Peter Brads SPORTS Blog: Phoenix clinch League championship in title Showdown

Manchester Phoenix 5 – 2 Basingstoke Bison

( Phoenix are EPL Champions)

Archer , Schanbel, Psurny, Bakrlik, Kovar Melachrino, Sheppard

Manchester Phoenix clinched their Second English Premier League crown on Sunday night after a hard fought and fiercely contested win against the side that pushed them all the way to wire for the league championship in the Basingstoke Bison.

Manchester had a chance the night previous to make it easier on themselves when they made the trip down to Swindon`s Link Centre and a place that the Phoenix had won the previous two occasions. However a mixture of Manchester not playing well and Swindon Wildcats putting a very good solid team effort together and seen Swindon become the only side to inflict a shutout on the Phoenix , which made the task plain and clear for Manchester now in their quest for the title.

The permutations for the clash was easy, a win for Phoenix by two clear goals would see them become league champions, while a one goal win would see them still have their own destiny in their hands.

Manchester`s two remaining fixtures saw very tricky games for the Champs-Elect, with a visit to Peterborough as that would see them have a case of deja vu from their last title run-in, when they last won it back in 2011.

That occasion saw Phoenix lose 6-2 and played an awfully similar way to how their weekend started off this time round too, the other equation was that IF they did lose, then that they would need Bison to drop points in their respective games against either Swindon away or Milton Keynes at home.

Fans of both teams filled the Altrincham Ice Dome with them ready for this title decider between the best two hockey clubs in the EPL this season.

Both sides tried to gain the upper hand on their opponent and saw both of them going shot to shot, check to check and butting heads like bulls in this fast paced intense game It had a feel more of a playoff game than a league match, but that inevitable as both sides knew what was up for grabs in the contest.

The game had exactly the same amount of excitement and buzz over it as the memorable Playoff Semi-final between these two sides in Coventry last season, on that occasion Manchester won edged out the their foe in a shoot-out win. Bison had Phoenix under a bit of pressure and then seen the game see-saw to Manchester as they had a large spell of possession to put the visitors on the back foot.

It saw the home side having a fair few shots on Dean Skinns in the Bison goals, with all the chances they generated it put Skinns on alert with the netminder looking a tad nervy as the Phoenix took shots from all angles and saw Skinns somehow always able to find a way to block the puck or divert it away.

During the opening period we then saw a horrible looking fall for Andrew Melachrino as the Bison forward collided with Rob Schnabel near to the boards and seen the Basingstoke player stay down, as it looked like when he fell backwards he seemed to hit the back of his head on the ice. Tony Hand and Michael Wales at mid ice came to a stop as they decided to stop play themselves despite the referee nearby not thinking it was bad enough to stop play, Melachrino got up after a few minutes after receiving treatment by both club physio`s and saw him eventually return to the bench .

The first goal it seemed would be huge in the context of things as that would give momentum to the side that lead with both sides pushing for the opener and had both netminder`s unsure of where the puck was at times at both ends of the rink.

Then at 12-01 gone in the game the opening goal came by the way of Phoenix forward James Archer, who has had a great scoring season for the Phoenix this year. It all came after some panic in the Bison defence seen Tony Hand chase down a airbourne puck and quickly passed it out towards the slot beating the despairing dive of Joe Greener and Archer got it on his stick and fired it high into the net, to see a 1-0 lead to Manchester and seen the home fans go delirious.

Frantisek Bakrlik was then sent to the penalty box for a Holding penalty at 13-51 and he was joined fairly soon by his fellow countryman in Rob Schnabel, with the defenceman picking up an Interference call at 15-03 to see the home side on a 5 on 3 penalty kill.

Manchester then did fantastic job on the penalty kill which saw both players returned to the ice for the home side, but shortly after with the home side getting it back to five on five and then the Visitors scored a very fortuitous goal at 17-16.

Bison was searching for an equaliser and when Matt Selby shot at Steve Fone was stopped, the Phoenix netminder was trying to find where the puck had gone and as he looked down, the puck bounced on the line after it was caught up in his shirt and Andrew Melachrino was on hand to push home and made it a 1-1 game and seen another weird goal to be scored at the dome this year.

With a top of the table clash you can always expect some players to try and do anything they can in which to gain an upper hand by using some veteran moves, both sides used their own methods to try and get one up over the other side and saw Bakrlik come under some rough treatment by Michael Wales who at one point looked like they was going to drop the gloves and the Czech also came under for some treatment by Nicky Chinn, with a couple of Phoenix players stepping in too.

Aaron Connelly then limped heavily off to the Bench moments from the end of the period after a lovely hip check on the boards by Luke Boothroyd and saw him in a lot of discomfort before the end of period. Kurt Reynolds then picked up a late slashing call with nine seconds left in the first period to and would see them have a 1:51 remaining on the 5 on 4 powerplay, as the home side just shaded the first period.

In the Second period it saw Manchester fail to make anything on their early extra man advantage with the Bison returning back to full strength and seen Basingstoke come out with a bit more purpose in their play not, with the home side struggling to clear the puck from their zone for a early part of the period. Manchester then had their spell of possession in the period too and with Bison looking a bit rocked by the home side, Skinns produced a good save to deny the hosts a go ahead goal and see them breath a sigh of relief.

Sadly for Basingstoke it was just prolonging the wait as Rob Schnabel wrist shot beat Dean Skinns for 2-1 too see Manchester retake the lead once more with Psurny and Hand assisting at 29-51.

