Stingrays sign Sanford

Experienced 25 year old year defenceman James Sanford has signed for the Excel Hull Stingrays as a replacement for Ryan Jorde, who is expected to be out for over four weeks with a broken arm, in a shakeup of the current team, which has lost six consecutive games.

The Canadian, who has extensive experience in the AHL and ECHL, is a former junior international at U18 level and joins after originally signing to play for HYS Den Haag in the Dutch capital.

He was released by Den Haag prior to the seasons start after failing to live up to expectations as the team's highest paid player during pre-season, but that decision has played into the hands of Rays coach Sylvain Cloutier, who believes he has pulled off a coup to get his signature, the second year coach said, "he is going to be a number on or number two defenceman in this league".

After an very impressive junior career, in which he represented his country at the Junior World Championships in Slovakia and scored 55 goals and added 132 assists in 272 games in the QMJHL, he failed to get drafted into the NHL, primarily because of his apparently small 5'10 stature. Two years later, however, he was signed by the Montreal Canadians to a two-year, two-way contract.

Sandford scores for Moncton

The blueliner, who hails from Moncton, New Brunswick, failed to make an appearance in the NHL, but did go on to compete in 123 AHL games, scoring 51 points, and 102 ECHL games, adding 69 points.

It is this sort of experience that Cloutier believes the Stingrays require to shore up a, so far, frail defence that has conceded 45 goals in all competitions.

"I am really excited about this signing. If you play that many games in the AHL then you are a pretty decent hockey player. He has got all the tools. He is a defensive-minded defenceman but he is also strong offensively. He will improve our transition which is something we needed to do and will improve our powerplay as he moves the puck well."

Last season he split his time between Utah (ECHL), where he scored 18 points in 24 games, Chicago (AHL), where he was called up to appear in seven games, and the St Georges CRS Express (LNAH), where he offensively excelled scoring 15 points, including six goals, in 14 games.

He said, in an official press release, that he is excited to be joining the team, even if they are currently struggling to find any semblance of form.

"I am really looking forward to it....I cannot wait for the first game. I have been in touch with the coach and some of the players and I know they have been having a tough time with injuries and suspensions so I hope I can help them out and get the team going"

He went on to describe what sort of player he is:

"I am an offensive defenceman and powerplay specialist. I have made my living out of running powerplays. I feel I am good at reading the play and being in the right position. I just do all the little things right"

The signing leaves significant question marks over a number of the Stingrays current squad, particularly the defencemen that have allowed netminder Tommy Sandahl's goal to be breached so frequently.

They, particularly favourite to leave Pavel Gomenyuk and Stephen Burns, are now left fighting for their jobs ahead of Sanford's arrival next weekend and Jorde's return to action in around a month.

Cloutier gets tough; new defenceman incoming

Sylvain Cloutier has today put out a stark warning to his current squad: shape up or ship out.

The Canadian, who has seen his side lose seven of their opening eight games, announced to the Hull Daily Mail that he is in the process of signing a new defenceman to guard the ever impressive Tommy Sandahl in the Rays net, whilst Ryan Jorde recovers from a broken arm.

The revelation that he will sign a new blueliner comes with strong words to his current squad, the 35 year old coach said:

"I know the guys who care and the guys who are here just for a ride. Those things are going to be addressed and we are going to make sure we bring guys in who want to be here.

"Hopefully that will send a message to some of the guys that they can't get comfortable...We are not going to accept being in last place and lose hockey games and just go through the motions."

With Jorde out, and with Cloutier bringing in a new defenceman during his layoff, the commitment questions are being firmly laid at the door of current D men Stephen Burns and Pavel Gomenyuk, although it is still feasible that those question marks are over an import forward.

If that were the case, Cloutier would have to re-shuffle his pack by releasing said forward and keep tough guy Adam Knight up front, where he has produced some decent performances so far this season.

In what is a clear message for his side to improve following a bad run of form, Cloutier believes that the defenceman will be one of the best in the country, therefore implying that this is not a temporary signing and that he will be staying in Hull once Jorde returns to the lineup in early November.

"There is a defenceman coming in and if that doesn't send a message to anybody to pick up their game… he is going to be a number one or number two defenceman in this league and hopefully the paperwork will go through this week and we can get him after next weekend."

Very early speculation suggests that James Sanford, a 5'10 D man from Alma, New Brunswick, has signed for the side after his agents website announced he would be joining an unnamed EIHL club.

The 25 year old, who last season played 24 games in the ECHL with Utah and seven games in the AHL with the Chicago, had initially joined HYS Den Haag in the Dutch capital this season before they were forced to release him, as one of their highest played players, for poor performance.

