Davies returns to complete Stingrays

British forward Matty Davies has today returned to complete the Excel Hull Stingrays line-up for the 11/12 Elite League campaign, despite sensationally quitting the club midway through a fixture against Edinburgh last season.

The 21 year old started his second season with his hometown club last year in good form - registering 20 points in 34 games - however his form dipped in December and January and as a result his ice-time diminished.

Naturally frustrated by drop in playing time, it is thought Davies confronted coach Sylvain Cloutier part way through the Rays game against Edinburgh in January, walking out halfway through the 10-2 romp, and he was promptly released for breaching club discipline.

He was quickly replaced by Sheffield Steeldog Andy Hirst before going on to join English Premier League Peterborough Phantoms, where he recorded five goals and 21 points in 19 games. The young Brit now returns to the club with coach Cloutier insisting the issue was resolved nearly as quickly as it arose:

"Everything was resolved the week after he left. Matty knows what he did and has learned his lesson and now he wants to prove himself. He was having a good season last year, and it's too bad the situation happened. But we've moved on."

It is thought he had initially agreed to return to the EPL with the Slough this summer, however, following coach Pete Russell's acrimonious departure from the Jets and with a spot on the Rays roster free following the departure of a number of Brits, including Lee Esders, a surprised Davies jumped at the chance to return. He said:

"I am delighted to be back and am looking forward to the new season. I spoke with Clouts early in the summer and he asked me if I wanted to come back. I did not expect it and I was getting ready to play in the EPL again. But I want to play in the top league and hopefully impress enough to get into the Great Britain squad and you have to play in the Elite League to do that."

Davies has registered 30 points in 88 games in the top flight, all with the Stingrays, but as a relatively small forward has struggled to find consistency over the full season in both of his senior season's in Hull. In 09/10 the Beverley born forward struggled for ice-time after beginning the year as the club's 10th forward but eventually fought his way into the squad in place of Shaun Thompson after an injury to Lee Mitchell handed him an opportunity, going on to register one goal and ten points in 51 games.

To the contrary he began last season as one of the club's most consistent performers, netting points in the majority of the club's games, before that form dramatically fell away in late 2010, in turn leading to the disagreement with Cloutier and his subsequent departure.

Nevertheless, the Rays coach has forgiven and forgotten and will welcome the 21 year old back as his 11th forward and, more than likely, his final major signing of the summer. He said:

"I don’t hold grudges and I believe in giving people second chances. I am really happy to have Matty back. He brings depth to the line-up and brings more offence to the team. He is a local kid and he should be playing for his local team. He was putting up some good numbers for us before he left so he will have something to prove this year. Matty is a great kid, he is a year older and more mature."

After several three-and-a-half years in the EPL - in which he racked up 128 points in 143 games - as well as a season-and-a-half in the EIHL, Davies has proven he can play a valuable role going forward and his signing so late in the summer is another boost to an offensive unit that has gone through a noticeable upgrade this off-season, particularly with British players so scarce.

Davies joins forwards Tristan Cameron-Harper, Ryan Lake, Jack Watkins and Bobby Chamberlain on a brand new and fairly inexperienced but youthful British forward line-up.

Those five are effectively vying for two roster spots and with a number of two-way players also likely to be thrown into the mix before the beginning of the campaign, the Rays boss has a good problem on his hands heading into pre-season and training camp.

The Rays begin their longest ever pre-season with a home and away challenge double header against the Coventry Blaze on 27 and 28 August, before taking on Tilburg Trappers, Geleen Eaters and Sheffield Steeldogs, ahead of their sixth season in the EIHL which commences on Friday 9 September in Belfast and continues on Sunday 11 September in Hull with a fixture against Yorkshire rivals the Sheffield Steelers.

Jeff 'Mr Hull Stingrays' Glowa departs after six years

Jeff Glowa, the Excel Hull Stingrays club captain, fan favourite and all time leading goal and pointscorer, has officially left the club and joined English Premier League club Peterborough Phantoms, where former Stingrays netminder Curtis Cruickshank was recently appointed head coach.


The 34 year old, who is three years older than his new coach, leaves the Stingrays on good terms after racking up a club record 294 league appearances in which he registered 136 goals, 169 assists and 305 points.

He joined the club in 04/05, in what would be the final year of the British National League, after seasons in the Central Hockey League, World Hockey Association 2 and German Oberliga, and he immediately clicked with both fans and former team mate Dru Burgess as well as impressive new line mate Scott Wray helping the Stingrays to their best ever start to a season. 


