Phoenix Struck By Lightning

Sheffield Scimitars 2-3 Manchester Phoenix
Manchester Phoenix 2-3 Milton Keynes Lighting

Manchester Phoenix’s unbeaten start to the new season came to a halt on Sunday night as the Milton Keynes Lightning came away from their first ever visit to the Altrincham Ice Dome with 2 points. The Phoenix went down 3-2 on home ice despite winning in Sheffield the night before which took to them to the top of the English Premier League, Tony Hand’s men now lie in third place after the opening four games of the season.

On Saturday night, the Phoenix travelled to Sheffield for their third meeting with the Scimitars in five games. Three goals in the opening six minutes saw a blistering start to the game, Phoenix’s Jaakko Hagelberg deflected an Andre Mattsson slap-shot on the powerplay to take the lead before Robert Farmer brought the hosts level within minutes. Seconds later, some great Phoenix transitional play led to Robert Lachowicz neatly finishing a breakaway move to give Manchester the lead once more.

The Scimitars again brought the game level late in the second period as Farmer raced in on goal to beat Steve Fone in the Manchester net which led to a tense third period with little chances at either end of the ice. The breakthrough finally came in the 56th minute as Tony Hand netted from close range to seal the Phoenix’s second win in Sheffield this season.

The following night, the Phoenix played host to ex-Manchester Storm forward Nick Poole’s Milton Keynes Lightning and the tone for the match was set early as Phoenix netminder Steve Fone made a dramatic diving safe to deny the Lightning an early goal. However this seemed to spur the Lightning further, who by the close of the period, netted twice through Adam Carr (short-handed) and Ross Bowers (power-play).

Phoenix finally countered in the 28th minute as Jaakko Hagelberg scored on the power-play, after which the home team laid siege to the Lightning net but were unable to find an equalizer before the end of the second period. The third period saw the Phoenix hit the goal-frame before the Lightning regained their two goal lead, Adam Carr scoring his second of the night sending the visiting bench into ecstasy and leaving the home-side a mountain to climb in the closing minutes. New Phoenix captain Luke Boothroyd did reduce the deficit with a late, hotly disputed goal but the Phoenix could find no equalizer in the time remaining.

Player coach Hand remarked, “The guys worked hard tonight in a hard-fought and well contested game, maybe this result will act as something of a wake up call for us. We’ve made a good start, but we’ve learned this weekend that there will no easy nights.”

“We’ve a number of younger players who are still learning the game and the standard of play we’ve seen is possibly better than we were expecting. We’ll look hard at both of this weekends games and look to minimise the areas where we’ve been caught out.”

Neil secures a double winning weekend for Phoenix

Manchester Phoenix 4-3 Swindon Wildcats

Manchester Phoenix secured two wins from their first weekend in the English PREMIER League on Sunday after British defenceman James Neil scored the game winning goal late on against a strong Swindon team that led three times in the match.

The match was a close affair with neither team really taking control of the game until the third period where the Phoenix experience paid dividends as after clawing their way back into the game three times, James Neil finally beat Geoff Woolhouse in the Swindon net with little over three minutes remaining.

The Wildcats showed their resilience in the first period however and they shaded the opening 20 minutes, deservedly taking the lead through Matt Foord on the powerplay as Jaakko Hagelberg was penalized for boarding.

In the second period, the Phoenix increased their work rate and finally found the net in the 27th minute through Jaakko Hagelberg after good work from Ed Courtenay. However, just over a minute later Swindon restored their lead with a strike from Joe Baird. The Phoenix came forward searching for a second equalizer and found it, courtesy of new arrival Ed Courtenay, scoring his fifth goal of the weekend just before the half hour mark. Swindon’s Jozef Kohut and Manchester’s Andre Mattsson then traded goals to send both teams into the final period tied at 3-3.

The final period was a stage set for a hero, and with 56.46 on the clock, teenager James Neil fired a perfect wrist shot that sent the Phoenix fans home happy and the team claimed a valuable two points against a resilient Swindon team.

Player coach Tony Hand commented, “I give the guys a lot of credit tonight for battling back. I thought we dominated the game, but Swindon made it difficult for us as they were well organised and well coached in their approach to the game.”

“We’ve had two tough games and got a great start to the campaign with maximum points, so I have to be pleased. Overall, I’m pleased with the effort we got from the players this weekend and another week of training and getting used to each other will set us up for next weekends games away to Sheffield and at home to Milton Keynes.”

On the Saturday night, the Manchester Phoenix came away from a long bus trip to Basingstoke with two points as they ran out 7-4 winners with debutant Ed Courtenay grabbing an impressive four goals.

EPL Results:

Saturday

Swindon Wildcats 6-1 Romford Raiders
Slough Jets 9-0 Bracknell Bee’s
Milton Keynes Lightning 3-2 Guildford Flames
Sheffield Scimitars 4-2 Peterborough Phantoms

Sunday

Romford Raiders 3-5 Sheffield Scimitars
Peterborough Phantoms 4-6 Slough Jets
Guildford Flames 2-3 Basingstoke Bison
Bracknell Bee’s 2-5 Milton Keynes Lightning

Elite League

Saturday

Hull Stingrays 2-9 Edinburgh Capitals
Cardiff Devils 6-5 Sheffield Steelers (AOT)
Nottingham Panthers 4-3 Newcastle Vipers
Belfast Giants 4-5 Coventry Blaze

Sunday

Newcastle Vipers 2-0 Belfast Giants
Sheffield Steelers 6-3 Cardiff Devils
Edinburgh Capitals 3-4 Nottingham Panthers (AOT)
Coventry Blaze 4-2 Hull Stingrays (Challenge Cup)

Phoenix start a fire with early trophy success

Manchester Phoenix 3-3 Sheffield Scimitars (6-5 agg)

The Manchester Phoenix opened their new season last weekend with a War of the Roses encounter against the Sheffield Scimitars with the Phoenix taking the honours over two nights, winning the two game series 6-5 on aggregate.

