Stingray News

Gomenyuk EIHL Player of the Week

- Pavel Gomenyuk has become the second ever Excel Hull Stingray to be named the EIHL's Player of the Week after fellow countryman Konstantin Kalmikov claimed the award earlier in the season. Gomenyuk, who has returned to form this season after two previous spells with the club, recorded a goal and five assists in two games last weekend against the Belfast Giants and Nottingham Panthers.

This season has seen him set career bests in all categories including goals (11), assists (23) and points (34) with seven games still remaining and, with previous experience of winning the Elite League playoffs with Newcastle in 05/06, he will become a very important part of the team should the Stingrays make the post-season.

Turunen to return

-Finnish defenceman Antti Turunen, who missed last weekends games against Belfast and Nottingham after suffering a bruised lung, will return to training this week and will likely play against the Manchester Phoenix on Saturday before traveling to Coventry on Sunday to face the Blaze.

Turunen initially suffered the injury after accidentally blocking a Konstantin Kalmikov during the Rays 7-1 defeat against the Cardiff Devils and was admitted to hospital on Wednesday of last week after coughing up blood before being released late last week. The Finn has been a solid acquisition for the Stingrays after joining from the Swedish second division, on recommendation of former Basingstoke defenceman Mikko Purontakanen, and his return will boost the Stingrays defensive corps back to full strength.

Thompson back on the sidelines

- Little over a week after returning to the Excel Hull Stingrays lineup following a neck injury, forward Jamie Thompson has suffered yet another injury. The 34 year old, who has scored nine goals in 30 games for the Stingrays, was on the receiving end of a Nick Toneys check and suffered a concussion in the incident which saw Toneys recieve a 2+10 for checking to the head.

Just a week earlier Thompson had returned to the side against the Cardiff Devils only to be victimised by Devils enforcers Brad Voth and Doug MacIver for a legal check on Jason Stone which left the British defenceman needing help off the ice. The next night in Sheffield a re-direction from a Jeff Glowa shot had given Thompson his ninth goal of the season and put the Stingrays ahead against the Sheffield Steelers, in a game the Stingrays were unlucky to lose in the final three minutes.

Two for Esders

- Lee Esders posted his first two goal game of the season this past weekend against the Nottingham Panthers. Esders, who, at 19, is another Stingrays player having a career year, has scored seven goals and six assists this term bettering his three goals and one assist of last season. And whilst it has been a career year on the scoresheet he has also made a real impact throughout his game certainly showing his critics that he has all the tools to develop into a invaluable Brit for the Stingrays.

"I was also pleased to score a couple of goals because it had been a while. I was proud to score some big goals to help the team but it was a great effort from all the guys," Esders said.

Rays Sting Panthers

Excel Hull Stingrays 6-4 Nottingham Panthers

In another uncharacteristically high scoring game, doubles from Lee Esders and Jeff Glowa helped the Excel Hull Stingrays surprise the Nottingham Panthers for the second time this year with a 6-4 victory.

After a high scoring loss in Belfast last night the Stingrays were expected to focus on defense for the visit of the high scoring Panthers, however, the eventual outcome saw the Stingrays concede four and still win for the first time this season, whilst scoring a record 14 goals in a weekend.

A penalty strewn first period saw 38 penalty minutes handed out, 25 of which were whistled against the Panthers. Included in those 38 minutes were five each for Jason Kostadine and Kevin Bergin who dropped the gloves to settle their differences, as expected, in response to Panthers captain Danny Meyers dislocating his shoulder in a fight with Kostadine during these teams last meeting three weeks ago.

Once the penalty trouble began to settle down the Stingrays were the side the surprisingly found the advantage with goals from Jeff Glowa and Lee Esders putting them 2-0 up.

The Panthers immense firepower, this time in the form of Marc Levers and, Kostadine's dancing partner, Bergin, quickly flexed its muscles early in the second period as two goals within the first two and a half minutes levelled the scores.

A Jade Galbraith goal halfway through the second sent the Panthers into the lead for the first, and only time, in the game. However, that lead was short lived as Lee Esders quickly responded for the Stingrays rightly leveling the scores three minutes later.

With the scores at 3-3, and shots on goal also level, it was perhaps a case of whoever came out of the second intermission the stronger would ultimately take the two points. Twenty seconds and a Jeff Glowa shorthanded goal later the Stingrays regained the lead.

Of course this was not the final twist the game would take. Consecutive tripping penalties from Stingrays defencemen Aaron Wilson and Troy Neumeier, just 30 seconds apart, handed the Panthers the 5-on-3 chance which allowed Kvein Bergin to net his second of the game.

