Heart is pleased to be a supporter of the Chelmsford Chieftains Ice Hockey team.
Here you will find details of the fixtures and reviews/photo's from the games. Chelmsford Chieftains will also be helping to raise money for Heart's charity 'Global's Make Some Noise' by making a generous donation from tickets sold to one of the games! We'll let you know which one!
Fixtures - Riverside Ice & Leisure Centre, Chelmsford
Sunday 30th September - 18.30 Chelmsford Chieftains Vs Raiders Junior S2 Sunday 7th October - 18.30 Chelmsford Chieftains Vs Basingstoke Buffalo Sunday 14th October - 18.30 Chelmsford Chieftains Vs Haringey Huskies Saturday 20th October - 18.30 Chelmsford Chieftains Vs Swindon Wildcats 2 Sunday 21st October - 18.30 Chelmsford Chieftains Vs Peterborough Phantoms To book tickets for future Chieftain games book here...Book Here
Reviews
Sunday October 7th - Chelmsford Chieftains 14 - Basingstoke Buffalo 1
Chelmsford Chieftains were at full strength for the visit of the Buffalo from Basingstoke. Regular choice Sonny Phillips began the night between the pipes for the Chieftains in from of another large and vocal crowd at Riverside. Once again it was going to be a tough night at the office for coach Joe Wilson and his squad, but only in the physical sense with the ref dishing out a total of 109 penalty minutes between the teams.
Two minutes in and Chieftains were given a powerplay when the Buffalo were penalised for having too many men on the ice. Chieftains pressured the defence for the first time in the evening forcing another penalty as Oliver Bower was given two minutes sin bin for a hook on Gary Brown who was making a nuisance of himself in front of the opponents net. But Chieftains failed to utilise that two skater advantage and the game remained scoreless. No sooner had the teams returned to five on five the ref’s arm went up signalling a two minute penalty to Chieftain Charlie Phillips for roughing. Buffalo with a man advantage but Chieftains weathered the storm.8:35 and a trip on Elliot Dervish was punished and despite continued pressure the Buffalo and netminder Aaron Burton stayed strong, Burton making three saves in succession to keep his clean sheet intact. Chieftains were beginning to look the better team with Buffalo dangerous on the break and Sonny Phillips had to come to his defences rescue on a couple of occasions. At 13.34 more penalties, the first major flare-up of the evening. Chieftains forward Brad Moore was hit from behind and with the officials taking no action he decided to punish the culprit himself and a few well directed shots before players from both sides came together in front of the away bench. The officials became peacemakers Moore and Buffalo Jack Peacock both given two minutes for roughing. Chieftains piled on more pressure but once again it was Buffalo which nearly stole the march with some wayward play gave the visitors a 3 on 1 breakaway. The shot went in but Phillips was there once more standing firm, keeping his clean sheet. With a little over a minute remaining the deadlock was broken at last. Moore intercepted the puck and skated in on net with just the netminder to beat. His initial shot was saved but he reacted to the rebound off of the net minders pads and poked the puck into the back of the net. 1-0 to the Chieftains at the end of the first. A period in which both net minders were instrumental in keeping the scoring to a minimum.
