Big Ice Report: Your r/hockey International Hockey Roundup

Welcome to your premier roundup of varying minor hockey leagues that tend not to get the media attention globally, where we will try to keep you informed of what’s happening in hockey worldwide. Each week, a contributor from Reddit’s r/hockey will give a rundown of the past week’s action in their particular league, along with what to look forward to in the next week.

To jump directly to a league, just click the following links, but if you’re looking for a good hockey read, just start scrolling.

KHL – Pan-European League

EIHL – UK 1st League

DEL – German 1st League

Liiga – Finnish 1st League

Western Hockey League – US/Canada Major Junior League

Controversies and Ilya Kovalchuk have dominated the second round of KHL playoffs so far.

One team has already been sent home from the quarterfinal round, as CSKA dumped Torpedo in five games, winning four in a row after losing Game 1. This punches CSKA’s ticket to the Gagarin Cup semifinals for a second straight year, and no doubt they will try and avenge their choke job last year, blowing a 3-0 series lead against SKA.

Also nearly decided is the series between Salavat Yulaev and Avangard, with the Ufa side holding a 3-1 series advantage. After splitting two goalfests in Omsk, Salavat only allowed one goal in Games 3 and 4 at home, and look set to make the Gagarin Cup semifinals for the second time in three years.

The other two series are the real interesting ones. In the East, controversy arose between Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Sibir Novosibirsk in Game 4 of their series. Patrick Conway goes more in-depth on the controversy here, but the tl;dr is that Sibir alleges that Magnitka scored the OT winner with 6 men on the ice, meaning too many men should have been called. It wasn’t, and Magnitka took a 3-1 series lead; in the process, goalkeeper Alexander Salák, fresh off a two-year contract extension, whacked the referee with his stick, earning a five-game suspension. It’s now up to Nikita Bespalov to save Sibir’s season.

Meanwhile in the West, the storyline once again is Kovalchuk. Exiled to the press box during Games 2 through 5 of the Lokomotiv series, Ilya Kovalchuk returned for the Dynamo Moskva matchup in the quarterfinals. After not pointing in Game 1 (a SKA victory), he was once again held silent in Game 2, and even cost SKA the game when he took a penalty that led to Alexander Osipov’s OT winner. He played again in Game 3, was held scoreless, and was scratched again for Games 4 and 5, both SKA wins. SKA is now 6-0 without their now ex-captain in the lineup, including four shutouts and a Shipachyov hat trick. Is this the beginning of the end for one of hockey’s once-brightest stars?

EIHL WEEKLY ROUNDUP Contribution by Effy (/u/zooey1) – Sheffield Steelers fan, art student, all-round good egg. Find me on Twitter @wannabedutchie & Instagram @_supersymmetry

This week the EIHL completed it’s penultimate round of fixtures, giving the final weekend of the season a new twist, in which the winner of the 2015/16 EIHL season will be decided on the final weekend.

– This week’s games began on Weds 9th with the Nottingham Panthers going head to head with the Coventry Blaze, who were still battling for the final playoff spot. The Blaze would romp to a 6-1 win to strengthen their hold on to the 8th playoff spot. Nottingham goals: Mosey. Coventry goals: Fisher (14th goal of season), Walker x2 (9&10), Pietrus, Robinson (22), Bruton.

The Panthers would also be in action on Sat 12th against their nearest and dearest rivals, the Sheffield Steelers. The Panthers would unfortunately fall to yet another defeat, allowing the Steelers to stay at the top of the EIHL pile with a 4-2 win in the National Ice Centre (Nottingham). Sheffield goals: Legue (16), Roy x2, Mosienko. Nottingham goals: Kolnik [1999 4th rnd – Islanders, 250 NHL games w/ FLA & NYI] x2 (30&31). The next day (Sun 13th), the Panthers would return to winning ways, with an away OT win vs the Fife Flyers with a score of 2-1. Nottingham goals: Moran [1998 7th rnd – BUF, 8 NHL games w/ VAN & CBJ] (15), Mosey (17). Fife goals: Sacchetti (2007 2nd rnd – Stars) [14].

– The day after the Sheffield Steelers defeated the Nottingham Panthers, they would end some recent hoodoo against the Coventry Blaze (who themselves were coming off the back of a win against Nottingham) by putting 6 goals past them in a 6-3 win in Sheffield on Sunday 13th. Sheffield goals: Roy (30), O’Connor x2 (11&12), Ferrara (5), Coyle (10), Mosienko (29). Coventry goals: Tait (13), Pietrus (23), Bruton (25).

