31st Jan
Bracknell's good run ended this weekend, with two back-to-back defeats. On Saturday, the Bees faced the Newcastle Riverkings at the Hive, and went to a depressing 7-2 defeat. Bracknell's goals came from Rob Stewart and Joe Ferraccioli.
In a much better performance on Sunday, Bracknell again lost in Sheffield. After a goal-less first period, Steelers quickly raced into a three goal lead by the half-way mark, before Bracknell replied through Rob Stewart. Dale Junkin pulled back a second, but Brian Greer (who was having a nightmare of a game) went walk-about for the third time in the game and Jason Haywood scored his second of the match into the open net to seal it.
Bracknell have also learnt that they will be losing Bruno Campese for a couple of weeks to the Italian National Team.
27th Jan
The club today heard from the DfEE that Mikhail Nemirovsky has received his work permit and so will be joining Bracknell this season. He has been allowed to stay in America this weekend, to fulfill his obligations to Flint of the UHL, but will then arrive in Britain. The full press release is below. This also means that Bracknell not be signing any more players, as the deadline date is this Friday, but also because the players are happy. According to the REP, the players are happier getting more ice time, so Whis has decided not to strengthen the bench. If this is true, then it seems incredibly short sighted - after all there is over two months still to play, including the only piece of silverware still available to us. What happens if we take more injuries, or if Schulte decides to be an idiot again, and gets another long ban?
Also, ex-Bee and my favourite player, ever) Kevin King, has been granted a testimonial at Peterborough on February 9th. As well as Kev, Matt Cote, Rob Stewart, Andy Picles, Cassie Dawkins, Brian Wilkie and Sparky Ellis will be playing. The contact number is 01733 331441.
NEMIROVSKY GRANTED WORK PERMIT
Canadian/Russian forward Mikhail Nemirovsky, has been granted a work permit by the DfEE, three days before the transfer deadline. 24 year old Nemirovsky, who was born in Odessa, will arrive in Britain on Tuesday February 2nd and travel with the Bees to Scotland. His first game will be against Ayr and shown live on Sky Sports on Thursday 4th.
The issuing of the work permit has come as a relief to coach Dave Whistle...not only was the time frame very tight for the application to be processed but an eleventh hour hitch, concerning work permit criteria, put the issue of the permit in jeopardy for 24 hours. However, the DfEE contacted the Bees management offices earlier today, to confirm that Nemirovsky would be given leave to play in the UK.
Coach Whistle said "Mikhail has commitments to play for Flint (his current club in the USA) in the twgames this weekend and feels he cannot let the team down. Considering the problems we have had recently with twoplayers quitting suddenly, leaving the team short for games, I liked his attitude and respected his request. He will be here in time to play against Ayr."
Nemirovsky,6ft tall and 190lbs, played last season for New Orleans Brass and Charlotte Checkers in the East Coast Hockey League and this season has been playing for Flint Generals in the UHL.
24th Jan
Bracknell's good run through adversity continued tonight, when they beat Ayr at home, 3-1. Chris Brant gave the Bees the lead after only 16 seconds, following good play by Rob Stewart. denis Chasse, added a second before Ayr pulled one back. There was no further scoring in the first or second periods, and Greg Burke's shot, which trickled through Sean Basilio's legs for Bees' third, settled the match. The match was revenge for the Eagles' Overtime win at the Centrum on Wednesday.
21st Jan
Brackenll completed a heroic double tonight, when they came back from 2-0 down to win in Overtime at Sheffield. Ed Courtnay and Tommy Plommer had given Sheffield the lead in the first period, against a very below par Bracknell team. However, a PC Drouin goal in the second period turned them around and, after Allison added a third, Rob Stewart scored on the powerplay and then Denis Chasse tied up the match. There was no further scoring, so the game entered sudden death, and Dale Junkin notched the winner after 1:37. Bruno Campese was outstanding in goal for Bracknell. A Match Report can be found here
20th Jan
In a hard-fought match tonight, Bracknell took a point but lost in overtime at Ayr. As usual in Ayr, the Bees took the lead through Colin Ward. Goals by Groleau, Parco and Purdie, though, gave Ayr a 3-1 lead at the end of the first. The Chief pulled a goal back for the Bees early in the second period, and Matt Cote, of all people, popped up in the third to beat Basilio and take the game in Overtime. Bracknell had to hold on valiently, Campese making several good saves, but Hoffman eventually scored in the 67th minute, to give Ayr both points. Bracknell must now travel to Sheffield for a match tomorrow.
19th Jan
Right, latest batch of rumours....
The club have confirmed that Spikey and Rick Strachan will not be loaned to us because the BNL insisted they serve the full term of the loan (two weeks) with us, and so couldn't play for the Bison.
