their first leg tie in Dumfries.
South One (Britton) league winners Basingstoke Bison were in
a comfortable position after they thrashed Invicta Dynamos in Hampshire, whilst
second placed Peterborough Phantoms also recorded a decent home win over Milton
Keynes Thunder. Third placed Swindon
Wildcats took a two goal lead back to Wiltshire after they netted a shutout win
at Streatham, and finally in the tie of the round, fourth placed London Raiders
netted a 6-5 away win at Bracknell Bees, setting up the second leg tie at Raiders
Sapphire Ice and Leisure Centre perfectly.
Talking of that
second leg at Sapphire in Romford, well I thought I’d attend it, and it proved
to be another terrific evening of hockley, here is what happened in that second
leg:-
London Raiders 4
Bracknell Bees 2 (London Raiders won 10-7 on aggregate)
Raiders eventually saw of The Bees in Romford after a very
entertaining encounter at The Sapphire to take their place in the playoff semi
finals. The opening period saw the hosts
begin the better, however the visitors, who knew they needed to score, came
back into it and struck the inside of the post, and it was also a rather feisty
affair too, which was no surprise with what was on the line. However just nine seconds into the second
period Raiders grabbed the lead when Matt Turner slid a low shot home from an
angle and double the hosts lead on aggregate.
But the Bees then turned this match
around and briefly level on aggregate when they netted two Power Play goals,
firstly when James Galazzi netted from close range, and then secondly when Josh
Martin netted via the back door, and it was 7-7 on aggregate. But late on in the period Raiders levelled
the match at 2-2 and snuck back ahead 8-7 in the tie when Jake Sylvester beat
Mettam low on the glove side in what was a very important goal in the grand scheme
of things. And in the third period the
hosts increased their lead on aggregate to two once again when Marek Nahlik
converted a great pass from John Connolly, and after Bracknell had pulled net minder
Mettam to try and force two goals they needed, Sylvester netted from inside his
own zone to seal the match and send Raiders into the last four of the NIHL
South One playoffs.
Here are some photos
I took of the evening:-
Anyway here are the Quarter
Final Second Leg results:-
NIHL North One
(Moralee)
Sheffield Steeldogs 9-3 Billingham Stars (Sheffield Steeldogs
won 13-6 on aggregate)
Solihull Barons 5-3 Solway Sharks (Solihull Barons won 9-7
on aggregate)
Blackburn Hawks vs Hull Pirates (postponed due to adverse
weather conditions)
Telford Tigers vs Whitley Warriors (postponed due to adverse
weather conditions)
NIHL South One
(Britton)
Invicta Dynamos 1-7 Basingstoke Bison (Basingstoke Bison won
13-1 on aggregate)
London Raiders 4-2 Bracknell Bees (London Raiders won 10-7
on aggregate)
Swindon Wildcats 4-2 Streatham (Swindon Wildcats won 6-2 on
aggregate)
Milton Keynes Thunder 2-7 Peterborough Phantoms
(Peterborough Phantoms won 11-3 on aggregate)
In the North Sheffield made sure they made it more comfortable
second time around as they netted nine in their home leg to win 13-6 on aggregate
against Billingham, whilst Solihull won their home leg to knock Solway out of
the playoffs. The ties at Blackburn and
Telford were postponed through due to the away sides being unable to travel due
to the adverse weather. And after the
NIHL LMC had discussed what would happen with the cancelled ties they released
this statement:-
The NIHL League Management
Committee (LMC) met this evening to discuss the issues around two unplayed
Moralee Playoff games at Telford and at Blackburn. In both cases the visiting
sides, Whitley Warriors and Hull Pirates, did not travel citing inclement
weather conditions and safety concerns. Both Whitley and Hull have been in
contact with the LMC throughout the day. The LMC has been presented with
evidence from the non-travelling sides supporting the claim that they could not
travel. The LMC also notes in both cases the travel company cancelled the coach
to travel away from home. Evidence has also been presented regarding the status
of players and their ability to get out of their home locations to connect with
onward coach travel to the game. Overall in terms of reports made to the LMC
there is insufficient evidence to suggest that the accounts from non travelling
clubs are invalid. Under the NIHL Rules of Competition, regional quarter final
ties begin on 17 March and end on 18 March. The NIHL LMC therefore rules that
in the case of the postponed fixtures on Sunday March 18 Blackburn Hawks v Hull
Pirates and Telford Tigers v Whitley Warriors, the games are void 0-0. Hull Pirates and Telford Tigers have
therefore won their respective playoff ties and will advance to the regional
semi finals.
