Hull Stingrays 9-2 Sheffield Steeldogs - Pre-season (14-7 on aggregate)
The Hull Stingrays tonight retained the Bradfield Brewery Cup by beating English Premier League side the Sheffield Steeldogs 9-2 at Hull Arena, completing a 14-7 aggregate victory following last Thursday's 5-5 tie at Ice Sheffield with import Guillaume Doucet helping himself to four goals.
Without imports Derek Campbell, Kyle Mariani and Carl Lauzon - with the latter two yet to arrive in the country - the Rays gave regular shifts to youngsters Sam Towner and Lee Bonner while Tom Ralph - who moved up front from his preferred position on defence - also saw ice time.
Coached by former Newcastle Vipers and Coventry Blaze enforcer Andre Payette, tonight's fixture was never likely to go without incident and, indeed, the game started in a typically niggly fashion.
That start to the game actually led to the game's opening goal as Bobby Chamberlain looked to renew acquaintances with Hull born forward Craig Elliott - having tussled with the forward in the first leg in Sheffield. With Elliott having none of it, Chamberlain went in search of the puck and, following a Scott Robson shot, the puck fell to the Stingrays number 90 - who, while skating across in front of the Steeldogs net, picked the puck up and slotted home.
With the game tied at 5-5 heading into the second leg, the Steeldogs will have wanted to strike back immediately and they did so through former Stingray Andy Hirst - who netted moments after Rays netminder Ben Bowns denied a big opportunity two-on-one.
Bowns was again involved in the games third goal as he denied a Steeldogs breakaway before Chamberlain added his second goal with a crisp wristshot from the stop of the circle which beat Steeldogs netminder Dalibor Sedlar high over his blocker. The goal completed Chamberlain's second two goal home game in two matches after his two goals against the Edinburgh Capitals and that will give him real confidence hearing into his second year in the Elite League following a year in North America.
The Rays were comfortably on top in the first period and generally severely punished the Steeldogs for any mistakes with the home sides third and fourth prime examples of that.
First, a neutral ice giveaway allowed Jereme Tendler and Matty Davies to break on goal two-on-one with the Canadian setting up last year's British revelation to just slot home. Then, Lee Haywood - who, it must be said, probably didn't have his best game for the Steeldogs - gave away the puck on his own blueline during a powerplay, allowing Doucet to use his turn of pace to break 2-on-0 with Davies before comfortably netting his first of four on the night.
Payette's side - who were outshot 18-9 in the first period - would add a late late goal on the buzzer against the run of play as the Rays switched off following a powerplay, allowing Steeldogs standout forward Lubomir Korhon to score with less than a second remain. Following some light debate the goal was allowed to stand by referee James Ashton and the Stingrays went into the break two, not three goals to the good.
After a mediocre period in which they showed flashes of what they could do, the Steeldogs had a great start to the second period and penned the Stingrays in the own zone for the majority of the opening minutes. Still, the next goal was always going to be vitally important, and the Steeldogs were unable to convert possession and pressure into goals with Bowns coming up big to again deny Korhon - this time with a flashy glove save on a breakaway.
Crucially, it was the Stingrays who netted the next goal, Doucet adding his second on the powerplay thanks to a rebound that fell kindly to him with the net gaping and Sedlar out of position. A second powerplay goal followed for the French-Canadian - who rounded off a lovely move after defenceman Omar Pacha fed the puck to Davies on one post, who in turn found Doucet on hand at the other post to finish the well crafted move.
The Rays entered the third period four goals to the good and, after a quiet start to the final stanza, eventually piled on the goals and misery on to an either tiring or increasingly uninterested Steeldogs side.
As he did in last year's Bradfield Brewery Cup, Sam Towner bagged an important goal for his confidence heading into his second season in the Elite League, picking up his own rebound before slotting home past Sedlar for the Rays seventh.
Having had his shifts somewhat restricted on, Tom Ralph's added energy soon after created Sylvain Cloutier's sides eight of the night from Jereme Tendler. Man of the moment, and some may say man of the Stingrays pre-season, Doucet rounded off the scoring with a bullet of a one timer from the slot to seal the 9-2 win and confirm the retention of the Bradfield Brewery Cup.
Doucet, unsurprisingly given his four goals, picked up man of the match and, although it's very early days, has so far proved to be the signing of the summer by Cloutier. His four goal performance tonight brought his pre-season tally to nine goals in four games. regardless of who your opponent is, that is an impressive scoring record and, provided he can keep scoring during the regular season, will take some of the offensive pressure of the shoulders of Tendler. That nine goal figure also includes three powerplay goals and three shorthanded goals, proving Cloutier's off-season comments that he is able to play in all situations.
Against a well drilled, niggly Sheffield Steeldogs side, the result was particularly encouraging for the Rays ahead of the start of the 13/14 Elite League season given they still have three imports to come into tonight's side in Campbell, Lauzon and Mariani.
Of course, the Steeldogs have just four imports - albeit it a very impressive one in Korhon - and the Edinburgh Capitals weren't anywhere near full strength but there are certainly shoots of positivity for Cloutier to pick up on heading into the the opening weekend of the Elite League season. Indeed, there are also some areas that require improving, thus is the nature of pre-season.
