Weekend Teaser: A double helping of the Raiders

 

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

Season weekend twenty six review 

Last weekend the Bees lined up against the Wildcats in Swindon on Friday evening before welcoming the Pitbulls to Slough on Sunday evening.
The game in Swindon saw both teams play their back up netminders and it was a low scoring game. The Wildcats took the lead in the first period at 2.31 on the clock and there were no more goals from either team for the rest of the first period and the whole of the second period. despite both teams having two powerplay opportunities each before the 40 minute mark. In the third period the Bees gave the Wildcats two further powerplays and they scored on both and with no reply from the Bees the Wildcats came away with a 3-0 win and a shutout for Tyler Perre. 
Sunday saw the Pitbulls visit Slough. The previous evening the Bristol team had convincingly beaten the Raiders 9-5 which meant they had jumped over the Bees in the league table. Bees needed a win to not only move themselves up to 10th place in the league but to bank a series win over the Pitbulls ensuring that the Bees would finish above the Pitbulls if the teams were tied at the conclusion of the season. The Pitbulls who have suffered with injury problems over the last few weeks were unable to ice their import goalie, Tommy Nappier, so former two-way Bee Harry Thomas was in the net. The Pitbulls were first to score as Mitch Walinski scored at 9.17. It didn't take too long for the Bees to equalise and go ahead as Liam Morris scored at 12.30 and then Stuart Mogg gave the Bees the lead with a sublime shorthanded goal at 18.13 allowing the Bees to take a 2-1 lead into the first period break. A powerplay goal for the Pitbulls scored by Smetham at 23.13 brought the score level but the Bees were going to go into the second period break with a 3-2 lead as Marcel Balaz scored on the powerplay at 36.43. The Pitbulls were to tie the game again at 43.37 as Bari McKenzie was on target however just under 10 minutes later the Bees were to score their second shorthanded goal of the night as Dominik Gabaj was on target. The Pitbulls called a timeout at 57.40 and with a face off in the Bees defensive zone they took the opportunity to pull Harry Thomas for an extra outskater but just 7 seconds later the Bees had the puck in the empty net as Ollie Hemmings-Maher scored his first goal for the Bees. Final score on the evening was 5-3 in favour of the Bees and Dom and the team achieved their goal of leapfrogging the Pitbulls in the league table.

My opinion - Like last weekend the Bees were focused on beating the Pitbulls to get themselves off the bottom of the table and although a win against the Wildcats would have been nice it wasn't a priority. It was great to see Dean Skinns given a chance to start and despite being on the losing team he still registered a save percentage of 91.43 which was excellent considering he was facing the third placed team in the league.
Sunday was a hard game for the Bees as each and every player had to be on their A-Game to get the better of the Pitbulls. Honestly, I couldn't fault any player and it was great to see some great offence and defence and to see Ollie Hemmings-Maher score his first Bees goal. Max Wright was as excellent as always and denied the Pitbulls some solid chances and the whole team gave their all and were rewarded with the win.

Player of the Weekend Result

Congratulations to Ollie Hemmings-Maher who is the player of the weekend, he wins thanks to your votes on Twitter with 38% of the vote. His empty net goal, his first goal as a Bee, was class but he had a great evening and is someone I would like to see as a full-time player for the Bees next season. 

Next: A double helping of the Raiders 

The Raiders have found themselves in a fight for the final two playoff places and although mathematically they can could still finish in 9th position in the league it is very unlikely. They have a 3 game weekend and it starts with a Friday night fixture against the Leeds Knights before the Bees visit them on Saturday. The Raiders recent form has been a bit hit and miss and a long way from their great start to the season. Something that the Raiders have got right are their imports with both Shaun Miller and Andrew Shewfelt on 89 points for the season ranking them 8th and 9th in the league scoring table. The Raiders have a pool of two-way players like the Bees but with the Slough Jets playing Saturday and Sunday we won't see their players on either team. Streatham only play on Sunday so the Bees will be able to call on their two-way players for the visit to Romford.

Sunday night is retro night in Slough as the Bee's Superleague win in 1999/2000 is celebrated on its 25th anniversary. The players will be wearing replica shirts from that season. There will be a special guest on the evening, we have a good idea who that may be and if it's who we expect his retired number is up on the rink wall. The best season in the Bees history saw them win the league by 4 points with the Sheffield Steelers coming in 2nd. Sadly the Bees were unable to take their team to the playoff finals weekend as they finished third in their playoff group coming behind the teams who would end up battling in the final which the London Knights won. It was quite the season and one that Bees fans from back in the day will cherish forever. 


All that is left to say is safe travels to the Bees players and the travelling fans heading to Romford on Saturday and to the Raiders players and travelling fans heading to Slough on Sunday.

Come on you Bees!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Weekend Teaser: Bees are out of the playoffs but still mean business

Image
  Bees are out of the playoffs but still mean business Bees played brilliantly for 5 periods last weekend Bees were on the road on Saturday visiting the Steeldogs in Sheffield. Bees were the better team for the first two periods, period 1 ended 2-1 in Bees favour with Bees goals coming from Dom and JJ. Steeldogs clawed their way back into the game but were still struggling with the Bees game plan, the second period finishing with the teams tying 3-3 and Bees goal scored by Dom was honestly one of the best shots you will see. Shortly into the third period Juha was on target to put the Bees 4-3 ahead but then Steeldogs began an onslaught scoring 6 unanswered goals leaving the final score at 9-4 which did not reflect the flow of the game or the Bees performance. Sunday night Bees welcomed the MK Lightning to Slough, a dominant team and deserving of their second place in the league. Matt Smital was in the net against his former team and Bees, without any of their two way deal players a...
Read more

Weekend Teaser: Last home game before Christmas

Image
 Last home game before Christmas  Leeds too much for unlucky Bees   With just one game last weekend against the unstoppable Leeds Knights, Bees found themselves on the wrong side of a 5-2 scoreline. With the Bees missing Will and Harvey Stead through suspension and Dominik Gabaj through illness, the welcome additions of temporary signings Joe Baird and Marcus Mitchell and the long awaited return of Josh Kelly together with Brython Preece overcoming his injury from the Bristol game were still not enough to overcome the Knights. It was an entertaining game with great goals from Josh Smith and Stuart Mogg, unfortunately for Bees Sam Gospel in the Leeds goal was outstanding on the night and there's not much you can do when he's making great quality saves. Player of the Weekend Results This week's vote was won by  Stuart Mogg  with 50% of the fans vote, Gianni Vitali came in second with 22%.  Next - The Bees head to Milton Keynes on Saturday before welcomin...
Read more

2024/2025 Season Review: November

Image
   2024/2025 Season November The Bees played the month short benched as injury problems started to dig away at the line up and unfortunately the two-way deal players were not always available to play. The team had nine games in the month and not surprisingly there were no points for the team when they were on the road. The fans, however, were treated to three thrilling home games which could not be decided in regulation. An overtime loss to the Raiders was a bitter pill to take, the other games went to a shootout surprisingly against the league title contenders. The Bees were to overcome the Swindon Wildcats but were not so fortunate against the Lightning. Following Brett Shepherd's departure, Dean Skinns came to the rescue. Dean was no stranger to the black and yellow having played as number one for the Bees on two separate occasions over his long career.    2.11.24: Lightning 6 - 1 Bees Lightning were sitting at the top of the league and it looked that maybe this w...
Read more