So Hull Pirates and Telford Tigers moved through to the next
stage after their first leg victories, and to be honest it was the correct
call, as both Hull and Telford had big leads heading into the second legs
anyway so probably didn’t make much difference to the outcome.
In the South Bison completed a 13-1 aggregate win over
Dynamos whilst Phantoms also waltzed into the semi finals with an 11-3
aggregate win over Thunder. I’ve already
spoke about Raiders triumph over Bees, and finally Wildcats completed a 6-2
aggregate win over Streatham to take their place in the semi finals.
So anyway time for the
semi final results:-
NIHL North One (Moralee)
Solihull Barons 3-4 Sheffield Steeldogs
Telford Tigers 5-5 Hull Pirates
NIHL South One
(Britton)
London Raiders 4-7 Basingstoke Bison
Swindon Wildcats 4-2 Peterborough Phantoms
North winners Steeldogs again had to overcome a rather difficult
first leg away from their own ice as they edged Barons by the odd goal in seven
to take a one goal lead into their second leg.
The other semi final is level at 5-5 after Tigers and Pirates could not
be separated, setting up a terrific second leg.
South winners Bison took a three goal cushion into their
home second leg after seeing off Raiders 7-4 in Romford, whilst Wildcats upset second
seed Phantoms in Wiltshire to take a two goal lead to Peterborough. But it soon become apparent that this would
not be the case after Swindon placed a 16 year old who was not playoff eligible
on their bench for experience in the first leg.
And although he did
not ice, this is what the official statement from the LMC said:-
On Saturday March 24 in the NIHL
Britton division playoff game between Swindon Wildcats and Peterborough
Phantoms, Swindon iced a player who was not playoff eligible (NIHL RoC
8.4.1/had not played 25% of league games). Therefore under NIHL RoC
8.6.1/Penalties, the game has been awarded 5-0 in favour of the Peterborough
Phantoms.
This is what the
actual rule says:-
8.6 Penalties
8.6.1 A team that
lists an ineligible player on the Official EIHA Team List shall result in that
game being awarded as 5-0 to the non-offending side. Should both teams ice ineligible players, the
game will be awarded as 0-0 with no league points awarded to either side.
It is desperately disappointing for the Wildcats, who looked
favourites going into the second leg, but now it looked an almost impossible
task.
However they would need to get themselves up to try and do
their upmost in the second leg, and here are how the second legs went:-
NIHL North One (Moralee)
Sheffield Steeldogs 5-2 Solihull Barons (Sheffield Steeldogs
won 9-5 on aggregate)
Hull Pirates 3-4 Telford Tigers (OT) (Telford Tigers won 9-8
on aggregate)
NIHL South One
(Britton)
Basingstoke Bison 3-0 London Raiders (Basingstoke Bison won
10-4 on aggregate)
Peterborough Phantoms 4-6 Swindon Wildcats (Peterborough Phantoms
won 9-6 on aggregate)
In the North it will not be the top two seeds going head to
head in the final after Tigers won a thrilling tie against Pirates 4-3 after
overtime to win 9-8 on aggregate, and they will take on top seed Steeldogs
after the Sheffield side completed a 9-5 aggregate win over fifth seed Barons.
South One top seeds Bison completed the job against Raiders,
winning 3-0 in their second leg to complete a 10-4 aggregate win, whilst over
in Peterborough the Wildcats gave their opponents one hell of a fright,
dragging the aggregate score back to 6-8 at one stage, however with their net
minder pulled, Phantoms netted the clinching goal to win 9-6 on aggregate. So although Phantoms lost both games, it they
who will contest the South One final, meaning seeds one and two will go head to
head.
