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