DEVILS ROCKED IN FIERY CLASH

The Chieftains V Cardiff ENL Devils clash always has that edge and Saturdays' game was no different. The Chieftains had put themselves in an unassailable 7-2 lead with a brace from Tom Long and Aaron Connolly each with Danny Hammond, Kyle Jones and Darren Brown, but the game will be remembered not only for the skill on show but with what happened in the final few minutes. With just over 4 minutes to go an incident between BT Williams and Bryn Griffiths ended with Griffiths jumping on BT Williams and throwing punches at the Chieftains tough guy. Once Williams had his gloves off, it was only going to go one way and Williams ended the fight by taking the Welshman down much to the delight of the home crowd.

20 seconds after the first fight ended all hell broke loose when Devils netminder Mike Brabon went to the ice to make a save and clashed with Blaho Novak and this invoked the ire of the Devils players and Brabon who triple teamed the Chieftains youngster. The rest of the players on the ice came over to help out the 17yr old and it ended up being uneven numbers as the Devils had already sent some players out for a normal line change. Williams, in the penalty box, was desperate to get out to help Novak and eventually managed to, once Griffiths had jumped out and gone after star Chieftains forward Danny Hammond. This signalled the remaining players to leave the benches and come on to the ice and a mass brawl broke out with all players on the ice pairing off, or in some cases teaming up with teammates to double-team others. The huge crowd of over 700 were all on their feet cheering and watching something that is quite rare in ice hockey, but in many respects is a special moment to witness.

Once things had calmed down and the penalties awarded, the referee Jurijs Solavjovs, had awarded match penalties to both Griffiths and Williams for leaving the penalty box, as well as match penalties to Tom Long and Steve Fisher. Each side also had 3 players put in the penalty box on roughing penalties. The game itself played out without much further incident and as is tradition all players shook hands after the game, other than Novak and Brabon who visibly didn't shake hands with tension clearly between the two still rife

Chieftains win Essex derby

The Romford Raiders made the short trip up the A12 in large numbers to create another huge crowd at the Riverside to witness a close,exciting, end-to-end game that could have gone either way for most of the game. 
 
Referee Yuri Solojanovs and Chieftains forward Blaho Novak will have tongues wagging for various reasons, however the real stars of the show on the night were the two netminders with Michael Gray and Ben Clements being in outstanding form. Both kept their sides in it throughout the game and it was going to take something exceptional to break the deadlock and it took until the 42nd minute for the first goal to be scored, however not the first time the puck hit the net, when Aaron Connelly fired home from close range as Michael Gray gave up a rebound on a Ross Brears shot. Both Gray and Clements, in the Chieftains net, made 41 saves each on the night, with Gray having 42 shots on him. Rightly both players were awarded the man of the match beers and both sets of fans can be very proud of their goalies after this game. Midway through the first period the puck bounced back off the plexi behind Clements's net and Danny Marshall was on hand to put the puck in the net, however the goal was ruled out for high-sticks as Solojanovs adjudged the contact to have been made above crossbar height.

The game was filled with controversy and players on both sides were invoking the wrath of the opposing fans with Pierre Wilhelmsson firstly getting tempers to rise with a nasty hit from behind along the boards which in many people's eyes should have been given more than a 2minute minor penalty. Blaho Novak managed to upset the Raiders fans and players twice in the game for doing the same thing. In ice hockey if your stick goes up and draws blood from an opponent it's an automatic match penalty, however Novak accidentally caught Raiders player-coach Danny Marshall in the face in the second period and drew blood, yet nothing called and in the third period, with just over 3minutes to play, again caught Marshall in the face, but this time Solojanovs called it by the book and sent Novak for a straight match penalty. Earlier in the game, former Chieftain JJ McGrath took his stick to Danny Cox's forearm behind the play and Cox struggled off the ice and the Chieftains bench was going mad and demanding a penalty be called, however Solojanovs didn't call anything as he hadn't seen the incident.

Back to the hockey though and it was an exceptional game, even though it only had 1 goal. Both sides created plenty of chances and put a lot of shots in on the goaltenders, however neither side was keen to give up anything as they knew what the Essex derby meant and the reaction of the victors after the game showed that. Ice hockey fans normally like to have lots of goals to talk about, but this game will live long in the memory as it was one of the most exciting games seen at the Riverside for some time and both sets of fans can be proud of their teams after this barnstorming game.

After the game Dean Birrell said "The fact of the matter is, is that Romford didn't let us play. Romford came at us tonight and made it uncomfortable and stopped us playing our game. They clogged up the neutral zone and the slot, they worked our defensive unit hard, they gave our forwards some hits and they played at a high tempo, probably the highest tempo game we've played this season. We have a number of players who are not experienced in games like this and that counts for something. With no disrespect to Romford, but I felt we could have, should have got something more from this game than a 1-0 result, but that's not to take anything away from their goalie who was outstanding but I'm pleased we won. Ben Clements was immense for us tonight and stood strong at everything fired at him and in games like this you need to have game makers and he was ours tonight." 

