NZIHL: Out of the Doldrums? – Swarm vs Admirals//July 15th [recap]

The Sunday night game between cross-town rivals West Auckland Admirals and the Botany Swarm was everything you could have looked for in a good night’s entertainment — thrills, spills and chills aplenty as the Swarm came back with a vengeance and played one of their better home games of the season.

Despite leading for most of the game — and, in fact, looking very much in control of the pace and outcome for the better part of three periods — the Swarm gave up a late third period goal which took the game to overtime, and from there it was even-stevens until a sharp shot from Bradey Fox gave the Admirals the tie-breaking goal and the game.

Play was unquestionably high-tempo throughout, with periods of good defensive and offensive pressure from the Swarm, and a fair bit of north-south hockey as well. It was a highly physical game from both sides, although the Swarm’s Lyle Idoine in particular was just about a one-man wrecking ball out there, laying a number of hard hits both open-ice and along the boards. Hit counts being what they are, I wouldn’t like to quote them even if I had them, but he definitely had at least one shift in the third where he crushed two or three of the Admirals players into the boards on hard, clean hits in quick succession. Someone had his weetbix for breakfast!

Puck possession wasn’t notably dominated by either side, but while the Admirals pressed hard – and were very good at getting the puck out of their zone – it felt like the Swarm were dictating play for the majority of regulation. The Swarm’s overall discipline also seemed to be far better during the Sunday game, and the team looked more energetic after not having had to spend almost half the game killing penalties or mouldering in the box.

Botany again opened the scoring, with Ian Wannamaker picking up a nice tip off a goal-mouth scramble in the first. The score once again held at 1-0 to Botany for almost twenty minutes, before the Swarm were able to enjoy a brief two-goal lead as Jordan Challis potted his fifth goal of the season.

Halfway through the second period the Admirals’ Nick Craig broke the shut-out, putting a low, fast shot through Zak Nothling’s pads to bring the score to 2-1. The one-goal differential held for most of the remainder of the game, with Frazer Ellis scoring to equalise with only three minutes left in regulation.

The last few minutes of the third period played out with nail-biting tension, and with no further result the game went to overtime. Fox was able to score midway through the five minute extra frame, sending the Swarm back to their dressing room with just one hard-fought point, and only a fraction closer to the third win they’ve been seeking for a couple of weeks now.

While it’s certainly disappointing to see the Swarm take another loss, there were a lot of positives to take from this game. If they’re able to build on this game and keep focused on all the things they did well, then we ought to have a much better outcome next time.

Or, to put it significantly less cold-bloodedly: the Swarm looked bloody good on Sunday, they deserved to come away with a win, and if they can continue to keep their shit together they should actually manage to do so again some time very soon. Don’t fuck it up, guys!

[What can I say? I’m a highly pragmatic optimist who leans on expletives when relevant.]

Beneath the cut: a closer look at the game and some further attention to the nitty-gritty of the box score, for those hardy souls who enjoy the additional word-count.

The game got off to an inauspicious start, and one which looked eerily reminiscent of the second preseason friendly between these two teams, as barely ten seconds elapsed on the game clock before the first penalty was whistled. This time, however, it went to the Admirals’ Jeremy Chai, sent to the box for tripping on the opening face-off.

The Swarm applied immediate pressure and looked from the very start of the game like a team that wasn’t going to take their recent disapppointing results lying down, forechecking actively and doing an excellent job of getting set up in the Admirals’ zone. They had good net front presence in front of Admirals goalie Greg Davis, doing what they could to screen shots from further out and pouncing on rebounds when they were given up.

The first power play wasn’t able to convert, but by the time the Admirals returned to even strength the Swarm had established themselves well and were able to continue putting pressure on their opponents for the next few minutes.

An excellent keep at the blueline by Wannamaker kept the puck on side, and a couple of passes later he was further rewarded with a good tip from a goal-mouth scramble that put the Swarm ahead 1-0 at 16.32 in the first. Assists went to Jean-Marc Boucher and Andrew Hay, and that five man unit — along with KC Ball and Lukas Birgel — really did look extremely solid all evening.

The Admirals got their first powerplay of the evening off (what else?) an Idoine penalty, with Lyle Idoine taking a two minute minor for high-sticking. This led to a couple of dangerous scoring chances — particularly a series of aggressive behind-the-net plays from one of the Admirals players (sadly couldn’t make out who it was), who very nearly managed to tuck in a wrap-around on first the near, and then far sides of the net in the space of about two seconds flat. Excellent work from Nothling in goal kept the score a goose egg, though, and the Swarm were able to finally clear the zone and kill off the penalty. I even still had most of my fingernails left.

Birgel and Hay were paired together again on one PK unit, and were most often deployed against the Admirals’ top line. (Yes, I started taking notes on the line-matching. Mostly because it was much more noticeable this game — the Swarm were fairly consistent on having their top line out against the Admirals’ top line at even-strength, and Hay at least was out against the Tonks line regularly as well.)

