Stingray news

Say it quietly......Stingrays return to full strength

Import forward Matt Reynolds and Jamie Thompson look set to return to the Excel Hull Stingrays lineup for this weekend's games against the Cardiff Devils and Sheffield Steelers after five and four week layoffs respectively.

Thompson, who had scored eight goals in 26 games, suffered a neck injury against the Sheffield Steelers some weeks ago whilst Reynolds, who led the Stingrays in points and goals before his injury, broke a finger in the same game. They will both return to full training this week and should they not suffer any re-occurrences , will play in back to back games against Cardiff and Sheffield.

The games this weekend should see the Stingrays return to full strength for the first time since the opening day of the season.

Rick Strachan said:

"Thompson and Reynolds should be ready for full practice this week. We’ve missed them. Matt was our top scorer when he got injured and he plays on our special teams and powerplay."

We will then have a full bench and it is something we are looking forward to. It will take a lot of responsibility of the shoulders of some of our young kids who have been carrying this team. Guys like Jeff Glowa and Konstantin Kalmikov have also been going every second shift for a month and those guys are dead tired and they need a rest."

All Stars Prepare

The Elite League's inaugural All Star game will face off on Thursday night at the Coventry Skydome with four Excel Hull Stingrays in the lineup. And whilst players like Steve Slonina, Matt Reynolds and Konstantin Kalmikov have been at the heart of the Stingrays push for their first ever playoff berth, the Elite League have implemented a two import and two Brit rule from each team, meaning many of the Stingrays 'stars' will miss out.

The result of the rule has seen Brits Slava Koulikov and Lee Mitchell selected alongside the ever brilliant Jeff Glowa and Curtis Cruickshank and all four will lineup on Thursday alongside the rest of the Southern All Stars.

Auctions, Auctions, Auctions...

The auctions for the Stingrays Valentine's Day shirts, used in their 4-3 loss against the Manchester Phoenix, are beginning to come to an end. Currently Lee Esders and Jeff Glowa are the highest priced shirts at £78.01, with Slava Koulikov in second with a price of £77. However there are still shirt's available in the auction including James Cooke's #18 shirt, Aaron Wilson's #23, Pavel Gomenyuk's #40 and Richie Thornton's unworn #6 shirt. The eBay site can be found here.

There is a similar auction for the game worn All Star jerseys to be used on Thursday in the EIHL's first All Star game. The eBay site for this auction can be found here. It contains All Star jerseys for the Stingrays Jeff Glowa, Slava Koulikov, Curtis Cruickshank and Lee Mitchell.

Kerr To Sit Season

With the return to action of import forwards Jamie Thompson and Matt Reynolds comes bad news for defenceman Stuart Kerr, out since November.

With Thompson and Reynolds the Stingrays have 11 fit imports, out of an allowed 11 under EIHL rules, and Kerr, who has played just 24 games for the Stingrays, recording six assists, will be forced to sit for the remainder of the season unless the Stingrays suffer yet more injuries.

Despite rumour of Kerr being let go by the Stingrays, who are one of, if not, the lowest budget team in the league, it seems that Kerr will remain will the team as both a good will move and backup for any more injuries the team will suffer.

The signing, and impressive displays, by young Finnish defenceman Antti Turunen seem to have been the determining factor in Kerr sitting on the sidelines for the final few weeks despite allegedly returning to fitness in the last fortnight.

Caps v Devils

In their only game in hand before they, and the Stingrays, ice 11 times on the same nights in the run up to the playoffs, the Edinburgh Capitals face a Cardiff Devils on Wednesday. The Caps are ahead of the Stingrays by games between the sides after their 7-4 win against the Devils on Sunday took them level on points.

Gomenyuk another All Star...sort of

Pavel Gomenyuk, who is having a career year after scoring ten goals and 17 assists, has agreed to ice in Newcastle player-coach Rob Wilson's testimonial game.

The match will pit a Rob Wilson's All Star Select against a North East All Star select and will feature a number of players from Wilson's 20 career in Britain.

Fixture Change

The Stingrays scheduled game in Manchester on March 8 has now been moved to Thursday March 19.

PLAYOFF RACE 09: Capitals back level on points

The Edinburgh Capitals have moved back onto level points with the Excel Hull Stingrays as the battle for the final playoff spot intensifies with just 11 games remaining.

The Capitals beat the sixth placed Cardiff Devils 7-4 at their Murrayfield rink with Slovakian forward Martin Cingel notching himself an important hat trick.