Birrell was less complimentary about the officiating "I was disappointed in the inconsistency of the officiating and the way in which calls were made, but we have to learn to deal with that. We had one guy smashed into the boards from behind that could have been a nasty incident, but not called anything other than a minor penalty, yet two players get tangled up and they get the same thing. What happens if the stick goes up high and draws blood it's a penalty, deliberate or not, but he didn't call it in the first, yet in the third he did. Again we come back to the inconsistency."

The waiting is almost over.....

After a difficult summer with hold-ups in the multi-million pound refurbishment of the Riverside ice rink in Chelmsford, the season is almost upon us and the club is raring to go. Saturday 2nd of October sees the 2010-11 Chieftains take to the ice for the first time in anger in what will be a tough first game away to Wightlink Raiders on the Isle of Wight, followed up by a tricky game away in Oxford 24hours later. This all leads into ice hockey returning to the heart of Essex when the Chieftains will do battle with the Streatham Redskins on Sunday 10th October at 6:30pm. The club is excited about playing in front of their great fans again and even more so in the much-improved ice rink. With new changing rooms, toilet facilities, new ice pad and catering areas, as well as a new scoreboard it is hoped to vastly improve the matchnight experience for fans, players and officials. The work which has cost over £3m has shown the dedication to ice sports and leisure facilities from the local council and the club would like to take this opportunity to thank the council and the contractors for the work they have put in in making the work happen and keeping the club informed of developments and giving Chelmsford an ice rink to be proud of. The Chieftains organisation would also like to thank the EIHA and the other clubs in the league for their patience throughout what has been a roller-coaster summer.

Chieftains head coach Dean Birrell said "We've had a tough off-season and preparations haven't been ideal, but we've made the best of it and I'm sure come face off on Saturday we'll be ready. We've worked hard on a variety of things away from the ice, but when we have trained on the ice things have gone very well. All the players have been working hard and training as much as possible and we're ready to go.


I've said that Wightlink have improved and I believe it will be an ideal test for us as our first outing for the season. Jeremy Cornish has built a hard-working, tough hitting side and the small ice surface works in their favour a lot of the time, but we've got the speed element and we've got guys who are as prepared to check and hit back, so it should be a great game. Oxford are a different proposition. They work hard, are well-drilled and are tough to break down and there is a reason they are top of the league. No team in this league should be taken lightly and I know it's an old cliché, but this season the league really has got better and stronger and we've had to up our game as well. I believe the players we've brought in have brought something to the team to give us that extra that we were perhaps missing at times last year. I still believe we have the capability and the players to win the league, but it will be tougher now but it's down to us to show the determination and professionalism to put the problems behind us and get on with the job in hand."

Away from the ice the club have been working hard to secure new sponsors this summer, as well as retaining existing ones, and most of the main sponsors from last season have agreed to stay on board. The club have welcomed Grants SEAT, amongst others, into the fold as big name supporters and are still looking for further entrants to the 'big screen draw'. The draw will take place at the first home game on October 10th and first prize is a website link from the Chieftains site (Over 1.7m views last year) and an advert on the new big screen at the rink. All entrants will get a link from the club's site and second prize is a half-page advert in the clubs programme for the season. Entry closes now on 8th October.

Further to that, the club have also agreed to support Autism Anglia as their chosen charity for the season and will be supporting and raising money for this excellent organisation throughout the season.

For further information on the 'big screen draw' please visit www.chelmsfordchieftains.co.uk or contact Pete Lewis via pete.lewis@sporttrades.co.uk

"The Mayor" takes on new role as Captain

In traditional Chieftains fashion the election of club captain for the 2010-11 was held this week and Danny Wright was elected to wear the 'C' for the forthcoming season. The self-styled "Mayor of Chelmsford" Wright has been a regular fixture in the Chieftains line up for a number of seasons, barring a short spell at Romford, and was delighted to be elected captain by his team-mates.

Wright said "I love playing hockey in Chelmsford. We have a great set-up here with the right mix of youth and experience with some great characters in the locker room to help lift team spirit. There is no better feeling in ice hockey than coming out onto the ice at the Riverside in front of our loyal fans who are always giving words of encouragement to the players and getting behind us every night of the season. We'll be looking to them to be loud and proud at the Riverside and make it a place no club wants to come to play. We've not had an ideal preparation for the season with the problems at the rink, but we're determined that when the first game faces off we're ready to take on anyone and give them a real test. I'd like to take a moment to thank the players for giving their support to me and I am really excited about captaining my hometown team."

Also elected by the players were the two alternate captains and they were former captain Tom Long who has returned to his roots from spells in Basingstoke and the Isle of Wight, as well as solid no-nonsense defenceman Sean Easton who has signed for another season at Essex's premier ice hockey club.

Away from on-ice matters and the news from the rink is promising as all the work is on schedule and the revised opening date of the 5th October looks quite likely to be hit and as such the Chieftains will be able to take to the ice in Chelmsford on Sunday 10th October when Streatham Redskins are in town.