Panthers set for Giants visit

The high-octane drama and physicality of ice hockey returns to Britain competitively on Saturday as the Nottingham Panthers host the Belfast Giants at the National Ice Centre. The home side will be looking to give the championship favourites the first test of their title credentials when the Giants cross the water for Saturday’s fixture.

 

Both sides have made multiple changes in personnel over the summer break and it is a first competitive workout for Corey Neilson and Doug Christiansen’s men. The Panthers line up with Craig Kowalski in between the pipes. Michigan-born Kowalski has five seasons shared between the AHL and ECHL on his record, as well as playing in Europe for Italian side Valpellice last season. His opposite number, Stephen Murphy, returns for his second season in goal for the Giants. He had a standout year last campaign, recording the top GAA and save percentage stats in the league. For me, Murphy is the key to Belfast’s season – if he has a repeat of last year, they have a huge chance of winning the league.

 

The Giants have a new look defensive corpse: Jon Gleed looks to lead the line on the back of a 74-game strong season for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL. He is joined by AHL heavyweight Mike Hoffman and the speedy Rich Seeley. Jeff Mason and the returning duo of Tim Cook and Graeme Walton complete the defensive line-up. Corey Neilson’s ever exciting and attractive offensive style seems to be at the forefront of Nottingham’s roster once again with little thought for defence.  New recruit Jonathan Zion from arch-rivals Sheffield only ever had offense on his mind when he joined the Panthers’ M1 rivals at the back end of last season as he quarterbacked the team. This quarterbacking role is similar to that of Neilson himself, who also prefers to get forward into the neutral and offensive zones than stay in his defensive zone.

 

Neilson and Zion may be lacking in quality in their own zone but are both class acts when getting forward so the Panthers powerplay should be particularly potent. Brits Stephen Lee and captain Danny Meyers are another two defenseman for the Lace City side and are both solid enough but Meyers, especially, is weak in comparison to the stay-at-home defenseman that the Northern Irish boys have in Hoffman, Gleed and Cook. Youngster Lee showed great potential last term and will no doubt continue to grow in confidence and better his playing ability which has already seen him earn a call-up to the international side. French-Canadian Guy Lepine rounds out the Panthers’ D; he is a relative unknown in this country but appears to have some stay-at-home credentials that Nottingham desperately need.

 

If you’re looking for firepower in the forward lines look no further than these two teams. Both have splashed all the cash possible to build up huge amounts of talent and goal-scoring ability for their respective teams. Panthers have star-winger Jade Galbraith and British favourite David Clarke returning to try and carry on where they left off from last season by continuing to bust the opposition net lots. Gritty Jay Henderson also dons the home side’s colours again and he’ll be looking to show his doubters his true credentials, the ones that saw him reach the heights of the NHL previously in his career. MVP of the Elite League two seasons ago, David Beauregard, joins the side as a new recruit; if he can find his form from that prolific year when he played alongside Tony Hand then the Panthers could be in with a shot of success. Young, hungry players complete the line-up: injury-prone Billy Ryan and interestingly-named Dustin Sproat arrive in Robin Hood county along with 6’3 Ian McDonald, who comes straight out of the University of Alberta. However, the largest talking point of the summer still remains to be considered. Alex Penner makes the confines of the National Ice Centre his lair this season as he bids for the title of the league’s most potent enforcer; there is lots of competition for him with big guns Sean McMorrow, Cedric Bernier, Brad Voth and Justin Sawyer around. The Giants’ Mike Hoffman is also present, and the pairing will likely clash in this curtain raiser as has been billed in a marketing ploy by the Panthers organisation.

 

The Giants have their fair share of talent too with last season’s top point scorer Scottish-born Colin Shields leading the line again. Brothers Hemingway are ready to wreak havoc and scorch the twine for the boys from the Emerald Isle. Colin returns to familiar territory in the league as he rejoins Coach Doug Christiansen with whom he played with at his time in Edinburgh a few seasons ago. AHL-experienced centres Josh Prudden and Mike Bayrack will be standing on the blue line for the anthems in Nottingham on Saturday too. Bayrack looked extremely quick and skilful in the Giants first work-out at the Skydome Arena last Wednesday; Prudden also got the game winner in that game. Dan Welch and Mark Garside follow Christiansen from Edinburgh too.

 

Even though it is only the first game of the season on Saturday, both sides want to start their quest for a league title which has eluded them for a while now (Panthers especially) with a good showing. It is sure to be a high-tempo affair with lots of action at both ends with two such offensively-gifted teams. Belfast look to be in better shape though as they have the defensive side of their game to back up the strong offensive threat. However, if Kowalski can out-duel Murphy between the sticks, Panthers could snatch an early victory in a game which can be seen live on Sky Sports. Let the season commence...

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