2008–09 Guildford Flames season

Guildford Flames
Guildford Flames
League	3rd EPIHL
2008–9 record	34-17
Goals for	230
Goals against	173
Team information
General manager	Paul Dixon
Coach	Paul Dixon
Arena	Guildford Spectrum
Average attendance	1499
Team leaders
Goals	Miloš Melicherík (33)
Assists	Miloš Melicherík (56)
Points	Miloš Melicherík (78)
	← 2007–08 2009–10 →

During the 2008–09 season, the Guildford Flames participated in the semi-professional English Premier Ice Hockey League. It was the 17th year of Ice Hockey played by the Guildford Flames and the second season under Paul Dixon as head coach.

During the summer Dixon worked to improve the defensive line by shipping out Dominic Hopkins and Ben Johnson, replacing them with 17-year-old Steven Lee^[1] who had already played two seasons with Elite League side Hull, and bringing toughness to the team in the form of Mark Williams^[2] from Romford. Other departures included fringe player Ben Duggan who was replaced by Matt Hepburn^[3] from the juniors. The main talking point over the summer was the departure of long time top goal scorer Jozef Kohut,^[4] leaving the team with what many believed was a weak offence.

After an indifferent start to the season with 3 wins and 3 losses, it was announced on 9 October that the Flames would travel to Slovakia and take part in an exhibition against Extraliga side Poprad in a game opened by the Queen during her state visit to the country.^[5] After a poor run of results in November and a multiple game ban for import Vaclav Zavoral, the decision was taken to sign Czech Martin Bouz.^[6] A surprise departure was the main feature of January with Mark Williams^[7] leaving to pursue work commitments and to play closer to home with the Romford Raiders.

League table[]

Final Table

Team	Pld.	W	OTL/SOL	L	GF	GA	Pts.
Peterborough Phantoms **	54	38	3	13	275	166	79
Milton Keynes Lightning *	54	34	6	14	221	159	74
Guildford Flames *	54	34	3	17	230	173	71
Slough Jets *	54	31	2	21	217	179	64
Bracknell Bees *	54	30	1	23	176	148	61
Romford Raiders *	54	27	3	24	197	259	57
Sheffield Scimitars *	54	22	5	27	187	202	49
Swindon Wildcats *	54	23	2	29	157	194	48
Telford Tigers	54	17	5	32	186	245	39
Wightlink Raiders	54	14	2	38	189	321	30

[*] Secured Play-off Berth. [**] EPL League Champions

Peterborough are EPL League Champions 2008/09

Premier Cup table[]

Final Table

Team	Pld.	W	OTL/SOL	L	GF	GA	Pts.
Peterborough Phantoms *	18	13	1	4	88	54	27
Guildford Flames *	18	12	1	5	80	56	25
Slough Jets *	18	12	1	5	77	51	25
Bracknell Bees *	18	11	0	7	62	44	22
Sheffield Scimitars	18	9	2	7	63	55	20
Telford Tigers	18	9	2	7	68	70	20
Milton Keynes Lightning	18	8	2	8	59	58	18
Swindon Wildcats	18	9	0	9	53	54	18
Wightlink Raiders	18	5	0	13	53	99	10
Romford Raiders	18	2	1	15	48	110	5

[*] Secured Semi-final Berth.

Premier Cup Finals[]

Aggregate Scores

Semifinals			Finals

1	Peterborough Phantoms	6

4	Bracknell Bees	4
			1	Peterborough Phantoms	9

			2	Guildford Flames	7
2	Guildford Flames	5

3	Slough Jets	3

Peterborough Phantoms are the EPL Cup Champions 2008/09

Playoffs[]

Aggregate Scores for quarter-finals

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals

1	Peterborough Phantoms	10

8	Swindon Wildcats	4
			1	Peterborough Phantoms	4

			4	Slough Jets	2
4	Slough Jets	7

5	Bracknell Bees	5
						1	Peterborough Phantoms	5

						2	Milton Keynes Lightning	4
3	Guildford Flames	11

6	Romford Raiders	5
			2	Milton Keynes Lightning	3

			3	Guildford Flames	2
2	Milton Keynes Lightning	8

7	Sheffield Scimitars	6

Peterborough are the 2008/09 EPL Playoff champions

Results[]

September[]


Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Competition	Man of the Match
20th	Bracknell Bees	Home	Won 4–1	1,737	League/Cup	Joe Watkins
21st	Romford Raiders	Away	Won 8–2	Not Reported	League/Cup	N/A
27th	Swindon Wildcats	Away	Won 3–2	Not Reported	League/Cup	N/A
28th	Wightlink Raiders	Home	Lost 4–6	1,157	League/Cup	Paul Dixon

October[]


Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Competition	Man of the Match
4th	Milton Keynes Lightning	Away	Lost 6–5 (OT)	1,093	League/Cup	Lukas Smital
5th	Telford Tigers	Home	Lost 3–4	1,538	League/Cup	Lukas Smital
11th	Sheffield Scimitars	Home	Won 3–2 (SO)	1,249	League/Cup	Joe Watkins
12th	Peterborough Phantoms	Away	Won 7–3	526	League/Cup	Joe Watkins
15th	Peterborough Phantoms	Home	Won 4–2	945	League/Cup	Joe Watkins
18th	Slough Jets	Away	Won 6–5	649	League/Cup	Lukas Smital
19th	Wightlink Raiders	Home	Lost 4–5	1,424	League	Stephen Lee
24th	HK Aquacity ŠKP Poprad	Away	Lost 6–5	4,500	Exhibition	N/A
25th	Bracknell Bees	Home	Won 1–0	1,542	League	Nick Cross
26th	Telford Tigers	Away	Won 4–3 (OT)	675	League/Cup	Rick Plant

November[]


Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Competition	Man of the Match
1st	Slough Jets	Home	Lost 2–3	1,308	League/Cup	Lukas Smital
2nd	Slough Jets	Away	Lost 5–6 (OT)	320	League	Paul Dixon
8th	Swindon Wildcats	Away	Won 6–3	754	League/Cup	Lukas Smital
9th	Swindon Wildcats	Home	Won 4–2	1,568	League/Cup	Neil Liddiard
15th	Sheffield Scimitars	Away	Won 7–4	364	League/Cup	Rick Plant
16th	Milton Keynes Lightning	Home	Lost 2–4	1,161	League/Cup	David Savage
19th	Romford Raiders	Home	Won 6–2	1,016	League/Cup	Alex Mettam
22nd	Wightlink Raiders	Away	Lost 5–4	509	League/Cup	Stuart Potts
23rd	Telford Tigers	Home	Won 4–2	1,368	League	Alex Mettam/Mark Williams
29th	Romford Raiders	Home	Won 7–2	1,238	League	Martin Bouz
30th	Bracknell Bees	Away	Won 4–0	Not Reported	League/Cup	Joe Watkins

December[]


Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Competition	Man of the Match
6th	Milton Keynes Lightning	Away	Lost 2–5	809	League	N/A
7th	Sheffield Scimitars	Home	Won 4–3	1,568	League	Lukas Smital
14th	Peterborough Phantoms	Away	Lost 2–4	542	League	Joe Watkins
26th	Bracknell Bees	Away	Lost 1–2	910	League	David Savage
27th	Peterborough Phantoms	Home	Won 6–5 (OT)	1,623	League	Lukas Smital
28th	Telford Tigers	Away	Won 5–4	Not Reported	League	Ollie Bronnimann

January[]


Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Competition	Man of the Match
1st	Bracknell Bees	Home	Won 4–1	1,753	League	Martin Bouz
3rd	Slough Jets	Away	Won 7–3	751	League	Joe Watkins
4th	Slough Jets	Home	Lost 5–3	1,421	League	Nick Cross
11th	Wightlink Raiders	Home	Won 7–2	1,552	League	Neil Liddiard
17th	Romford Raiders	Home	Lost 3–4	1,535	League	Stuart Potts
24th	Swindon Wildcats	Away	Lost 2–4	902	League	Lukas Smital
25th	Swindon Wildcats	Home	Won 8–2	2,124	League	Vaclav Zavoral
31st	Wightlink Raiders	Away	Won 6–5 (SO)	560	League	Lukas Smital

February[]


Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Competition	Man of the Match
1st	Milton Keynes Lightning	Home	Won 5–4	1,336	League	Terry Miles
8th	Bracknell Bees	Away	Won 4–3 (OT)	N/A	League	Ollie Bronnimann
14th	Peterborough Phantoms	Away	Won 4–2	493	League	N/A
15th	Slough Jets	Home	Lost 3–2	1,634	League	Joe Watkins
19th	Slough Jets	Home	Drawn 1–1	2,057	Cup Semi-final (1st Leg)	David Savage
21st	Peterborough Phantoms	Home	Won 5–3	1,551	League	Ben Austin
22nd	Sheffield Scimitars	Away	Lost 5–4	627	League	N/A
25th	Slough Jets	Away	Won 4–2	702	Cup Semi-final (2nd Leg)	N/A
28th	Wightlink Raiders	Away	Lost 3–2 (SO)	582	League	Stuart Potts

March[]


Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Competition	Man of the Match
1st	Milton Keynes Lightning	Home	Lost 4–2	1,442	League	Milos Melicherik
7th	Telford Tigers	Home	Won 4–1	1,923	League	Rob Lamey
8th	Romford Raiders	Away	Lost 3–2	382	League	Paul Dixon
14th	Telford Tigers	Away	Won 5–3	450	League	N/A
15th	Sheffield Scimitars	Home	Won 4–2	1,332	League	Taras Foremsky
18th	Peterborough Phantoms	Home	Won 4–3	1,347	Cup Final (1st Leg)	Rick Skene
21st	Milton Keynes Lightning	Away	Won 4–3 (SO)	965	League	Nick Cross
22nd	Swindon Wildcats	Home	Won 6–1	1,252	League	David Savage
26th	Peterborough Phantoms	Away	Lost 6–4 (Lost 9–7 on Agg)	N/A	Cup Final (2nd Leg)	Unknown
28th	Sheffield Scimitars	Away	Won 4–2	757	League	Unknown
29th	Romford Raiders	Away	Lost 8–6	N/A	League	Ollie Bronnimann

