TAKING THE HIGH ROAD
FRIENDS OLD AND NEW
TAKING THE ROAD BACK
18 TOMASZ SKOKAN
With clubs trying to up the ante offensively going into the 2022 hockey season, Streatham needed to up its game with its defence. Signing an import at this level of UK hockey is something of a crap shoot, as we Streatham fans have seen. Usually imports in South 1 are already here working and play hockey alongside their carers. And usually they have played hockey in the lower tiers of Europe, such as Slovakia's 2nd league or Czechia's 3rd tier. So the club cashed in a jackpot when Tomasz Skokan was signed.
In one fell swoop the club landed a player who had the potential to become one of the best offensive D-Men in the league. How many teams in South 1 could boast a player who brings experience in the polish top flight and experience in the continental cup. In the past I have talked about players being found money, in the case of Skokan he was the club finding a winning lottery ticket down the back of the sofa.
Tomasz has ofcourse over the past 2 seasons with the club been exactly as I describe. With a total of 77 points across all S1 competitions, and a PPG average of 1.15 in league action. He has lived up to that monicker of offensive D-Man I gave him. With a bullet wrist shot Tomasz became a solid replacement for Michael Farn on the blue line in terms of offensive ability. But instead of long range lobs, we now get close range snipes. Whenever on the puck you can tell Tomasz always has a sense of where the net is. Most notable of all examples of this being the game winner he scored in the epic game with Slough
But Tomasz's sense of where the net is in relation to the puck is not only applicable offensively. As he has been solid in the defensive zone as well. Making him a great 200ft player with great speed off the puck and ability to get the puck carrier to play the puck how he wants them too.
Every off season I fear we will see Tomasz depart for one of the London adjacent National teams, in fact seeing him hanging out with the Romford roster at National finals in 2023 had me worried we'd be seeing him in a Raiders jersey the next season. But thankfully Tomasz has once again committed to the Red Hawks cause.
16 JORDAN GREGORY
Something that hockey coaches need more than those big splash star signings, are the signings that form the engine room of the roster. The work horse players who don't put up 50 points, who just do their job and put in solid performances that while not noted on the stat sheet don't go unnoticed by opponents, and fans in the arena. While every teams needs their Vanya Antonov's, it badly needs players like Jordan, in my opinion they are like gold dust.
Jordan as I said fits that role of the solid work horse defender in the teams engine room. Besides fighting Jordan uses that size and physicality to his advantage, in battles at the boards and the corner. Granted he can sometimes get a bit over zealous in this but he's ultimately very effective at using his size in those 50/50 battles by the boards. But he's also very adept at moving puck carriers out wider and wider during the defensive phase of play.
11 HENRY AIKEN
With the departure of Andrew Cook at the end of the 2022 season, Streatham were in need of a player to fill the role Cook had occupied on the roster. Thats of the dependable workhorse defence-man who does the simple things the right way on every shift. Enter former Guildford junior Henry Aiken. Signed from rivals the Invicta Dynamo's Henry took a little time to settle in to the Streatham systems but once he had he became exactly as I described. The dependable workhorse in the defences engine room, not the defence-man you relied upon to score or create goals on the transition. More the defence-man who's work goes unrewarded by the stats collumn. Despite this his style of play meant Henry became a firm fan favourite.
As Ben puts it in his signing release Henry is the kind of player every club needs to succeed. Not just because of what I have outlined above. My description of him as a work horse in the defensive unit is only part of what Henry brings to the table. He has a great energy about him that is apparent both on and off the ice. To see the way the rest of the team reacted to his return after his season long absence. As Ben describes it he creates a great atmosphere about him both in the room and outside of it. Having been in the pub around Henry I can attest to this.
Henry really loves being a RedHawk, and the fans love having him. Players like Henry are in my view a rarity and are more important to sign than your Vanya Antonov's. Goal scorers tend to be easier to find, than reliable solid defence-man that do the simple things right shift after shift. Streatham have been lucky with Henry that we found one to take the place of another.
57 DANNY INGOLDSBY
Danny Ingoldsby's was as I described him a bit of a gamble on potential. Before arriving on the High Road Danny had never had a double figure goal season outside of junior hockey, with his highest season being 7 playing for Basingstoke Buffalo in 2014. That being said he did post double figure points seasons collecting assists but again his highest being a 18 point season in 2018 for Bracknell Bees. Of course Adam Carr saw potential in a young player he had played against many times, and who's numbers at EPL/NIHL level could translate into a force at NIHL 1 level. Sometimes this can be a false narrative that fans and coaches fall for. That a player capable of posting an 18 point season at NIHL could double that to 36 say in NIHL 1.
