Weekend Teaser: A weekend playing with the Cats and Dogs

 

 What does weekend twenty one have in store for the Bees?

Season weekend twenty review 

The Bees had a rare Friday night fixture with the Bristol Pitbulls who are their nearest rivals in the league table. The Pitbulls travelled without one of their imports and it looked like the Bees were in control at the end of the first as they led 2-0 thanks to an even-handed goal scored by Will Stead and a PPG scored by Josh Smith. The Pitbulls came out fighting in the second and by 25.10 they had brought the scores level with goals from Butler and Harewood. Josh Martin then scored for the Bees on the powerplay but in the last minute of the period Hill scored to bring the score level at 3-3 going into the break. Just over two minutes into the third Dominik Gabaj scored Bees fourth goal of the night, again on the powerplay and the Bees held on to the slender lead for twelve minutes until Cochrane scored the equaliser for the Pitbulls. There were no further goals in the third or in the sudden death overtime period meaning penalty shots were required to decide the result. At the end of the first five shots for each team it was 2-2 with Ralfs Circenis and Will Stead successful for the Bees. Sudden death penalty shots started with Bayley Harewood missing and Ralfs was up next to win the game for the Bees which he did with a well-placed shot securing the two points for the Bees.

Having had a late night on Friday night the Bees then made the longest road trip for them in the league up to Dumfries. Sadly they were unable to replicate the success of the night before as they ended up on the wrong side of a 4-1 result. Bees goal being scored by Dominik Gabaj. 

My opinion - the Bees played excellently on Friday night and probably deserved the win in regulation but the Pitbulls were fired up and wanted to prove a point to the Bees crowd. A Friday fixture is always difficult with many players having done a day's work before stepping on the ice and then to have to travel to Scotland on the Saturday morning and then play a fresh Sharks team was always going to be a tough challenge.

Player of the Weekend Result

Congratulations to Ralfs Circenis who earns his first player of the weekend with 52% of the vote. 

Bees take on two teams they haven't played since November

Bees head down the M4 to Swindon on Saturday 1st Feb to take on the Swindon Wildcats who are having one of their best seasons in some time as they can be considered league title contenders as they currently sit second in the league just one point behind the Knights although the Knights do have a game in hand. The Bees last played the Wildcats in Slough on 11th November 2024 when the Bees won 3-2 after a shootout was required to separate the teams. Their top scorer is import Jake Bricknell who with 81 points is the second highest scorer in the league behind Hull's Owen Sobchak. Wildcats have two former Bees on their roster with Vanya Antonov recently opting to move to Wiltshire and in the six games he has played for his new team he has amassed 1+8. Former Bee defender Ed Bradley has just extended his contract with the Wildcats for 2 further seasons but then we know through Bees recent experience that for the right money any contract can be broken. Swindon's goalie Renny Marr has just edged above Max Wright in the goalie stats so this could be the game decided by the guys standing in between the pipes. Bees need to keep Bricknell at bay and to prevent Vanya from feeding the puck through to goal scoring opportunities.

On Sunday the Steeldogs visit Slough for their third game of the weekend after home fixtures against the Knights and the Seahawks. The Steeldogs currently sit 6th in the league a comfortable 7 points ahead of the Raiders who sit in 7th. Walker Sommer heads their scoring with 75 points in the season so far and if he is allowed he can run rings around the defence. The Steeldogs have a very talented line-up who many predicted would be league title contenders but sitting comfortably mid table they will be looking to Coventry for any chance of a title this season. Max Wright, who has been the lynchpin of much of the Bees wins this season, is considerably better than the goalies on the Steeldogs roster so if he performs like we know he can the Bees will have a good chance on the evening. 

Having not played both teams since November there are still three games to play against each team including this weekend. The Bees can play a huge role in the final league positions and as we know the Bees can raise their game against tough opposition.

 

We will be bringing updates live from both games so keep an eye on our socials.

All that is left to say is safe travels to the Bees and their travelling fans heading to Swindon on Saturday and to the Steeldogs and their fans travelling on Sunday.

Come on you Bees!