ENL Coventry Blaze 8 Solihull Barons 4

23/02/2008

ENL Blaze finish season on a high.

A large contingent of travelling fans swelled the crowd for what was the final game of the Blaze’s inaugural season.  The Blaze were comfortably placed mid table, the opposition were a couple of places below them.  With little at stake this game could have been a ‘dead rubber’ but the keen local rivalry between the clubs ensured that both sets of players were determined to grab the bragging rights from this contest. 

From the drop the puck was hit towards the Blaze end of the ice.  Starting netminder Dan Shea collected it and fed it out to Kieran Papps.  A flick to Chris Wilcox and then a pass to the blue line saw it taken into the Barons’ zone by Josh Bruce.  Finding himself in space he hit a lazy shot towards goal which the Solihull netminder seemed to completely mis-read and allowed to pass him by.  1-0 to the Blaze after only 21 seconds!  Blaze pressed their advantage and went two up after just 67 seconds.  This time it was Captain Aram Todd who lit the lamps with a slap shot from the middle of the blue line after being put through by Ian Hunt.  Shortly afterwards Blaze got their first powerplay of the game and laid siege to the Barons’ net.  Several Blaze players having attempts on goal but only Chris Wilcox managing to get any on target; netminder Elliot Foley gloving his first effort and parrying away his second.  Back to even strength and it was still the Blaze getting the lion’s share of the possession.  Foley was called upon again to deny Papps with a pad save in the 6th minute.  Blaze gained the man advantage again on 6.08 but once again a combination of the netminder’s skill and inaccurate shooting kept the scoreline unchanged.  Blaze ran into penalty trouble of their own at 7.12 with Ian Hunt sent to the box on an interference minor.  However being a man short didn’t seem to be a problem as Josh Bruce, Scott Mulholland and Luke Curtis all pulled saves out of the Solihull netminder.  Barons managed the occasional attack but were unable to trouble Dan Shea.  At the other end however Foley was being kept alert, as the Bruce, Todd and Henry line circulated the puck round the Barons’ zone to open up shooting chances.  At 13.15 the Blaze made it 3-0 as a shot from the hash marks from Hunt crept under Foley’s pads, before the Barons’ ‘D’ could react Todd raced in to tap it over the line.  Blaze continued to pepper the Barons goal at every opportunity.  Bruce shooting across the face of goal and Selwood being frustrated by Foley after being set up with a deft drop pass by Ledgard.  Blaze were on the powerplay again at 14.50 when Coventry made it 4-0.  A through pass from Wilcox put Joe Henry away and clear, he took it in close before placing his wrist shot just under the crossbar.  Blaze made it a handful on 16.16 as Foley managed to get in the way of a Wilcox slap shot only for the rebound to go straight to the stick of Halford, the tall Blaze forward lifting the puck over the prone goalie from close in.  Blaze found themselves on the powerplay again before the interval buzzer but were unable to capitalise despite the best efforts of Luke Curtis.

The Barons were still a man short at the start of the second and Blaze nearly made it six as Foley fumbled a Henry shot but managed to keep hold of the Bruce follow up. Once they were back on even strength the Barons started to attack.  Their increased effort was rewarded on 21.27 as Andrew Ayers beat Shea with a shot from the right wing after a move involving Rob Eley and Phil Knight.  Coach Darren Bellerby’s words in the break must have had an effect because the Barons began to get more of the game as they kept the Blaze pegged back in their own zone for prolonged periods and started to make Dan Shea earn his corn.  Blaze saw off a Wilcox kneeing penalty at 23.10 and they had only been back to 5 skaters for 2 seconds when Matthew Halford was adjudged a 2 minute minor for hooking.  The Barons used the extra man to attack but it was the Blaze who scored as Joe Henry took the puck in close before hitting it home whilst spinning round on the spot just in front of the crease.  But before Wilcox could return to the ice the Barons got their second as a Phil Knight shot from the right flew low past the Blaze netminder.  A Barons-Blaze game wouldn’t be the same without a contribution from Stephen Doyle and this one was to be no exception.  The former Blaze player being sent to the box with a 2+2 attempted butt ending call and then getting an extra 10 minutes for good measure following a stick against Plexiglas tantrum!  Despite having 4 minutes of powerplay the Blaze were unable to add to their score, the best effort being an Ollie Nabbs shot from the blue line.  At 32.27 Shea came in for a rest and Blaze netminding duties were taken up by Hayden Laverick.  Luke Curtis looked away and clear on 33.31 but was brought down with a hook from Phil Lee, however Blaze could not get anything from the powerplay.  The remainder of the period saw virtually no 5 on 5 hockey as both teams in turn lost players to the penalty box but neither could make any difference to the score.

The Blaze looked to have a comfortable lead but the Barons had saved their best hockey for the final period.  They were killing a Connor Hubbuck penalty when in the space of 40 seconds they scored two short handed goals to get themselves back in the game.  The first being a Dale White breakaway which saw him going one on one with Laverick before finishing with a wrist shot high to the goalies’ left.  Before the crowd could get its breath Andrew Howarth pulled another back with a long shot that eluded the Blaze keeper.  This put new heart into the Barons and they continued to press the Blaze.  Joe Henry went to the box on 49.13 and the Barons strove to take advantage but before they could get another goal Andrew Howarth evened up the numbers by taking umbrage at an unpunished foul and getting called for roughing.  With the teams 4 on 4 it was Kieran Papps who steadied the Blaze ship by driving the puck past Foley after being given space for the slap shot with a drop pass from Matt Halford.  The Barons’ fight back petered out and the Blaze scored their eighth and final goal on 54.04 on a 5 on 3 powerplay with a Joe Henry slap shot from the far side of the left hand face off circle. 

On the final buzzer the crowd stood and applauded both teams for an entertaining game of hockey.

Man of the Match awards went to Dale White for the Barons and Captain Aram Todd for the Blaze.

Stats:

Blaze:
Joe Henry 3+0
Aram Todd 2+0
Josh Bruce 1+1
Matt Halford 1+1
Kieran Papps 1+1
Chris Wilcox 0+4
Tom Pease 0+3
Ian Hunt 0+2


Dan Shea 32.27 mins  2/14  85.7%
Hayden Laverick  27.33 mins  2/11 81.8%

PiMs 16

Barons:
Andrew Ayers 1+1
Phil Knight 1+1
Andrew Howarth 1+0
Dale White 1+0
Neil Adams 0+1
Rob Eley 0+1

Elliot Foley 60 mins  8/41 80.5%

PiMs  34

Match report - Carl Smith
Image - Mark Tredgold