The win takes the Capitals onto 29 points, level with the Stingrays, with a game in hand against the Devils in Cardiff. Perhaps crucially the Stingrays have six home games remaining to the Capitals five, whilst the sides face each other at the Hull Arena on the final day of the season, rendering a point difference of two points or less prior to the final day of the season irrelevant.

As it stands:

7th- Newcastle GP44, W 17, OTL4, L22, GF119, GA142, GDIFF -23, PTS 38
8th- Edinburgh GP42, W 12, OTL5, L25, GF127, GA200, GDIFF -73, PTS 29
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9th- Stingrays GP43, W 12, OTL5, L26, GF112, GA187, GDIFF -75, PTS 29
10th-BasBison GP43, W 08, OTL3, L32, GF111, GA211, GDIFF -100, PTS 19

Remaining games:

Edinburgh (12 games remaining)
18/02 @ Cardiff
21/02 v Coventry
22/02 @ Coventry
28/02 @ Manchester
01/03 v Newcastle
07/03 @ Cardiff
08/03 v Belfast
14/03 @ Nottingham
15/03 @ Coventry
21/03 v Manchester
22/03 @ Stingrays

Stingrays (11 games remaining)

21/02 v Cardiff
22/02 @ Sheffield
28/02 @ Belfast
01/03 v Nottingham
07/03 v Manchester
08/03 @ Manchester
14/03 @ Cardiff
15/03 v Basingstoke
21/03 v Cardiff
22/03 v Edinburgh
TBA @ Coventry

Stingrays move focus to first ever playoff qualification

Excel Hull Stingrays (3) 3-4 (8) Manchester Phoenix

The playoffs are now the sole focus for the Excel Hull Stingrays after they lost out to the Manchester Phoenix by four goals to three in the second leg of their British Knockout Cup Quarter Final, leaving the Stingrays five goals behind on aggregate.

The Stingrays required a five goal turn around to progress to their second semi final in three years after losing the first leg in Manchester 4-0.

With their foot somewhat off the gas after a week off, the Stingrays left themselves with an uphill struggle in the opening two periods, as Manchester fired 36 shots on netminder Curtis Cruickshank in the Stingrays goal. Within those 36 shots Cruickshank allowed three Phoenix goals through defenceman Kenton Smith and forwards Kyle Bruce and Luke Fulghum.

Konstantin Kalmikov gave the Stingrays dimming light at the end of the tunnel a small flash with a 32nd minute goal however the beginning of the third period saw Andrew Jazscyzk replace Curtis Cruickshank, who recieved a deserved rest,and Lucas Burnett went on to capitalised on the netminders inexperience with what would turn out to be the game winning goal.

Further goals from Jeff Glowa, his 50th point this season, and Lee Mitchell gave the Stingrays fans something to sing about and the scoreline a closer slant, however both sides went away somewhat happy with the Stingrays avoiding any further injuries, in readyness for the playoff qualification, whilst Manchester move into the semi finals of a cup competition with the chance of silverware.

Knocked out of both the Challenge Cup and British Knockout Cup, the Stingrays now face the challenge of qualifying for the EIHL Playoffs for the first time in their history. Currently two points clear of ninth placed Edinburgh with two more games played, the run in to the end of the season will be a nervy time for both sides and will culminate on the final day with riveting fixture as the Capitals travel to Hull.

Next weekend the Rays face Cardiff at home on Saturday in their only fixture, whilst the Capitals will make up their two games in hand with a midweek fixture in Cardiff before a home and away double header against the Coventry Blaze next weekend.

Strach said: "We made it through the game without any more injuries so that's a big plus. We all knew it would be pretty tough to make up four goals. To do that you have to open it up, but if you do that Manchester will score goals."

SOG: 42-29
PIM: 6-10

British Knockout Cup Quarter Final Second Leg Preview (Stingrays v Manchester)

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Saturday 14th February: Excel Hull Stingrays (0) v (4) Manchester Phoenix @ Hull Arena, F/O 5.30pm (British Knockout Cup Quarter Final 2nd Leg)

Form
Stingrays- L L W W L
Manchester- W L L W OTW

Last 3 Meetings
22/11/08 0-5 L A
29/11/08 1-7 L H
18/01/09 0-4 L A

Season Series
v Manchester 0-5, 8GF, 26GA

Man of the Moment
Stingrays- Jason Kostadine (48GP 11+14)- Scored the Stingrays lone goal against the Panthers last weekend, his 11th of the season, and proved a pest to the Panthers all game long, culminating in a fight against Danny Meyers.