Unfortunately, like many players before and since, Wray controversially quit the team for debatable reasons and the wheels came off the wagon as the Rays title hopes fell off towards the end of the season, however, Glowa remained loyal to the team, as he did for the next five years, eventually hitting 35 points in 33 games.


The Rays and new captain Glowa were forced into the EPL, the league he will be joining next season, for just a year in 05/06 and the Calgary born forward excelled, as it is expected he will do next year, scoring 40 goals and adding 35 assists in 46 games as the Rays fell short in both the league and playoffs.


While the team fell short of expectations in both of his opening seasons, Glowa's commitment, never say die attitude and point scoring ability remained, making him particularly popular with the Hull Arena faithful.


Despite his obvious ability, Glowa seemed to systematically re-sign in Hull year-on-year in spite of offers elsewhere and in the hope that better things were around the corner.


Four seasons, 215 games and 195 points in the EIHL later and all Glowa would have to show for his time in Hull would be a Yorkshire Cup victory over the Sheffield Steelers and a memorable pre-season P&O Cup victory over Tilburg and Nottingham. He would register a multi point night on the penultimate night of the season, hitting two goals and two assists in the comprehensive win over Newcastle, and he would follow that up by scoring his final goal for the Rays in the final game of the regular season, a 3-2 loss to Cardiff.


The most impressive thing about Glowa's time in the Elite League with the Rays is not his 31 goals in 54 games in 08/09, although that in itself is an incredible feat considering he was consistently in a bottom two side, but the fact that he missed just one single league game in four years. That, taking into account the Stingrays chronic injury problems since their move from the EPL and Glowa's natural style of play, which works on the motto "leave it all out on the ice", is a miracle and a testament to the man himself. A captain for five of his six years, he is Mr Hull Stingrays.


For whatever reason, be it the supposed lighter workload of the semi-professional English Premier League for an aging player, a lack of contract offer from the Rays and Sylvain Cloutier, the chance to win in the EPL or a great offer from former teammate Cruickshank, the clubs greatest player, in all senses of the word, will now depart for pastures new.


It is somewhat comforting that he departed at the same high level of play that he spent all his years with the Rays playing at, and that in no way did his play noticeably deteriorate to the point that fans did not appreciate the considerable time, effort and ability that he put into the club.

He will now link up with both Cruickshank and James Hutchinson, who returned to Peterborough from Hull after a tough time in the EIHL last year, and it is hoped, by many fans, that a pre-season game between the clubs can be set up so they can give Glowa the send off he deserves.


Of course, for that to happen the Stingrays have to make it to the start line in the first place. Rumours have quickly spread that the teams main sponsor Excel Laminating, who have been the club since their year of inception, have withdrawn their sponsorship of the club, thought to be around £50,000 a year. 


That is the suggested reason for the lack of news or player announcements from the club with any potential new title or main sponsor, if there are any in the offing, likely to want to their investment to be maximised via publicity of the club and signings. All will be revealed with Mike Pack promising to the Hull Daily Mail that "things will become clearer tonight" at the Stingrays fans forum (7.30pm), stay tuned.

CONFIRMED: Hutchinson returns to Peterborough

As speculated just a couple of hours ago 26 year old British defenceman James Hutchinson has agreed to return to his former side the Peterborough Phantoms of the English Premier League under new coach and former Excel Hull Stingrays netminder Curtis Cruickshank after a difficult 09/10 season in Hull in which he recorded just four points.

Departures continue

 

Following the surprise departure of player-assistant coach Curtis Huppe last month comes the somewhat less surprising confirmation that tough guy Adam Knight and British defenceman James Hutchinson have both played their final games for the Excel Hull Stingrays.

The pair, both expected to leave the Hull Arena this summer after just a season with the club, have been confirmed by their respective agents as returning to the leagues they joined the Stingrays from last summer.

In his sophomore season in Hull Knight hit professional career best figures, scoring seven times, adding 13 assists and 131 penalty minutes while emerging as a true fans favourite, particularly following tussles with the likes of Sean McMorrow and Brad Voth.

However, the 29 year old, who is not thought to have been offered a deal to return to Hull, will rejoin the CHL where he joined the Stingrays from last summer and where he is likely to be relied on more for his on-ice presence than the offensive numbers which coach Sylvain Cloutier and the EIHL on the whole require from non-British players. He will return to the CHL with an, as yet, unnamed team, where last time out he recorded two goals and two assists in over 50 games with Colorado and New Mexico, following a season in Hull in which he likely doubled his time on the ice during each game and improved as a player as a result.

