2024/2025 Season Review: November
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
3.11.24: Bees 4 - 5 Raiders (after overtime)
When the teams met earlier in the season the Raiders convincingly beat the Bees but this game was a tense affair and it looked like the Bees had almost secured the win leading 4-3 when the Raiders equalised with 0.6 seconds on the clock to take the game into overtime. The Raiders scored in overtime due to a penalty shot being awarded as a result of the Bees net being pushed off its moorings. Bees goals came from Dominik Gabaj, Liam Morris and there was a brace for Will Stead.
9.11.24: Bees 1 - 6 Tigers
The Telford Tigers had turned a corner as they were pushing to move out of the bottom place in the league. A change in imports had done the trick and they were now a force to be reckoned with as far as the Bees were concerned. The Tigers scored two goals in both the first and second period and a further goal in the third before the Bees could get on the scoresheet with a goal scored by Dominik Gabaj. The Tigers scored one more goal to put the win well beyond doubt. The Tigers were the better team on the night but there were some missed calls that the Bees bench may have felt a bit aggrieved about and may have affected their play. They were given a 5 on 3 opportunity and were unable to score and ultimately the Tigers capitalised on their chances.
10.11.24: Tigers 2 - 0 Bees
A day after the Tigers had convincingly won in Slough they welcomed the Bees to Telford. The Tigers scored early in the first at 2.25 and then at 27.57 in the second period. Bees were unable to break down their defence and a Bees timeout at 48.24 didn't have the required impact as the Bees were unable to make the most of two powerplays that were to follow. Max was pulled from the goal but the extra man couldn't produce the desired effect and the low scoring game finished 2-0 to the Tigers and Brad Day in the Tigers goal secured his shutout. Max Wright had a save percentage of .9375 on the night but the short bench cost the Bees dearly.
16.11.24: Knights 8 - 2 Bees
The Knights were now sitting at the top of the league and with the Bees travelling with just 14 skaters the team knew this would be a struggle but it was an opportunity to give Dean Skinns some valuable ice time. The Knights scored three unanswered goals in the first period and extended their lead to four early in the second before the Bees scored, Vanya Antonov getting the puck past Harrison Walker in the Knights' goal. The second period was tied 2-2 as Dominik Gabaj scored the Bees second goal of the night. Three goals for the Knights in the third sealed their victory. Whilst the Bees team would always want the win, the feeling that they were saving themselves for the following evening's game was present.
17.11.24: Bees 3 - 2 Wildcats (after shootout)
This was the Wildcats third game in three days but they were buoyant having picked up 4 points in the first two games. This game was dominated by some first class netminding by both teams. The second period was the only period in regulation to see any goals. The Wildcats took a 2 goal lead before the Bees got on the scoresheet with a powerplay goal scored by Will Stead. This was followed by an even handed goal scored by Dominik Gabaj just 70 seconds later. With a 2-2 scoreline at the end of regulation, an exciting 5 minutes of overtime followed. Josh Kelly had the best opportunity to score with a shot that was cleared from the Swindon crease. With no overtime goals the inevitable penalty shots followed. Swindon failed to score on their first four shots and it looked like Bees were following suit until Will Stead stepped up to take bees fourth shot. He made no mistake and put the Bees in the driving seat, meaning that Tomasz Malasinski needed to score to prevent Bees from winning. Max Wright was steadfast in the goal and Malasinski wasn't a match for him and Bees were victorious. Max finished the evening with a 96.72 save percentage after facing 61 shots and Renny Marr with 92.59% after facing 27 shots.
23.11.24: Pitbulls 4 - 3 Bees
Again the Bees started with a short benched line up as Adam Rosbottom, Hallam Wilson and Josh Smith were all missing from roster. Bees were however fortunate to have Preston Tombs and Josh Poole available to play and it was Josh who scored the Bees first goal of the night, his first Bees and NIHL goal. Unfortunately for the Bees they were already 2-0 down before Josh's goal at 18.14. In the second period Bees' Liam Morris scored on the powerplay at 29.27 to draw the teams level but the Bees were to concede two goals to the Pitbull's before the second period break, allowing the Bristol team a two goal lead going into the third. An even handed goal at 44.12 by Dominik Gabaj brought the Bees within one but they were unable to tie the game even with removing Max for the extra skater.
24.11.24: Bees 3 - 4 Lightning (after shootout)
Again the Bees squad was depleted as no two way players were available and the news was not going to get any better after Marcel Balaz was wiped from the gamesheet and joined the gang up on the "injury balcony". This was never ideal but with the team playing the league leaders you would have thought we were in for a thrashing. Spoiler alert: we did not get thrashed. The Lightning had an extra line and more and on paper should have had a walk in the park but at the end of the first they led by one goal which you would describe as a trickle across the goal line. They extended their lead to 2-0 at 23.20 but the Bees finally got a goal on the board with a powerplay goal scored by Vanya Antonov at 36.42. With Bees just a goal behind going into the third period they still had every chance. Their job was made a bit trickier when Lightning were awarded a penalty shot in the 54th minute that Jordan Cownie scored. So 3-1 down with just over 6 minutes remaining the Bees dug deep and their hard work forced the Lightning into making some questionable actions that resulted in the Bees going 5 on 3. With just over 3 minutes left in the period Vanya Antonov scored a sublime powerplay goal to bring the Bees within one goal and just over a minute later with seconds remaining on the powerplay Will Stead scored the equaliser. The third period ended 3-3 and Bees would have been extremely happy with the point. Overtime could not split the teams and penalty shots followed. Only one penalty shot was successful as Dillon Lawrence secured the second point for the Lightning.
30.11.24: Bees 6 - 8 Steeldogs
With a limited roster of 13 players this was going to be a tough game but the players gave their all and more. This game was an absolute goal fest with the teams delivering 14 goals between them. The scoreline yoyoed with Bees taking a 3-1 lead and then the Steeldogs taking a 6-3 lead for the Bees to then bring it back to 6-6. The Steeldogs found two late goals to give them the two points. Marcel Balaz and Dominik Gabaj were involved in all 6 Bees goals as Marcel scored four goals finishing 4+2 on the night and Dominik Gabaj provided the other two goals whilst assisting on all of Marcel's goals.
Coming Up - December
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