NZIHL Round 6, July 25 and 26 ? Christchurch
Southern Stampede @ Canterbury Red Devils

Game One ? Saturday Night

New Zealand Ice Hockey?s National League has now passed the halfway point in their winter competition, and Christchurch?s Alpine Ice Sports and Entertainment Centre played host to the two league leaders, unbeaten going into the double-header last weekend.

Canterbury?s Red Devils were the marginal underdogs against Queenstown?s Southern Stampede, who topped the table with seven wins and a draw, while the Devils were on a six game winning streak with two games in hand against their southern rivals.

The game started badly for the home team, when their defensive rush coincided with a poorly timed line change, a quick turnover leading to a four on nil rush by the Stampede, as Canadian import player Joe Bjorkman wristed the puck past netminder Justin Findlay?s glove.

The Devils equalized a few minutes later with yet another short range rebound effort, this time Stefan Speck forcing the puck in with an assist from Loren Nowland.  In a period notable for its high speed and intensity, both teams played disciplined and yet strangely directionless hockey, effective defence closing down attacks from both ends to wrap the period 1 all.

After the first break, the Devils struggled to match the intensity from Queenstown, who wrested the momentum thanks to the Bjorkman brothers, Joe and Brett, who between them scored two quick goals to give Stampede the buffer.  From then on, the Southerners seemed content to play a defensive game, as an increasingly desperate Canterbury tried to find a way past Thomas Gobeil?s glove.  When Chris Eaden scored on the Power Play with a long range slapshot with just over a minute to go, Devils coach Keith Payne inserted James Carr in an effort to try and create some magic, but even with Findlay off the ice for the extra attacker, Stampede?s defence held strong as they ground out the win, snapping the Devils streak at six.

Final Score ? 3-2 to Southern

Game Two ? Sunday Night

Smarting from their first loss this season the night before, Canterbury?s Red Devils were keen to turn the tables on their southern rivals in Game Two of their Home-and-Home in Christchurch last weekend.  In a mini-series that had been billed all week as the clash of the round robin, the Devils and Queenstown?s Southern Stampede game had lived up to expectations when the Stampede drew first blood with a nail-biting one goal win.

Game Two was a very different proposition from the outset, after a bizarre opening stanza saw five goals scored in the first five minutes ? the scorebench barely having time to announce one goal before another was scored.  When the dust had settled, it was the Devils who had their nose in front with two goals from Kyle Papai and one from Paris Heyd, against one each from the Stampede?s Brett Bjorkman and captain Simon Glass.

With both goalies now warmed up, the game settled into a fast-paced rhythm, Canterbury stringing together some great passing plays, but having to remain content with a one goal lead as the teams went to the sheds.

After the break it took only 40 seconds for Canterbury?s Paris Heyd to add the go-ahead goal, although once again the Christchurch youngster was robbed of the point when the match officials mistakenly credited the tally to Kyle Papai.  This was by no means the first time this season that points have been allocated incorrectly, and it seems unfortunate that Heyd in particular seems to have incredibly bad luck in this department, missing out on close to ten points so far this year.  The nature of the goal allows no excuse from the officials either, as Heyd, on a breakaway, faked the goalie with a nice move and slid the puck into the back of the net.

Stampede struck back immediately however, when the Bjorkman brothers, Joe and Brett, forced the turnover deep in the Devils zone and left the puck unattended in the slot for Jamie Moore-Carter to convert with a powerful slapshot.

In a more physical encounter than the previous night, the Stampede chased the equalizer hard, but were caught out on their own man advantage when Canterbury?s powerhouse winger Adam Soffer took an excellent pass from Ryan Paskell and beat Gobeil to get the extra, and shorthanded, tally.

With the Devils protecting their two-goal lead into the final period, both teams began to take penalties, as a number of tussles broke out around the nets.  Linesman Ryan Cairns demonstrated his wrestling skills at one point, while Referee Jerome Raateland was himself felled with a sickening accidental blow from behind, causing some concern as he lay immobile for some time.  After the game, it was joked that Canterbury may have to review the size of their penalty boxes, as some fans were forced to give up their seats as the crowd around the scorebench grew.  When the game eventually restarted, Canterbury?s point-scoring machine Chris Eaden took the opportunity to add another goal to put the result beyond doubt.

Queenstown however weren?t quite prepared to give up just yet, and forced a five on three, despite themselves having a couple of players sitting out misconduct penalties.  
It was, predictably, one of the Bjorkmans who scored, Joe converting the assist from Glass to get within two.

The Devils, a different team from the amateurs of the previous night, kept their focus and pounded Gobeil with shots, once again calling on their attacking depth to wear down the exhausted Stampede.  With pressure coming from all three of their lines, it was somehow fitting that a split line change produced the final goal of the night, when team captain Loren Nowland fed Eaden with less than a minute to go as Canterbury?s final flourish sent the visitors home with much to think about.

Final Score ? 7-4 to Canterbury

NZIHL Round Nine ? August 15 And 16 2009
Alpine Ice Arena, Christchurch
Canterbury Red Devils vs West Auckland Admirals

The Canterbury Red Devils moved to the top of New Zealand Ice Hockey?s National League table after two wins against the West Auckland Admirals last weekend.

The Devils won the first game by 7 to 1, and the second game by 4 to nil the following night.  Goals in the first game were scored by Paris Heyd (2), and one each by Jacques Kemp, Brett Salzl, Ryan Ruddle, Jani Kaszala, and Loren Nowland.  West Auckland?s Gareth McLeish scored the solitary goal for the Admirals.

In Game Two, Canterbury goaltender Vince Mitalas recorded the shutout when he blanked the Admirals, saving his most spectacular save for speedy winger Jeff Bonazzo, who took on Mitalas? glove and lost part way through the second period.

After a nil all first period, the Devils turned up the heat in the second, scoring goals through Dan Nicholls, Salzl, and Hamish Lewis, with Chris Eaden adding the fourth late in the game.

Following the league-wide bye next weekend, during which eight of the Canterbury team will be playing in the two test series between New Zealand and Australia, the Devils need to collect only one more win the following weekend against second-placed Southern Stampede in order to guarantee a home final.

I’ll post all the Devils reports that are either sitting in an Auckland email box or on the cutting room floor.  Craig will send them to me shortly.

Interesting article.  What criteria did they give you for the article?  Curiosity more than anything.

You may want to ask questions before making a statement like that.  Canterbury submits game reports every monday following games.  It’s up to the league to post them, not us.  They have the reports promptly.  They have last weekends reports and still have done nothing with them.  Player hater!

although I haven’t looked at the roster, I think its mainly Newcastle.  A team that’s played 30 games together and will be in form.  The Aus rep players will know eachother.  I think Rubes is the only Sydney Bear without having a close look and some of those guys definately know him. 

World Champs had a training camp.  Thsi hasn’t.  Not trying to be a wet blanket but there hasn’t been any prep for this so I would say Aus will have the team togetherness portion of the comp won.