GRIMSBY STORMERS 10, HONEY BADGERS 4 (Oct 6th) PDF Print E-mail
Wednesday, 10 October 2012 12:45

The Badgers came away bloodied but unbowed from the coast this weekend as they travelled up to face the Grimsby Stormers, who had beaten them 4-3 in a tight game at the Skydome the previous weekend.

With nine skaters the Badgers were shortbenched, but their main concern wasn't so much lack of numbers as lack of space on Grimsby's cramped ice surface-the Stormers' rink is much smaller than the Skydome and the home team clearly knew how to use it to the best of their ability, putting extended pressure on the Badgers goalie Colin Bennett throughout the first period. The Badgers goalie was adjusting quicker than his team-mates to the particular demands of the Grimsby rink, however, and made several fine stops early on.

A dogged effort the from the defensive three of James Turner, John Warburton and Steu Durham and Bennett in net wasn't enough to prevent the Stormers scoring three first-period goals as the Badgers struggled to adjust-a trend that seemed to continue in the early part of the second as Bennett could do nothing about a series of close-in finishes. However, as the second period wore on the away team's forwards began to come into the game, with tireless work from Chris Armstrong and Matthew Rollins in particular-Simon Manning too was prominent and fed Paul Wheeler in front of the net moments later-however the Stormers goalie made a good point-blank save.

Eventually this hard work was rewarded as Rollins dug out a loose puck in the corner and fed Turner for a hard & accurate blue-line blast to get the Badgers on the board.

Coach for the day Tom Walker had told Alex Bailey and his linemates to put more pressure on the Stormers defence, and this paid dividends late in the second as Bailey forced an error from a Stormers dman and the puck trickled into the net-Bailey getting awarded the goal. The period ended with the Stormers leading 9-2 and bad news for the Badgers however as Durham took a puck to the face and had to leave the game for treatment.

The third period saw Badger hockey at its finest-short benched and with players playing out of position, the team dug in and resolved to win the period. The Badgers were the first to score in the third, Armstrong digging the puck out for Wheeler to break down ice and snap a wristshot into the roof of the Stormers net from the left circle. The Stormers answered with a ricocheting shot that Bennett had no chance with, but from then on they wouldn't score again as every Badger played their heart out-Warburton and Armstrong being particularly impressive on defence. Scott Bonsor gained a reward for his hard work on line two as a speculative effort hit a Stormer's elbow and deflected into the net late on, but the game ended 10-4 Grimsby in a game which defined the term "home rink advantage". Chris Armstrong was MoM and John Warburton received the "Badgers Top Hat" for his tireless efforts.

Click here to see stats and game sheet for this match

The Badgers next game is against MK Jesters this Friday.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 10 October 2012 15:46