Like Saturday night, the Stingrays came back strongly and 103 seconds later Steve Slonina gave the Stingrays a lead that would prove irreversible. Konstantin Kalmikov went on to score his third of the weekend on an empty net shot and the Rays fans and staff went home happy with an invaluable 6-4 victory.

The two points are all the more vital for the playoff battling Stingrays after Edinburgh beat Belfast 4-2 in the Scottish capital tonight. The Rays victory keeps them one point away from the Capitals with a playoff showdown between the two sides looming in three weeks on the final day of the 08/09 season.

Next week the Stingrays face Manchester on Saturday before travelling to the Coventry Blaze in a re-arranged fixture on Sunday in what promises to be yet another tough weekend.

Strachan said: "It was two huge points last night which keep our play-off dream alive. As long as we keep putting in that sort of effort every night we will live to fight another day. We need that every night, not just a physical effort, but that mental effort too."

"It was a good hockey game by both teams, who played hard, it had a little of everything for everyone" said Strachan. There were big goals by Ezzy, Glowsy and Kalmy. Glowsy had a chance for his hat-trick, but he made the play to Kalmy. That just goes to show what sort of player Glowsy is."

SOG: 32-43
PIM: 23-55

Playoff Race 09, as it stands:

8th- Edinburgh GP46, W 13, OTL6, L27, GF144, GA215, GDIFF -71, PTS 31
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9th- Stingrays GP47, W 13, OTL5, L29, GF127, GA210, GDIFF -83, PTS 30

Giant night for Deniset enough to edge out Stingrays.

Belfast Giants 8-6 Excel Hull Stingrays

An astonishing five goal and seven point night from the Belfast Giants Paul Deniset was enough to condemn the Excel Hull Stingrays to a two goal defeat in a goal fest at the Odyssey Arena in Northern Ireland.

The Stingrays found themselves on the wrong side of a 5-2 scoreline going into the third period, thanks to four goals from Deniset, with the Rays lone markers coming in each of the previous two periods from Ukrainians Pavel Gomenyuk and Konstantin Kalmikov.

The three goal deficit came about despite the Stingrays firing 26 shots on Belfast backup Nathan Craze in the first two periods and the Rays, clearly benefiting from some lax Giants defending and a gung-ho approach in the third period, ended the game with an unprecedented 47 shots on goal.

Deniset netted his fifth, and thankfully final, goal early in the third period which looked to have finished the Stingrays off with the scoreline at 6-2.

Cue the sort of comeback which has become a familiar characteristic of this season's side.

Jeff Glowa and a double from Slava Koulikov helped the Rays fight back to within a goal before the Giants Andrew Martin yet again extended that lead back to three just 11 seconds later.

The Stingrays brought the scores back to within one again as Konstantin Kalmikov scored his second of the game, and twentieth of the season, however an empty net goal from George Awada, after the Rays had pulled Cruickshank in search of an equaliser, sealed an offensive showing from both sides and an 8-6 victory for Belfast.

SOG: 32-47
PIM: 17-15

Stingrays Weekend Preview (28/02, 01/03)

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Saturday 28th February: Belfast Giants (3rd) v Excel Hull Stingrays (9th) @ Odessy Arena F/O 7pm
Sunday 1st March: Excel Hull Stingrays (9th) v Nottingham Panthers (4th) @ Hull Arena F/O 6pm

Form
Stingrays- W L L L L
Belfast- L OTL PSW W W
Nottingham-W PSL PSL L W

Last 3 Meetings
v Belfast
30/11/08 5-4 W H
18/12/08 8-2 L A
28/12/08 3-4 OTL H

v Nottingham
23/11/08 4-5 PSL A
18/01/09 2-3 W A
08/02/09 1-5 L H

Season Series
v Belfast: 2-3, 5 points, 17GF, 23GA
v Nottingham: 1-4, 1 draw, 4 points, 16GF, 27GA

Man of the Moment
Stingrays- Matt Reynolds (42GP 21+24)- Scored a goal against the Sheffield Steelers in his second game back from a broken finger in the Stingrays narrow 4-2 loss, and is second on the team in goals and points despite missing nine games due to the injury.

Belfast- Andrew Martin (28GP 20+23)- Had a part in seven of the Giants eight goals against Basingstoke on Wednesday in their 8-4 win where he recorded two goals and five assists. Has missed 28 games for the Giants this season and has managed to average over 1.5 points a game.

Nottingham- Jade Galbraith (47GP 20+35)- Has scored 13 points in the Panthers last seven games and has scored three goals in four games against the Stingrays this season.

