Taking the High Road In and Out Of Town
So the 2024 off-season is well and truly underway. Silly season sees fans guessing who's coming in and who's leaving while other anonymous accounts post rumours about who is going where. For us Streatham fans we have so far seen 5 confirmed departures and 7 confirmed returns and 2 new and 2 familiar face returning. So just what has the club lost and what has the club retained
Now its safe to say, with several key players opting to take the High Road out of town, Streatham fans have had some concerns. Especially as 2 of the players departing where big pieces of a multi title winning puzzle that have gone to one of our biggest title rivals in 24/25. I suspect the club sensed this as they put out the below release to assure fans the evolution of the team is progressing.
https://x.com/StreathamHockey/status/1796618291131064505
Something that has to be remembered, is that hockey teams and the results they get are generally cyclical in nature. Top teams eventually are always weakened, if you have the top guys other teams are always after them to strengthen themselves and weaken you. Sometimes players achieve goals with one team and want a new challenge, having finally won the National title maybe that can be true here. Other times players have to move to other regions for university or work reasons, or just want to play closer to home or return to a boyhood club. Whatever the reason players do eventually depart and championship winning cores begin to see elements fall away.
Of course all this represents is a challenge and a chance for Ben to put to use the ability he has for identifying and fixing problems and weaknesses in the roster(probably a crossover from his day job as an electrician) If I was to venture an opinion it would be that while the team was the strongest defensively and while it did look potent offensively, it was an offence that teams could close down, and struggled to bang in the garbage goals and generate screens at times. While also getting itself into penalty trouble too much. And while the defence and PK first approach was underlined by 22 minutes of PK in the National final, Ben possibly will feel the team shouldn't have put themselves in that position in big games.
The club has also taken steps this offseason to improve its chances of signing high calibre talent in the future, and developing its own prospects with the formation of a development pathway with the Berkshire Bees. This now means academy players can move from NIHL 2 With the Blackhawks to us in NIHL 1 and the the NIHL with the Bees. And in our case we get the chance to sign Bee's players looking to take a step back from the commitments of National League Hockey. A great bit of business that hopefully will secure success for both sides involved.
Taking The High Road Out Of Town
Nate Gregory
In hockey the starter being able to win you games is key, but an underrated thing is a back up who can win you games when the starter hasn't made it possible. Streatham has been very luck since Nate Gregory arrived to have a back up who fit that description. I do feel using the term back up is somewhat unkind to Nate as he's always shown the potential and ability to be a starter at this level. He's just always been behind the likes of Matt Colclough, Damien King, Tom Annetts and Danny Milton. Great net-minders in their own right, who while keeping Nate in that back up role will have been great teachers for him to learn from. As a player Nate was often that back up you could rely on to start and win games as well as finish them out. Never having a season with a career average of 2.29 GAA and a SV% of .919 according to EP over his time in NIHL 1.
The club has lost a strong second option in net. Most likely we'll see Dylan Phillips brought in as Nates replacement, unless the club pulls off another Annetts/Milton pairing style signing as it did a couple of seasons back
Where is he going? At this time no idea, being born in Woking and having spent time in the Bracknell junior system a possible destination could be Slough maybe, but then maybe Nate fancies a stint as a starter and is headed to somewhere like Harringey who would be on the look out for a starter calibre net-minder at NIHL 2 level who could join them when they move up to NIHL 1.
Jack Hoppes
A recurring theme in Streatham's recent seasons has been the unearthing of a young up and coming defender who ends up leaving the club after a season or 2. Millique Martelly, Emil Oksanen, and now Jack Hoppes departs the club for the Solent Devils. Yes Jack has done the unthinkable for some and opted for the south coast side of the Solent Streatham side of the rivalry.
The club has lost a talented young right handed D man who I always described as a player much like Millique Martelly but with less shooting accuracy than Millique. Still a great puck mover and solid in his own end, I will never forget seeing him frustRate the man who is now his coach Alex Murrayin that title decider 2 seasons ago. I'd suspect given Jacks age he's headed to the south coast and the Devils as a result of him heading off to university maybe(at 19 it would fit the bill) or as a player with National experience with Bees and a championship calibre the Devils met the price to pry Jack away from the High Road.