Boucher was also the first of the Swarm to draw iron in the Sunday night match, pick-pocketing the Admirals with an absolutely beautiful takeaway as they tried to exit their zone, and then firing the puck just high enough that it rang off the cross-bar before richocheting up into the netting.

After trying Sam Boniface on the Swarm’s top line with Challis and Attwell on Saturday, Sunday night appeared to be Keegan Harnett’s turn to take a couple of shifts showing what he could bring to the table there. Once again, he was noticeable all over the ice, going hard into corners, fighting for the puck and applying good pressure in the offensive zone. He also looked solid and provided a lot of energy on a line with Boniface and Dion Guest for the latter parts of the game. Patrick Bishop also took a few shifts on that line, and looked quite sharp, although it did appear to be Lyle Idoine out with Attwell and Challis more often than not. (Speaking of: was he actually playing as a defenseman earlier this season, or am I being misled by a faulty memory and misprinted programmes? Anyone? Bueller?)

At 6.28 we had the third penalty of the match, and the first misconduct, as Attwell was given two and a ten for hitting from behind. I had no problem with the misconduct given that call, though I had to be mildly impressed that these two teams — not usually known for being chary with the PIMs — had made it that far into a game with so few whistles. It was a nice change, honestly. Bet the refs enjoyed it, too.

Getting that first face-off immediately after the penalty proved to be a little more difficult, as the first two were called back, or had guys tossed from the circle. Then — when Botany appeared to have a clean win, and a good clear, bouncing the puck high off the boards in their zone and deep into the Admirals’ zone — the officials called the puck back again for a third face-off, drawing commentary at volume from both the stands and the bench. The shorter-tempered end of the Swarm bench let the matter drop before the refs felt the need to take any notice, luckily, and they avoided picking up any additional penalties. Phew!

The Admirals again pressed hard on their powerplay, executing a lovely set-up play to have Fox rushing the net before passing over to the far circle, but once again Nothling was equal to the task with some sharp saves. Even the Admirals fans sitting near me had nothing but compliments — rueful ones, but sincere compliments all the same — for how well he played. Nothling was looking far closer to the form I remember from last year in this game in particular, and it was a genuine pleasure to watch him work.

With just 43s remaining in the first period, the Admirals took a bad penalty from defenseman Dan Nicholls as he cross-checked Guest by the end boards. The Swarm weren’t able to make as much out of this PP as they had done in their first, and appeared somewhat hesitant to pass, letting most of the time run down off the clock before they were able to really put pressure on the Admirals’ goal.

When they did, however, it was with quite some emphasis, and as Davis came out to freeze the puck under his pads some over-enthusiastic attempts to free the puck again from the Swarm led to what looked very much like a solid stick in the jock for Davis. Um, ow.

Hopefully that wasn’t as bad as it looked.

The Swarm started off the second period on the remainder of that powerplay, and looked a lot better than they had done in the waning moments of the first. Birgel made an excellent defensive play shortly thereafter, working the Admirals’ Sam Moses bodily off the puck as he tried to enter the Swarm’s defensive zone; that kind of solid consistent effort is really reassuring to see.

The Swarm once again did some excellent work to keep the pressure on the Admirals, taking the puck into their zone and throwing a lot of traffic in front of Davis. With 14.35 remaining on the clock, Challis took advantage of a good keep and better pass from Richard Idoine to slide the puck in gloveside to give the Swarm a 2-0 lead.

As Challis turned to his teammates to celebrate, the Admirals’ Andrew Hart took exception and shoved him hard — putting Challis flat on his back in front of the goal, and earning Hart a ten minute personal misconduct for (one must conclude) unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Challis certainly looked good on Sunday — he appeared to be playing with much more discipline, and he was also having one of those games where whenever he was on the ice, the puck appeared to be magnetically attracted to his stick. His stickhandling — through traffic, at speed and in close — really is a treat to watch, and he seems to have a gift for taking difficult passes which really does elevate his teammates’ level of play, too.

The demolition derby impression was particularly strong from this point onwards, as the Swarm were doing everything they could to protect and extend their lead, and the Admirals were equally desperate to claw it back. While none of the chirping was particularly audible in the stands, it was hard to miss the little things like players high-fiving each other on the bench after particularly hard hits, or leaning out to offer what I’m sure were not terribly complimentary comments to each other..

The Admirals picked up an exceptionally lucky bounce around the middle of the second period as a rolling puck took a crazy spin, bounced right over top of Davis, landed neatly on the top of the net, and only missing sliding behind his helmet by a fraction of an inch.

Shortly after that, Attwell was was back on the ice with his misconduct served, and had an excellent chance on goal that was only saved by some good work in the net from Davis. He had another dangerous chance on his next shift, with an end-to-end rush, but wasn’t quite able to get the puck on net.