Absentees
Stingrays- Paul Moran (shoulder), Antti Turunen (upper body), Stuart Kerr (knee)
Belfast- Full Strength
Nottingham- Dan Tessier (knee), David Clarke, Matt Myers (knee), Danny Meyers (shoulder)

Other news
-After being on the recieving end of one of Konstantin Kalmikov's "NHL calibre" shots, Antti Turunen spent the early part of this week both coughing up blood and in and out of hospital.

Finn Turunen, who joined as injury cover in the depths of the Rays injury crisis and been both solid and consistent for the team, has now been released from hospital but will not play this weekend after suffering a suspected bruised rib.

- The Stingrays losses in their embarrassing display on Saturday and somewhat better display on Sunday was the first time in 2009 that the Rays have gone a weekend without a point. Prior to the 2009 run the team went six games without a win but since the turn of the year the Stingrays push for a playoff place had really kicked in with 13 points in 13 games.

- Sunday's game against the Nottingham Panthers will face off at the later time of 6pm due to the teams expected late arrival from Belfast.

- During Sunday's game Jason Kostadine may be a marked man by Panthers tough guy Rumun Ndur. After dropping the gloves with Panthers captain Danny Meyers in the Rays 5-1 loss at home three weeks ago, Meyers suffered a dislocated shoulder. It is expected that Ndur, who is in the lineup after an injury to import Dan Tessier, will look to rough up Kostadine in the same way he attempted to rough up Rick Kozak after an early season incident that left Ndur's teammate, Marc Levers, requiring stitches to a head injury.

Predictions
Belfast 3-1 Stingrays
Stingrays 2-1 Nottingham

Much Better; Rays lose by two but remain one adrift

Sheffield Steelers 4-2 Excel Hull Stingrays

In an improved display the Excel Hull Stingrays lost out by four goals to two against league leading, and probable league champions, the Sheffield Steelers, who extended their winning streak to 12 games in the process.

The Rays got off to the start they wish they had gotten off to the previous night as Steve Slonina set up Matt Reynolds on the powerplay for his first goal since a five week injury layoff.

Mark Thomas then responded with a rare goal for the Steelers during the second period before Jamie Thompson capitalised on a Brad Cruikshank penalty to score his first goal in ten games just under two minutes into the final period.

The league leading Steelers than showed their true grit and determination to end a four year spell without an Elite League title, as consecutive goals from Brad Cruikshank, Joey Talbot and an empty net goal from Doug Sheppard ended any Stingrays resistance.

Despite the defeat, the manner of the loss will bring a little encouragement to a Stingrays camp that was shot to pieces just 24 hours earlier at home to the Cardiff Devils.

The Rays remain one point behind the eight placed Edinburgh Capitals after the Caps lost their second game of the weekend to the Coventry Blaze and all attentions now turn to next weekends games against Belfast and Nottingham, with hope of providing two more surprises against sides they have beaten this season.

Strachan said: "We started the weekend one point behind Edinburgh, who are in the last play-off spot, and we've finished it a point behind. It's a case of who can pick up points over the next four weekends will make the play-offs.

"If we'd played last night like we played on Saturday I would have thought 'oh my God', but last night we played probably our most solid hockey game of the year, so I have no qualms with the way we played.

"Why the change from Saturday to Sunday? If I knew that I wouldn't be talking to you. For whatever reason we just didn't play on Saturday. I've looked at the game tape from Saturday and we made mistakes we have not made since day one of the season."

SOG: 33-27
PIM: 10-14

Playoff Race:
8th- Edinburgh GP45, W 12, OTL6, L27, GF140, GA213, GDIFF -73, PTS 30
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9th- Stingrays GP45, W 12, OTL5, L28, GF115, GA198, GDIFF -83, PTS 29

Full Strength Rays in Devils Horrorshow

Excel Hull Stingrays 1-7 Cardiff Devils

The Excel Hull Stingrays produced a horrifying performance at the Hull Arena tonight as they went down by seven goals to one to a Jay Latulippe and Ben Davies inspired Cardiff Devils.

The Devils came out of the blocks quickly and did not allow the refreshed and full strength Stingrays the chance to settle, especially given that the Devils were starting with British netminder Joseph Myers, who was in to replace concussed Peter Aubry. Jay Latulippe's first goal in the first period came from a big mistake from Stingrays netminder Curtis Cruickshank after just over 30 seconds gone and the Devils never looked back, nor did the Stingrays look forward, from that moment on.