Manchester- Kenton Smith (45GP 7+26)- The Phoenix captain and leader at the back, scored just his seventh goal of the season in overtime against the Coventry Blaze last weekend and also added an assist. He currently sits fifth in Phoenix points and has a goal and five assists in four games against the Rays this season.

Absentees
Stingrays- Paul Moran (shoulder), Stuart Kerr (knee), Jamie Thompson (neck), Matt Reynolds (broken finger)
Manchester- Full Strength

Other news
- The Stingrays will wear special Valentine's Day jerseys for this game. The jerseys can be purchased via Ebay HERE.

- The Stingrays will have to overturn a four goal deficit if they are to reach their second semi final in their Elite League history after losing out to the Basingstoke Bison in last years British Knockout Cup.

- The Rays have yet to beat the Phoenix in five encounters this season and have beaten them just five times in 20 games in the Stingrays three year Elite League stay. After the second leg the teams will have met six times this season and the final two of the eight with come in a double header on 7th/8th March.

- The Stingrays remain without defencemen Stuart Kerr and Paul Moran, who it is expected will remain on the sidelines for the rest of the season, whilst Jamie Thompson and Matt Reynolds could return to action next week in a home game on Saturday against the Cardiff Devils.

Prediction
Stingrays 2-3 Manchester

Stingrays go Pink for Valentine's Day

The Excel Hull Stingrays will, for the first time in their history, wear special Valentine's Day jerseys during their British Knockout Cup Second Leg against the Manchester Phoenix on Saturday.

After the game the new red jerseys (left), which also contain a new name and number font style on the reverse of the shirts, will be auctioned off on internet auction site eBay.

Other teams have previously exploited events such as Christmas, Valentine's day, Haloween and St Patrick's day for commercial reasons whilst a number of other clubs, such as EPL side Romford Raiders, have auctioned off the shirts for charity.

Stingrays co-owner had this to say about the one off shirts.

"We were approached by the shirt manufacturer to see if we were interested and we decided we were. We have not gone for Christmas or Halloween shirts in the past, but we were tempted this time."

EDIT: The shirts are now avaliable from HERE

Stingrays run out of steam against Panthers

Excel Hull Stingrays 1-5 Nottingham Panthers

The Nottingham Panthers gained revenge for the Excel Hull Stingrays win in Nottingham three weeks ago with a 5-1 victory in front of one of the biggest attendances of the season and Sky Sports cameras at the Hull Arena.

The opening few minutes were stop start with neither side gaining any real opportunities and with a shorthanded Stingrays inevitably attempting to shut down the Panthers in the same way they had in Newcastle the night before.

That tactic largely worked for the opening one and a half periods, which saw both sides trade goals through Jade Galbraith and the Stingrays Jason Kostadine, before a number of powerplay calls from referee Michael Hicks saw the Panthers capitalise with a goal each from Johan Molin and Dan Tessier.

With the score at 3-1 the Stingrays began to tire and the Panthers took control of the game firing a succession of shots on Curtis Cruickshank. Once again the Stingrays frailties in depth, as a result of injuries, began to show and the Panthers, perhaps harshly, took the game from a close run scoreline to a rout with a goal from Brendan Cook after 38 mintes and Matt Myers late in the third period.

Before the game petered out to a close, with the scoreline at 5-1, the Panthers Danny Meyers and Stingrays ever agitating Jason Kostadine dropped the gloves, with Meyers, on the losing side in the fight, having to make an early visit to the changing room with an injury.

The game closed out in an uneventful fashion however the Stingrays will leave the weekend with the satisfaction that they continued their two-points-a-weekend form.

The Stingrays now face a two week gap before their next league game, against the Cardiff Devils on February 21, before which they play the Manchester Phoenix on Valentine's Day next weekend. The game will be the second round of the British Knockout Cup, which the Stingrays trail 4-0, and to mark Valentine's Day the team will be wearing special jersey's.

Best Moment- Jason Kostadine's fight and win over Danny Meyers, any number of Antti Turunen hits, yet another Antti Turunen off-the-line clearance.

Worst Moment- The first two minutes which were very stop start, the final five minutes which were inevitably both sides playing out the remaining time.

F Block MOM
Stingrays- Antti Turunen (0+0)- Played a very good game in the defensive zone with a couple of nice hits to go with his niggly defensive style. He also enjoyed several good tussles with his Scandinavian opponent Johan Molin in which neither particularly came out on top.

Nottingham- Johan Molin (1+1)- Fast, skillful and linked with playmaker Dan Tessier like Torvill and Dean. Only negative to his game tonight was what looked like an unnecessary and fairly purposeful high stick on Jeff Glowa.

