Normal service resume despite Kalmikov double as Steelers take two points

Sheffield Steelers 6-2 Excel Hull Stingrays

Stingrays put out the Blaze to break season long drought

Excel Hull Stingrays 2-1 Coventry Blaze

27th/28th February Weekend Preview

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Saturday 27th February: Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) v Coventry Blaze (1st) @ Hull Arena F/O 6pm
Sunday 28th February: Sheffield Steelers (6th) v Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) @ Sheffield Arena F/O 6pm

Form
Stingrays: L L L W L
Coventry: L W L L W
Sheffield: W L L L W

Last 3 Meetings
v Coventry
16/01/10 4-5 L H
17/01/10 5-3 L A
31/01/10 6-1 L H

v Sheffield
05/12/09 1-5 L H
24/01/10 2-5 W A
21/02/10 3-2 W H

Season Series
v Coventry: 0-8, 0 points, 17GF, 42GA
v Sheffield: 2-3, 2 points, 11GF, 17GA

Players to Watch
Stingrays: Lee Mitchell
Coventry: Dan Carlson
Sheffield: Mike Sgroi

Between the Pipes
Stingrays: Martins Raitums
Coventry: Peter Hirsch
Sheffield: Andrew Verner

Absentees
Stingrays: Aivars Gaisins (broken hand)
Coventry: Adam Calder (knee)
Sheffield: Full Strength

Predictions
Stingrays 2-3 Coventry
Sheffield 1-3 Stingrays

Stingrays fall in OT

Edinburgh Capitals 5-4 Excel Hull Stingrays (After overtime)

Shootout win makes it two in two for Stingrays over Steelers

Excel Hull Stingrays 3-2 Sheffield Steelers (After penalty shots)

Vipers come back from four down to snatch victory

Newcastle Vipers 5-4 Excel Hull Stingrays (After Shootout)

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Saturday 20th February: Newcastle Vipers (7th) v Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) @ Whitley Bay F/O 6.30pm
Sunday 21st February: Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) v Sheffield Steelers (6th) @ Hull Arena F/O 6pm

Form
Stingrays: L L W L L
Newcastle: W L L L W
Sheffield: W W L W L

Last 3 Meetings
v Newcastle
03/01/10 5-3 W H
09/01/10 5-2 L A
07/02/10 5-3 W H

v Sheffield
21/11/09 4-1 L A
05/12/09 1-5 L H
24/01/10 2-5 W A

Season Series
v Newcastle: 2-2, 4 points, 13 GF, 13 GA
v Sheffield: 1-3, 2 points, 5 GF, 18 GA

Players to Watch
Stingrays: Pavel Gomenyuk (29GP 4+13 69PIM)
Newcastle: Jerrmaine Domish (44GP 3+17 44PIM)
Sheffield: Mike Sgroi (9GP 2+5 29PIM)

Between the Pipes
Stingrays: Martins Raitums (9GP 3.67GAA 90.2sv.%)
Newcastle: Michel Robinson (32GP 3.66GAA 91sv.%)
Sheffield: Andrew Verner (36GP 2.72GAA 90sv.%)

Absentees
Stingrays: Aivars Gasins (broken hand)
Newcastle: David Longstaff (knee), Dean Holland (knee)
Sheffield: Full Strength

Predictions
Newcastle 3-4 Stingrays
Stingrays 3-4 Sheffield

Match Highlights: Excel Hull Stingrays 2-3 Cardiff Devils

Devils romp to win over Rays

Cardiff Devils 7-0 Excel Hull Stingrays

The Cardiff Devils completed a clean sweep over the Excel Hull Stingrays on Sunday with a comprehensive 7-0 victory in another heated affair to add to a tight 3-2 win at the Hull Arena on Saturday night

The Devils opened their account after just 16 seconds thanks to defenceman Wes Jarvis, however, they did not add to their tally until Matt Miller's 36th minute strike. The Welsh side went on the offensive from there until the end of the third and five more goals including strikes from Jay Latulippe, Ryan Finnerty and Max Birbraer as well as second goals of the night for Miller and Jarvis sealed the victory.

The Stingrays, who endured 12 penalty kills, allowing three goals, were forced to pull Martins Raitums from the goal amid the six goal blitz from the home side after Matt Miller collided with the keeper, however, tests have shown that there is no lasting damage to the Latvian.

