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The Peterborough Phantoms are a British ice hockey team that play at the Planet Ice Peterborough Arena, in Bretton, Peterborough. The Peterborough Phantoms ice hockey club was founded in 2002. It replaced the former city based team, the Peterborough Pirates, and plays in the same arena. The team currently competes in the semi-professional National Ice Hockey League, the second tier in British ice hockey below the fully professional Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). They previously played in the English Premier Ice Hockey League (EPIHL).
The team won the English Premier League and Cup Double in its first season (2002–03) and retained the Cup the following year. After four years, they won the 2007–08 Knock-out Cup followed by the 2008–09 season in which the Phantoms won the English Premier League, English Premier Cup and the play-offs. In the 2018–19 season, the Phantoms won the NIHL 1 Autumn Cup, NIHL 1 South Cup and NIHL South Playoff competitions, and also finished as part of the NIHL 1 National Playoff Final Four.
Ice hockey in Peterborough started in late 1981 when the first ice rink built in the UK since the 1960s was opened in the city. The Peterborough Pirates was then formed in the summer of 1982. The team joined Division One of the three division National League and two seasons later won promotion to the top level of UK ice hockey. Attendance topped the 1,000 mark on a regular basis[citation needed] and the Pirates reached the 1991 championship play-off final at Wembley, appearing live on mainstream TV. The played in the final again in 1992, but then struggled in the increasingly competitive 1990s as new arena based teams arrived.[citation needed]
In 2002, the Peterborough Pirates folded and replaced with the Peterborough Phantoms in the lower division English Premier Ice Hockey League (EPIHL). The Phantoms went on to secure a league and Cup championship in their debut season and retained the Cup the following season. They won the Knockout Cup in season 2007–08, and then won all three major honours in 2008–09.
The Phantoms joined the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) after the EPIHL folded in 2017.
In 2019, a new ten-team division was approved to sit above the existing Division 1 (North and South). Alongside the Phantoms, the National League contains Basingstoke Bison, Bracknell Bees, Hull Pirates, Leeds Chiefs, MK Lightning, Raiders IHC, Sheffield Steeldogs, Swindon Wildcats and Telford Tigers.
Club honours[]
EPIHL
Play-Off Championship winners: 2008–09, 2014–15
English Premier Cup winners: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2008–09
League, Cup & Play Offs; as of Sunday 15 March 2020
Player
No.
Nat.
Player
Games Played
Goals
1
Ales Padelek
54
38
2
Martins Susters
51
36
3
Petr Stepanek
52
31
4
/
Corey McEwen
45
23
5
Glenn Billing
45
22
6
Tom Norton
52
20
7
James Ferrara
53
19
8
Nathan Pollard
53
14
Will Weldon
51
14
9
Jarvis Hunt
39
7
10
Conor Pollard
48
6
Top ten assisters[]
League, Cup & Play Offs; as of Sunday 15 March 2020
Player
No.
Nat.
Player
Games Played
Assists
1
James Ferrara
53
52
2
Petr Stepanek
52
45
3
Ales Padelek
54
39
Martins Susters
51
39
4
/
Corey McEwen
45
37
5
Tom Norton
52
36
6
Glenn Billing
45
33
7
Will Weldon
51
30
8
Callum Buglass
54
18
9
Conor Pollard
48
16
10
Robbie Ferrara
54
12
Nathan Pollard
53
12
Top ten point scorers[]
League, Cup & Play Offs; as of Sunday 15 March 2020
Player
No.
Nat.
Player
Games Played
Total Points
1
Ales Padelek
54
77
2
Petr Stepanek
52
76
3
Martins Susters
51
75
4
James Ferrara
53
71
5
/
Corey McEwen
45
60
6
Tom Norton
52
56
7
Glenn Billing
45
55
8
Will Weldon
51
44
9
Nathan Pollard
53
26
10
Callum Buglass
54
22
Conor Pollard
48
22
Top ten penalty minute ratios[]
League, cup & playoffs; as of Sunday 15 March 2020
Player
No.
Nat.
Player
Games Played
Minutes Assessed
Minutes/Games Ratio
1
Will Weldon
45
96
1.88
2
Kieran Raynor
10
16
1.6
3
Martins Susters
46
68
1.33
4
Petr Stepanek
45
68
1.31
5
Scott Robson
27
40
1.21
6
Joe Gretton
46
58
1.18
7
Tom Norton
45
60
1.15
8
James Ferrara
47
44
0.83
9
Robbie Ferrara
48
42
0.78
10
Joe Hazeldine
11
10
0.63
Club staff[]
Head coach: Slava Koulikov
Assistant coach: Jason Buckman
Physio: Rochelle Owen
Peterborough Phantoms 2[]
Peterborough Phantoms 2 are an affiliate club of the Peterborough Phantoms, playing in the NIHL 2 South East division.[3] The club were known as the Peterborough Islanders, up until the 2017–18 season.[4] They ended the 2019–20 season in second place, with the playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahead of the 20/21 season, it was announced that head coach Stevie Johnson would step down, with Phantoms 1 assistant coach Jason Buckman taking over.[5][6]
Match v Streatham Hawks on 2 February 2020 was awarded to Peterborough Phantoms 2, after Streatham could not provide a suitable ice time slot for the fixture to be rearranged, following a police incident.[8]
Slava Koulikov
/
Head coach: Slava Koulikov
Assistant coach: Jason Buckman
Head coach: Jason Buckman [9]