Both teams started the 2nd period with a 4 on 4 scenario Charlie Phillips and Buffalo defenceman Mark Austen in the sin bin for separate misdemeanors at the end of the first. Phillips returned to the ice 30 seconds ahead of Austen giving the Chieftains a short powerplay. And seconds after returning to the ice a pass from Ross Brears from behind the Buffalo net found Phillips who scooped the puck high into the roof of the net doubling the Chieftains lead. Four minutes later at 25:47 and the Chieftains pulled further ahead. A pass from Justin Robinson deep in his own zone to Donald Campbell and he returned the favour as Robinson continued his attack, splitting the Buffalo defence. Skating to the left of the goal and as he bore down on goal he shot across the netminder into the corner of the net. 3-0 and the visitors called an immediate time-out to try and steady the ship. But within a minute of the restart Chieftains were celebrating once again. Working the puck around the Buffalo zone and Tom Wilson spotted James Ayling open on the back post. His pass was perfect and instead of the shot Ayling one-timed the puck to Brears who with the netminder wrong-footed found the open net from close in. The visitors started to get frustrated and once again Mark Austen came to the attention of the officials. The Buffalo defenceman boarded Phillips from behind at which unsurprisingly he took exception too. A fight ensued with both played putting in some heavy blows before the officials stepped in. Both were given 2+2 for fighting and 10 for misconduct, Austen lucky to get away with no penalty minutes for the initial challenge. The Buffalo came close when a wayward pass from Chieftains d-man James Dimond was intercepted and once again Sonny Phillips was in action saving two well-struck shots from the opponents. Just before the half-hour mark Chieftains were given another powerplay opportunity, Oscar Evans guilty for a trip on Elliot Dervish. A minute into the powerplay and once again the puck went to Brears behind the Buffalo net. Ayling was unmarked a couple of metres out and he made perfect contact on the Brears pass scoring with a slapshot to give his side an 5-0 advantage.
Buffalo pushed the self-destruct button and both player and bench were penalised for a verbal attack on referee Briggs. The players for delay of game and then bench for abuse of an official. Chieftains didn’t take any prisoners and took full advantage with two powerplay goals in quick succession from Kyle Goddard and another from Brears. 7-0 and it was game over but not before the visitors had one final throw of the dice. TJ Fillery and Robinson were given penalties to give the visitors a 5 on 3 powerplay, the latter ejected from the game for cross-checking. The Buffalo bench decided to throw caution to the wind and pulled the netminder with just seconds of the period remaining in an attempt to prevent the shut-out before the break. But this back-fired as the puck found Brears who scored his hat-trick goal, a short-handed goal making it 8-0 at the end of the second period.
Sonny Phillips came out of the net at the start of the third period to give back-up keeper James Tipple a shot between the posts. And at 45:56 normal service was resumed when man of the match Ross Brears scored goal number nine, the assists going to Wilson and Ayling. But just seconds later with the fans still celebrating the Buffalo at last made one of their quick breakaways pay, Evans beating Tipple low to the right to prevent the shut-out. Two minutes later and netminder Tipple cleared the puck from his defensive zone with a well directed pass to Brears who found himself alone and clear of the chasing defence. He was scoring at will and made no mistake and Burton was beaten for the 9th time. In normal circumstances he would have headed for the bench, but with no back-up netminder he had no choice but to stay and face the rampant Chieftains. They showed no mercy and within a couple of minutes Phillips, Dervish and Jake Luton all found the net making it 13-1 with the opposition wanting that final buzzer desperately.
It came at 60.00 minutes but not before Campbell had beaten the Buffalo defence once more to make it 14-1. A fabulous night’s work from coach Joe Wilson and his team who sit proudly on top of NIHL Division 2 South. A 100% record as has Oxford who sit in second place with a game in hand. This Sunday the Chieftains are at home to Haringey Huskies at Riverside a 6.30pm face-off. If the last time the teams met a couple of weeks ago it should be a tough physical encounter, one not to be missed.
Sunday September 23rd - Chelmsford Chieftains 7 - Slough Jets 6
Chelmsford Chieftains were almost at full-strength, Gary Brown being the only player on the injury list and Coach Joe Wilson opted for Sonny Phillips between the pipes.
Slough Jets brought a very strong side which included the very experienced Lukas Smital who has spent much of his career playing in top leagues in the USA before making the UK his home and plying his trade with top sides such as Guildford Flames and Bracknell Bees. Keeping it in the family was his son Matt Smital in the net for the visitors.
From the off both teams went on the offence and it clear that the young Chieftains side was going to have a tough day in the office.
At 6:54 Chieftains got their first powerplay chance when former Chieftains Luke Reynolds was given a 2 minute rest in the sin bin for tripping. With the extra man Chieftains lay siege to the Jets net and the deadlock was broken at 7:55 when Brad Moore’s shot from the blue line was redirected past Matt Smital by Courtney Grant giving Chieftains the lead.