SOG: 45-18
PIM: 25-39

Stingrays lose out in 3-2 reverse

Excel Hull Stingrays 2-3 Cardiff Devils

The Excel Hull Stingrays ultimately paid for their indiscipline against the Cardiff Devils tonight at the Hull Arena as the Devils gained revenge for a tight 3-2 loss a fortnight ago with a 3-2 win of their own.

In-form Curtis Huppe opened the scoring on the powerplay for the Rays after eight minutes only for Max Birbraer, fresh from a one-game ban after his hit on Jeff Glowa two weeks ago, to level the scores little over a minute later.

Crucially, Gerard Adams side then netted twice in 24 seconds from Matt Miller and Ben Davies to give the Devils a 3-1 lead.

Former Devil Jason Silverthorn then pulled one back for the Rays on the powerplay in the 34th minute, however, the home side could not pull it back with a series of third period penalties, including a two-plus-ten call on Lee Mitchell for checking from behind, killing off the game.

SOG: 36-46
PIM: 28-14

13th/14th Weekend Preview

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Saturday 13th February: Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) v Cardiff Devils (4th) @ Hull Arena F/O 5.30pm
Sunday 14th February: Cardiff Devils (4th) v Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) @ Cardiff Bay Ice Rink F/O 6pm

Form
Stingrays: W L L L W
Cardiff: L L W L L

Last 3 Meetings
v Cardiff
22/11/09 5-1 L A
19/12/09 6-0 L A
30/01/10 2-1 W H

Season Series
v Cardiff: 2-5, 4 points, 15 GF, 30 GA

Players to Watch
Stingrays: Curtis Huppe (38GP 12+15 32PIM)
Cardiff: Wes Jarvis (36GP 13+16 51PIM)

Between the Pipes
Stingrays: Martins Raitums (7GP 3.71GAA 89.9sv.%)
Cardiff: Stevie Lyle (48GP 2.82GAA 90.6sv.%)

Absentees
Stingrays: Aivars Gasins (broken hand)
Cardiff: Ryan Finnerty (suspended)

Predictions
Stingrays 3-2 Cardiff
Cardiff 4-1 Stingrays

Notes
- Scans have revealed that the Stingrays defenceman-turned-forward Aivars Gaisins will have to sit out for at least four weeks after breaking his hand in his second Rays game in Belfast.
- Ben Lowe will play in his first two games as a permanent edition to the Stingrays roster this weekend against Cardiff after being signed to a full contract earlier in the week.

Match Highlights: Excel Hull Stingrays 5-3 Newcastle Vipers

Stingrays get Lowe, Lowe, Lowe, Lowe, Lowe

Sylvain Cloutier has today promoted 19 year old forward Ben Lowe from a two-way contract with the Kingston Jets to a permanent Excel Hull Stingrays contract for the rest of the season.

The youngster, who has been used sparingly in six Rays games so far this season, has spent all season training with both the Stingrays and the English National League Kingston Jets, where he had registered nine goals and seven assists in 17 games.

His signing suggests that Cloutier has admitted defeat in his attempt to sign Sheffield Scimitars forward James Archer on a permanent basis following the Sheffield-born players impressive performances during his five two-way appearances so far this season in which he has netted three goals and an assist.

While Archer will still be on Cloutier's radar for next season, he has now moved on to fill the gap left by Shaun Thompson's departure to Basingstoke with Lowe, who will give the Stingrays some further depth following injury to previous depth signing Aivars Gaisins, who appeared in just two Rays games before breaking his hand in Belfast on Thursday.

Lowe was handed his first real ice time in Sunday's win over Newcastle, after Gaisins injury and illness struck Adam Knight pre-game, and the youngster performed well on a line with fellow Kingston trained youngsters Matty Davies and Lee Esders, perhaps feeling he could have scored his first goal for the club in the second period with a big chance that was saved by Vipers keeper Michel Robinson.

Sylvain Cloutier admitted that he has been improving all year long and that he was pleasantly surprised at the performance of the slight forward agianst the Vipers:

"I am really pleased to have Ben in the line-up for the rest of the season. He has been practicing with us all season and you can see the improvement he has made. He wants to get better and we want to help make him a better player. It's nice to have another local talent in the line-up - you always want to help and make the young local guys into better hockey players.