Stingrays verdict: (6/10)- Yet again it was a hard working but tiring performance from an Excel Hull Stingrays side that is still low on numbers. Three powerplay goals from five attempts from the Panthers says that, on the man advantage, the Stingrays couldn't handle Nottingham. Jeff Glowa, Steve Slonina, Troy Neumeier and Antti Turunen put in workman like stints but with just seven forwards the Stingrays ideas and legs looked tired.

Strachan's verdict: "The defeat doesn't dent our confidence at all. We're not going to take any negatives out of it. The guys worked their socks off and battled hard. We didn't lose because we're not a good team, we didn't have enough bodies to get the job done. We used an awful lot of energy to beat Newcastle on Saturday."

"I didn't think a couple of those penalties were penalties in my book. It was 1-1 and we were doing what we had to do to keep it close, but they got two powerplay goals and that made it tough for us."

SOG: 21-34
PIM: 25-9

Rays Sting Vipers

Newcastle Vipers 1-2 Excel Hull Stingrays

The Excel Hull Stingrays snatched two points with less than five minutes remaining for the second time in two weeks and in the process ended their three year Elite League winless streak in Newcastle.

The Stingrays, who were of course still minus Kerr, Moran, Reynolds and Thompson, took the lead through forward turned defenceman Steve Slonina. However that lead was cut short later in the first period by former Belfast Giants player-coach Ed Courtenay who tied the game on the powerplay with three minutes remaining.

In a drab affair both sides tried, and failed, to get the all important leading goal, partly down to offensive inefficiency and partly from good netminding from Stingrays keep Curtis Cruickshank and, more so perhaps, Andrew Verner, who ended up facing 28 shots from the shorthanded Stingrays.

The third period saw more of the same with both netminders coming up big. That was until the Stinrgays once again pulled a surprise out of the hat as evergreen forward Jeff Glowa slotted what would turn out to be the game winning goal with less than four minutes remaining.

The win handed the Stingrays their third victory away from home in five and their first in Newcastle, whilst also propelling them two points clear in 8th place after an Edinburgh loss in Nottingham.

SOG: 22-28
PIM: 4-10

Stingrays Weekend Preview (07/02, 08/02)

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Saturday 7th February: Newcastle Vipers (7th) v Excel Hull Stingrays (9th) @ Metro Radio Arena, F/O 6.30pm

Sunday 8th February: Excel Hull Stingrays (9th) v Nottingham Panthers (3rd) @ Hull Arena, F/O 6pm

Form
Stingrays- L W L L W
Newcastle- PSL W L L L
Nottingham- L W L W W

Last 3 Meetings
v Newcastle
11/01/09 3-4 OTL H
24/01/09 2-3 L A
25/01/09 4-2 W H

v Nottingham
11/10/08 4-7 L H
23/11/08 4-5 PSL A
18/01/09 2-3 W A

Season Series
v Newcastle 2-3, 5 points, 14GF, 18GA
v Nottingham 1-3, 1 draw, 4 points, 15GF, 22GA

Man of the Moment
Stingrays- Pavel Gomenyuk (42GP 10+16)- Has scored three goals in four games, including two in the last five minutes against Cardiff last weekend, and is currently having a career year with the Stingrays bettering his previous best by four points with 13 games remaining.

Newcastle- Ed Courtenay (19GP 8+17)- Has gone pointless in just three games out of 19 games after making a return from retirement mid-season. Has recorded five assists in four games against the Rays.

Nottingham- Kevin Bergin (43GP 23+25)- Scored three goals in two games against the Manchester Phoenix last weekend in the Panthers back to back wins. Also has ten goals in thirteen games since Boxing Day.

Absentees
Stingrays- Stuart Kerr (knee), Matt Reynolds (broken finger), Paul Moran (shoulder), Jamie Thompson (neck)
Newcastle- Jeff Hutchins (knee), Dean Holland (groin), Burt Henderson (broken wrist)
Nottingham- David Clarke (doubt) Rumun Ndur

Other News
- The Excel Hull Stingrays will continue on their seemingly everlasting mission to win in Newcastle. The Stingrays have failed to win at the Metro Radio Arena, formerly known as the Telewest Arena, and Whitley Bay, the Vipers second home, in ten attempts during their three year tenure in the Elite League.

- The battle for the playoffs between the Stingrays and Edinburgh Capitals seems likely to go down to the final game where the two teams face up to each other for the final time. Last weekend both sides, who now sit on 27 points each, scored goals with less than 30 seconds remaining to take the point stalemate into another weekend.