Secondly, apparently, Matt is injured but will dress this week. Great, not like we don't already have a short bench!.... Finally, because of all this, Whis is apparently trying to get the DfEE to speed up the work permit process.
18th Jan
A couple of vague rumours were spreading yesterday to the effect that PC Drouin would also be leaving soon and both Mike Ellis and Rick Strachan would be joining us on-loan for a fortnight from the Bison. However, these are by no means reliable, so don't expect them to happen. Still, you heard about Norm first here....
17th Jan
After a slew of bad news recently, it's a pleasure to get back to some good news. Bracknell took on London Knights at home tonight, and won 6-2. They raced into a three goal lead in the first period, through goals by Greg Burke, Denis Chasse and Colin Ward. Bracknell scored a fourth, a second by denis, before London opened their account late in the second period. Bracknell came out into the third period firing on all cylinders again, and scored through Dale Junkin. A late goal by Todd Kelman was follwed by a second Knights goal at the death. Bruno Campese was in goal for the Bees.
so, after all the unhappiness recently, good to see the club moving back in the right direction again.
15th Jan
Bracknell have been thrown into yet more turmoil as yet more players have left the club. A press release today revealed that Dennis Burke had sought and received permission to leave the team several weeks ago. However, this was before Norm Dezainde asked to be released, and leaves the club severely weakened up front. And the club were still recoiling from this blow when the season's top scorer for the Bees, Sal Manganaro, also told Dave Whistle that he had played his last game for Bracknell and would be leaving. Although Sal is under contract, Dave Whistle was quoted as saying "You can't force a player to stay and play but he is under contract and is leaving us in an extremely bad position, with only two weeks left until the transfer deadline. Before releasing Sal from his contract, we will be looking for some compensation from the East Coast League team he is leaving to join. I feel bad for the rest of the team too, just as it looked like things were about to turn around, we have lost not just the one player we had expected but three."
This could not have happened at a worse team for the club, though, with Bracknell not appealing Paxton Schulte's six game ban (despite other players having had much worse offences reduced this season) it leaves us with only 12 skaters and 2 goalies for next week (barring injuries, of course). There was some good news, though, when it was anounced that Russian-American Mikhail Nemirovsky would be joining. He has played in both the AHL and IHL, but most recently the ECHL. Last season, he scored 7+17=24 from 25 games for the Charlotte Checkers. Overall, he has scored 214 points in 218 games. He is a right wing, and aged 24. He requires a work permit, but the team have been advised it should arrive before the Friday 29th 5pm deadline.
Yet, despite this, the management can no longer avoid any criticism. In the last six or seven weeks, no fewer than five players have left the club, with only two replacements. All these players were playing well, and all requested to leave. For one or two players, this could be discounted on personal reasons, but when five players all walk out, serious questions must be asked about the coaches and the team management. There is clearly a serrious disagreement between the players and somebody behind the scenes, and the situation seems to go from bad to even worse. How many more debacles must the fans suffer this season? It has taken the club seven weeks to respond to Barry McKinlay's departure, it took them three or four weeks to deal with the goalie crisis and now they have less than a fortnight to replace three more key players. Why are these players leaving?
After a month of hockey, we were top of the league, and yet since then, we have slipped down the table, seen ourselves humiliated several times, seen ineffectual solutions to major problems, and now lost a full line of forwards in one week. Despite all the protestations of innocence after the goalie crisis, there is no-one else who can take the blame this season than the club management, both front room and back room. One has to question the decision to put Dave Whistle in charge, a man with no previous coaching experience, when the stakes are so high in the ISL. One also has to question the sometimes contemptuous way the front room staff have dealt with the fans after criticism, and one certainly has to question the seemingly rudderless direction the front-room staff have given the club.
In a recent press release, the management expressed the belief that Silverware was still within our grasp. I think now is the time to stand up, accept reality, and try to deal forcefully to resolve the continuing problems. Dave Whistle (great guy though he is) doesn't seem able to cut it as a coach - he doesn't appear to have the respect of his players (friendship is another matter), and we have struggled to win games recently. Maybe a sterner step is required, though. John Nike has poured money into the club since its inception, and as the successful businessman that he is, I'm sure he doesn't like seeing his moeny wasted. Maybe it's time he acted to bring in a new management team, who really can put the "pro" back into "professional" for Bracknell. Failing that, maybe we really should begin to consider our future with the ISL. Do we really want to keep being a second-rate team, haemoraging money and continually finishing bottom? Maybe a now would be a good time for drastic change?.....
