Hollyhead the Hero in Planet Ice Shutout

Bison 0 Milton Keynes Lightning 2

22/1/12

A second successive shutout on home ice and indeed a second successive home ice shut out against Milton Keynes Lightning (they won 1-0 at Planet Ice on their last visit) condemned Bison to another home defeat at the hands of their title hopeful opponents. 6 successive periods of play at home without a solitary goal contrasts massively against the current Bison run of 6 successive road wins and characterises their up and down form. Following on from the rip snorting, thigh slapping, whip cracking victory against a lively Swindon Wildcats side the night before, Bison fans were hoping for a 4 point weekend. Well why not? After all the men from MK were coming to Planet Ice on a run of 3 successive losses and a Bison victory was well within the realms of possibility.

Notwithstanding that the excellent Barry Hollyhead had another solid game in front of the Lightning pipes, you have to ask the question do Bison need shooting practice? Over 50 shots were fired in on Mr. Hollyhead. He made some good saves, but the vast majority of the efforts were straight at him, enabling him to kill the play by engulfing the puck like an amoeba ingesting food. You have to find one of the 5 holes around a goaltender or shoot at him so hard that he has to give up a rebound to make his life difficult as the Manchester Phoenix shooters had done so successfully last week against Bison.

The first period ended goalless, at least in hockey terms. The Block C Gooner in the Pittsburg Penguins shirt did have cause for celebration as Arsenal equalised against Manchester United. Following the score on his iPhone he let his opinion be known with a shout of “Come on Arsenal” when all was quiet around him. Heaven knows how he coped with the tension of his football team and both his hockey teams all playing at the same time. It would enough to drive most people to a nervous breakdown, but he is admirably made of stern stuff.

Back to the hockey. There may have been no goals, but there were a number of controversial decisions made by Mr. Thompson, the referee, which had the crowd expressing their disapproval (in the politest possible way of course), particularly the Howling Man at the end of Row E who made his views be known in his usual vociferous style on several occasions. The most bizarre penalty award was a tripping call on Slovak Cannon, Marcel Petran. He slid to the ice and poked the puck away from a marauding Lightning forward who then promptly fell over the D-man’s outstretched arm. Ignoring the fact that he had legitimately played the puck, Mr. Thompson’s considered opinion was 2 minutes in the slammer for Marcel.

Before the period ended the Gooner in the Penguins shirt exclaimed “Bollocks”, again during a quiet moment, thus indicating that United had taken the lead against Arsenal.

Within a minute of the restart MK took the lead with a slap shot goal from Leigh Jameson. Nick Poole and Ross Green picked up the assists. On 31 minutes Petran was sent “down the steps” again, this time for a 10 minute stretch for misconduct, although exactly what offense he committed I did not see. The period ended with Bison still looking for a goal.

During the interval the man in the Charlestown Chiefs shirt expressed his opinion to the genial Brummie in the Kieras shirt that Hollyhead was going to achieve a shut out, hoping that he was tempting fate and that, as he had made this prediction, Bison would ruin it by penetrating the Hollyhead pipes. Alas the Chiefs man was right for a change. Not one of the 17 shots fired in on the MK goal in the period found the net.

During the period Lightning made a clumsy line change and could have been called for too many men on the ice, but the officials didn’t spot it. The bespectacled youth in Block C did, however, but must have been suffering from double vision as he yelled, “there must be 30 of them on the ice”.

With just under a minute to go, player/coach Steve Moria beckoned and Bison goalie Matt Colclough raced from his crease as if pursued by a man waving a tax demand. Over the wall came Nicky Chinn to make it a 6 on 5. Alas the tactic backfired, as it sometimes does, and Ross Green scored one of the luckiest empty net goals you are ever likely to see. He hammered the puck into the boards. It deflected off at just the right angle to slide slowly (and agonisingly for the Bison faithful) into the unguarded goal for 2-0.

And so ended another disappointing night for the Bison fans. They left the arena with heavy hearts. The Gooner’s football team and British hockey team had both lost, but at least the Penguins went on to record an overtime win. He together with the Brummie, the youth, the Chiefs man and the Howling Man will all be back next week for the visit of the Slough Jets, rest assured.