C Team

With only the tier 3 National Championships to come, the C team have had a successful season. The Success, however, was expected. Many of last year’s C team returned with rec. hockey experience. This, coupled with the addition of some ex-rollers and promising freshers, made up for the loss of some of our more experienced players to the B team, or more often to work commitments. Due to the late start of Division 3 we had to hone our skills with a number of friendlies.

Our first game was a trip to Lea Valley to face London B. The purples played in Division 2 this year with limited success, so, with last year’s good results against Birmingham and Newcasle (and a successful B vs C challenge), we fancied our chances. Due to insurance problems our future captain was unavailable to come all the way to watch, but with stellar goaltending from Dave Crowther, we beat them comfortably 6-3.

The next game pitted us against much tougher opponents; we made the trip to Birmingham to face the Solihull Wolves. We were confident but were eventually outdone by their physical play and one individual on their side scoring 5, final score 3-8.

Our next game was against the Nottingham U19 B team. We were beaten soundly by a team that skated and moved the puck at a much higher level than ours. Thankfully we avoided a shutout losing 8-1 with “goalie Dave C” keeping the score much closer than it should have been.

With no league games in sight we accepted another game against the Wolves. We entered this game as a new outfit; Adam Bratley had replaced Rachel Whyatt as coach and changed the C and D team from essentially year group teams to picked units and, after trials, the new look C team headed to Birmingham with hope. The Wolves jumped out to an early lead but with all 3 lines capable of scoring, we worked our way back into the game. The Wolves then reverted to the physical tactics that had served them so well in the first game. This time, however, we were not bullied and as they took penalties we pulled away to victory. This result showed how far the team had come – both in skill level and in resilience.

After another reasonable wait for a game, the league started. Cardiff B were our first opponents and the WNIR. After seeing them at both the tier 2 Nationals and easily beating the Nottingham D team, it was clear that they had talented players. It was also clear as the game approached that they expected to beat us in a similar way. The first 10 minutes of the game were played without officials and almost completely in the Cardiff zone. We took an early lead and kept applying the pressure. In the second period they too upped the physical play; a plan that worked for them against Sheffield. Our experience allowed us to come through unscathed except for the odd damaged visor. As the lead increased, so too did their frustration and although the second and third periods were more even, we still won each and ended up winning 6-0 (a result pleasing to myself also, as the rookie goalie). This was probably the most memorable trip as it was into Cardiff on FA Cup Final day. I need to mention the guy on the bike.

After that the league was there for the taking. The next game against Sheffield should have been easy after the Ds had rolled them over at Ice Sheffield. They ended up bringing a B team line to the NIC, which gave the game extra spice. The added players were obvious and although they made the score closer than it would otherwise have been, they did not overwhelm us and left us with another reason for us to play in Division 2 as we wished. The final score of 5-2 could have been better but for a lapse in intensity on our part and some good goaltending on theirs.

Our last game was against the Ds and although we only needed a draw to take Division 3 we were going for the kill. We conceded 2 goals in the first but when scoring 8 in one period it might not matter. Helped by much better strength in depth and shabby opposition goaltending (rookie goaltender not so pleased this time), we ran out 14-2 winners. Earlier in the day, Rick Symes had been named MVP and Best Forward, Best Defenseman was awarded to Doug Potter and Most Improved Player to Edd Rundell.

We are now awaiting the 15th at Ice Sheffield where nothing but a victory will be acceptable. Thank you to Si, Rach and Adam for running a successful team.

Neil Curtis 

Nottingham Mavericks C
Division 3 Champions 2006!
Tier 3 Championship 1st 2006?