Meanwhile, Hutchinson will return to the English Premier League (EPL) after a wholly disappointing spell at the Hull Arena. Big things were expected of 'Hutch' after he played a massive part in Peterborough's EPL championship winning side of 08/09, in which he contributed a huge 58 points in 54 games from the blueline, however, for whatever reason, be it the higher standard of competition or the Stingrays struggles, he neither troubled the scorers nor provided Cloutier with the defensive solidity required and like Knight, he was an unlikely returnee.

The favoured destination for the 26 year old North East native seems to be a return to Peterborough in an attempt to reignite the success of 08/09 under former Stingrays netminder Curtis Cruickshank, who has recently been named head coach of the Cambridgeshire based side.

While the Stingrays off-season news has so far been confined to the assumed return of coach Cloutier and Stephen Burns for the second year of their two year contracts, unlike messr Huppe, the rumoured re-signing of the better part of last seasons squad including Lee Mitchell, Craig Mitchell and Konstantin Kalmikov will likely come within the next week or two as Cloutier looks to build a squad capable of challenging and, at least, making the playoffs come April 2011.

Phantoms hold Rays to draw

The Excel Hull Stingrays were tonight held to a 5-5 draw against the English Premier League's Peterborough Phantoms, who last season swept the EPL's three trophies, in a one off challenge match in Peterborough.

The Stingrays, who tied the game late on, via a Shaun Thompson shorthanded goal, outshot the Phantoms 48-32 but could not find a way past netminder Wall in the final two periods to squeeze out a win.

The Rays found themselves 3-0 down after the first period but, after some, likely, stern words from Sylvain Cloutier in the first intermission, they pulled the Phantoms lead back to 4-3 at the end of the second, thanks to Jeff Glowa and a double from Curtis Huppe.

Without Matt Reynolds, Lee Mitchell, Konstantin Kalmikov, Slava Koulikov and first choice netminder Tommy Sandahl, the Stingrays finally managed to level the scores in the final minute through Thompson after coach Sylvain Cloutier had bagged his first in a Stingrays jersey, restoring some of the pride in what could have been a somewhat embarrassing loss.

Cloutier's Comments

"I was happy with the second 40 minutes. We were three down in the first but Andy settled down after that and played well.

"The young guys came in and did a great job. They had a chance to skate with us and they worked hard but I had to cut the bench to get us back in the game and it was a shame I couldn't throw them in more. But now we will prepare for a tough weekend against Cardiff."

9th September Midweek Preview

V

Wednesday 9th September: Peterborough Phantoms v Excel Hull Stingrays @ Planet Ice Peterborough, F/O 8pm

Form
Stingrays: W W W L
Peterborough: First game

Last 3 Meetings
v Peterborough
20/11/05 2-1 W A
11/02/06 3-1 W H
26/02/06 2-1 L A

Players to Watch
Stingrays- Stephen Burns: The defenceman has so far proved to be a sound summer acquisition by coach Sylvain Cloutier, with his best performance so far coming in the Rays solid defensive performance against an explosive Belfast offence. After showing brilliant vision and passing ability to pick out Jeff Glowa for his first point as a Stingray, it seems that there may be much more to come from the Canadian.

Peterborough- Maris Ziedens: Latvian Ziedens moved to North America as a youngster to progress his career in hockey and that helped him to five seasons split between the ECHL and UHL. Five appearances and one goal for Latvia at the 2006 Olympic Games in Torino, show that he could ply his trade at a higher level if he so desired. However, after a treble winning season last year, in which he bagged 34 goals and 79 points in 54 games, he is back for another run at the EPL and will be a big threat against the Stingrays.

Between the Pipes
Stingrays- Andrew Jaszczyk: The 20 year old will be handed his first appearance of season against the Phantoms after seeing Tommy Sandahl shut out fellow EPL side, the Sheffield Scimitars, in the Rays pre-season opener at the end of August. It will give coach Sylvain Cloutier a first opportunity to see his new backup in a game situation after the Brit recorded a 82% save percentage in 11 league appearances last season.

Peterborough- Stephen Wall: Wall backstopped the Phantoms to a clean sweep of the EPL trophies last season with a 91.7 save percentage and 2.95 goals against average. In helping Peterborough do the treble, he also earned deserved call ups to the Elite League with Basingstoke and Manchester, so should pose difficult opposition for the Rays, so far, relatively goal shy offence.

Absentees
Stingrays: Lee Mitchell (knee), Slava Koulikov
Peterborough: Brent Gough (doubt)

News
- After an incredibly successful treble campaign last year under Colin Patterson, this game will be the Phantoms first game under new head coach Doug Irwin, who comes in after spells as coach in Italy's second tier, with Eppan and Gherdeina, and German's third tier, with Bayreuth.