The Rays - who recorded 2 regulation wins, 1 shootout win and a tie during pre-season - open their 8th season in the British top flight against the reigning league, playoff and Challenge Cup champions the Nottingham Panthers on Saturday before their home opener against Gardiner Conference rivals the Braehead Clan on Sunday.
Without imports Derek Campbell, Kyle Mariani and Carl Lauzon - with the latter two yet to arrive in the country - the Rays gave regular shifts to youngsters Sam Towner and Lee Bonner while Tom Ralph - who moved up front from his preferred position on defence - also saw ice time.
Coached by former Newcastle Vipers and Coventry Blaze enforcer Andre Payette, tonight's fixture was never likely to go without incident and, indeed, the game started in a typically niggly fashion.
That start to the game actually led to the game's opening goal as Bobby Chamberlain looked to renew acquaintances with Hull born forward Craig Elliott - having tussled with the forward in the first leg in Sheffield. With Elliott having none of it, Chamberlain went in search of the puck and, following a Scott Robson shot, the puck fell to the Stingrays number 90 - who, while skating across in front of the Steeldogs net, picked the puck up and slotted home.
With the game tied at 5-5 heading into the second leg, the Steeldogs will have wanted to strike back immediately and they did so through former Stingray Andy Hirst - who netted moments after Rays netminder Ben Bowns denied a big opportunity two-on-one.
Bowns was again involved in the games third goal as he denied a Steeldogs breakaway before Chamberlain added his second goal with a crisp wristshot from the stop of the circle which beat Steeldogs netminder Dalibor Sedlar high over his blocker. The goal completed Chamberlain's second two goal home game in two matches after his two goals against the Edinburgh Capitals and that will give him real confidence hearing into his second year in the Elite League following a year in North America.
The Rays were comfortably on top in the first period and generally severely punished the Steeldogs for any mistakes with the home sides third and fourth prime examples of that.
First, a neutral ice giveaway allowed Jereme Tendler and Matty Davies to break on goal two-on-one with the Canadian setting up last year's British revelation to just slot home. Then, Lee Haywood - who, it must be said, probably didn't have his best game for the Steeldogs - gave away the puck on his own blueline during a powerplay, allowing Doucet to use his turn of pace to break 2-on-0 with Davies before comfortably netting his first of four on the night.
Payette's side - who were outshot 18-9 in the first period - would add a late late goal on the buzzer against the run of play as the Rays switched off following a powerplay, allowing Steeldogs standout forward Lubomir Korhon to score with less than a second remain. Following some light debate the goal was allowed to stand by referee James Ashton and the Stingrays went into the break two, not three goals to the good.
After a mediocre period in which they showed flashes of what they could do, the Steeldogs had a great start to the second period and penned the Stingrays in the own zone for the majority of the opening minutes. Still, the next goal was always going to be vitally important, and the Steeldogs were unable to convert possession and pressure into goals with Bowns coming up big to again deny Korhon - this time with a flashy glove save on a breakaway.
Crucially, it was the Stingrays who netted the next goal, Doucet adding his second on the powerplay thanks to a rebound that fell kindly to him with the net gaping and Sedlar out of position. A second powerplay goal followed for the French-Canadian - who rounded off a lovely move after defenceman Omar Pacha fed the puck to Davies on one post, who in turn found Doucet on hand at the other post to finish the well crafted move.
The Rays entered the third period four goals to the good and, after a quiet start to the final stanza, eventually piled on the goals and misery on to an either tiring or increasingly uninterested Steeldogs side.
As he did in last year's Bradfield Brewery Cup, Sam Towner bagged an important goal for his confidence heading into his second season in the Elite League, picking up his own rebound before slotting home past Sedlar for the Rays seventh.
Having had his shifts somewhat restricted on, Tom Ralph's added energy soon after created Sylvain Cloutier's sides eight of the night from Jereme Tendler. Man of the moment, and some may say man of the Stingrays pre-season, Doucet rounded off the scoring with a bullet of a one timer from the slot to seal the 9-2 win and confirm the retention of the Bradfield Brewery Cup.
Doucet, unsurprisingly given his four goals, picked up man of the match and, although it's very early days, has so far proved to be the signing of the summer by Cloutier. His four goal performance tonight brought his pre-season tally to nine goals in four games. regardless of who your opponent is, that is an impressive scoring record and, provided he can keep scoring during the regular season, will take some of the offensive pressure of the shoulders of Tendler. That nine goal figure also includes three powerplay goals and three shorthanded goals, proving Cloutier's off-season comments that he is able to play in all situations.
Against a well drilled, niggly Sheffield Steeldogs side, the result was particularly encouraging for the Rays ahead of the start of the 13/14 Elite League season given they still have three imports to come into tonight's side in Campbell, Lauzon and Mariani.
Of course, the Steeldogs have just four imports - albeit it a very impressive one in Korhon - and the Edinburgh Capitals weren't anywhere near full strength but there are certainly shoots of positivity for Cloutier to pick up on heading into the the opening weekend of the Elite League season. Indeed, there are also some areas that require improving, thus is the nature of pre-season.
The Rays - who recorded 2 regulation wins, 1 shootout win and a tie during pre-season - open their 8th season in the British top flight against the reigning league, playoff and Challenge Cup champions the Nottingham Panthers on Saturday before their home opener against Gardiner Conference rivals the Braehead Clan on Sunday.
