Left Panther: April

Some seasons end with a bang, some with a whimper. This season ended with a bang and a whimper. Nottingham Panthers pulled off an incredible comeback to win the Challenge Cup for the fifth consecutive year, and followed it 48 hours later with possibly their worst game this season, failing to score at home for the first time in four years. They also failed to qualify for the play-offs and, to rub salt in the wound, arch-enemies Sheffield sneaked in to win it, their first trophy in three years.

 

Panthers’ injury woes have continued over the last month and Petr Kalus, Steve Lee, Robert Farmer, Jonathan Boxill, Matt Francis and Brandon Benedict have all taken turns to sit out games on the bench. Some absences were rather more self-inflicted, and Brent Henley was banned for three matches after a pointless cross check from behind on a Coventry player mid-March. The schedule has not let up and they played five games in eight days in the last week of the season.

 

Panthers, in a downward spiral on the road, lost their last three league games, going down to Belfast twice and Coventry. The games against Belfast allowed Coach Corey Neilson to practice some new strategies against the Ulstermen before facing them in the Cup. Neilson admitted that Panthers tried "a whole bunch of different things. We played three mini-games with a different emphasis in each period and we've given ourselves a few options to think about come the cup final. We're missing a couple of guys that can be explosive up front in a big game. The really good news is that we didn't pick up any fresh injuries!" The strategies did not work this time and Belfast won five consecutive games against the Panthers for the first time since 2009/10. The Challenge Cup, however, would be a different story…

 

Elsewhere, the scramble at the bottom of the league was more exciting to watch – and certainly more enjoyable than bemoaning more Panthers losses to Belfast. The final league positions were not decided until the very last day of the season, social media going wild with changes being tweeted by the minute using #EIHLsupersunday hashtag. Unsurprisingly, Belfast finished first, Sheffield second, Dundee third and Panthers lagged behind in fourth. Cardiff and Edinburgh brought up the rear in ninth and tenth positions, meaning they failed to qualify for the play-off quarter-finals. It was Cardiff’s first time to miss the play offs in 23 years and the first time ever a Scottish team was guaranteed to make the final four play off teams. Ironically, the coach dismissed mid-season by Cardiff, a man who had taken the Devils to the play-offs for the last ten years straight, went onto win the play-offs with his new team, Sheffield Steelers.

 

Panthers made it hard for themselves in the two-legged Challenge Cup final, starting with a 5-2 loss in Belfast where they were again ‘short benched’ due to injury and Brent Henley’s ban. The return leg therefore required Panthers to score four goals to win, and was played before an ever-hopeful but possibly rather resigned fan base at the NIC on March 25. Panthers had a boost in the return of Matt Francis and Brandon Benedict from injuries, both fantastic playmakers. Lynn Loyns fired off the goal scoring after four minutes and dangled the possibility of hope over the home crowd. Petr Kalus scored again on another powerplay after 15 minutes to move Panthers to within one goal of the leaders, and Belfast’s coach, ex-Panther Paul Adey, immediately called a time-out to steady his team.

 

Belfast scored first in the second period and you had to wonder if Panthers would run out of steam. But they refused to give up, the crowd began to “believe” as per the Panthers PR machine, and Eric Werner dug in his skates to again bring it back to a one-goal aggregate deficit. Matt Ryan sent the NIC volume levels into orbit in the third period with the leveller: six-all. The game went into a nail-biting overtime, where Panthers had an ideal chance to score with a two-minute penalty on the Giants, but no one could convert and score the much-needed sudden death goal.

 

So, it was penalties and battle of the two net-minders, Craig Kowalski versus Stephen Murphy. Five out of six scorers failed, and Kowalski stood firm, saving goals from Belfast’s sharpest shooters, Jeffrey Szwez, Kevin Saurette and Craig Peacock. Eric Werner missed for Panthers but Murphy folded under an amazing angled goal perfected by Petr Kalus who was the hero of the night to win it for Panthers as they sealed the Challenge Cup title for an unbelievable fifth year in a row. Belfast were left head in hands, wondering how Nottingham could snatch not only the Cup from under their noses, but also their bid to try and claim a grand slam of hockey titles. Not many gave the Panthers more than a very slim chance of winning the Cup in the face of their recent record against Belfast, the injury situation and the 5-2 first leg scoreline, but what a turnaround on the night!