- Nottingham defenceman Ed Hill had a steady debut last weekend against the Manchester Phoenix in a double header that the Panthers won two games to nil. The former Alaska Aces defenceman, who visited Boston Bruins training camp in 2001, recorded one assist and two penalty minutes in back to back games.

Predictions
Newcastle 3-4 Stingrays
Stingrays 4-5 Nottingham

Stingray news.

Eleven in Eleven

The Excel Hull Stingrays have hit form at precisely the right time with 11 points in 11 games leaving just 12 games to gain an advantage of the Edinburgh Capitals.

It is a run of form that has seen the side leap from 16 points to 27 points, equal with the Capitals and eight points clear of bottom side the Basingstoke Bison. Should they continue on point-a-game form for the remainder of the season they would end up on a joint team record 39 points, a record point total that was set in 2006/07.

Stingrays All Star lineup complete

In a surprising move, Southern All Star coach Paul Thompson has announced that Slava Koulikov would join Curtis Cruickshank, Lee Mitchell and Jeff Glowa as the Excel Hull Stingrays representatives in the Elite Ice Hockey Leagues first ever All Star game.

After initial confusion over whether fellow Eastern European Konstantin Kalmikov had instead been selected, it was confirmed on Monday that Koulikov, who has scored 15 points in 24 games this season, would become to final Stingray to be selected.

In his last ten games Koulikov has scored seven points and he will join up with his fellow All Stars in Coventry on Thursday 19 February.

Brits on form

Since injuries to import forwards Matt Reynolds and Jamie Thompson the Excel Hull Stingrays British forwards have seen increased ice time and more notably increased offensive output.

In the six games since Canadian Reynolds suffered a broken finger, Lee Esders, Slava Koulikov, James Cooke and Lee Mitchell have contributed five goals and six assists, a significant increase in production.

Neumeier makes successful return for home stretch

Troy Neumeier has seemingly made a successful return from a torn knee ligament which had initially threatened to end both is season and career prematurely.

Neumeier, who has set his sights on sending the Excel Hull Stingrays to the playoffs for the first time as his last act on the ice, played in both away games against Manchester and Cardiff and made his return to the Hull Arena on Saturday night against his former side the Coventry Blaze.

Gomenyuk Dances with the Devils

Cardiff Devils 1-2 Excel Hull Stingrays

The Excel Hull Stingrays produced a late late show to steal two points from the Cardiff Devils in South Wales, with Ukrainian defenceman Pavel Gomenyuk coming away with all plaudits after two goals in the last five minutes.

In a similar fashion to the previous encounter with the Devils in Cardiff Bay, which ended 1-0 to the Devils, it was clear that a goal either way could be crucial.

The Devils made early inroads into the Stingrays defence before that pressure paid off with a Wes Jarvis goal after just five minutes. The Devils continued to press but failed to find a way past the combination of an inform Curtis Cruickshank and framework of the goal, which denied the Devils on a couple of occasions, most notably from home debutant and former NHLer Matt Elich.

In the end though it was the Devils who were made to pay for their inability to convert at the crucial times as Gomenyuk struck, unassisted, after 55 minutes. At this point it looked almost certain that both sides would accept a point after a blunt offensive performance and would head into overtime to settle the game

Unfortunatly for the Devils, Gomenyuk popped up again with just thirty seconds left in the game
to capitalise on a Jay Latulippe slashing call to seal the Stingrays fifth win in the so called 'Blue Tent'.

The win was made all the more important as the Edinburgh Capitals, who before tonight sat on an equal 25 points with the Stingrays with just one game in hand, also scored a goal in the last 30 seconds of their match against the Basingstoke Bison, to snatch themselves maximum points.

The gap between bottom side Basingstoke and the Stingrays is now an unprecedented eight points whilst they and the Capitals are now nine points adrift of the Newcastle Vipers in seventh place.

Next weekend the Stingrays face the Newcastle Vipers for the fourth time in a month at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle before returning home to play the Nottingham Panthers, meanwhile the Capitals face the Panthers in Nottingham on Saturday in what promises to be a tense run in to the playoffs.

Strachan said: "We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game and we had to play a tight defensive game. All the guys played great."

"We got a little lucky to tie the game but we are in a situation where we are battling for points every weekend with a depleted squad. We only have seven forwards and teams shouldn’t win many games with that number. But these guys just don’t give up."

SOG: 25-17
PIM: 10-6