Hull Stingrays 1-3 Nottingham Panthers

Something a little bit different today. As it was FA Trophy second round day, Lincoln City didn’t have a game. I could have taken in some random game but I decided that the only place to be was the Hull Arena to watch the Elite League leaders the Nottingham Panthers take on the Hull Stingrays. Over the past few years I have started to get into ice hockey and I like to try and get to about 6-8 Panthers games a season. While it will never replace football I do thoroughly enjoy watching the Panthers and it makes a nice change not only to watch but to write about. As a lot of people reading this are maybe not familiar with the rules of Ice Hockey I will try and go through the basics in this write up. I don’t know all the ins and outs of various penalties etc but I do have a grasp of the basics. I am far from an expert but I do enjoy the game. In Ice hockey as in any other sport you have the “Haves” and the “Have not’s” the top league in Britain is known as the Elite League and has sides form all four corners of the United Kingdom taking part, Four each from Scotland and England and one each from Northern Ireland and Wales. There is quite a difference in terms of crowds that the clubs draw. The largest club is the Belfast Giants (the reigning league champions,) we have our very own Nottingham Panthers and the Panthers arch rivals the Sheffield Steelers (Boo Hiss). Panthers and Giants often get well over 5,000 for a Saturday night game with the Steelers getting about 3,000 on average. Contrast that with some of the other clubs who do well to get 1,000 through the gates. It’s perhaps no surprise that the league title has been contested between the “Big three” for the past few seasons. Although sides like Coventry and Cardiff have challenged and won the title in the not too distant past it is getting increasingly difficult for them to compete with the large Arena sides over the course of the season.

Nottingham’s history is one of crushing disappointment. Although they are the oldest English side in the league (and the best supported) we have failed to win a league Championship since 1956. That’s not to say we Panthers haven’t tasted success, far from it in fact. The Panthers have claimed the Challenge Cup for the past three seasons and won the last two end-of-season playoffs. However the big prize still eludes us much to the amusement of the rest of the league. Panthers also have a reputation for being the best side to watch in the league. Packed with attacking talent but also prone to drop points against the so called lesser sides. To use a football comparison the Panthers are somewhere between Liverpool and Spurs. So far this year the Panthers sit at the top of the standing however a shock defeat at home to bottom of the table Edinburgh had started the first whispers of “Same old panthers” blowing it again. A win against the Stingrays was badly needed to get back on track ahead of a huge home game with Belfast the next night. This was our second visit to Hull this season as we also took in a game earlier in the season in the challenge cup group stage when the Panthers won 4-2. The two sides also clashed last week in the league with the Stingrays taking a shock 1-3 lead at the end of the first period. Thankfully the Panthers woke up and ran out 8-4 winners. However the ice at Hulls game is smaller and the fans are much closer so it was going to be a very different game in Hull.

We arrived at Hull in good time and purchased our tickets at £15 each. As the Stingrays never sell out you don’t have to sit in a specific seat. Unlike in football it’s not uncommon for fans of rival clubs to be sat side by side, the away fans at Hull do tend to congregate at the far end of the arena behind the goal and one of the blocks along the side. Before we went to our seats though, we sampled the food in the cafe after hearing rave reviews about the famous spicy Hull Chips. After a 15 minute wait I was eventually tucking onto my cheeseburger and spicy chips and while they were palatable they didn’t really live up to the hype and not worth the long wait. After eating we collected the match night programme (£3.50 but it was a joint issue for this and Monday’s game) and wandered over to find some decent seats. The thing I like about Hull is that you are right up close to the action; we had a decent view last time so we sat there again this time. This was a mistake.

Last time we were here the Panthers pretty much packed the far blocks out. That was the first game of the season and a lot more Panthers fans had made the trip. Whereas last time we were surrounded by other Panthers fans this time we were the only two in Panthers colours in our block with Stingrays fans in front and behind us. The game was meant to face off at 6.30pm but ice hockey games never face off on time. The normal agenda for starting a game is as follows 1) Away team enters onto the ice 2) Home team enters onto the ice 3) Home players individually introduced to the crowd. 4) The National Anthem is played 5) The two side’s starting lines start the game. To Hulls credit they actually get a bloke to sing the anthem where as in Nottingham it’s just played over the PA system without the words being sung. I do prefer Hulls way of doing it to be honest. Hull’s game plan became quite apparent early on. Try to rough up the Panthers and stop them playing Hockey. After about 5 minutes, we had our first fight which resulted in a player from either side being thrown out of the game. At any one time you should have 6 players on the ice; a net minder and 5 outfield skaters. They are normally on the ice for not longer than a minute or two, and then they are replaced. Again using a footie comparison it’s like having rolling subs. If a player commits a foul then more often than not he is sent to the sin bin for 2 or 5 minutes and the team plays on with 4 outfield players. For serious offences players can be thrown out of the game and that’s what happened in the first fight. As the main fight was going on there was plenty of other skirmishes for the refs to try and sort out. When order was restored a Panthers player went to the sinbin for 5 mins meaning we had to dig deep as we faced a 4 v 5 for 5 minutes.

Thankfully we kept them out, but as soon as we were back to full strength it all kicked off again, but this time the Panthers were far more aggressive and ready for Hull’s wind up merchants. This then led to an elderly Hull fan in front of us to start shouting “Nottingham Scabs” and telling his grand children all about the miners’ strike. Not really the time and the place in my view and we made the decision to go round and sit in the block where the main body of Panthers support was sat for the 2nd and 3rd periods. However not before the Panthers broke clear and took the lead with a fine strike from Matt Francis which seemed to slip under the home side netminder. This goal settled the Panthers down and now meant that Hull would have to play hockey instead of just look to break up the Panther’s play.

The second period was much calmer and although the Panthers had the better of it they continued to waste chances till Kelsey Wilson doubled the advantage when the Panthers were on the power play (hockey speak for a time when the other team is down to 4 outfield skaters). If you are the on penalty kill then your team is down to 4 players, or even three players as the Panthers were on two occasions tonight. Between the intervals the Stingrays mascot strolled around the stadium and was greeted to a burst of the Youtube sensation “One pound Fish” song from the Panther’s fans. Christmas number one maybe?

 Just a few minutes into the final period it was game on again as the Stingrays got it back to 1-2. This then lead to a foghorn blasting out over the pa system and the home fans really getting behind their side. It was also a sign for the Panthers to step up a gear and they played their best hockey of the game and looked more composed than they had done all night. They rounded off the scoring when skipper Jordan Fox scored from close range to wrap up the game and an important two points for the visitors. However there was still time for some drama; Hull had goal disallowed and the Panthers missed a great chance right at the death but in the end the right side won on the night.