A former Canadian junior international at under 18 level and prolific scorer at junior level in the QMJHL, with over 170 points in 200 plus games, in 2004 he signed a two-way contract with the NHL's Montreal Canadiens and he would significantly improve the Rays rearguard options, providing them with a clear number one at the back.

This seemingly unexpected move has been taken by Cloutier to shake things up and to get the side performing after a torrid couple of games in Elite League and Challenge Cup action, including a 9-2 thrashing at the hands of the Edinburgh Capitals.

With Adam Knight and Curtis Huppe set to return on Saturday against that same Edinburgh, and with Lee Mitchell well on the road to recovery, the, as yet, unnamed player could join the team a week on Saturday, forcing the current squad into a month long scrap for jobs before the return of Jorde.

Clarke double helps Panthers to win over battered Stingrays

Excel Hull Stingrays 2-4 Nottingham Panthers

David Clarke netted twice as the Nottingham Panthers beat an understrength Excel Hull Stingrays side in Challenge Cup Group B by four goals to two at the Hull Arena.

The Stingrays, already missing Ryan Jorde, Lee Mitchell, Adam Knight and Curtis Huppe, were also without evergreen forward Jeff Glowa, but it was them that took a surprise lead on 16 minutes with the goal stream of Konstantin Kalmikov showing no signs of letting up as the Ukrainian notched his seventh in eight games.

With just six imports however, it was always going to be a battle for the Stingrays and a second period powerplay double from GB international Clarke gave the league leading Panthers a winning foundation going into the final period.

Sylvain Cloutier finally netted for the first time in his Stingrays career to bring the lead back down to one halfway through the third, but further goals from the Panthers Kevin Bergin and an empty netter from Sean McAslan condemned the Rays to their third defeat in three in the Challenge Cup games, all but ending their cup campaign, and sixth in all competitions.

Although they only fired 15 shots on Kevin St-Pierre and saw their losing streak extended to six, the Stingrays can take heart from this defeat, especially since the Panthers only won the tie with eight minutes to go with four more imports.

Further encouragement can be taken from the strong performance of Tommy Sandahl in net, who tonight turned away 47 shots and continues to be a real bright spark so far this season, whilst Adam Knight and Curtis Huppe will now return from five game suspensions for next weekend's league game at home to Edinburgh.

PIM: 18-18
SOG: 48-31

Devils down Rays again

The Excel Hull Stingrays failed to score more than two goals for their fourth consecutive game, as they were beaten by the Cardiff Devils for the second time in two weeks in South Wales.

A Slava Koulikov goal for the Stingrays separated goals from Cardiff's Matt Towe, Mark Smith, Ben Davies and Wes Jarvis as the Devils took a 4-1 win for their first regulation league win of the season, but it was the same old story for the Rays as they once again failed to find any sort of consistent firepower.

PIM: 14-16
SOG: 35-20

Match Highlights: Excel Hull Stingrays 2-9 Edinburgh Capitals

26th/27th September Weekend Preview

vSaturday 26th September: Cardiff Devils (6th) v Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) @ Cardiff Bay Arena, F/O 7pm

Sunday 27th September: Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) v Nottingham Panthers (1st) @ Hull Arena, F/O 6pm

Form
Stingrays: W L L L L
Cardiff: L L W L L
Nottingham: W W L W W

Last 3 Meetings
v Cardiff
21/03/09 2-5 L H
12/09/09 4-2 W H
13/09/09 5-2 L A

v Nottingham
08/02/09 1-5 L H
01/03/09 6-4 W H
30/08/09 4-3 W H

Season Series
v Cardiff: 1-1, 6 GF, 7 GA
v Nottingham: First Meeting

Players to Watch
Stingrays: Sylvain Cloutier (GP6 0+1) It is unfair to single out one player after just six games of a season, however, although Sylvain Cloutier has been leading the way with his physical style of play, his single assist from six games suggest he is a player struggling to re-discover form after a year of watching from the bench. The off-ice implications of his job on the play on the ice will obviousy huge, but with Adam Knight and Curtis Huppe out, and with only Konstantin Kalmikov regularly hitting the twine, he probably needs to have more of an impact on the score sheet if the Rays are to hit form.

Cardiff: Wes Jarvis (6GP 6+1) The rangy Canadian defenceman, who, prior to moving to the UK was noted for his solid defensive play, has scored at goal-a-game rate in the Devils first six games this season. After a turbulent year in Basingstoke in 07/08, he joined the Devils last season and had a career year with 19 goals and 37 points in 64 games. Last weekend he had a pair of two goal games as the Devils split a weekend against the Sheffield Steelers and he currently leads the team in goals.

