Forward Jarret Zukiwsky Has signed for WCHL side the Fresno Falcons and made his debut against Anchorage Aces last night. Zukiwsky is a former Ace, and is suiting up for his fourth WCHL team of the season. He began the year with the Idaho Steelheads where he played two games before moving on to play two more with the San Diego Gulls. His latest stint was with the Aces for whom he played seven games, including one against Fresno during which he recorded an assist.

The Panthers went into the game with only Briane Thompson missing but did have Todd Wetzel making his Panthers playoff debut.

The Panthers tried to take the game to the Giants in the first period, out-shooting them 15 to 8 but found themselves trailing at the first interval thanks to yet more indiscipline. Following an incident behind the play that resulted in Schulte hitting Charron, the ensuing melee saw Barry Nieckar (his first of three penalties) and Jimmy Paek head to the box along with Schulte, giving the Giants a powerplay, which they duly scored on with Rob Stewart firing home at 13:06.

The game was level at 23:16 when Lee Jinman collected a rebound and fed John Purves to score into an empty net. The Panthers then had a chance on the powerplay but never looked like scoring and found themselves behind when the Giants took advantage of their own powerplay chance with Rob Stewart scoring again, this time at the back post.

The Giants out-shot the Panthers in the 3rd and completed the scoring at 45:57 when Dave Matsos scored unassisted. The Panthers pulled netminder Mika Pietila in the final couple of minutes but it was the Giants who looked more like scoring.

Todd Wetzel was named Panthers man of the match with Belfast's award going to Kory Karlander. The Panthers travel to London (Thursday) still looking for their first playoff win and it will need a very much improved performance, if the win is to come in London.

Panthers 4 London Knights 4
The Panthers made a good start to the playoffs as they lead 2-0 after just 8 minutes before slack defence and indiscipline undid all the good work. Jason Clarke opened the scoring at 1:46 as he turned and fired past Trofimenkoff in the Knights goal, Clarke then turned provider for the second as he set-up Barry Nieckar to score on the powerplay at 8:17.

London pulled one back at 13:12 when Dennis Maxwell was left on his own to beat Pietila. Barry Nieckar then found himself in the penalty box for a needless interference penalty, which allowed former Panther Jeff Hoad to drill home with nine seconds of the period remaining.

The Panthers regained the lead at 23:28 with their second powerplay goal of the night as Mark Cadotte broke his scoring drought with a cracking goal. It could have been more but the Panthers wasted their chances and were made to pay at 30:49 as Rich Bronilla was allowed to skate in and net. Less than two minutes later the Panthers lead again after great work from man of the match Jason Elders along the boards allowed Greg Hadden time in front to net past Trofimenkoff.

London pressed early in the third period looking for the equalizer, which duly came at 46:12 when Gerad Adams fired home after the Panthers defence failed to clear the zone on numerous occasions. The better of the chances went to the Panthers including a couple of powerplay chances but they could not find a winner as Barry Nieckar missed two great chances.

Belfast Giants 6 Panthers 3
Sunday night started the same as Saturday night for the home side as the Belfast Giants jumped into a two-nil lead after 12 minutes before being pegged back. Paxton Schulte opened the scoring at 1:24 when his shot went in off the skate of Marc Hussey and Robby Sandrock made it two, just as Eric Charron was returning from the penalty box.

Jason Elders opened the scoring for the Panthers at 14:14, scoring on the backhand following a turnover at centre ice. The Panthers kept the pressure on the Giants and tied the game at 17:52 when Jason Clarke scored from Jinman & Elders but yet more slack marking from the Panthers allowed the Giants to regain the lead at 18:52, Kory Karlander the scorer.

Belfast increased their lead at 32:04 when they broke clear allowing Schulte to net his second of the night but that would be the only goal of the period despite there being a reported 36 shots in the period.

Panthers man of the match for the second night running - Jason Elders pulled one back with a fine individual goal at 48:41 but thoughts of a comeback were over at 53:11 when Kory Karlander scored his second of the night following an error by Barry Nieckar, Karlander completed his hat-trick with an empty net tally at 58:31.