Nicky Chinn then managed to get behind the Phoenix backline and en route to goal before he somehow managed to trip himself up and lost control of the puck in doing so, which drew a loud ironic cheer by the Phoenix faithful as he slid towards the boards.

Tomas Karpov then had an attack which saw him skate that quickly on goal that he didn`t seem to be able to stop himself and used the goals as a safety net, with the Czech Republic native tumbling dramatically inside the Phoenix nets with Fone getting out of the way quickly, as Karpov took the net off in the process.

It seemed also like a few Bison players were trying to impersonate 'Bambi on ice' as a couple of them seemed to be on the ice more than stood up.

Manchester then increased their lead at 34-29, when a counter-attack led by Michal Psurny saw him play in James Archer down the left side and his drop pass went to Tony Hand, Hand then make a pass towards the back post and had Psurny finish off the move with the Czech man tapping it into an unguarded net, with Skinns caught out of position for a 3-1 lead and looked to have been the goal that would see Phoenix pull away.

Alas for Phoenix it wasn`t to be the case, as exactly a minute of play from Phoenix going two goals up in the game, Bison forechecking pressured the Phoenix defence causing Schnabel to lose the puck and had Andrew Melachrino persistence pay off as his pass fell to Player-Coach of the Bison in Doug Sheppard and he stuck it high over Fone Shoulder to score with a nice back handed effort, that made it 3-2 to the home side at 35-24 and looked to be game on again or so we thought.

A couple minutes from the Bison pulling a goal back, it seen them trying to kill off a Phoenix powerplay as Joe Rand picked up a Boarding penalty on Luke Boothroyd who wasn`t impressed by the hit what so ever and then saw Ciaran Long follow for a Tripping call to see them on a 5 on 3 powerplay with penalties at 35-12 & 36-19.

From the two man advantage it saw Manchester pulling Bison all over the place and just as Rand`s penalty had expired, Frantisek Bakrlik then passed out to Robin Kovar and his shot came off the boards behind the Bison net and saw Tony Hand quick to put it in and restore their two goal lead again which was what they needed.

Phoenix led 4-2 with 37-55 of the game gone and saw Basingstoke upping their shooting now as they were trying to find a way back into the game now. Manchester then held on to the two goal lead as we headed into the second intermission of the play and saw Bison shade the period, but Manchester was being more clinical in their finishing

As we headed to the third and final period, Manchester had twenty minutes to keep their two goal lead intact and for them to become league champions. Basingstoke much like the second period came out the traps quicker in the third and they needed to fire in a quick goal to ruin the party and also give Phoenix something to think about as well as it could see them possibly draw level if they got to a good start.

Jacob Corson-Heron then picked up a High Stick penalty when he tussling with a opponent and in doing so caught a passing Bison player that was skating close by at 42-32, Phoenix did another great job in killing the penalty off as their penalty kill unit was excellent the whole game.

James Archer then got a stick to the face himself with Andrew Melachrino sitting for two minutes for a High Sticks call at 49-47 and saw the penalty seemed to take the wind out of Basingstoke`s sails. Phoenix tried to find a fifth goal but Skinns stood up well and saw the Manchester powerplay not make too much of it as Bison did well themselves in killing off their respective penalty.

Joe Baird then took a Hooking penalty for the Bison, when his stick was wrapped around Frantisek Bakrlik with the Czech forward twisting and turning his way through the visitors defence, but Baird upended him at 51-46.

Manchester was now looking comfortable in the game for the first time and seen them pinning the herd in their zone, with their opponents now trying to launch one last final push and resulted in Robin Kovar shooting the puck out of the

playing surface for a Delay of Game call at 55-47.Nerves then started to slightly creep into the Manchester play now, with the possibly chance that the two goal lead could easily disappear and see them lose out on the chance to clinch the title if they switched off at the back if they conceded now.

With under two minutes remaining in the game now, Phoenix was soaking up the Bison pressure and trying to counter when they can, while they were mainly defending for all their worth.

Kovar Empty net goal makes it 5-2

Basingstoke pulled Skinns for the extra man and saw Robin Kovar have an effort that went wide and seen play come all the way back inside the Phoenix zone with 0:24 on the scoreboard for an Icing call.

Phoenix had to hold off one last attack by their rivals, before the puck was played round the boards and saw Kovar collect and flip it down the ice to have the crowd counting down to victory.

With the Phoenix faithful getting to one second the puck crossed the line to seal the victory and more importantly another League title success for Tony Hand and his men, with the traditional ritual of players throwing sticks and equipment up in the air with joy to start the party at the Ice Dome with Manchester Phoenix becoming the Newly-crowned EPL Champions of 2013/14 season and a win that goes along with their Playoff success at the back end of last season.

English Premier League		GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	Manchester Phoenix (CHAMPIONS)	52	33	4	2	13	224	151	76
2	Basingstoke Bison	52	30	5	2	15	200	155	72
3	Guildford Flames	53	26	5	5	17	209	171	67
4	Milton Keynes Lightning	52	24	6	3	19	196	174	63
5	Telford Tigers	52	24	4	0	24	186	173	56
6	Swindon Wildcats	51	20	6	2	23	174	165	54
7	Sheffield Steeldogs	52	17	2	8	25	183	218	46
8	Bracknell Bees	52	17	3	4	28	162	204	44
9	Peterborough Phantoms	52	17	0	8	27	172	219	42
10	Slough Jets	52	15	2	3	32	155	231	37