Nottingham: Jade Galbraith (6GP 6+6) Galbraith fought off several demons during the summer and has returned to Nottinghamshire with a new lease of life after being heavily criticized last season. The Alberta native is in scintillating form for the Panthers having scored seven points in two Nottingham wins last weekend, taking his points tally to a league leading 12 in six games.

Between the Pipes
Stingrays: Tommy Sandahl (6GP, 5 GAA, 89.8 sv%) The Swede produced a good performance during mid-week in Belfast, turning away 34 of the Giants 39 shots on net. Unfortunately once again the Stingrays lack of discipline, after suspensions to Huppe and Knight, and injuries to Ryan Jorde and Lee Mitchell succuppered the Rays chances of taking the game to the Giants, however, in Sandahl, coach Sylvain Cloutier knows they have a netminder that will, once at full strength, win some games for the team.

Cardiff: Stevie Lyle (6GP, 4 GAA, 85 sv%) Lyle has suffered from a less than impressive start to the season stat wise. The Devils, marked as the EIHL's dark horse side this season, currently sit in a disappointing sixth place, with Lyle towards the bottom of the EIHL's netminding stats. Both Lyle and the Welsh sides defence will have to improve if they are to fulfill that label as the unlikely tip for the top.

Nottingham: Kevin St-Pierre (6GP, 2.33 GAA, 92.4 sv %) After a couple of worrying performances early on, the French-Canadian has sent the Panthers to the top of the table with just one loss to his name. Helped by a largely solid D, the tall netminder will need to stand and be counted if the NIC side are to break their long wait for a league title.

Absentees
Stingrays: Ryan Jorde (broken arm), Lee Mitchell (doubt; knee), Curtis Huppe (suspended), Adam Knight (suspended)
Cardiff: Jason Stone (doubt), Brad Voth (suspended), Mark Richardson (doubt)
Nottingham: Cameron Mann (doubt; illness)

News
- This weekend will mark the end of bans to the Devils Brad Voth and Stingrays Curtis Huppe and Adam Knight following respective five game bans.

- Hocktoberfest kicks off next weekend as the Rays travel to the one day, knockout cup competition to face the home Sheffield Steelers in the short version of the day. The EIHL schedule will take a day out of the calender for this one off tournament which sees all eight EIHL sides ice in seven games during just a single day of competition with the Hocktoberfest winner being crowned after the 7pm final.

Predicitons
Cardiff 3-2 Stingrays
Stingrays 2-5 Nottingham

Stingrays shutout in Belfast

Belfast Giants 4-0 Excel Hull Stingrays

The Excel Hull Stingrays were shut out for the first time in the Sylvain Cloutier era as they travelled to Dundonald to take on the Belfast Giants and were soundly beaten 4-0 by the home side.

A double from Colin Shields and goals from Brandon Benedict and Craig Peacock were enough to seal the win for the Northern Irish side and send the Giants into joint second place.

The Stingrays, on the back of two losses, tried hard to create chances, firing 30 shots on the Belfast net, but failed to beat GB netminder Stephen Murphy, who stood tall for the Giants to claim the shutout.

SOG: 39-39
PIM: 8-4

23rd September Mid-Week Preview

v

Wednesday 26th September: Belfast Giants (3rd) v Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) @ Dundonald Ice Bowl, F/O 7.30pm

Form
Stingrays: D W L L L
Belfast: W L W L L

Last 3 Meetings
v Belfast
28/12/08 3-4 OTL H
28/02/09 8-6 L A
08/09/09 2-3 L H

Season Series
v Belfast: 0-1, 2GF, 3GA

Players to Watch
Stingrays: Matty Davies (5GP 1+2) The young Brit has grabbed the opportunity for a regular shift with both hands, performing admirably whilst filling in for suspended forwards Adam Knight and Curtis Huppe. Assisting on the Rays only two goals against Edinburgh, including one brilliant set up for Jeff Glowa to slot home, he followed that up with his first goal for the club against Coventry.

Belfast: Pat Batemen (6GP 3+1) The Canadian's arrival in Northern Ireland was somewhat overshadowed by the signing of Pierre-Luc Faubert in the summer, however the Canadian is proving to be just as good a finisher as his French-Canadian teammate. He recorded his first goals of the season against Coventry last weekend, eventually bagging a hat-trick as the Giants very nearly came from three goals down in their 5-4 loss against the Blaze.

