By Frankie Notaro
The Bristol Honda Pitbulls take to the ice again this weekend for another action packed weekend as they welcome the Hull Seahawks to the Pound on Saturday evening for the second time this season, and then take the trip to the Sapphire on Sunday evening to take on the Romford Raiders for their away fixture of the weekend.
Hull Seahawks
Hull are going into this weekend currently occupying 7th place within the league standings after being able to secure 22 points (55% of the points on offer to them) from the 20 games that they have completed, From these 20 games, Hull have been able to secure 10 wins this season with 1 overtime win but have also suffered 10 losses with 2 of those being from either a loss in overtime or during a penalty shootout. The Seahawks are going into this weekend on a 5 game losing streak and will be hoping to end that streak over the course of the next 2 games ahead.
The power play unit for Hull has been 31% effective going from the opportunities they have had over the past 20 games played. They have been able to use 26 out of the 84 extra skater opportunities they have had and someone to watch during the Seahawks’ power play will be Bobby Chamberlain as he has been able to score 7 power play goals and pick up 6 assists with an extra skater.
Penalty kill units for the Seahawks have been 78% effective as they have been able to see through 79 out of 101 times where they have found themselves short-handed during a game. Even though they have been down a skater during this time, it has not stopped Hull from being able to get the puck to the back of the net as they have been able to get 3 short-handed goals so far this season with those being scored by Declan Jones, Lee Haywood and Lee Bonner.
There have been 692 shots on goal against the Seahawks’ netminders this season with their netminders facing an average of 35 shots on goal per game completed. On the other side though the Seahawks have been able to have 853 shots on goal this season on netminders across the league and are averaging 43 shots on goal each game. Hull have had 79 goals scored against them and to balance that statistic out they have been able to score 92 goals.
Going into this fixture on Saturday night, the Pitbulls will need to keep an eye out for Forward Lee Bonner as well as Defenseman Davey Phillips. Lee Bonner is an extremely fast paced player who leaves his heart out on the ice for his team and is not afraid to stick up for his team should it come to it. He is also able to take opportunities whenever they may face him as he has seen from him being able to take advantage of a situation while the Seahawks were short-handed to secure a goal. Davey Phillips is a huge asset to Hull’s defence as he has masses of experience that will help boost their gameplay as well as make it extremely hard for the Pitbulls to get back him to test the Seahawks’ netminder on the night. It is also worth noting that Owen Sobchak as it currently stands is the top point scorer in the league with 47 points and it will be key to limit his puck possession on the night.
Romford Raiders
From completing 20 games so far this season, the Romford Raiders currently sit in 4th place within the league standings. They have been able to secure 4th place through winning 12 games but having 3 wins come from overtime and also suffering from 8 losses with 2 of those being from overtime or shootout games. After all these games Romford have accumulated 26 points, which is 65% of the points that have been on offer to them.
Romford are going into this weekend after a weekend of mixed emotions after securing a 5-4 win against the Peterborough Phantoms but then falling short and suffering an overtime 1-2 loss against the Solway Sharks at home, which left them with a 3 point weekend.
The power play for the Raiders has been 26% effective this season as they have been able to successfully execute 25 out of 96 extra skater advantages and from these opportunities Shaun Miller has proven himself to be the one to keep an eye out for during their extra skater time. Shaun Miller has been able to get the puck to the back of the net 7 times during the power play for the Raiders in the 18 games he has completed and also been able to pick-up 7 assists.
Penalty kills in Romford have 72% successful as the Raiders have been able to see through 51 out of 71 times where they have found themselves short-handed during a game. There have been 3 short-handed goals scored against the Raiders in the games they have completed but in an attempt to balance out the 3 goals, Romford have scored 2 short-handed goals that were scored by Andrew Shewfelt and Jake Sylvester.
There have been a total of 811 shots on goal against the Romford netminders so far this season and they are currently facing roughly 41 shots on goal per game. However on the other side, the Raiders have been able to have 756 shots on goal against netminders around the league and are roughly having 38 shots on goal per game. 83 goals have been scored against the Raiders in the 20 games they have completed but they have been able to score 89 goals as well.
Going into Sunday’s game, the ones to watch for the Raiders will be Jake Sylvester as well as Thomas Relf. Jake Sylvester has constantly proven that he is a big part of the Romford offensive gameplay and is a big part of their power plays. Something to watch out for when playing against Jake Sylvester is if he gets possession of the puck near the blueline, he has an incredible shot with great accuracy that tends to go to the back of the net from that place.
Thomas Relf is a very skilled defensemen who makes it hard for the opposing teams to get past him to test their netminder. He has been with Romford for a few years now and is well aware of how to work around those on his team and place himself in a position to create offensive chances as well as be available in his defensive role.
