Nottingham Panthers

Jono Bullard from The Cat’s Whiskers previews the season for the Panthers

55 years and counting, that is now how long it is since Panthers could call themselves league champions. Will the wait continue or will this be the glory season that the fans so desperately crave?
What Panthers do have is momentum after last seasons trophy winning exploits and with twelve of last seasons successful team returning, the signs are good.
A good netminder is essential for any teams chances and I am very pleased that Craig Kowalski decided to return for another season. For me he was the best netminder in the league last season, and his value was highlighted when he was out for nearly a month in December after the ‘Coventry incident’ and the Panthers form slumped.
What Kowalski did suffer last year was a defence that failed to protect him during the first half of last season due to being far too attacking. I feel this has been addressed somewhat with the recruitment of stay at home d-man Brock Wilson and the retention of Guillaume Lepine. This leaves coach Corey Neilson as the only offensive defenceman and while transition play may be affected I expect the defence to be far more solid. The only slight misgiving I have is that we have once again decided to go with only three import defencemen. I feel that four would give us far more depth and wouldn’t take too much away from our firepower given how strong it is.
Once again it is up front where I expect us to excel. It was always going to be a tough ask to replace the likes of Rob Bellamy, Billy Ryan and Jade Galbraith but I think Neilson has recruited his forwards well. Brandon Benedict comes in from the Belfast Giants along with his former Texas Wildcatters & Hivdovre team-mate Scott Champagne, both of whom I would expect to play on the same line and be amongst our top point scorers. Jordan Fox joins from Jokijopat in Finland and comes with a rich pedigree with 17 games in the AHL and 127 in the ECHL with at nearly a point per game. I would expect him to be amongst the top scorers in the league. The final new import is Matt Francis who joins after two seasons playing with Gwinnett Gladiators in the ECHL. At only 25 Francis has had injury problems which have stalled his career and he comes to Panthers with much to prove, but I’m expecting a very hungry player and I think he could be our diamond in the rough.
Familiar faces make up the rest of the import forward line with play-off heroes David Alexandre Beauregard and Jeff Heerema returning. DAB showed his quality throughout last season, not only in the goal-scoring charts but also with his superb work rate and desire which saw him give everything he had for every shift he was on the ice. Heerema returns as the forward with the most pedigree and he showed his worth with an outstanding play-off campaign, scoring in both games at finals weekend. He now has to bring that quality of performance each and every week if Panthers are going to challenge.
The area which I feel gives the Panthers the biggest chance is the British contingent. With the import level dropping to ten, the quality of the British players becomes even more important and I firmly believe that Panthers have the best British players by some distance. Dan Green once again returns as the back-up netminder and whilst he perhaps didn’t show how good he can be in the chances he was given last season, he does have the ability to step up when needed.
In defence Danny Meyers returns as captain coming off the back of an outstanding season where his leadership qualities came to the fore. Shoulder surgery during the summer means that he is very unlikely to make the start of the season, but once fit I except another outstanding campaign from him once again.
Also returning is Stevie Lee for his 3rd season with the team. Still only 20, Lee has bags of potential and could, I believe, make it to North America similar to his former Hull team-mate David Phillips.
Completing the British defensive contingent is Marcus Maynard, who joins from the ENL Nottingham Lions. I expect he’ll be used sparingly but he has been given a great opportunity by Neilson and it will be interesting to see how he develops.
In the forward line all last season’s major players return. David Clarke is back for his eighth season in Panthers colours. he has his critics but I believe there is no better finisher in the league and his goals tally prove that. Also returning is Matthew Myers who was all the better for his year in North America and returned to the Panthers a much better player. I expect him to continue to be one of the most important players in the squad and once again weigh in with a fair share of points.
This is a huge year for Robert Lachowicz after exceeding all expectations last term. He was incredibly assured on a line with Bellamy and Ryan last season and he also possesses the best hands in the team. I expect this to be his breakout year and would expect him to be averaging a point per game at the seasons end.
Finally, Marc Levers returns. Vastly underrated in my opinion, Levers has the ability to score important goals. A great penalty killer and an extremely hard worker, I see him as an extremely important part of the team.
Perhaps the most important appointment though was the return of Rick Strachan as bench coach. It is no coincidence that the defence tightened up after his arrival and played a huge part in winning two trophies last season. I believe that Rick’s defensive style compliments coach Neilson’s attacking style, and I believe having both on borad gives us an excellent chance of finally winning the league title that has alluded us for so long.

As for the rest I see Belfast Giants providing the biggest challenge to Panthers for the league title, and I expect this season’s competition to be a race between the two.
The Giants have pulled off what I consider a masterstroke in starting the season with 11 imports, which will prove invaluable to them should they suffer from their usual injury crisis.
One thing that did surprise me as I looked at their roster is that only one of their imports from last season has returned, defenceman Jeff Mason, so 10 imports will have to settle in and look over their shoulder as one will be for the chop each game night.
The key signings are the league’s top scorer last season Jon Pelle and top British forward Robert Dowd, both cracking pick ups by Doug Christiansen, however I believe the form of Stephen Murphy will be the key to any success for them, but overall I do expect them to pip the Panthers to the league crown.