A first period hat trick from Laulippe and another goal from leading scorer Mike Prpich all but sealed the tie for the Devils. A late slapshot from Pavel Gomenyuk allowed Konstantin Kalmikov to push home the rebound giving the Stingrays, and 800 odd fans, a false sense of hope for the next two periods.

That hope was extinguished five minutes into the second period by a Ben Davies goal, the second of his career. The Devils continued to restrict the Stingrays in their zone but scored further goals from Phil Hill and a second of the game for Davies.

In the midst of the second period a trademark Jamie Thompson hit left the Devils Jason Stone down injured for several minutes. Hill eventually returned to his feet but did not ice again, whilst Thompson would later be faced with 6'7 Brad Voth and 6'5 Doug MacIver as retribution.

The final period, attacks on Thompson from the aforementioned aside, was exhibition stuff with Cardiff in exhibition mode, most notably a Brad Voth move which wouldn't have looked out of place in the recent All Star game, whilst the Stingrays continued to go through the motions. Stingrays backup Andrew Jazscyzk came in to replace Cruickshank and stopped all 12 shots on goal as the game thankfully petered out to a close.

Luckily for the Stingrays, the gap between the them and the Edinburgh Capitals remains one point after the Scottish side lost 6-3 at home to the Coventry Blaze. The Stingrays now move on to face league leaders the Sheffield Steelers in South Yorkshire in a test of what they are really made of following this embarrassing defeat.

Best Moment: Lee Esders showing at least some passion in a passionless performance and receiving a two minute cool down for his efforts, Jamie Thompson's perfectly legal check on Jason Stone (although the outcome was anything but the best moment).

Worst Moment: Curtis Cruickshank's howler within the first 30 seconds set the team up for one of its worst performances in five years, perhaps if he had made a fairly routine save from that first shot the Stingrays would have had a chance.

F Block Blog MOM
Stingrays- Andrew Jazscyzk (12 shots, 0 GA)- Although the game was gone by the time he appeared at the beginning of the third, Cardiff did fire 12 shots on the Stingrays net and he dealt with them all more than adequately.

Cardiff- Ben Davies (2+0)- One for the future, Davies bagged his second and third career goals against the Stingrays and did not look out of place throughout the whole game, even showing coolness when met with a thoroughly annoyed Lee Esders. In fact he deserved, and one slip aside, could have scored his first career hat trick.

Stingrays verdict (1/10): It was that bad! Clueless, gutless, effortless are just a few of the terms which just about do this performance justice. There were no good performances, even Steve Slonina, who has generally been the Stingrays most consistent player this season, made mistakes. Kalmikov's skill again shone through but with no one with him it was ultimately a wasted effort. The defence was often further forward than the forwards, the forwards couldn't carry the puck forward for more than 2 meters without losing it and although Cruickshank had no chance with most of the goals, he was far from confident in the Rays net, case in point the crucial first goal. Backup netminder Jazscyzk did a good job shutting out the Devils in the third, although the game was well gone by then and Lee Esders showed effort and passion that the rest of the team showed none of, even if he too made mistakes. Expect a double digit loss in Sheffield if they play half as bad as last night.

Strachan's verdict: "The goalie didn't stop the puck, our forwards didn't score and didn't check and our defence, who knows what our defence was doing? I don't think we won any 50:50 pucks, in fact we didn't do one thing right. That was the worst game we have played in three months. That's all I want to say."

SOG: 32-42
PIM: 10-55

Playoff Race:

8th- Edinburgh GP44, W 12, OTL6, L26, GF134, GA211, GDIFF -77, PTS 30
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9th- Stingrays GP44, W 12, OTL5, L27, GF113, GA194, GDIFF -81, PTS 29

Stingrays Weekend Preview (21/02, 22/02)

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Saturday 21st February: Excel Hull Stingrays (9th) v Cardiff Devils (6th) @ Hull Arena, F/O 5.30pm

Sunday 22nd February: Sheffield Steelers (1st) v Excel Hull Stingrays (9th) @ Sheffield Arena, F/O 6pm

Form
Stingrays- L W W L L
Cardiff- L PSL W L OTW
Sheffield- W W W PSW W

Last 3 Meetings
v Cardiff
13/09/08 1-6 L H
03/12/08 1-0 L A
01/02/09 1-2 W A

v Sheffield
02/11/08 1-2 L H
03/01/08 3-4 OTL A
17/01/09 0-4 L H

Season Series
v Cardiff: 1-2, 3GF, 8GA
v Sheffield: 0-5, 1 point, 9GF, 22GA

Man of the Moment
Stingrays- Matt Reynolds- Will return to the Stingrays lineup after five weeks on the sidelines with a broken finger that was sustained against Sunday's opponents the Sheffield Steelers. Prior to his injury he was the Stingrays leader in points and powerplay goals.

