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An evening of introductions
Photograph copyright of Richard Allan.
After the weekend’s games, Monday 19th September saw Manchester Phoenix host their yearly “Meet the Players” event. This is an evening where the team is formally introduced to the fans, and then there is a chance to chat to the players, get pictures taken and get autographs.
Before the main event however, I was fortunate to be able to attend a press conference, as a representative of British Ice Hockey. This was a player press call, and after a brief introduction of the assembled players from club media officer Jim Piper, questions were taken from the floor.
This gave a real insight into how the squad was put together and the goals the team has for this season. When asked how confident he was of defending the League title, Coach Tony Hand had this to say, “I think we’ve got a good team, I’m pretty confident but I don’t want to make predictions because I think it puts too much pressure on the team to say yeah, we’re gonna win it, that’s crazy. But I definitely think we’re going to be in the running for it.” It’s great to see that we’re not putting pressure on the team, instead keeping a calm, level headed approach and taking it a game at a time, as we did last season.
Tony then went on to discuss the roles of the new signings. Each player has a clearly defined role and this can only add to the strength of the team. The younger British players we’ve signed will be able to gain more experience, due to an increase in ice time, and our imports have been selected on their offensive and defensive strengths. It’s clear that the process of putting the team together was a difficult one, but looking at the games this past weekend, we will have a very competitive team once everyone has gelled.
After a few more questions there was the chance for one on one interviews with the players. I was very fortunate to be able to have a chat with Ryan Johnson, who has returned to Manchester after a season with our rivals from over the Pennines, the Steeldogs. I first asked Ryan how it felt to be back in Manchester after a season away? His answer was that, “In my first season here, I already knew some of the guys, so it was a really relaxed atmosphere. Coming back, I again know some of the other guys, so there’s still a really relaxed atmosphere. There’s a lot of trust as well, and the chemistry is already building.” I then asked how that chemistry comes about, “Well, obviously you’ve got guys sharing apartments, and working together in training, but a few of us go out together a lot, just out for dinner and shopping around the Trafford Centre. It’s that sort of thing that helps build chemistry between people.”
When asked what his personal goals were for the season, he replied, “Well, as a defensman my main goal is to stop the other team scoring, I’m a physical player so I’m not afraid to hit someone to separate them from the puck, or go down to block shots, so it’s just using those skills and building on them that are my goals really.”
When asked which games he was looking forward to this year, Ryan responded, “Definitely the games against Sheffield, they’re just full of passion, but I look forward to the challenging games, the ones against Milton Keynes, Guildford, those sorts of teams.” I then went on to ask who he thought the strong teams were this season, to which he said, “I think we’re up there, and again I think it’s going to teams like Milton Keynes, Guildford and Slough that are up there and challenging for the top spots. I think Sheffield are stronger this season, but I don’t think they’re going to be in the top four. Teams like Telford and Peterborough are going to struggle I think, although the weaker teams from last season have worked on becoming stronger over the summer, so it’s too early to tell really.”
I asked Ryan if there were any rinks that were particularly hard to play at, and he said, “It’s the rinks like Peterborough, because it’s an older building. The older rinks have boards that don’t give as much, so when you go into them, you know about it.”
I finally asked about the fans’ response to his return to Manchester. “The fans have been great. I think Manchester has the best fans in this league, possibly even the country, including the Elite league. They’re just so passionate. When the team came to Sheffield last season and the away support was cheering louder than our own fans, that was amazing.”
After the press conference, it was time for the main Meet the Players event. 300 Phoenix fans packed into the Cresta Court Hotel to be formally introduced to the players, Pete Hagan leading proceedings, with the help of Neil Morris and Tony Hand. The players were introduced in shirt number order, and asked several questions, about what their role this season will be, whether they’ve picked up any nicknames yet and about what they did over the summer break. Although the questions were asked in the hope of gaining some funny stories, it seems all our players have had very sedate, relaxed summers, and there aren’t really any nicknames as of yet, although Slava Koulikov has gained the nickname of “Dave”. After a few questions from the assembled audience, everyone began to mingle, chat, take photos and generally enjoy themselves.
A very enjoyable evening, and I’m now ready and waiting for the next home game on Sunday, when Phoenix play host to the Basingstoke Bison.
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4-4 |
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2-4 |
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| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
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5-8 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
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4-1 |
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5-2 |
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3-7 |
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1-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
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- Adam Walker
- Alex Birch
- Andy Pierce
- Chris Gent
- Christopher Beal
- Craig Simpson
- Dave Simms
- Elliott Stanley
- Gareth Chalmers
- James Broughton
- James Gordon
- Katy Madgwick
- Luke Catterson
- Mark Briggs
- Mark Duell
- Mat Young
- Patrick Smyth
- Promotion
- Russ Morrell
- Seanna Murdock
- Stephen Dowson
- Stewart Roberts
- Tom Forster
- Vicki Smart
- William Lyon
