A Konstantin Kalmikov double helped the Excel Hull Stingrays to just their second ever piece of silverware as they produced a shock 3-2 win over the Nottingham Panthers in the P&O Channel Cup.After the Panthers comprehensive 11-3 victory over Tilburg, a team the Rays beat just 4-3 on Saturday, the Panthers were heavy favourites to win this game, despite it being just their second pre-season game on the year.
A Konstantin Kalmikov backhanded strike, with the Panthers on the man advantage, saw the Rays take a shock lead after just seven minutes, with Nottingham falling behind early for the second consecutive game of the P&O Channel Cup.
They struck back quickly however, thanks to man of the moment Jade Galbraith, who levelled on the powerplay, after a Jeff Glowa roughing penalty, the first of what would turn out to be many heated moments in the match.
Glowa was quickly back in the rough stuff following his costly penalty, this time Nottingham player/assistant coach Bruce Richardson took offence to a trip from the evergreen Stingrays forward and had a few choice words with the Calgary native. The ensuing rough stuff saw all ten players on the ice come together, with Stingray Ryan Jorde and Panther Dominic D'Armour seperating from the group to drop the gloves.
After a flurry of early punches from both sides, D'Armour gained the upper hand as Jorde's shirt was lifted over the Rays defenceman's head, with the Panthers man the eventual victor in a heavyweight bout thanks, in partm, to some bad luck on Jorde's side.
More rough stuff followed with two seconds of the final period remaining, as young British defenceman Craig Mitchell further angered Richardson by a check which sent the experienced Canadian into the Rays goalpost. Things eventually calmed down enough for the first period to end all square at one after an intense first twenty minutes.
The second period saw more of the same, with both sides continuing to chip away whilst playing some fast-paced hockey and with both teams seemingly evenly matched on the ice.
The Panthers had a goal disallowed after 37 minutes as referee Marco Coenen gave a goal that was later ruled by the linesmen to have hit the post and come out, before they finally showed their apparent offensive advantage as they took the lead four minutes into the third period. GB international David Clarke the recipient of a Richardson pass after Craig Mitchell had unluckily trapped his stick between the legs of that man Richardson.
The turning point in the game followed in the 46th minute as the Panthers, who began the game with nine imports after Kevin Bergin injured an ankle against Tilburg, lost key forward Cameron Mann for spearing (5+Game) following a scuffle at the Panthers bench. The roughing at the bench, instigated by Richardson and a number of the Stingrays, also saw Jade Galbraith and Adam Knight receive fighting penalties for a fight which, apparently, very few people actually saw.
Nevertheless, that rough stuff gave the Rays a five minute powerplay, which, although they did not convert on, tired the Panthers already fatigued legs. Galbraith returned after his penalty only to see the referees arm aloft again for a penalty against him, this time for delay of game.
The Rays would not, and did not, fail to convert this time, as a visibly relieved Curtis Huppe, who had looked thoroughly frustrated by his lack of goals in pre-season, ended his goalscoring drought (if you can call two and a bit games a drought) by scrambling home his first goal for the Stingrays on the powerplay.
With the tide, and atmosphere, well and truly on the Stingrays side, and with the Panthers tiring, they pushed forward for the winner.
That winner, once again, came from the stick of Ukrainian Kalmikov, who claimed his third goal in two games, sending the Hull Arena into a frenzy, and giving the Stingrays an ideal start to the season. Three wins in three and their first trophy since their two-legged Yorkshire Cup victory over the Sheffield Steelers in 06/07, Hull Arena rocked for the first time in years.
Stingray Stats
Kalmikov 2+0, Huppe 1+0, Glowa 0+2, Reynolds and Gomenyuk 0+1.
Sandahl: 33 shots/2 goals
Best Parts
The atmosphere in the Hull Arena back to its best, all of the Rays putting their bodies on the line in a pre-season game, the Stingrays players celebrating as though it really meant as much to them as it did to fans, Konstantin Kalmikov's shorthanded goal, relief as Curtis Huppe finally got off the mark.