– The Edinburgh Capitals went into the penultimate week rooted to the bottom of the table, with their season all but over by Christmas in what has sadly become a regular occurrence. This week, they would face the Dundee Stars twice, first on Sat 12th and again on Sun 13th. On Saturday, they would fall to a 10-2 defeat to Dundee on their own home ice. Edinburgh goals: Boyd (3), Beattie (3). Dundee goals: Clarkson x2 (17&18), Chaumont x3 (28-30), Lidhammar, Brannon, Dolan, Hart (7), Leinweber (17).

On Sunday, the Stars would go 3 better than this by defeating the Caps 13-2 in Dundee. Edinburgh goals: Plews (1), Gerling (27). Dundee goals: Faryna x3 (26-28), Dolan x2 (11&12), Dickenson [2000 4th rnd – EDM] x2 (23&24), Lidhammar x2 (15 & 16), Brannon (5), Wetmore (15), Edmonds x2 (1&2).

– The Braehead Clan would go into the weekend up against a back-to-back against conference rivals Manchester Storm and would record back-to-back wins against the Storm. On Saturday, they would ‘weather the Storm’ 8-3 in Braehead Arena. Manchester goals: Davies (7), Paton x2 (13&14). Braehead goals: Pitt x4 (21-24), Keith [2001 2nd rnd – CHI] x2, Brooks (22), Trimm (10).

On Sunday in Manchester, the Clan would make it 2 wins out of 2 for the week with a 6-3 win. Manchester goals: Sisca (34), Scarsella (29), Toulmin (18). Braehead goals: Davies (13), Nesbitt x2 (14&15), Keith x2 (21&22), Gotz (5).

– Finally, there was a cause for celebration on the Welsh south coast, as the Cardiff Devils marked the opening of their new arena, Ice Arena Wales, with two wins against the Belfast Giants over Saturday/Sunday. On Saturday, the Devils would romp to a 5-2 win over the Giants, with Joey Martin of the Devils scoring the first goal in the IAW. Cardiff goals: Martin x2 (28&29), Doucet (34), Hotham (14), Kurka [2000 2nd rnd – CAR]. Belfast goals: Desmarais [1999 9th rnd – STL] (22), Forney [2006 3rd rnd – Thrashers].

On Sunday, the Giants would make the Devils work for the 2 points by taking them into OT, but ultimately crumbling to a 2-1 loss ahead of their final meeting of the season on Weds 16th in Belfast. Belfast goals: Forney (23), Beech [1999 1st rnd – Capitals, 198 NHL games w/ Capitals, Penguins, Predators, Blue Jackets & Canucks] (24), Higgins (12). Cardiff goals: Hervato (12), Morissette x2 (21&22), Kurka (23).

CURRENT STANDINGS (as of 15th March)

THE WEEK AHEAD (week beg. 15th March)

(Key games in italics)

Wednesday 16th

– Belfast Giants vs Cardiff Devils @ SSE Arena (Belfast) – 7pm GMT/3pm ET (Cardiff MUST win to stay on par with Sheffield for the title. If Cardiff lose, not many would bet against Sheffield losing both of their games at the weekend which would result in Cardiff losing the league title by 2 points should they also win their final two games at the weekend)

– Nottingham Panthers vs Coventry Blaze @ National Ice Centre (Nottingham) – 7:30pm GMT/3:30pm ET

Friday 18th

– Belfast Giants vs Fife Flyers @ SSE Arena (Belfast) – 7pm GMT/3pm ET

Saturday 19th

– Manchester Storm vs Cardiff Devils @ Altrincham Ice Arena (Manchester) – 6:30pm GMT/2:30pm ET (Cardiff

– Belfast Giants vs Fife Flyers @ SSE Arena (Belfast) – 7pm GMT/3pm ET

– Braehead Clan vs Edinburgh Capitals @ Braehead Arena – 7pm GMT/3pm ET

– Dundee Stars vs Coventry Blaze @ Dundee Ice Arena – 7:00pm GMT/3pm ET

– Sheffield Steelers vs Nottingham Panthers @ Sheffield Arena – 7:00pm GMT/3pm ET (Could the Panthers hand the Devils the league title that Sheffield currently hold from the 14/15 season? A Panthers win here, combined with a Devils win vs Belfast on Wednesday, would hand the title to Cardiff)

Sunday 20th

– Coventry Blaze vs Manchester Storm @ Coventry Skydome – 5:15pm GMT/1:15pm ET

– Edinburgh Capitals vs Braehead Clan @ Murrayfield Ice Rink (Edinburgh) – 5:30pm GMT/1:30pm ET

– Nottingham Panthers vs Cardiff Devils @ Ice Arena Wales (Cardiff) – 6:00pm GMT/2:00pm ET (Depending on Cardiff’s previous two results and Sheffield’s result vs the Panthers the night before, a Panthers win could hand their biggest rivals Sheffield the league title)