- As well as starting backup Andrew Jazscyzk in net, the Stingrays will hand debuts to youngsters Ben Lowe, Jamie Cobley, Kieran Beach and Dan Sayer from the Kingston Jets.

- James Hutchinson will return to his former club for the first time. The North-East native, who has impressed in Stingrays colours so far, had a 58 point season from defence last year, topping his three year point tally with the club at 143 points in 127 games

What the Coaches say...
Cloutier (Stingrays)

"It's a good chance for Andy to showcase himself. He wants to be a number one goalie one day and he now has a chance to show what he can do. He faces some good shooters in practice and he works hard in training. This is his reward for that and it's a chance for him to show me what he has got in case we need him."

Doug Irwin (Phantoms)

"It is a tough start for us against Hull but I am happy that in guys like Lewis Buckman, Joe Miller and Dwayne Newman I have the leaders on the ice that are needed to be successful. The result is not the most important thing tonight but I want to see maximum commitment from my players. If I get that I will be a happy man."

Predictions
Peterborough 2-4 Stingrays

Rays to face EPL treble winners Peterborough

The Peterborough Phantoms have announced that they will ice against the Excel Hull Stingrays in a challenge match on Wednesday 9 September, with face-off at 8pm, as part of both sides early season preparations.

The Phantoms, who last season won the treble in the English Premier League, the second tier of British ice hockey, will ice against a Stingrays side that will be just one game into their Elite League schedule following their season opener at home to the Belfast Giants on Sunday 6 September.

This game will mark the first time the teams have met since the 05/06 EPL season, which the Rays entered following the demise of the British National League. During that season the two sides met four times, with the Stingrays coming away unbeaten and victorious in three.

New Stingrays defenceman James Hutchinson will make a swift return to his former club after the joining the club this pre-season following a 73 game, two year stint with the Phantoms, where he won four trophies, including three last term.

Meanwhile, the Rays pre-season tournament, that is set for August Bank Holiday (29th-31st) and will include the Stingrays, Elite League rivals Nottingham Panthers and Dutch side Tillburg Trappers, has been sponsored by P&O ferries and named the P&O Channel Cup.

Hutchinson bolsters Stingrays defence

The Excel Hull Stingrays today bolstered their defence with the signing of a British offensive defenceman in James Hutchinson, who becomes Sylvain Cloutier's fifth British signing of the off season.

The 25 year old has experience of the Elite League with spells in Nottingham, Manchester and Basingstoke as well as a season in France with Morzine-Avoriaz, whilst last season he led the English Premier League in defensive scoring with 10 goals and 48 assists as the Peterborough Phantoms did the treble.

A offensive defenceman that has recently come into his own in a three year spell in Peterborough, his reliability in all situations is what has seen him move a considerable amount in his career, from the Isle of Wight and Basingstoke to Dundee and Morzine in the French alps, next season he will play an important role in the Stingrays defence.

Last season's treble capped a three year stint in Peterborough where he finished with 143 points in 127 games and cemented himself as one of the top defenceman in the EPL. Now, after a host of offers, he will now attempt to crack the Elite League for a third, and most likely final time with the Stingrays.

Understandably, 5'11 Hutchinson is excited to be part of a new era in Hull, especially after ending his time in Peterborough on such a high, lifting the EPL Playoff Trophy in Coventry.

"I have had three of the best years of my career at Peterborough but I felt if ever there was a time to move on it was now. I can’t wait to get started. I am going to be part of a new set-up in Hull and Clouts [Sylvain Cloutier] is putting together a team which is going to be competing every night against the big teams in the league. It is going to be a challenge but if you didn't want a challenge then why bother playing? There are exciting times ahead in Hull."

Stingrays coach Cloutier, the man that is the catalyst of the buzz around the all new Stingrays, believes that Hutchinson will become an integral part of the team and is delighted with the signing of the defenceman, who chose the team over a number of other sides.

"I know a lot of teams were after him so I am extremely pleased he came to us. He was one of the better defencemen in the EPL so he is a great catch for our club. He will definitely be brimming with confidence at the start of the season.

"He is one of the players I really wanted from the start. The experience he has had in the Elite League will definitely help him. His first time around he didn't get much ice time but with us he will be given a chance to run one of our powerplay units therefore getting a lot of ice time which will showcase his offensive talent."

With 53 Elite League games under his belt, the North East native is no stranger to top level ice hockey but with the relatively inexperienced Craig Mitchell and Adam Knight as two of his three defensive partners thus far, he will be expected to bring a level of solidity to the Rays D alongside Pavel Gomenyuk.

Photos Courtesy: Peterborough Phantoms