Well that probably wasn’t the way I wanted to mark my first full game as the Warriors Radio commentator, as they got their season underway last Sunday with a disappointing 9-2 defeat!
The visiting Solway Sharks looked impressive rolling out three forward lines which included newly acquired Rick Bentham from Blackburn plus three experienced D-men on the blue line. Such was the quality of the Dumfries-based side that they could include an import on each of the top two defensive pairings in Juraj Senko and Kim Miettinen, who like Bentham, also arrived from the Hawks over the summer.
If that wasn’t enough newly-appointed captain, James Hutchinson had spent the past 14 seasons turning out for EPL sides since he last graced the Hillheads ice in a Warriors jersey so it was like icing with a third import D-man for the Sharks.
Of course while the Sharks were busy assembling a much improved side from the one that finished fourth in the league standings last time out, it has been quite the opposite for Whitley. Losing youngsters Callum Queenan, Kyle Ross and Mark Turnbull, who all had great opportunities to play in the Canadian Junior system, was always going to be difficult to replace. Throw in the likes of captain Jamie Tinsley, who was unable to return this year and Scott Cooper, who was offered a better deal by Billingham and you can start to understand just what a tough task player-coach David Longstaff has on his hands if he wants to lead the club back to the playoffs this season.
It has been a very tough off-season for the former GB forward, as he has watched all his closest rivals strengthen over the summer, with most teams now being able to ice two imports as well as paying some experienced local lads too. These are all things Whitley are unable to match so any success achieved this season will go to prove just what an outstanding job Lobby has done.
There was another telling factor between the two sides, that of match fitness. Whitley were unable to arrange any pre-season friendlies, meaning this was the first game of hockey the Warriors had played since losing the play-off semi-final to Solihull at iceSheffield back in early April.
For the Sharks they had four games under their belts already coming into the contest and it showed. They looked confident and composed on the puck, with three very settled lines. Although it is still early days for the new season, it is my opinion that Solway will take some stopping from claiming the league title, such was the way they impressively dismantled a Warriors side that never lost on home ice throughout the whole of last season, never mind giving up nine goals in a single game.
The Sharks were off the mark just two minutes into the game when Connor Henderson opened the scoring, but Whitley hit-back almost immediately when Dean Holland found the net just 31 seconds later. However that was as good as it got for the home side as Rick Bentham scored from a power play soon after to restore the Sharks lead, before Duncan Speirs and Juraj Senko also converted before the first period was over.
At 4-1 down it was always going to be a tall order and when Henderson grabbed his second of the night early into the second period it was game over. The Warriors did battle to try and get back into it though and were awarded a penalty shot at 33:17 after Liam Brown was hauled to the ice when through on goal. Brown had the chance to cap an impressive Warriors debut with what would have been a deserved goal, but with the bumps in the Hillheads ice proving a hindrance the rookie was unable to beat the goalie.
Given the quality of the ice, perhaps a slap shot from distance might have been better as the puck would have avoided the uneven surface.
At that stage the Warriors could have been forgiven for just throwing in the towel with seemingly nothing going their way but just 11 seconds from the restart, DJ Good got his first goal of the season in spectacular fashion. A shot from distance taking a deflection on the way through some traffic and looping into the top corner of the net.
Normally DJ is like a classic sports car, he needs a few games to warm the engine up before firing on all cylinders but, he showed no signs of rustiness and clearly getting married and taking a 6 week road trip across America has worked wonders for the long-serving forward.
However, that proved to be just a footnote in what was a distinctly one-sided affair. Just over a minute later, Solway had scored again, with Bentham grabbing his second and the teams sixth of the night. The former Blackburn man went on to claim his hat-trick at 47:27 before further strikes from Scott Henderson and Daniel Abercrombie completed the rout.
One person who could not be held responsible for the defeat was goaltender Richie Lawson. If anything he made some smart saves which kept the score line looking respectable, but he was replaced by Jordan Boyle with just under 10 minutes of the game remaining, I would imagine to give him some respite from having faced so many shots if nothing else.
One game doesn’t make a season so let’s not get carried away by this result. The Warrior’s had no pre-season so are playing catch-up with everyone else on fitness, they had a number of experienced D-men missing who will make a huge difference when they return to the side and indeed faced opponents that had a lot of quality defensemen themselves that were able to shut down the Whitley attack.
Things will get better than this but it looks to be another difficult weekend ahead. Our next opponents are the Blackburn Hawks, who got off to a good start themselves last weekend, dismissing the ridiculous comments that some fans believed would see them relegated this year, after having lost so many of last season’s championship winning players. And due to work commitments the Warriors will be short-benched again and will only be able to take two recognised defensemen [Liam Smedley and Craig Johnson] for their trip across the Pennines.
View from the Commentary box
* Joining me in the Warriors commentary box for this one was former Warriors legend Daniel Ord. For anyone listening in to the commentary I’m sure you will agree in just what a great job Dan did. When I was given the opportunity to manage the Warriors Radio franchise one of the things I wanted to introduce was an expert analysist, someone who had played the game and could give some kind of insight to the listeners. I found it great working with Ordy as he was able to comment on plays and spot things only a hockey player could notice. I hope this is the first of many games we get to work together on.
* The game also marked the first occasion where we had the Warriors TV cameras at the rink. Matty and Laura are now busy putting together a 10 minute highlights package, which they hope to do for most games this season. There will also be some interesting features they hope to film too.
* Whitley’s top line Included DJ Good centering Dean Holland and Callum Watson. All three players got married to their respective girlfriends this summer and were responsible for both of the Warrior’s goals.
* The Whitley ice surface has always been criticised by players and fans alike but as the game wore parts of the lines started to disintegrate. With parts of the blue line breaking up into a blue powder across the ice.
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