Worst Parts
That this game was just a pre-season fixture and not the beginning of the league campaign.
F Block Blog MOM
Stingrays: Konstantin Kalmikov (2+0) Once again the former Panther came up trumps against his former side, this time chipping in with two goals and a worthy man of the match performance. The Ukrainian has very rarely failed to score against his former club and has become one of the Stingrays key players after being plucked from something resembling obscurity by former coach Strachan after spells in the SPHL and Italy. H is now well and truly back on the radar, with all of the key skills needed to be one of the Elite Leagues top players, he exhibited those skills perfectly in this game and was again not afraid to get stuck in the corners.
Nottingham: Jade Galbraith (1+0) After being criticized for his work ethic and fitness during last season, Galbraith has returned a new man. Having visibly lost weight, he has begun this season attempting to set right a reputation that had him as one of the fans least favourite Panthers last season, despite a 74 point return. With 3 goals and 3 assists in the P&O Channel Cup, both he, and the Panthers fan base, will be hoping he continues in the same vein.
Stingrays Verdict: 8/10
Only the importance of this game, which is fairly low in the grand scheme of things (despite what the Rays celebrations and aftermath may indicate) prevented this game from being higher rated on the Stingrays performance rater.
Sylvain Cloutier has indicated that there were things that the wasn't pleased with, but from a fans point of view, it couldn't have been much better. Sure, Konstantin Kalmikov aside, the Rays may have not been the continued offensive threat that they would have liked, but then, neither were the Panthers, who, on paper, have a roster with far more offensive talent.
In fact, one of the biggest changes in the Rays game is where they defend from. Whilst many predicted that the post-Strachan era would see the Rays offence turn into a comparatively gung-ho attack, what was missed out on was how they would defend. A Strachan team may have sat back and absorbed the pressure against the Panthers, a Cloutier side defends a little higher and tells the opposing side they will have to go through them to score goals.
Without wanting to jinx him, behind the defence, Tommy Sandahl is looking like quite a nice piece of business by Cloutier. He told prohockeynews.com, last week, that "you won't see [him making] highlight reel saves", well, on the evidence so far, that will be fine by the Stingrays fan base, who have taken to the Swede in a similar fashion to how they took the Rays last Swedish netminder, Anders Hogberg.
In front of him, Craig Mitchell, wearing the #13 shirt, resembles another former British defenceman for the Stingrays that also wore that number at the young end of his career, whilst Ryan Jorde stepped up against the Panthers Dominic D'Armour in a good bout, and may have tested his fellow former AHL blueliner a bit more had his shirt not looped over his head.
Forwards Matt Reynolds, Sylvain Cloutier and Curtis Huppe seemed to be the Rays spark plugs, notching up the intensity on plenty of occasions, with the rest of the squad following. Reynolds particularly looked like a man possessed at times and a completely different type of player to last season, whilst Cloutier's continued tussle with fellow player-coach Corey Neilson was another key point and highlight of the match.
Come the final horn, with the atmosphere returning to the levels that had previously filled the Hull Arena, the players emotions and celebrations showed that they will win and lose as a team, and that they care about (and celebrate) the wins as much as the fans that pay their wages.
Ultimately, that is all the Hull faithful have been crying out for the past few years and, if the team continue in the same fashion as they did in this thrilling second home game of the season, they will become one of, if not the, most popular side in the 20 year history of hockey in Hull. They certainly have the potential to pan out that way.
Cloutier's Comments
"It was a good weekend and you have to be happy with the results but there are still a few things to work on which we will do this week. We will let the guys enjoy this big win, Nottingham are one of the teams picked to win the Elite League but we showed we have a good side too."It was a tough game, we got down by one but the guys never gave up. We kept going, kept plugging away and our big guns came through. Kalmi and Huppe are our top players, we need them to capitalise for us and they did."