Danny definitely did not fall into that category however. In fact he delivered in spades over 3 seasons with the club from 2019 to 2023. Posting a new career high in his first season of 35 points(23+12) he dipped the following season with a 28 (14+14) before his personal scoring contest with Vanya Antonov saw him become the leading goal scorer in the league in 2022/23 posting 38 goals, 24 assists for 62 points. Sadly 23/24 was curtailed by injury and so Danny only posted 5+9 for 14.
Danny's offensive output has been for lack of a better phrase explosive since he joined the club. And besides what he can do with the puck around the net he also has fit the style of Streatham hockey over the time he has been with the club. A hard hitting physical player who brings energy on every shift, and more than willing to stick up for himself or team mates. Unfortunately the way Danny plays has lead to him spending a bit of time on the treatment table every season. But that is what coaches want from their players(not that they want them injured of course they don't) what I mean is he charges in to the fight with no regard for himself and puts his body on the line for the cause. Which will have made it a no brainer for Ben to bring him back this season.
ETHAN LANE
In recent seasons the club has been able to unearth at least one, decent up and coming young prospect. Conner Smith, Emil Oksanen, Preston Tombs,Jack Hoppes,Harvey Briggs, Maks Mazlak, and of course Millique Martelly. Ethan Lane is the next in this long line of players who have been developed at the club. A product of the junior system, he was a surprise yet welcome addition to the roster in mid season as the club looked for some depth. As with most 18 year olds stepping up from junior and NIHL 2, Antonov style numbers were not expected. But everyone could be forgiven for thinking the club had another Vanya on its hands as he scored twice on his debut away in Oxford
He would net 5 more times through the season for 6 goals in all all competitions. At NIHL 2 level he showed why Stan Ratcliffe and Mark Saunders had suggested him as a prospect to ben netting 12 goals(including a beauty from centre ice V Peterborough) and totalling 23 points on the season. At NIHL 1 level he played exactly as Ben had described him, always in the thick of things, willing to charge head first into the corners and able to make defenders look like they were standing still.
94 JJ Pitchley
JJ has done a better job of keeping his re-signing a secret this off season than he did last summer, where his liking of every streatham social media post alerted me to the fact he had likely signed for us. That being said his comments to me at seasons end has me basically convinced it was a formality my favourite new signing of 23/24 would be back
With a shift to a more physical, defence oriented style, coach Paynter needed to bring in players who would fit into that system but still post up points. And with other teams bringing in ex National league players to increase their firepower there needed to be a response in kind from the club. Luckily Ben had a former team mate who fit both these characteristics in mind.
Back on track and on point. JJ become a favourite of mine last season after many seasons of feeling the opposite towards him when he was in a Raiders or Bees jersey. Largely due to the fact from game 1 he played with that intensity and aggression I spoke of. But also because when on the puck he could seemingly make things happen, and was happy to take the puck into and out of a corner battle to get the goal. I at one point said he was like a more physical Vanya because of the aspects and his willingness to skate the puck and out dangle opponents looking for the gap.
It having been a while since he had last lifted a trophy, no doubt getting that monkey off his back was a big part of JJ coming to streatham last season, that and clearly getting a chance to play alongside Ben again. But as was revealed in his signing announcement, it took within seconds of lifting that National trophy for him to tell Ben he wanted back in for 24/25. And no doubt took Ben less than that to say yes. With a full season under his belt, and the way he was firing up at the end of last season, hopefully we'll be seeing JJ adding more to his 23/24 haul of 10+16
TAKING THE HIGH ROAD IN
ADAM ERSKINE
Having a roster of experienced veterans who can land you championships is important, but equally important is developing for the future. Something the club I feel has understood very well in previous seasons. Millique Martelly,Harvey Briggs,Max Maslak,Emil Oksanen,Jack Hoppes, Preston Tombs. All players that have climbed the rungs from the Streatham academy, into the Blackhawks roster and up to the main Streatham roster. Of these only Tombs now remains on the roster as the rest have all either caught the eye of National teams or in the case of Maslak and Oksanen the eye of teams in mainland European hockey. Streatham's academy has had a solid track record in recent seasons with developing prospects who go on to better things. No doubt this was a factor in the decision by Berkshire Bee's to sign up with Streatham to a development pathway. In the hope that another Millique Martelly makes their way up from the academy.