The Panthers have a chance for revenge on Tuesday night when the Giants visit the NIC (face off 7-30pm). The playoff games continue to come thick and fast with the Panthers travelling to London on Thursday night (face-off 7pm) before facing arch-rivals the Sheffield Steelers on Saturday (face-off 7pm) at the NIC. The Steelers have made a poor start and are currently bottom of the playoff table following a tie and two defeats.

Wetzel has played several times for the team already this year on a two-way deal with BNL side Solihull MK Kings. Now the Kings season is concluded, the Panthers are pleased to announce that Wetzel will be joining them for the remainder of the campaign.

Commitments with short-staffed Solihull mean the 29-year-old is not available for games against London on Saturday and in Belfast on Sunday but he will link up with the Panthers on their return from Northern Ireland. Wetzel iced eight times for the Panthers during the regular season and scored three goals and three assists for six points.

Chairman Neil Black said : "We have announced this important appointment today to help keep everyone in the picture. Yes, there will be top flight ice hockey next year, yes, the Nottingham Panthers will be a part of it, and yes, Paul Adey will be in charge behind the bench".

"If you look at the season overall, the big picture is positive, more wins than losses, a cup final appearance and we were in the title race up to the last two games of the regular season. With greater emphasis on the use of British players on the horizon, we had three young British players make their Panthers debut this season."

"The team Paul put together has certainly not been boring, the lack of variety in opposition has no way detracted from the entertainment this season. We go into the play-offs very confident of success and the team are eager to do well and secure their places on next season's roster".

"Paul was a very hard working and dedicated player who after only one full year in the coaching hot seat is shaping up to be as great an asset to the club off the ice as he was on the ice. He has the respect of the players and the fans have warmed to him, all that's needed now is a trophy!"

The injuries suffered have taken their toll and it is possible that Thompson will be missing from the games this weekend and possibly beyond. However, Dody Wood is back from suspension for the games at home to London (Saturday 7pm) and in Belfast on Sunday afternoon.

The Panthers were missing Dody Wood (suspension - 6 fights) and Todd Wetzel (playing for Solihull). Pietila started in nets, with Hussey and Taubert on defence with a new forward line of Thompson centering Allison and Purves.

In a pretty even first period the Panthers out-shot the Steelers 9 to 5 but could not find a way past Laing, as he once again put in a man of the match performance. Both teams also had a 5 on 3 powerplay chance but couldn't make the advantage count.

The Panthers again out-shot the Steelers in the second period but it was the Steelers who opened the scoring when Mika Pietila let a soft shot from Rick Brebant slip through and into the net at 33:37. The lead was short-lived as their former hero Scott Allison scored his 5th goal of the league season to level the game 19 seconds later.

The 3rd period was a very tight affiar with the Panthers having just 4 shots and the Steelers 5 shots. Unfortunately 2 of the 5 shots from the Steelers found the back of the net. Sheffield regained the lead at 57:08 when a pass from Scott Allison was picked off and despite both Marc Hussey and Jimmy Paek both having chances to clear the zone, Warren Norris was able to fed Chris Szysky for the game winner. Sheffield sealed the game when Kent Simpson's clearance found the empty net with 8 seconds remaining.

The Panthers must now turn their attention to the playoffs which starts on Saturday at home to the London Knights (Face-Off 7pm). The Panthers have been very disappointing in recent season's playoffs, failing to make the playoff weekend in their own barn for the last two season's, so they will be hoping to get off to a good start on Saturday before travelling to Belfast on Sunday.

This is the second time this season that Lee Jinman has been voted player of the month after winning the award back in September 2002. Lee is currently the Panthers top scorer with 51 points from 40 games, scoring 21 goals and assisting on 30 others, he also has 32 penalty minutes.

Lee Jinman won the award with 18% of the vote, narrowly beating Jason Clarke who finished runner-up with 13%.

The home team got a bounce and capitaliused when Purves put a rebound away earlydoors in the second. Schulte had a dig on Pietila's glove after a cover up and whistle and everyone piled in in the corner Thompson picking up five and ten, Schulte getting a visit from the doctor. Clarke and Schulte dropped the gloves after a trip by Ward on Hadden brought a whistle, Clarke threw most and ended on top. Panthers piled on the pressure without a further goal and Sorochan picked up a ten miniute misconduct before the second break.