Between the Pipes
Stingrays: Tommy Sandahl (5GP, 89.8 sv%, 5.25 GAA) He was pulled in the thrashing against Edinburgh through no fault of his own, with much of the Rays defence, going AWOL. He responded to that disappointment well with a 40 save effort in the tight loss in the Skydome on Sunday.

Belfast: Stephen Murphy (3GP, 91.3 sv%, 3.5 GAA) The Giants are one of the few teams to have a genuine one-two punch between the pipes with two good British netminders, meaning either could start against the Stingrays. Stats wise, Murphy has the edge over Craze, however the younger former Bracknell keeper has started more games and is argueably the starting choice against the Rays.

Absentees
Stingrays: Lee Mitchell (knee), Ryan Jorde (broken arm), Curtis Huppe (suspended), Adam Knight (suspended)
Belfast: Full Strength

What coaches say...
Cloutier (Stingrays)

"Belfast have a lot of firepower so we have to keep it simple and smart. We have to keep the puck out of the neutral zone, chip it off the boards and go to get it, and do nothing fancy. We won the last 50, but lost the first 10 against Belfast last time. They caught us sleeping and scored two goals, but hopefully that type of thing has been fixed after Sunday's performance."

Thornton (Belfast)

“Hull is a big test for us and a must win. Losing is not acceptable here in Belfast and last weekend was a dissapointing team effort. I expect more of everyone and the pressure is on for success or changes will be made.”

Prediction
Belfast 5-3 Stingrays

Jorde out for six weeks

Tough stay-at-home defenceman Ryan Jorde will be forced to sit on the sidelines for six weeks after breaking a bone in his arm in the Stingrays embarrassing 9-2 loss to Edinburgh.

The British Columbia native blocked a big slapshot from pointblank range during the second period of the Rays home loss to the impressive Caps and, after slowly leaving the ice clutching his arm after the incident, he was taken straight to hospital.

Further assessment revealed that the shot broke his ulna, the longest bone in the forearm, and that he will be condemned to the sidelines for around six weeks.

27 year old Jorde will be a big miss for the Stingrays, who are already without Lee Mitchell, through injury, and Curtis Huppe and Adam Knight, through suspension, and although coach Sylvain Cloutier is disappointed to lose the solid blueliner, he knows his side will be forced to cope with the setback.

"His injury will hurt us and we are going to miss him. He is a 'steady Eddie', he clears the net and adds toughness - he is a big part of the defence. But we just have to deal with it.

"It means the other four guys will have to pick up their game, which they did in Coventry, and we will need to count of those guys now. We will need to play strong 'D'. But Adam is back after next weekend and can play 'D' so we do have options."

The injury brings back bad memories of the season just past, in which Rick Strachan's side were, at one point, down to just two fully fit defencemen following injuries to Stuart Kerr, Paul Moran, Troy Neumeier.

The Stingrays travel to Belfast tomorrow night in the Elite League before weekend fixtures against Cardiff and Nottingham, which will see Knight and Huppe's suspensions expire.

Stingrays improve but still lose out in Coventry

Coventry Blaze 4-2 Excel Hull Stingrays

Sylvain Cloutier returned to a club where he was captain and fan favourite two years ago, but was unable to prevent his new side, the Excel Hull Stingrays, from losing their third game in a row against the Coventry Blaze.

The Stingrays took a surprise lead in the Skydome with Konstantin Kalmikov bagging his sixth of the season in the first period before the Blaze took control of a fairly even game, with goals from Jonathan Weaver, Greg Chambers and Joe Henry giving them a 3-1 lead.

Youngster Matty Davies sealed an impressive weekend, recording his third point in two games, as he pulled the score back to 3-2 with less than seven minutes remaining, however it was left to Dan Carlson to seal a 4-2 Blaze win, putting the Rays pointless after two games in the Challenge Cup and on a three game losing streak.

Cloutier's side have now failed to score more than of two goals in fourth of their five fixtures this season, with the over reliance on Kalmikov, who has scored half of the team's goals, becoming a worrying trend.

Next weekend the Stingrays return to Cardiff, without Curtis Huppe and Adam Knight due to suspension and probably Ryan Jorde and Lee Mitchell because of injury, for a league match up against the Devils, before they travel home to face the league leading Nottingham Panthers in the Challenge Cup on Sunday. However, before that, the Rays face a mid-week trip to Northern Ireland to take on the Belfast Giants, who edged out the Stingrays on the opening day of the season.

PIM: 20-12
SOG: 43-26