Photo sourced from Adams EP Profile
In the meantime though the path is being utilised as a way to help get younger prospects on the Bee's roster to get extra ice time when there is no Bee's game. As such Streatham have added young forward Adam Erskine from the Bee's on a 2 way deal. Now unlike the Hoppes and Cathcart 2 ways the Bee's will be Adam's primary team, meaning we will only see him ice for Streatham when there are no fixture clashes. It however does mean that Adam can train with the team regularly. More ice time generally means player improvement as they can work on different aspects with different coaches. Which would likely be the trade off here for Adam and the Bee's
MATTHEW FRIEND
While having a strong starting net-minder is key to winning any championship. Having a solid 2nd option in the crease is just as important. Your back up net-minder has to be that player you can rely on to step in and change the course of the game when your starter has had an off night. Its something we Streatham fans have been accustomed to seeing happen to opposition net-minding duos these past few seasons. While we have been rather spoiled with a combo of Tom Annetts, Danny Milton and Nate Gregory to call upon. That is the kind of set up generally you would only expect when someones playing hockey manager and loads the team with top talents, eg Sergei Bobrovski and Linus Ullmark on the same team. In fact Streatham was accused of running a cheat code at the time in that same vein.
With Tom Annetts retired, and Nate Gregory opting to go play in Slough the club has needed to bring in a steady hand in net to work alongside Danny. My thoughts were the club had 3 main options on this front. Dylan Phillps, a young rookie net minder returning from a season in juniors over seas. Or the signing we made, Matthew Friend. But with Friend having been part of the Invicta Dynamos set up last season, it seemed a slim hope that we could land Friend. But with the Dynamos opting to bring in Brad Windebank to pair alongside Owen Rider the way became clear.
Friend is a net minder I became familiar with during his season with the Streatham Blackhawks in 22/23. Which is why Im pleased to see him in a Streatham jersey. Friend struck me as the kind of netminder who with a solid defence in front of him could do a solid job for any team. While his season on the high road saw the team finish 7th in the league. Judging a goalie on that metric alone isn't fair. I once heard goalies described as voodoo wizardry and bullsh*t. This means its easier to judge forwards and defensemen by the goals, assists and +/- stat to evaluate their contribution. But with goalies, wins and losses, save percentages, shots faced and goals against are all manipulated by the performance of the team in front of them. Instead you really have to rely on the eye test.
Having given Friend the eye test, he definitely fits the bill in my opinion. He was a steady presence in the Blackhawks net that season, and kept them in games they had no business staying in. He could really soak up the rubber for them, and coach Paynter sees that too in Friends team first attitude, which is a big thing Ben looks for. He moves well in the net as well to me, his stint in Medway only saw him ice 4 times in league action. But a .915% and 2.75 GAA is a good indicator of his ability when he has a solid defence in front of him. Ben says Matt is keen to improve with every shift and practice and while the sample is smaller, and improvement to .915 and 2.75 from 9.80 and .815% when he played 14 games for the Thunder with a comparatively weak defence, should bode well for Matt's ability to win games when he is called into service.
NIKOLAJS ROMAHS
Strength in depth at all positions is key for both current and long term success in hockey. It's all well and good having a Danny Milton in net who can steal you games and win you championships. But what happens if Danny has a bad night? what happens if we see what happened to Tom Annetts a few seasons back and he gets injured in warm up, what happens if Matt Friend is taken out of action for some reason. Not only that but what use is it having a net minder who is something of an expert in training youngsters in Danny Milton, and not having a young up and coming prospect working alongside him. Enter Nik Romahs. Something of a prodical son, as the 19 year old net minder returns to Streatham after having traded Streatham juniors for Romford juniors and the Buccaneers in 2021.
Romahs will be mainly familiar to streatham fans as one of the net minders for the Romford Bucaneer's in recent seasons. He's also had a little time over seas playing in the NA3HL with the Great Falls Americans. His ice time last season was severely limited on a Raiders team that relied heavily on Sonny Phillips in net. Combined with Danny Milton, Romahs has had some great tutors to try and learn from, in 2 of the best at this level of hockey. Unfortunately that also meant his ice time was limited, to 3 games last season. Although that small sample saw a solid return with a 2.75GAA and a .933%
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