New Season
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Phoenix rise for the new season
The hockey season finally dawned this weekend, to the excitement of many Phoenix fans.
The start of the new season, for me, is a chance to catch up with friends I’ve not been able to see for the five months since the play off weekend, all whilst watching the sport I love. This season started with the War of the Roses, a two game affair against the Sheffield Steeldogs. Although it’s billed as a friendly, on this occasion it was anything but, with both teams out to win and take the Rose Bowl trophy home.
Three of us made the journey from Stoke to Sheffield on Saturday, and it felt good to finally be going to a game again, after such a long break. We met up with some other friends in the café area at IceSheffield, and the catching up began in earnest until doors opened and we were able to enter the rink.
The game got underway, and I have to be honest now, our first period was very worrying, with Sheffield getting onto the board after 8 minutes or so, but Phoenix fought back, and managed to bring the first leg to a close with a draw, the scoreboard showing 4-4 at the end of the three periods.
I feel Sheffield is definitely a stronger team than last season, although they are still taking a lot of, frankly daft, penalties, which I think is going to hurt them during the season.
On to Sunday’s game, and I found myself somewhere very familiar. Walking into the Ice Dome, it felt like I’d returned home, back in a place full of wonderful friends and a place that holds some fantastic memories. My friends and I took our seats, and waited for things to get underway. The lights dimmed, the Sheffield team was announced onto the ice, and then the familiar sound of the siren marked the start of the opening sequence, the instrumental version of Nickelback’s “Burn it to the Ground” rang through the building, accompanied by the sound of clapping. One by one, the players came onto the ice, and in a few short minutes, hockey was back in the Dome.
The game was tied from the night before, so we knew this would be a tense one, with everything to play for. Phoenix came out of the blocks like a rocket, playing good solid hockey, but after 20 minutes of action, there were no goals on the board. Things picked up in the 2nd period, with Phoenix going 3-0 up, then Sheffield getting onto the board. Phoenix bagged an empty net goal in the third to wrap up the scoring, and retain the Rose Bowl. The goals came from Faith, Koulikov, Wallace and Spelda. Congratulations in particular to Jaroslav Spelda, who not only picked up a goal in the game, but the news was announced that he became a father on the same day. My many congratulations to him and his family.
My thoughts so far on the team are, that we seem to be gelling very nicely, and with a little more time and a few more games, we’ll see some of our new players really come into their own. Some of our returning players have improved as well, Ben Wood in particular is showing a more physical presence on the ice.
So, the opening weekend is done, and the league campaign kicks off next weekend. I really can’t wait, the season to me is best described as a rollercoaster and we’re now at the start of the ride.
See you round the rink!
Vicki
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-3 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-5 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-4 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-4 |
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| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
2-4 |
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| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|
5-8 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-1 |
||
| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-2 |
||
| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
3-7 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|
- 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