Ben did a great job against Newcastle. With Knighter [Adam Knight] out he gave us another pair of leg. He could have just sat on the bench but we gave him a chance to see what he could do and he did nothing wrong. he can skate, has some speed and has good hands. He can only get better."

Rays bite back in Cloutier's 1000th

Excel Hull Stingrays 5-3 Newcastle Vipers

The Excel Hull Stingrays bounced back from a demoralising 9-1 loss at the hands of the Nottingham Panthers last night with a 5-3 victory over the Newcastle Vipers tonight in player-coach Sylvain Cloutier's 1000th game as a professional.

The Rays, missing Adam Knight due to a sick bug but plus youngster Ben Lowe, took the lead after just eight minutes as leading scorer Konstantin Kalmikov notched another goal to his tally after Curtis Huppe had worked hard to get to his own rebound. Assistant-player coach Huppe reacted fastest to his initial shot with the puck falling to Ukrainian Kalmikov who fired home from an acute angle.

At this early stage it was clear that the Vipers, with a short bench, had come to shut the Stingrays down while taking their chances at the other end and that is exactly what Vipers forward Nathan Salem did just five minutes after the opening goal with the Brit firing high over the shoulder of Latvian keep Martins Raitums to level the scores.

Jason Silverthorn, who would go on to record four points in this game, replied for the Stingrays two minutes later with a powerplay goal from a hard pass from Kalmikov to restore the lead, however, just two further minutes later a diving Brent Hughes levelled the scores on a delayed penalty to send the sides into the first intermission level.

A meagre second period, in which the sides traded goals from Jermaine Domish, on the powerplay, and Pavel Gomenyuk, who floated a wrist shot past the unsighted Michel Robinson in the Vipers net, ensued before the Rays, determined to get Sylvain Clotuier a win in his 1000th game, finally took a grip against an understrength Vipers side.

With just four defencemen, and with former Stingrays blueliner Ryan Jorde severely limping, the Rays peppered Robinson with 18 third period shots on Robinson while just two were fired the other way on the home goal.

Despite the shot total, the Rays left it late to beat Robinson, Silverthorn the eventual scorer just three minutes from time before Kalmikov added a second of his own with a second left to give Sylvain Cloutier a 5-3 victory on his 1000th professional appearance.

Stingrays Stats
Goalscorers: Silverthorn (2), Kalmikov (2),
Raitums: 18 shots, 3 goals against
SOG: 48-18
PIM: 2-8

Cloutier's Comments:

"Our big line of Silverthorn, Kalmikov and Curtis Huppe all played a great game, the Glowa line had lots of chances too and I thought Ben Lowe played well alongside Matty Davies and Lee Esders. It was a real team effort, you can't ask for any more, especially after Saturday night."

Panthers thrash Stingrays

Nottingham Panthers 9-1 Excel Hull Stingrays

The Nottingham Panthers romped to an easy eight goal victory over Sylvain Cloutier's Excel Hull Stingrays tonight with Great Britain forward David Clarke and former NHLer Cameron Mann helping themselves to a hat-trick of goals.

The home side netted three first period goals from deadly trio Clarke, Cameron Mann and Sean McAslan, including two in the opening four minutes to effectively end the Stingrays chances of victory at the Trent FM Arena.

Marty Gascon then netted before Clarke and McAslan then added their second goals of the night to give Corey Neilson's side a six goal lead.

Lee Mitchell finally got the Stingrays on the board in the 39th minute but the damage was done and further third period goals from Clarke and Mann sealed respective hat-tricks for the pair and a comprehensive 9-1 Nottingham win.

SOG: 39-35
PIM: 20-37

Four goal blitz beats Stingrays

Belfast Giants 4-2 Excel Hull Stingrays

The Excel Hull Stingrays opened up a two goal lead only to see the third placed Belfast Giants hit four straight goals to take home the points at Dundonald tonight.

The Stingrays got an unusually good start on the road, following another bout between Adam Knight and Giants enforcer Sean McMorrow, as two-way signing James Archer, making just his fifth appearance for the team, netted his third goal of the season on the powerplay after just six minutes had elapsed.

Another fight between Pat Bateman and Stingrays defenceman Stephen Burns followed in the first period before Konstantin Kalmikov, the team's leading goalscorer, added another to his season tally just after the first intermission to double the Rays lead at Belfasts second home, Dundonald.