So the two legged finals will take place as shown below:-
NIHL North One (Moralee)
Playoff Final
First Leg
(31/03/2018)
Telford Tigers vs Sheffield Steeldogs
Second Leg
(01/04/2018)
Sheffield Steeldogs vs Telford Tigers
NIHL South One
(Britton) Playoff Final
First Leg
(31/03/2018)
Peterborough Phantoms vs Basingstoke Bison
Second Leg (01/04/2018)
Basingstoke Bison vs Peterborough Phantoms
So that’s where we have got up to so far, and the four
finalists (Sheffield Steeldogs, Telford Tigers, Basingstoke Bison and
Peterborough Phantoms) will all contest the National finals in Coventry over
the weekend of April 7th/8th. Basically the winning North sides play the
losing South sides in the semi finals on the Saturday, followed by the final on
Sunday afternoon.
And as an added bonus there is a fourth game at Finals weekend,
as the Sunday afternoon showing sees the NIHL Division Two League Championship
Game as the league winners from North Two (Laidler) and South Two (Wilkinson)
contest that game.
Lets see who that could be as we have a look at those divisions:-
NIHL North Two
(Laidlaw)
Sutton Sting have won the division, whilst Hull Jets,
Telford Tigers and Widnes Wild make up the top four and the playoff contenders
in that division. Once the playoff
fixtures are done I’ll let you know.
NIHL South Two
(Wilkinson)
Oxford City Stars sealed the championship after they defeated
their nearest challengers, second placed Solent Devils, last weekend in
Oxford. The top four are made up of
Oxford City Stars, Solent Devils, Bracknell Hornets and Chelmsford Chieftains. Those positions between second, third and
fourth could change before the regular season ends, but as a top four they are
now locked in. The remaining playoff places
(5th – 8th) are currently Peterborough Phantoms 2,
Guildford Phoenix, Slough Jets and Haringey Huskies. Peterborough and Guildford are locked into
fifth and sixth and with Slough now locked into seventh, it’s three teams
battling for the final spot. Haringey
currently have a one point lead over Bristol Pitbulls and Cardiff Fire 2,
although Haringey have just one game left, whilst Bristol have two and Cardiff
three. It is therefore Haringey win
their final game, which is against Cardiff, to probably stand any chance of
reaching the post season in their first ever season as a club.
Lets look at the remaining
fixtures for the South Two division:-
31/03/2018
Bracknell Hornets vs Chelmsford Chieftains
01/04/2018
Bracknell Hornets vs Cardiff Fire 2
Swindon Wildcats 2 vs Slough Jets
07/04/2018
Solent Devils vs Oxford City Stars
Haringey Huskies vs Cardiff Fire 2
Lee Valley Lions vs Swindon Wildcats 2
Bracknell Hornets vs Bristol Pitbulls
08/04/2018
Lee Valley Lions vs Invicta Mustangs
Cardiff Fire 2 vs Swindon Wildcats 2
Basingstoke Buffalo vs Chelmsford Chieftains
Some important fixtures coming up then, should be an entertaining
final week or so before the top eight then battle in the playoffs.
And of course each league has it’s own finals weekend in
April, the North in Widnes on 14th/15th April, whilst the
South in Bracknell on 21st/22nd April, so the season has plenty
of bite left in it!!!
Anyway I’ll stop talking now and my next blog will come
after the NIHL Final Four weekend in Coventry, which sees Sheffield Steeldogs,
Telford Tigers, Basingstoke Bison and Peterborough Phantoms contest for the number
one team in the NIHL, as well as Oxford City Stars and Sutton Sting going head
to head in the NIHL Division Two League Championship encounter. I will bring you a comprehensive round up of that
finals weekend and of course the playoff news for NIHL Division Two (North
& South). Until then it’s bye
byeeeeeeeeeee
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