Callum Burnett
Callum only had 1 season on the high road, but certainly made an impact and impressed me greatly during his time here. Something I felt the D needed going into last season was players with youth and energy but on a solid footing. Callum fit that bill for me, he had the youth and energy. But as I saw it became a great transitional defenceman able to play in both ends and be reliable doing it. Would always contribute strongly to the offensive phase and this was the pedigree he came in with and lived up to. Callum could be relied upon to provide those much needed assists from the back end as he chipped in 9 in the season and 3 in the play offs along with 2 goals on the season.
At this time, Callum hasn't been announced as signing anywhere. But given his youth at the age of 23 that means he could be the target of any southern National league team. But I'd wager the best odds lay with him joining Ben Ealey Newman and Brandon Miles in Slough having been a Slough junior as well. With an outside chance he returns to the Chieftains team he captained before he joined us.
Ben Ealey Newman
This is the first of 2 departures that really blows a hole in the forward lines. Ben Ealey Newman ended the season as the clubs 4th leading scorer and Ben Paynter coaches player of the season. Bouncing back after a 22/23 that saw him sidelined for a long time with an injury Ben has been a big part of Streatham scoring group over the 3 seasons he has been Redhawk. His calmness on the puck when skating at opponents, and cut backs from the half boards to the centre to roof the puck where something to behold. Sadly we'll now have to fear these moves as he joins up with title rivals the Slough jets for the 24/25 season. For Ben its a move that makes sense, hes a former Jets junior, he possibly feels having won the National he can now move on to a new opportunity that possibly moves him closer to home.
Bens departure, throws a question mark over a return of brother Josh, as generally clubs have always signed the pair together. However this will also of course depend on how Josh heals from his shoulder injury suffered in January.
The Jets needed a player capable of scoring but also doing the dirty physical stuff. Ben fits this bill perfectly, and in signing a leading scorer from a strong opponent in the past the Jets have succeeded in weakiening our core group. All be it hopefully temporarily depending who Ben signs in his place.
Brandon Miles
Over the years there have been switches in sports that no one saw coming. Hulk Hogan joing WCW after leaving WWF, Sol Campbell signing for Arsenal from hated rivals Tottenham, Figo trading Barcelona for Real Madrid and Carlos Tevez trading the red side of Manchester for the Blue. And now we can add Brandon Miles leaving Streatham for Slough.
Brandon Miles may not have been a Streatham junior, but he is basically the player most associated with the clubs identity and the way it plays hockey. One of those players you love when you have them but hate them when on another side. Brandon has been on quite an upward development from 2020. When I first saw him play in 2017 he seemed little more than another typical goon, more interested in fighting and hard hits that drew the ire of opponents and officials. But since his return in 2019 he's developed in to one of the best power forwards in this league. Granted this past season he posted only 3 goals and 13 assists. But Brandon always provided that insurance that if you messed with anyone on the streatham roster you'd answer for it.
His departure leaves a gap in the fan bases hearts that hopefully someone in the locker room will fill. Because Brandon was very much the peoples champion of Streatham hockey. Why did he choose to leave? Only he can tell us, given he started out in Slough he possibly fancied a homecoming. If memory from a road trip serves he's based near Slough so that also makes sense. But possibly he having won a National title, felt it was time to close this chapter and open another one. Either way for us fans it feels like we've lost not just a player, but an unofficial captain of the team. Slough fans will soon learn how lucky we were in Streatham to have such a player
Taking The High Road Back
So now we have looked at the departure so far, why not take a look at who's going to be taking the High Road back into town. Because while a few core elements have departed, there are several key faces from the past few seasons who have decided to return once more
14 Ben Paynter
Having now been the coach who masterminded 2 league title a play-off title win and finally a National Championship it was obviously a no brainer for Streatham to bring back head player coach Ben Paynter. I believe Ben to be the best 2 way centre and defensive forward in the entire league. And a coach who has shown a great acumen in my opinion for identifying what needs to be changed in order to win, case in points I feel are the way he changed the teams focus from one of overwhelming firepower to overwhelming and smothering defence and all with a minimal of player turnover. And further to that when the team looked to be finally hitting that rough patch so many fans had wanted us to have with the 3-2 and 3-0 losses in early season. Ben successfully identified the changes needed and made them. Ben is always humble, and tells me its not about him its the team when I've tried to ask him how it feels to be the coach who has won what his predecessors couldn't. And he's very right in that regard, he clearly has exactly what a winning coach needs which is confidence and trust in his players to execute his game plan. While also clearly having the respect, confidence and trust of his players to lead them to the end goal of winning trophies.