With Panthers pushing for the equaliser, Giants Broke out 3 on 2 and Schulte gave them a 2 goal cushion which they extended less than a minute later with Matsos beating the shell shocked home team from the slot.

Attendance: 3671
Man of the Match for Nottingham Panthers: John Purves
Man of the Match for Belfast Giants: Ryan KUWABARA
Referee: A Carson

Panthers came out hard and fast but ultimately faded away in the final period as once again Sheffield proved masters at absorbing pressure and taking their chances. Simpson fired home high from the right to give the Steelers the lead after 39 seconds. Few chances for either side, until a sramble saw Jinman net at the left post. Panthers then swept down the right and Elders popped up at the back door but Laing made a huge stop. Play went down the other end and Brebant from the left found Fraser at the far post for a quick reply.

From then on Nottingham were in ascendant. Laing produced stop after stop, the highlight a save at both posts during a scramble. Surprisingly Panthers failed to get a shot on Laing during a powerplay chance and would pay as Fraser behind the net set up Levins for a close-range strike. Sandstrom then denied Brown before Laing produced big glove save from Allison.

With the game getting chippy Wood and Darling clashed after Laing lost his helmet in an incident behind the play. With the sides 4 on 4 Elders raced away but Laing saved right, then stopped the rebound. The loose puck reached Paek on the right for another save. As Sheffield broke away Hadden earned his minor again behind the play following a blatant penalty by Simpson on Hadden. Playing 4 on 3 Carlsson's big shot from the top of the slot tipped in by Levins. Nottingham unable to exert any serious pressure on the Sheffield net throughout the final session until Hussey coast to coast to slide the puck under Laing's left pad. Adey gamely called a timeout and removed his keeper with 79 seconds left but Steelers kept clearing the zone.

Attendance: 6654
Man of the Match for Sheffield Steelers: Joel Laing
Man of the Match for Nottingham Panthers: John Purves
Referee: M Rowe

The Panthers opened the scoring in the third minute when Briane Thompson fired home, Parta tied the game at 11:35 when Jonas Anderson scored but that would be as close as it got for Sparta. Lee Jinman restored the Panthers lead with his first of the night at 14:31, the first period ended with the Panthers on the penalty kill, with Sparta having a 5 on 3 advantage following calls against Thompson (Slashing), Purves (Cross Checking & Roughing) and Morgan (Cross Checking).

The Panthers survived the disadvantage and nine seconds after leaving the penalty box James Morgan scored 1 on 1 to make it 3-1 to the Panthers, Sparta pulled it back to 3-2 with a goal from Marku Takala but six further second period goals from the Panthers put the game beyond doubt. Jason Elders scored the eventual game winner at 25:12, Purves netted number 5 at 27:26, Barry Nieckar scored at 29:47 with Dody Wood making it 7-2 at 31:02, Purves netted his second of the game at 33:50 and 44 seconds later Lee Jinman scored his second of the game to leave the score 9-2 at the end of the second period.

The second period also saw both teams have a player thrown out of the game following a nasty hit from Sparta's Johan Lija on Jason Clarke. Lija was given 5+Game for Cross Checking from Behind with Panthers Jason Clarke receiving 5+Game for Roughing.

Sparta scored the first goal of the third period on the powerplay following a Cross Checking call against Lee Jinman, Per Tengvert scoring for Sparta. Barry Nieckar restored the Panthers seven goal advantage at 46:46, Lee Jinman was given his fourth penalty of the night at 50:41 for Hooking but Sparta could find no way past and with less than five minutes left Dody Wood was thrown out of the game for Butt-Ending but on the resultant powerplay it was the Panthers who scored short-handed with Lee Jinman completing his second hat-trick of the season.

Attendance: 2122
Man of the Match for Nottingham Panthers: John PURVES
Man of the Match for IHK Sparta Sarpsborg: Marku Takala
Referee: M Rowe

Top of Page

Home | News | Roster | Schedule | Statistics | Club Info | W.A.T.N? | Site Map
History | Player Stats | League Tables | Player of the Month | Links | Forum

Copyright � 2002 Panthersroar