 

The quarter-final of the play-offs followed for Panthers two days later, at home to Braehead Clan, Panthers’ sister club who share the same owner. The Panthers looked physically and emotionally drained after the drama of the Cup final 48 hours earlier. They came out flat and played flat. The Scots took full advantage and rushed ahead to secure a 4-0 lead in the first part of a two-leg match that, rather embarrassingly in front of an expectant crowd, was Panthers first home shut-out since November 2009: 148 games, or four years, four months and seven days ago.

 

The return leg in Glasgow was only two days later, and Panthers season came to an abrupt end as they lost 5-1 (9-1 on aggregate). Matt Francis scored the first goal and the comeback dream seemed like a possibility, but history could not repeat itself so soon. Panthers noticed that the Clan goalie was using an illegal stick, which gave them just over a minute of five-versus-three to try and turn it around. However, they still couldn’t score and the second period ended 1-1. The third was a goal-fest for Clan as they delighted their fans and Panthers must have realized by this stage that it was their sibling’s turn to shine, as the Clan became the first Scottish team ever to qualify for the play offs in the Elite League era.

 

The play-offs took place at the National Ice Centre on 5 - 6 April; Panthers were not there for the first time since 2008, having won the whole tournament for the last three years. It was a different feel all round, in fact, as there were two teams from Scotland, Fife Flyers qualifying for the first time since 1994, surprisingly knocking out Dundee who finished third in the league against Fife’s seventh place.

 

Fife had to face the Belfast Giants in the semi-finals and it was a tight game, but the Giants dominance saw them overcome Fife in the end, albeit only by a single goal scored in the last ten minutes. The Sheffield Steelers played the Braehead Clan in the other semi-final, which saw a few more goals, but Sheffield won 3-2 and set up a final against favourites Belfast.

 

It was a thriller, too, with both teams leaving it all on the ice. Sheffield seemed to want it that little bit more, playing desperate hockey, and Drew Fata snatched a winning sudden-death goal in overtime. Their fans erupted as they secured their first trophy in three years and ex-Panthers Captain Danny Meyers enjoyed the win, putting his medal straight round his young son’s neck.

 

The 2013-14 Elite League award winners were announced on play-off Sunday. Panthers didn’t win a single gong, in contrast to last season where they dominated and picked up the majority. Although not as satisfying for Panthers supporters, it did seem to be a healthier ice hockey league this season, with the trophies being shared out across four teams: 

 

Belfast: Elite League and Erhardt Conference winners

Nottingham: Challenge Cup

Dundee: Gardiner Conference winners

Sheffield: Play Off champions

 

The re-signing announcements for next season have already started to filter through slowly and there is no doubt that everyone will be delighted to welcome back top net-minder Craig Kowalski for his fifth season, possibly the last of his career at the age of 33, particularly after an ankle injury that kept him out for 25 games.

 

Some of Panthers’ GB players (Boxill, Lachowicz, Lee, Farmer) skated for Great Britain against Netherlands in two international games ahead of the World Championship in Lithuania. The first game was at Ice Sheffield on April 12, a 3-0 win, followed by a 5-4 loss at the Coventry Skydome on April 13.

 

Looking back over the campaign, then, Panthers obviously had a lot to live up to after last season’s array of trophies and it is perhaps not surprising that they could not get near to replicating the grand slam. The only two teams to win all three main trophies one year and another title the next are this year’s Panthers and the Steelers 2001/02 vintage. But there’s one valuable piece of silverware in the trophy cabinet that is bright, shiny and hard-fought for, and that is the Challenge Cup. Corey Neilson has still led the most successful Panthers team ever and won – to slightly misquote the name of a popular, Jimmy Carr-hosted TV panel show – eight out of twelve trophies in the past four years. It will be a long summer as we wait to see the team he will put together for the autumn, but there is no doubt that it will be intriguing along the way.

 

Follow Sally on Twitter: @sautton22

Nottingham Panthers