– Fife Flyers vs Sheffield Steelers @ Fife Ice Arena – 6:30pm GMT/2:30pm ET

For more information, visit http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/

DEL WEEKLY ROUNDUP contribution by (/u/BoilerUp218)

Not much to update this week, as the opening round of the playoffs have completed, and we have ourselves our quarterfinal matchups. In the best-of-three opening series, Straubing dispatched Ingolstadt in two games, winning the series in an overtime thriller after tying the game up with 1:53 left in the third period. In the other series, the Haie of Cologne beat Adler Mannheim in the all-or-nothing third game.

Standings:

Important games of next week:

With the series wins, Cologne travels to Berlin to start their series on Tuesday, while Straubing will face Munich. The matchup to watch will be the 3 vs 6 as Iserlohn take on Thomas Sabo, who has played quite well recently. With so much time off since each team has last played, upsets become a real possibility.

LIIGA (Finland) WEEKLY ROUNDUP contribution by (/u/HelloHelloMrFighter)

This week, the last games of the regular season were played and the first round of playoffs began.

The week started on Tuesday with a tight battle for the last playoff spot. Ässät and Sport were only one point apart and the race was tight. As Sport made a comeback and beat Ilves 4-2 in Vaasa, Ässät had to win in Helsinki. But HIFK said no, as they started scoring goals early and won 7-0 with 19-year-old Roope Hintz making a natural hat-trick. As HIFK won, they clinched their first regular season victory in their long and colorful history.
The first round of playoffs began on Saturday. KalPa and Pelicans played in Kuopio. Home team KalPa started with two goals in the first period. Pelicans made it 2-1 in the second period and tied with only 26 seconds left in the third. KalPa won 3-2 in overtime as Swedish Sebastian Lauritzen made the winning goal. TPS was dominant against Sport in Turku as they won 4-2 with Sport taking two stupid game misconduct penalties.
It was time for the second games on Sunday. Pelicans hosted KalPa in Lahti as they won 4-1, Juha Leimu being the important man for Pelicans, making two power play goals. TPS grabbed away victory from Vaasa against Sport, winning 2-5 and winning the series 2-0. They will face the defending champions Kärpät in quarterfinals.

Games next week:

All weekday games start 18.30 (GMT +2)

Tuesday:
KalPa – Pelicans

Friday:
HIFK – x
Kärpät – TPS
Tappara – Lukko
JYP – SaiPa

All weekend games start 17.00 (GMT +2)

Saturday:

x – HIFK
TPS – Kärpät
Lukko – Tappara
SaiPa – JYP

The pairings for quarterfinals are very interesting, with Tappara – Lukko maybe being the most interesting of them, as these teams have met in semifinals for last three years and are very familiar with each other. All the pairs will be very interesting and surely many heated matches will be played. On Wednesday, between the rounds, there will be an event where the best players of the regular season will be awarded.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE WEEKLY ROUNDUP contribution by (/u/82hky82), known in the real world as Michael Wood

As we enter the final week of the WHL regular season, many playoff spots are secured yet some still up for grabs. This week featured battles between top teams, hot streaks staying intact, and teams once considered out of it clawing back.

# 5 Red Deer has been a hot team of late and one to fear in the playoffs. They started the week off well with a convincing 6-1 win over # 8 Prince Albert. On the Weekend, the ebels exchanged a 6-1 loss and a 6-1 win over # 4 Lethbridge. These are two top teams and to see both teams reversing fortunes on one another is interesting. Another hot team is the Kamloops Blazers. With a 7 game win streak, a first round matchup with # 3 Kelowna could have upset written all over it.

The hottest team in the league may very well be the # 6 Seattle Thunderbirds, who have won 10 in a row, and are playing a very well rounded game. The Dark horse this week is the Medicine Hat Tigers. A team well under .500, they have won 7 of their last 10 and are chasing down Edmonton for that final Wild Card Spot in the Eastern Conference Wildcard race. As per usual the top two teams League, # 1 Victoria, and # 2 Brandon both had solid weeks with Victoria going 2-0 and Brandon going 2-0, outscoring their opponents 13-2. Brandon can score at will and they may be in the one spot by next week.

The Players of the week are Jayce Howryluk and Nolan Patrick of Brandon both registering six points in two games. Medicine Hat Tiger Chad Butcher scored 10 points in 4 games as he is leading his team into a possible playoffs spot (they must win both games against # 4 Lethbridge to have a chance).

This is what we are waiting for, the playoffs. The next week will decide so much and teams want to be playing well going into the first round, cant wait!