It’s all change once again at Sheffield as yet another liquidation sees a new owner, coach and team. I believe Ryan Finnerty has recruited well and I don’t believe that the playing budget has been slashed by as much they’d have us believe. I only hope they aren’t paying for it (or not!) at the end of the season. Perhaps the most important thing for new owner Tony Smith is not the results on the ice but the number occupying the seats in the Arena.
New netminder John DeCaro is the key signing for them, a stellar performer in the CHL I would expect he to do well on these shores. The defence once again looks very solid, but I feel they are lacking in the forward department with only Jeff Legue and the ageing Ashley Tait looking like they’ll put up significant numbers of points. The other challenge will be keeping out of the box, especially if the team are built in the coaches mould!

Cardiff Devils once again look to have built a solid squad and coach Gerad Adams deserves a lot of credit considering the turmoil which has unfolded in South Wales over most of the summer. Yet again he has a solid core of Brits and some good looking imports but I expect the loss of Jon Pelle and the excellent Craig Weller to hit them hard and I can’t see them matching last seasons exploits where they were cruelly pipped at the post by the Steelers.
Having said that I expect them to be tough to beat at home as always and in contention for all the major silverware, however is this a season too far for Brad Voth?

Coventry Blaze will be smarting from such a poor season last time out and Paul Thompson will be wanting to set the record straight. He’s made a statement with the return of title winning netminder Peter Hirsch and the capture of top British defenceman David Phillips from two seasons in North America. However I believe going with just nine imports to start with is a mistake and could cost them in the title race. Having said that they are to be applauded for spending within their means, a lot of other teams could learn from that. They will compete but I don’t think they’ll win anything this season.

After an inaugural season that exceeded expectations the Braehead Clan are once again looking like they could cause a few upsets. They’ve dealt with the news of losing coach Bruce Richardson by giving Drew Bannister his first coaching role which I think is a good move considering his pedigree. Two big re-signings in Tim Wedderburn & Jordan Krestanovich show they are serious, but the biggest signing has been of former Panther Jade Galbraith. He has the ability to turn Braehead into serious contenders, not for the league as I don’t believe they have the depth of British talent to sustain a title bid, but certainly for one of the cups. They are going to be ones to watch.

Over in Dundee the Stars seem to have learned from their first Elite League season and have recruited what looks to be a decent squad on paper. Chris Whitely looks to be a decent netminder and will have a good defence in front of him but the loss of Matt Suderman for the season with illness is a big loss for them and Dan Ceman will have his work cut out to find a like for like replacement. Up front Ceman has been shrewd, Brent Hughes returns and they’ve tempted Jeff Hutchins away from the Caps who will get points at this level. If they do have a weakness it’s perhaps that they don’t have as much forward depth as others, but I think they could be dark horses this season.

Sylvain Cloutier returns as player/coach for the Hull Stingrays and appears to have put together a roster that looks excellent going forward but not too hot at the back (remind you of anyone?) The big re-signing is that of top goalscorer Jerome Tendler, who is joined once again by Jason Silverthorn. Derek Campbell should provide points and muscle while Dominic Osman should also be troubling the scoresheet. Add to that solid Brits in Lake, Davies and Harper and the Rays look good up front.
At the back though it’s a different story, but that could be more to do with the unknown quantity of their defence. However, with pedigree of Poland, Holland, Italian division two and the EPL they’ll have their work cut-out.

Once again the Caps are still well short of a full roster at the time of writing. After the debacle of last season Scott Neil needs to put together a roster that will at least compete on a game by game basis and not get thrashed week in week out, the long suffering Edinburgh fans deserve at least that. The choice of Nathan Craze as number one netminder is an interesting one, he now has the chance to prove he is capable of an Elite League starting berth. As for the imports, the Caps appear to be going down the Eastern European route so far, but if they manage to sign a few more in the mould of Richard Hartmann they’ll probably be OK, however where they will struggle is British Players and losing Kyle Horne to Fife will be a big blow.

Last but not least it’s Elite League newcomers Fife Flyers. Various rumours coming out of Kirkaldy suggests that they can be going from six up to the full complement of ten imports. Still without a netminder at the time of writing the Flyers have made somewhat of a statement with the signing of Defenceman Matt Cohen from the DEL’s Hamburg Freezers and forward Matt Siddall from the ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings. Both should make a big impact in this league.
I see this though as a season of consolidation for Fife, they’ll probably have a target of eighth place to ensure play-off qualification. With this season under their belts I expect them to progress in 2012/13 along similar lines as their rivals Dundee Stars have done for this upcoming season.

After all that I see the final table looking like this:

1. Belfast Giants
2. Nottingham Panthers
3. Sheffield Steelers
4. Coventry Blaze
5. Cardiff Devils
6. Braehead Clan
7. Dundee Stars
8. Hull Stingrays
9. Fife Flyers
10. Edinburgh Capitals