On Saturday night, the Phoenix came away from Ice Sheffield with a narrow 3-2 lead after goals from Robert Lachowicz, player coach Tony Hand and Jaakko Hagelberg were enough to take an advantage back to Altrincham for the Sunday night winner takes all show-down.

The opening minutes of Sunday night’s game were penalty filled and yet neither side managed to make an opening on the powerplay until just over 5 minutes into the game when Andre Mattsson stepped up from the blue-line and fired a laser shot into the bottom of the net that ex-Edinburgh Capitals goaltender Pasi Raitanen had no chance with. However in the 12th minute the Scimitars drew level with a goal from James Archer as he broke in on goal to beat Steve Fone in the Manchester net. Both goalies made great saves in the final minutes of the period to deny each team taking the lead into the break, Raitanen was alert to a Lachowicz one time shot from the crease whilst Steve Fone dived from post to post to prevent Joakim Millqvust scoring at the other end.

In the second period, it was the Scimitars who took the lead with only 55 seconds played, Peter Slamiar finding the back of the net to take the aggregate score to 4-4. The goalies then stepped up again to deny the forwards of both teams as Raitanen saved well from Hagelberg, preventing the Phoenix getting an equalizer, whilst Steve Fone saved superbly from a breakaway effort by Stephen Wallace. The Phoenix then got the break they needed, with the puck bobbling around the Scimitars net, Iain Bowie found and shot the puck home just before the half hour mark. This spurred the Phoenix on further and player coach Tony Hand led the way, sending a pin point pass across the ice that found Greg Wood at the back post to smash home Phoenix’s third goal of the night.

The final period saw both teams evenly matched as the Scimitars came flying out of the blocks and brought the tie to 3-3 on the night as a blistering shot by Peter Slamiar managed to fly over Steve Fone’s shoulder into the top of the net from a tight angle. The Phoenix looked to again take the lead but Raitanen in the Scimitars net had other ideas as he saved well off shots by Hand and Greg Wood twice, when the puck finally went in the net for a fourth time, the goal was washed out as Andre Payette was adjudged to have been in the goalies crease as he deflected a slap shot into the net.

After lifting the trophy, Payette commented, “We’ve got a few bumps and bruises after these two games, but there’ll be little pain as we lifted a trophy. Success is infectious and I’m hoping that having had an early taste, the guys will be even hungrier for more as the season progresses.”
“We’ll work hard this week as the real thing starts next weekend with a tough road trip to Basingstoke before we face Swindon in our home opener.”

All that was left was for Phoenix to lift their first piece of silverware of the season and although it was only a pre-season challenge weekend, the new team will have taken a lot of confidence from the two games and learnt a great deal about each others playing styles and hopefully when this weekend comes around, the players will be up to complete match fitness and ready to start the league campaign.

Other pre-season EPL results:

Saturday

Basingstoke Bison 4-2 Bracknell Bees
Milton Keynes Lightning 7-2 Romford Raiders
Swindon Wildcats 5-3 Guildford Flames
Slough Jets 5-4 Peterborough Phantoms

Sunday

Bracknell Bees 4-6 Basingstoke Bison
Guildford Flames 8-1 Swindon Wildcats
Peterborough Phantoms 3-2 Slough Jets
Romford Raiders 2-5 Milton Keynes Lightning

Elite League results:

Saturday

Hull Stingrays 4-2 Cardiff Devils
Nottingham Panthers 2-1 Coventry Blaze
Belfast 2-3 Sheffield Steelers (After Overtime + Shootout)

Sunday

Cardiff Devils 5-2 Hull Stingrays (Challenge Cup game)
Sheffield Steelers 2-4 Belfast Giants
Nottingham Panthers 5-3 Newcastle Vipers

EPL Final Countdown; Elite League underway.

This weekend the Manchester Phoenix will take on the Sheffield Scimitars in a War of the Roses double header and it will mark the beginning of a new season that promises to be exciting and memorable. The Altrincham based club look to prepare in the best possible way before embarking on the new season a week on Saturday and a home and away showdown with the Scimitars looks to be a stern test for Tony Hand and his new team.

Meanwhile other EPL teams are preparing for their assault on the new season with various challenge matches being played this week. Tonight see’s the Peterborough Phantoms play Elite League side Hull Stingrays with Stingrays back-up netminder Andrew Jaszczyk set to start between the pipes whilst the Slough Jets host the Swindon Wildcats. Tomorrow night the Milton Keynes Lighting play against the Peterborough Phantoms with a return fixture being played on the 16th Sept. This weekend there are 5 home/away match ups including Manchester v Sheffield, others doing the dance are Basingstoke v Bracknell, Milton Keynes v Romford, Swindon v Guildford and Slough v Peterborough. The final pre-season fixtures are played a week tonight involving that return fixture between the Lightning and the Phantoms whilst Swindon play Slough and Sheffield Scimitars take on Sheffield Steelers.

Elite League Results:

Saturday:

Sheffield Steelers 1-3 Coventry Blaze
Newcastle Vipers 3-4 Cardiff Devils (AOT + Shootout)
Nottingham Panthers 4-1 Belfast Giants

Sunday:

Coventry Blaze 3-5 Nottingham Panthers (Challenge Cup Group Game)
Hull Stingrays 2-3 Belfast Giants
Newcastle Vipers 5-4 Cardiff Devils