On the ice as I said Ben is the best 2 way centre in this league in my view. Being a coach has not seen Ben drop off his own production as he ended this past season on comparative ground with his last couple of seasons with 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 league points. While down on the previous season the shift in team ethos to a more conservative approach on offence of looking for the chances instead of bombarding the net was probably a factor here. Hopefully the new signings he's touted in recent press releases can help add to this.
8 Preston Tombs
As I mentioned in Jack Hoppes section, a recent trend in Streatham has been the unearthing of young up and coming defensemen, who end up getting noticed by other teams and being given an opportunity elsewhere. Best example of this being Millique Martelly. Preston has not been as explosive as Millique was in his arrival on the Streatham hockey scene. But that hasn't made his rise any less impactful. Preston debuted for the club 2 days after turning 16, in the 21/22 season, the same season as Millique. But while Millique has grabbed the headlines as a puck moving offensive D man. Much the same as Martelly and Hoppes before him Preston will be getting National league experience on a 2 way deal this season as he's been signed by the Berkshire Bees on a 2 way with us.
Preston has been developing solidly in to a top 6 guy as the solid reliable defence-man you can trust to just do what he's out there to do well. As coach Paynter has said of Preston he reads the game well, and has come to be very trusted to handle the toughest of situations. He really in my view came to the forefront this past season during the short benching phase. The fact he is iced alongside of Sam Waller most of the season is testament to how highly he is rated as a player. Seeing Preston return will have been key for Ben who no doubt wanted to avoid a repeat of Jack Hoppes leaving possibly a little too early on a two way, who after signing with the Bees returned to Streatham early in the season, low on confidence after seeing little ice time in the National, despite having been part of Bee's team that was over performing by many pundits estimations. However with Preston part of the development pathway, I doubt we will see this pattern repeated.
13 James Warman
The man I mistakenly assigned a Josh Ealey Newman goal to on two occasions returns for his testamonial season on the High Road. James is part of the furniture in Streatham(literally, the guy lives in Streatham) but has been on the team sheet of every coach in Streatham for the past 10 years. And it's plain to see why, off the ice James is great with us fans and in the locker room with his team mates. In coach Paynter's words he brings the right attitude week in and week out. For me thats always underlined he goes along with a running gag from twitter over that goal I miss-assigned to him.
On the ice James is that thing that every coach wants on their roster. A solid reliable and dependable defence-man that does the simple stuff and everything else well and in the good sense will go unnoticed by a commentator like myself, then abruptly announce himself with a huge hit. James loves his hits and I have seen him deliver multiple bone crunchers at High Road centre ice. While his stats may not reflect it in the goal column. James is a great player in the transitional phase of play, making those key passes in the neutral zone and offensive zone, that lead to goals, for example picking up the key assist on jared lanes goal in Coventry. Though he did have a less productive 23/24 but having missed a large chunk of the back end of the season with a dislocated shoulder that can be overlooked.
15 Ziggy Beesley
2023/2024 was the year of Ziggy Beesley in Streatham, leading goal scorer, leading points scorer, winner of nearly everything at the end of season awards night, and winner of so much in the raffle that JJ Pitchley had to eat his remaining tickets to prevent him winning anymore.
When Vanya Antonov departed the club, someone was needed to step in and fill the gap of the clutch free scoring forward that the club could rely on in any situation. Many thought maybe Danny Ingoldsby or the Ealey Newmans or Pitchely and Martin would fill this gap. But Ziggy put in the hard work this season, training twice a week with the Redhawks and Blackhawks to maximise his ice time. I already saw Ziggy as one of the best centres in the league, but this past season he took it to a new level. Putting in a career season with 20 goals and 22 assists. Ziggy became a net front presence that could score and create, but also developed a deadly one timer snap shot from the slot. Coach Paynter describes Ziggys return succinctly To be successful you have to have guys like Ziggy in the line up.