Six minutes later the Jets were level, Lukas Smital showing how dangerous he is was should he be given space. The 44 year-old intercepted a pass and went past two defenceman to strike the puck high past Phillips to make it 1-1. The visitors started to look the better team as the opening period went on with Chieftains looking venerable with every Jets raid. Phillips in the Chieftains net pulled off a string of massive saves including one which could already be a contender for the save of the season. But at 14:47 their persistence was rewarded when Daniel Rose Scored to put the Jets ahead for the first time in the game.
Two minutes before the break and with Moore in the sin bin after receiving a two minute tripping penalty, Timo Lindgren netted a power play goal for the Jets to stretch their lead to 3-1. As the buzzer went to end the period a frustrated Chieftains team headed to the changing room and the fans wondered what the team’s new coach could pass his first test of what has so far been a flawless season.
The second period couldn’t have started any worse if you were a Chieftains fan when James Ayling headed to the bin just 41 seconds in after he was adjudged to have slashed an opponent. The Jets once again looked to make the most of the extra skater but as they passed the puck around the zone Chieftains forward TJ Fillery intercepted a wayward Jets pass. His pass set Moore away one-on-one with Smital in the Jets goal. Moore won the dual and the puck struck the back of the net to make it 2-3.
Five minutes later and the Chieftains were level again enjoying an extra skater as James Talbot put in a late hit on Justin Robinson which earned him a two minute break in the sin bin. Ayling on the assist with the goal awarded to Charlie Phillips, but this was not without controversy. Phillips narrowed angled slap shot was ruled by referee Solovjovs to have entered the net and come straight back into play. The Jets were furious as the goal was signalled but their complaints were waved away and the goal stood.
Emotions were running high with both teams given powerplay chances as the sin bin became the most popular seat in the house. But just as Chieftains had done earlier in the game it was now the Jets turn to celebrate a short-handed goal, Rose with the steal and Greg Norris with the finish at 35:21. Just as it was looking like once again the Chieftains would have their heads down as they returned to the changing room to end the period, a fierce slapshot from Jake Luton was tipped in by Moore, redirecting the puck past a already committed Smital to make it level at 4-4 going into the final 20 minutes of play.
Three minutes in at 43:26 up popped Chieftain’s captain Ross Brears took the lead role in what was becoming an epic game of ice hockey. Ayling’s pin-point pass finished in style by the skipper, giving his team a 5-4 lead but it was clear for all to see that this drama still had plenty of twists still to come.
The speedy Chieftains now looked to be getting to grips with the Jets style of play and began to look the better team but once again one lack of concentration especially in a game such as ice hockey and you get punished. Chieftains on the attack, Norris steals the puck and his shot evades Phillips to draw level once again at 5-5.
Just after the restart Ross Cowan gave away a soft penalty as his attempted clearance hit the net above the Flexi which is a two minute delay of game infringement. 30 seconds later and the Jets were ahead again taking full advantage of their powerplay Lindgren scored his 2nd of the game. It was now 6-5 with just over four minutes of play remaining. Could the Chieftains bounce back once again?
Bounce back they did and with the away fans still in goal celebration mode up pops Grant again, a real menace for any netminder in front of goal. His determination to be first to the puck paid off once again and a well directed pass from Fillery was finished brilliantly by the 24 old-forward who has returned to hockey after a break.
Now 6-6 with a little over 3 minutes to play, the fans from both sides were now in full voice as they encouraged their team to snatch victory at the death. The stage had been set for an exciting climax to an enthralling game of hockey. One minute remaining and Brears pass finds Tom Wilson who looked up to see Ayling on the blue line closely guarded by two Jets defencemen. His pass was perfect and a good first touch from the Ayling split the defence and he skated through the gap to find himself one-on-one with Smital. This was the game…the defining moment. Would he keep his nerve? As Smital approached he calmly slotted the puck though the oncoming netminder’s legs to cement a fantastic 7-6 victory for his team.
The fans lifted the roof off as they celebrated the win, meaning the Chieftains retain their 100% start to the season, winning four games on the bounce.
Next up for Chieftains is a home game with local rivals London formally Romford next Sunday. 6.30pm Face-off. One not to be missed.
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