April[]


Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Competition	Man of the Match
4th	Romford Raiders	Away	Won 6–4	N/A	Play-off Quarter-final (1st Leg)	Lukas Smital
5th	Romford Raiders	Home	Won 5–1 (Won 11–5 on Agg)	2,126	Play-off Quarter-final (2nd Leg)	Rick Plant
11th	Milton Keynes Lightning	SkyDome Arena	Lost 3–2 (SO)	N/A	Play-off Semi-final	Ollie Bronnimann

Points for the 2008/09 season[]

Final Standing

Name	Pld.	Goals	Assists	Points	Pims	PP	SH	GW	OT	EN
Milos Melicherik	57	22	56	78	40	5	3	6	1	0
Lukas Smital	59	31	45	76	80	5	3	5	0	0
Taras Foremsky	53	33	37	70	78	6	2	4	0	0
	60	25	34	59	20	4	0	3	0	0
Rick Plant	55	19	34	53	79	0	1	5	1	0
	61	10	37	47	43	1	1	1	0	0
	60	21	18	39	16	2	1	3	0	0
Paul Dixon	57	7	30	37	32	3	0	0	0	0
David Savage	61	17	19	36	102	6	0	0	0	0
	46	14	18	32	215	2	1	2	0	0
Martin Bouz	26	12	15	27	32	0	0	3	1	0
	29	13	11	23	74	3	0	0	0	1
	58	7	17	24	96	1	1	0	0	0
Steve Lee	56	11	12	23	61	4	1	2	0	0
	50	5	16	21	26	0	0	0	0	0
	52	3	11	14	80	0	0	0	0	0
Mark Williams *	30	1	3	4	62	0	0	1	0	0
Ben Austin	61	1	3	4	16	0	0	0	0	0
	38	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Callum Best	35	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Joe Watkins	54	0	1	1	6	0	0	0	0	0
Andrew Sumner	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

[*]No Longer on Active Roster

Goaltender Stats 2008/09[]

Final

Name	Mins Pld.	GA	GAA	Shots	Saves	Save %	SO	Record (W-L-OTL-T)
Alex Mettam	460:00	19	2,478	219	200	0,913	0	6–1–0–0
Joe Watkins	3232:21	169	3,132	1895	1726	0,911	2	32–17–4–1
Empty Net	7:47	3	–	3	–	-	–	–

Special teams[]

Final

Powerplay 42 for 204 – 20.6%
Penalty Kill 241 for 293 – 82.3%

Penalty Shots 08/09[]

Final

Skaters[]

Name	Shots	Goals	Pct. %
Martin Bouz	5	4	80
Lukas Smital	7	2	28.6
Taras Foremsky	4	1	25
	3	0	0

Goaltenders[]

Name	Shots	Saves	Pct. %
Joe Watkins	21	14	66.6

End of Season Awards[]

The traditional End of Season Awards dinner was held on Monday 30 March 2009. The following awards were given out:

Most Sportsman like – #37 Ben Austin

British Player of the year – #8 Rob Lamey

Players Player of the year – #8 Rob Lamey

Top Point Scorer – #21 Milos Melicherik

The GIHSC (Guildford Ice Hockey Supporters Club) Voted the following:

Supporters British Player of the year – #8 Rob Lamey

Supporters Player of the year – #77 Taras Foremsky

Roster[]

+Management

CEO
Commercial Manager
Financial Controller

Coaching staff

Head Coach Paul Dixon
Assistant Coach Milos Melicherik
Assistant/Equipment Manager

Goaltenders

30 Joe Watkins
31

Forwards

8
12
14
17 Rick Plant – Captain
18
19
21 Milos Melicherik – Alternate Captain
25
32 Lukas Smital
44
47 Martin Bouz
76 Taras Foremsky
91

Defenders

4 – Alternate Captain
6 David Savage
22 Paul Dixon
24 Mark Williams
37 Ben Austin
45 Steve Lee
55

References[]

^ [1] Official Release, Published Summer 2008
^ [2] Official Release, Published Summer 2008
^ [3] Official Release, Published Summer 2008
^ [4] Official Release, Published Summer 2008
^ [5] Official Release, Published 9 October 2008
^ [6] Official Release, Published 19 November 2008
^ [7] Official Release, Published January 2008

External links[]

[1] [1] Official Release, Published Summer 2008

[2] [2] Official Release, Published Summer 2008

[3] [3] Official Release, Published Summer 2008

[4] [4] Official Release, Published Summer 2008

[5] [5] Official Release, Published 9 October 2008

[6] [6] Official Release, Published 19 November 2008

[7] [7] Official Release, Published January 2008

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

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