37 Sam Waller
Waller brings so much to our team in all areas. He is relied upon in big situations defensively, he is composed on the puck and leads our D offensively. Those are the words Ben used to describe Sam Waller. Sam has become the offensive engine in the heart of the Streatham defence. Sam doesn't really fit into one single mould as a defence-man. At times he's a shutdown guy you can rely on, at others a physical defence-man who puts the body about, and finally an offensive D-Man who contributes goals and creates them. Such flexibility is craved by coaches in their D groups. Streatham are fortunate we have it all in one player.
51 Jared Lane
One of the design structures baked into the streatham model of team building going back to Jeremy Cornish is players who have speed and skill coupled with players that bring phyical play. Jared is very much the case of a player with speed and skill. An excellent eye for passing Jared reminded me of Vanya Antonov on first viewings. He's able to thread needles to get pucks on the rights guys stick for crucial goals. But is also able to put himself in just the right spots to score the crucial ones as well as we saw when he collected James Warman's pass for the 3rd goal in Coventry.
A player who had a lot of pressure and potential heaped upon him as a younger player in Guildford and Bracknell, however for whatever reason his development didn't progress as many had predicted. However at Guildford Phoenix and here with us he found a spark that ignited him meeting that potential. He's become a big part of the teams core, it can be no coincidence that when Jared returned and Ewan Hill left the teams flagging early season performances turned around in a big way.
As Ben puts it He moves the puck well, is calm under pressure and in big moment and I can rely on him to play in all situations. He adds a dynamic to our offence that not a lot of teams have and delivers every night. I'd further add that Jared is speed and skill all rolled in one player.
42 Danny Milton
When you build a championship winning team, you need to build from the net out. That is vitally important for a team operating on the mantra of defence wins championships. You also need the kind of netminder who steals you games you have no business winning to win championships. In Danny Milton the club has secured just such a netminder.
In his first year with the club, Danny saw limited outings. He had come is as an alternate option for Tom Annetts, when Tom was unavailable and when Danny's goalie coaching time allowed. He would make a total of 7 league and 3 cup appearances that season. Posting I think at least 5 shutouts in the process Danny ended that saeson with 1.65GAA in league action and 1.52GAA in the play offs. Of course this lead to Ben immediately wanting Danny back for 23/24.
Danny has been a wall in the Streatham net this past season, and is exactly as I described the netminder who wins games the team has no business winning. His form of course also made it nigh on impossible for Nate Gregory or Dylan Phillips to get a look in. He backstopped this team to hard fought wins in games like the cup semi final first leg v Invicta, and his heroics on the High Road keeping out the most dangerous offence in South 1 were what won the team the challenge cup this season. As Ben puts it He was a difference maker all year and I have no doubt he will be the same this coming season.
Taking The High Road In
Roman Cathcart
Up next, we have the newest addition to the Streatham roster. Roman Cathcart. Most 17 year old players coaches sign can be lumped into the development prospect category. Guys the coach has an eye on for the future who show promise. In the case of Roman I wouldn't put him in there. He's already a well developed and rounded player having already had experience at NIHL 2, NIHL 1, and National level, in particular being up for a solid 11 games with Basingstoke. Roman will continue to gain experience at high levels while with us as he will be signed with both us and the Berkshire Bees on a two way deal
With Brandon Miles no longer a RedHawk, Ben has needed to bring in a players who can play the Streatham style, but have some youth and more of a scoring touch or potential. While Roman is no direct swap for Brandon, he's a physical player, but he's a physical player with speed. Something that could and did trip Streatham up over the last few seasons was that the faster players such as Jared or Ziggy could sometimes be too far forward waiting for the support of the physical players. With Romans youth and tenacity there's now someone who can probably keep pace with these guys. But additionally he's a player who comes in with a string pedigree.