Cardiff- Matt Elich- A Rangy but speedy forward, he has scored three goals and seven assists in ten games since joining the Devils in early January after splitting the beginning of the year between Port Huron and Flint of the IHL.

Sheffield- Joey Talbot- Talbot has gone about his business quite quietly this season on what will surely become an Elite League winning side. His 31 goals ranks 3rd in the EIHL whilst his 57 points puts him in 14th, in his last eight games he has six goals and in his four games against the Stingrays this season he has four goals.

Absentees
Stingrays- Stuart Kerr (knee), Paul Moran (shoulder)
Cardiff- Marc Fulton (knee), Lee Cowmeadow (elbow), Peter Aubry (doubtful; concussion), Jason Silverthorn (doubtful; thumb), Derek Campbell (knee)
Sheffield- Full Strength

Other News
- This is the Stingrays final meeting of the season against current league leaders the Sheffield Steelers, and one thing is for sure, Stingrays coach Rick Strachan will be happy that it is the last meeting. Unfortunatly for him should the Stingrays make the playoffs they will almost certainly face the Steelers in the two legged playoff quarter final and although a local derby will be a great spectacle for the Stingrays, not to mention their bank account, with a record of five games and five losses it could be a quick exit for the Rays.

- Following on from that note, should the Stingrays have never won a game in Sheffield against the Steelers, the only rink in the country that the Rays have failed to win in since their first victory in Newcastle early this month.

- It has now been made clear that defenceman Stuart Kerr is unlikely to return to the Stingrays this term. Kerr, who has been out with a knee injury since November, will remain on the sidelines and unless an injury strikes the team yet again, he may have to wait until next season for more action, should he even return.

Predictions
Stingrays 4-3 Cardiff
Sheffield 4-1 Stingrays

Elite League All Star Game 2009

The Elite League's inaugural All Star game was completed earlier this evening with the final score 12-10 in favour of the Southern All Stars.

The Stingrays participants in the game had good nights as Jeff Glowa and Slava Koulikov notched goals for the Southern All Stars whilst Steve Slonina added an assist. Curtis Cruickshank iced between the pipes for half of the game for the victorious South whilst Lee Mitchell played but failed to record a point.

The games most notable performances came from the Belfast Giant and Northern All Star Paul Deniset, who scored two goals and three assists, whilst Nottingham player/coach Corey Neilson scored two goals and two assists for the South.

PLAYOFF RACE 09: Caps move point clear

The Edinburgh Capitals moved one point clear of the Excel Hull Stingrays in eighth place after a 5-4 overtime loss in Cardiff.

The Devils took a three zip lead in the second period with a double from Tyson Teplitsky before the Scottish side defied the odds once again to level it up.

The Welsh side very nearly did the Stingrays a big favour by denying Edinburgh even a point as a Wes Jarvis goal handed the Devils a 4-3 lead with less than eight minutes remaining. Capitals talisman, and one of the players of this Elite League season, Mark Hurtubise levelled the scores with less than 60 seconds remaining and with Capitals netminder Pasi Raitanen pulled.

Fortunately the gap between 8th and 9th is just one point after tonight as Mike Hartwick scored for Cardiff to seal the two points.

As it stands:

8th- Edinburgh GP43, W 12, OTL6, L25, GF131, GA205, GDIFF -74, PTS 30
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9th- Stingrays GP43, W 12, OTL5, L26, GF112, GA187, GDIFF -75, PTS 29

All Star call up for Slonina

Versatile Excel Hull Stingrays defenceman, Steve Slonina, has today been called up to play in the Elite League's inaugural All Star game in Coventry on Thursday night.

Southern All Star coach Paul Thompson has called Slonina into the side after a number of injuries, most notably an injury to Cardiff's Jason Stone, and he will step straight into defence for the game against the Northern All Stars, coached and selected by Sheffield Steelers coach Dave Matsos.

Slonina, who has scored seven goals and added 27 assists this season, becomes the fifth Stingrays player to be selected after Lee Mitchell, Slava Koulikov, Curtis Cruickshank and Jeff Glowa.

The University of Massachusetts-Lowell alumni has been particularly impressive in the three months since his switch from forward to defence, in which time he has not only shored up the Stingrays woeful defence but also provided the blueline with a scoring threat.

In the wake of the Stingrays crippling injury crisis he moved from his preferred centre spot to defence and the move has seen him win three consecutive fan voted player of the month awards, a record in the five year history of the event.

Photo courtesy Arthur Foster