With just under ten minutes remaining there was a multiple-player pile up near the boards. It looked more like bad luck than bad management, as skaters on both sides had been catching edges and having trouble keeping their feet at both ends throughout the course of the Sunday game, leading the spectators to speculate about the condition of the ice. Admirals defenseman Robert Chamberlain lost his helmet in the scrum, and the play was blown dead when it became clear that no one was going to be extricating themselves safely any time soon.

With 9.16 remaining in the second, the Admirals finally broke onto the scoresheet with Nick Craig scoring their first goal, shooting low on Nothling and sliding the puck through his pads. The tension seemed to break a little on the Admirals’ side at that point, with their supporters cheering enthusiastically as they were finally rewarded, and some catcalls from the Admirals bench suggesting they were done warming up now, thanks.  Naturally, this ratcheted the tension all the higher on the Swarm’s side, as they were once again in a one-goal game with the insurance margin wiped out.

With five minutes left, Lyle Idoine took another minor, this time for roughing, and with the Admirals’ powerplay seriously motivated to tie the game, it took some spectacular sprawling saves from Nothling to keep the score unchanged as the Swarm killed off the penalty.

The Swarm also got in a little more shot-blocking action, with a few shots going off shins and skates, although boy oh boy do I ever not envy anybody in the firing zone of a slapshot from Nicholls at the point. Yowzers.

The Swarm’s neutral zone play was markedly better in the second period, and despite giving up one goal, they dominated the middle frame, which meant that as we went to the second intermission with the Swarm leading 2-1, things were still looking very positive.

Thirty seconds into the third, Challis rang the puck off the post again, another of those fractionally-missed shots that would come back to haunt the Swarm when the game went to OT.

There was good pressure from the Swarm to start the third again, and all three lines were getting good chances. The Admirals defense backed up Davis admirably, and also bailed him out with an excellent stick deflection as the Swarm managed to draw him aside for a clear shot with an open net.

With 15.26 remaining, it was the Admirals’ turn to pick up a misconduct, with James Herbert sent to the box for a clear hit from behind on Attwell along the end boards in the Admirals’ zone. Herbert got into a shoving match with Botany’s Bishop immediately afterwards as well, and it took the officials a few moments to get everything and everyone untangled and back on their feet. Herbert was the only one to pick up any penalties, a choice which met with the clear approval of the Swarm supporters in the stands.

The first minute of the powerplay had some good chances and some especially pretty passing plays between KC Ball and Richard Idoine, and gave the Swarm some opportunities to cycle, but once again they were unable to convert, and the Admirals were able to kill off the minor.

With twelve minutes remaining in regulation, everything went a bit, well. Clownshoes. To put it kindly. The Swarm got trapped in their own zone for the better part of a shift, players on both sides were having difficulty staying on their skates, and it was, frankly, as the English would say, utter pants. The Admirals got a couple of good chances, but couldn’t put one away, and Wannamaker summed up everyone’s feelings on the matter quite succinctly as the tired defenders were finally able to clear the puck and return to the bench, with a “boys, time to wake the fuck up!”

With 7.30 remaining the Admirals drew a tripping penalty, sending Leith Thompson to the box. The PK that followed was absolutely top-notch — I don’t think the Swarm allowed a single shot on goal, and both PK units did a superb job of either clearing the puck or managing to run significant amounts of time off the clock while safely in the Admirals’ zone.

Around three and a half minutes before the end of regulation, current NZIHL scoring leader Dean Tonks had another excellent chance, but once again Nothling was able to stone him, covering up and stopping the play.

Unfortunately, it was only about fifteen seconds later that Ellis was finally able to tie the game for the Admirals, with a goal on a snap shot right off the face-off, capitalising painfully on the Swarm’s failure to clear the puck.

Despite some fast and furious hockey in the last few minutes, neither side was able to score a go-ahead goal, and it was back to the benches for everyone, to hang over the boards for a breather and to talk strategy — or, in the case of Botany’s Zak Nothling, to also crush a can of Red Bull. Definitely earned that one.

The four-on-four overtime was as exciting and nail-biting as usual, with neither team seeming to have a clear advantage. After spending the majority of regulation with Botany seeming to have the edge, it was very much anyone’s game at this point. It took just under two and a half minutes to decide the match, with the Admirals’ Fox taking a great stretch pass from Tonks deep in the Admirals’ zone, skating around the Swarm forwards who’d gone down to try and block the pass, and corralling the puck before simply outworking Nothling with a couple of great dekes to bury the puck behind him.

It was a tough ending to take for the Swarm who’d played a heart and soul game — not to mention with a lot of guts — and they definitely deserved a better result. Let’s hope they get it next game.

Third Star: Ian Wannamaker (BSW)
Second Star: Frazer Ellis (WAA)
First Star: Bradey Fox (WAA)