Harvey Stead
The second of the new signings announced over the last couple of days, Harvey is a player I have come to be rather familiar with over the past season working as a commentator for the Berkshire Bees webcast where he joins us from. Having just become a father Harvey has opted to step away from the National league and join us as part of our cooperation with the Bee's, so he can have more family time. Harvey is of course another player who fits the mould of being a Streatham player. He's physical, clears the net well and has an offensive upside too him and will stand up for himself and the rest of the team. To boot he's also born and bred in my hometown of Reading.
The club have lucked in big time landing a player of Harvey's experience and skill, while he is still very much in his prime years at only 28. I've heard it said the peak age for D-Men is the later part of their 20's to early 30s due to the accumulation of experience by this point. Not to of course make this about Harvey's age but landing a player still in their 20's with over 350 EPL and National league games experience is a great get by coach Paynter. Not only that but he also bring international experience with the GB youth teams.
"He has a magnitude of experience playing at a higher level and I can’t wait to see how he translates that experience into our line up. Transitioning defence to offence was something I felt we struggled with last season and the addition of Harvey really helps with that"
Harvey to some extent fits the Sam Waller archetype I described earlier, a physical D man, who will mix it up but also has a lot of offensive potential and underlying numbers to be a big threat at this level in all 3 zones.
Brendan Baird
Another of the marquis off season signings that strengthens the defence, in comes Brendan Baird, Brendan joins as part of the development path way with streatham and Berkshire Bees, that gives players looking to play at the semi pro level and commit less time to hockey a chance to sign on with streatham in exchange for youngsters going the other way on 2 way deals. No stranger of course to Streatham fans having last donned the Red and White in the 17/18 season. Brendan has been playing at a high level in UK hockey for the past 6 seasons, with the now newly minted Berkshire Bees and before that as part of a battling Basingstoke bison side.
While not showing his defensive ability. The below shows the kind of offensive input we can hope for from Brendan. He's the kind of offensive player involved in every phase of the play
Aidan Doughty
Another big signing this week is the arrival or return of Aidan Doughty. Aidan is the second of 2 players signed as part of the 2 way development path between Streatham and the Bees. Like Brendan Baird Aidan has take adbvantage of the affiliation between the two to keep playing but drop to a level he can fully commit to. Aidan last iced for us back in the 17/18 season. Having been the second highest scorer on the solent Devils. Aidan only managed a 21 point season for us the following season. Something was obviously not a good fit for Aidan in that season however as he went onto be a force the following season for the team he joins us from the Berkshire Bees where he had 36 and 27 point seasons, before joining the Basingstoke Bison where he posted a career high 51 points. The following campaign Aidan was on a 42 point pace before his season was cut short by a spinal injury. A total of 21 points on a struggling Bee's team I feel is attributed more to the way he was used and who he was iced with.
Final Thoughts
It's been something of an explosive start to the offseason for Streatham fans. The lows of losing several of the core group. To the highs of being announced as a development partner with the Berkshire Bee's, that has seen 3 high calibre players bolster the ranks of what is one of the most stacked rosters in the division. Ben said he wanted to identify the weaknesses and fix them, with Harvey Stead and Brandon Baird on board the club trades Jack Hoppes and Callum Burnett for 2 top 6 National league D men. Who can both contribute on the defensive and offensive transitional play. Something that was as Ben has pointed out a sticking point for the team last season. Aidan Doughty provides an offensive upgrade in front of net in terms of the net front presence and physicality if he can recapture the form that saw him score 51 points at national level just 2 seasons ago, again don't forget he was a 1st line player with the Bees at times last season. Roman Cathcart signing as a 2 way development path player gives the forward lines an injection of quality, physical play and potential, that hopefully we see pan out. Ben really helped bring on Preston Tombs last season, so he knows how to develop the best out of young playersAdd these to the already existing and key core team members that have been retained and the doom prophecies some fans were predicting when it was announced Brandon was leaving can be dispelled to a degree(Slough and Chelmsford are strengthening as we speak after all)
Getting the likes of Ziggy, Jared, Sam and Milton back were vital signings after some of the core left. Now those departures may be because Ben is changing things up, or they as I said fancied a new challenge. Either way making sure as much of last years group stays is vital and we are off to a great start with the re-signings. But it was important that the replacements are equal to or better than the components they replace and on the potential alone matched against experience I think Ben has hit the bullseye here with that.
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