12th Jan
NOrm Dezainde has become the third player to leave the team, according to a press release on The Buzz Box. No reason has been given for his request to be released, which was granted on Friday, although reference is made to his wife's good job back in North America. However, rumours have been going round of Norm wanting to leave since last month, so this doesn't come as a great surprise.
Yet again, this raises questions about the club management. Having just solved one crisis, and having consistently been unable to replaqce Barry McKinlay (whilst other clubs sign players left right and center), they must now find a replacement forward, and have him fully signed, before the January 29th Transfer Deadline. This departure only heightens suspicion of major problems behind the scenes, with a highky talented team mis-firing and sitting towards the bottom of the table, whilst good players keep leaving. One thing is certain, if the management want their seemingly ridiculous claim that silverware is still in the club's grasp to come true, they must act quick to fill these big holes in the team.
11th Jan
Some more late news.....
Bracknell fans are in for a 24 hour bumper fest in Manchester next month, as the out-standing game with the Storm has been re-arranged for Thursday 18th February... the day before an already scheduled match on the 19th! Book your hotel rooms now!
Also, according to the official site, Frank LaScala is making his first tentative steps back to playing, by beginning training again.
11th Jan
Bracknell played and beat Nottingham, 4-2, at the Hive last night. Bracknell took the lead through Sal Manganaro in just 36 seconds. Jeff Johnstone added a second just after 2 minutes, and Denis Chasse and Shayne McCosh scored two more later in the period. Bruno Campese was icing in his first match for Bracknell, and conceeded his first goals to a Zukiwsky brace in the second period. However, they were the only goals Nottingham could score, and Bracknell took both points to the bank.
Also, some news that is a bit late due to me being away. It would appear that Bernie has actually signed for Fayetteville Force, as a replacement to ex-Manchester and Ayr goalie, Colum Cavilla. Also, Paxton Schulte has received a six game ban and a fine for his part in the big bust up with London Knights last week. Dave Whistle was also banned a game and fined for not preventing the bench clearence, whilst several players have received sundry penalties:- Chris Brant and Dale Junkin both get Game Misconducts (first player to leave the bench and unsporting behaviour respectively); Denis Chasse, Norm Dezainde, Todd Kelman, Shayne McCosh and Rob Stewart all receive 10 minute Misconducts.
7th Jan
In a shocking move, Bernie has been released from his contract, and replaced by an Italian passport holder, Bruno Campese. Bruno was signed this week by the club, as cover for the injured goalie duo of Bernie and Brian Greer. However, it seems Bernie was concerned at the amount of ice time he would get, and when an opportunity to sign for North Carolina came up, he asked to be released. Campese, who is 34, has most recently been playing in the Austrian Elite League, and has also played in the DEL and Italy. He played on the Italian National team at World Championship and Olympic level, between 1993-6. He won the EHL last year, with Feldkirch.
The move will come as a shock to many Bees fans, who revered Bernie, but the club felt under great pressure after last weeks' debacles, and so the move comes as no surprise. Many will hope that Campese could be the answer to Bracknell's problems, witha strong keeper being able to back-stop the team to a higher league position. Bruno flies in tomorrow, and should be ready to play against Nottingham on Sunday.
3rd Jan
Bracknell restored some respect and pride, with an efficient performance at Manchester tonight. Although they lost 4-1, they did have a 16 year old keeper in nets, who performed brilliantly, and the team concentrated on shielding him through the game. They were also able to match the league-leaders for much of the game. Shayne McCosh scored Bracknell's goal early in the second, cancelling Kelly Askew's opener, but a second from Askew, and then third period goals from Jablonski and Ketola finished the Bees off. A report will follow later.
2nd Jan
Bracknell were humiliated tonight, at home,losing 9-3 to league trailers London Knights. Due to injuries to both keepers, and because on-loan keeper Richard Gallace had a prior arrangement playing with Slough, Bracknell were forced to ice 16 year old Greg Rockham, of the Cardiff Rage (EDPL), in nets. For that reason, we were probably lucky to keep the score to single figures. Bracknell's goals came from PC Drouin (who scored at the half-way point, by which time Bees were 4-0 down), Colin Ward and a short-hander from Dennis Burke.
This result just goes to highlight how disgraceful the club management has been recently. There has been no moves for players since the departure of McKinlay and the long-term injury of Bernie, with the club claiming there are no players availabl. This is despite London, Cardiff and Nottingham all signing players in this period! I can understand the difficulty signing a goalie as over for six weeks, before releasing him again, but surely if they'd pulled out the stops something could have been arranged. Surely better than playing a 16 year old, at least! Things must improve soon, or serious changes must occur. If the club insists on still doing things by halfs, maybe they should seriously consider the Bees' ISL future....