The anticipated Giants comeback then began and steamrolled through the Stingrays, hitting four goals in 24 minutes. Goals from Colin Shields, Graeme Walton, Craig Peacock and Tim Walsh sealed victory for the home side, however, the loss came at a further cost for Sylvain Cloutier's side.

Aivars Gaisins, icing in just his second game for the Rays, broke his hand after sliding hand-first into the end boards with the Latvian now cruelly expected to miss the rest of the season after being signed less than a week ago.

Cloutier's team now move on to weekend fixtures in Nottingham before returning home for the player-coach's 1000th game as Ryan Jorde makes a return to the Hull Arena with the Newcastle Vipers.

SOG: 49-29

PIM: 14-20

4th/6th/7th Week Preview

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Thursday 4th February: Belfast Giants (3rd) v Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) @ Dundonald Ice Rink F/O 7pm

Saturday 6th February: Nottingham Panthers (2nd) v Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) @ Trent FM Arena F/O 7pm
Sunday 7th February: Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) v Newcastle Vipers (6th) @ Hull Arena F/O 6pm

Form
Stingrays: L W W W L
Belfast: W L L W W
Nottingham: W W L L W
Newcastle: W L L W L

Last 3 Meetings
v Belfast
28/10/09 5-2 L A
29/10/09 3-2 W H
23/01/10 3-2 W H

v Nottingham
20/12/09 5-4 W H
02/01/10 4-1 L A
10/01/09 3-6 L H

v Newcastle
01/11/09 2-1 L A
03/01/10 5-3 W H
09/01/10 5-2 L A

Season Series
v Belfast: 2-3, 4 points, 12 GF, 24 GA
v Nottingham: 1-5, 4 points, 17 GF, 24 GA
v Newcastle: 1-2, 2 points, 8 GF, 10 GA

Players to Watch
Stingrays: Adam Knight (35GP 5+9 118PIM)
Belfast: Craig Peacock (39GP 13+11 28PIM)
Nottingham: Jay Henderson (1GP 1+0 0PIM)
Newcastle: Ryan Jorde (1GP 0+0 0PIM)

Between the Pipes
Stingrays: Martins Raitums (4GP 2.75GAA 93.1sv.%)
Belfast: Stephen Murphy (35GP 2.09GAA 92.6sv.%)
Nottingham: Kevin St-Pierre (42GP 2.88GAA 90.5sv.%)
Newcastle: Michel Robinson (28GP 3.46GAA 91.4sv.%)

Absentees
Stingrays: Jeff Glowa (doubt; concussion)
Belfast: Full Strength
Nottingham: Full Strength
Newcastle: David Longstaff (knee)

Predictions
Belfast 3-4 Stingrays
Nottingham 3-2 Stingrays
Stingrays 5-3 Newcastle

Notes
- Rays coach Sylvain Cloutier is set to ice in his 1000th professional game on Sunday against Newcastle.
- James Archer, on a two-way contract from the Sheffield Scimitars, will ice for the Stingrays in Belfast.
- Aivar Gaisins is set to switch back to his natural position as a defenceman this week after making his Stingrays debut as a forward against Coventry on Sunday
- Nottingham signing former NHLer Jay Henderson will make his home debut against the Stingrays on Sunday.
- Newcastle defenceman Ryan Jorde will face his former side, the Excel Hull Stingrays, for the first time on Sunday after being released earlier in the season.

Sandahl returns to Sweden after unsuccessful Stingrays stint

Former Excel Hull Stingrays netminder Tommy Sandahl has returned to Sweden with Tyringe of the Swedish Division Two following an unsuccessful first stint away from his homeland.

The relatively inexperienced 24 year old was signed by Stingrays coach Sylvain Cloutier in the summer following weeks of scouting by himself and his brother Dan, former NHL keeper stopper.

However, behind an, at times, shaky defence, Swede Sandahl struggled to get to grips with British hockey in his first season abroad and the result was that he won just eight times in four and a half months with the Stingrays.

After posting a 4.24 goals against average and a 89.3% save percentage in 39 games in the Elite League, Cloutier made the tough decision to release Sandahl and bring in Latvian Martins Raitums, who has since gone on to win three of his first four appearances in a Rays jersey.

Meanwhile, Sandahl has now returned to his native Sweden with Tyringe, who play in Division 2, the fourth tier of Swedish ice hockey.

Match Highlights: Excel Hull Stingrays 2-1 Cardiff Devils