Wildcats Weekend: Five things we learnt Danny Gallagher

It was a full weekend on the road for Swindon Wildcats, with back-to-back away fixtures against Hull Pirates and Peterborough Phantoms.

Maximum points eluded the Swindon outfit once more, as a victory and a loss maintained a continuation of inconsistent ways. Total Sport’s Danny Gallagher digests the weekend’s ice hockey and looks at five things we learnt…

Wildcats can play gritty when required

 Saturday’s victory at Hull Ice Arena was must win for Wildcats, following a heavy defeat by Guildford Flames the weekend prior and a midweek upset by MK Lightning. Entering the game, Pirates were yet to register a win this season, and saw Lyle’s wounded Wildcats as the prime target to begin their turnaround. Hull took strongly to the game but Wildcats, missing personnel Toms Rutkis and Sam Bullas, dug in and ground out an overtime victory. Following the full-time buzzer, Lyle admitted the performance wasn’t pretty. He was right, but it didn’t matter. The points were heading to Swindon and Wildcats proved they have multiple different facets to their game – winning ugly being one of them.

Jordan Hedley is more than ready to step up

 With Stevie Lyle opting for Hedley in both of the weekend’s games, fans and media alike were afforded the opportunity to have a good look at what exactly the former MK man can do. Hedley saw his pipes bombarded on multiple occasions in Hull, yet was equal to most attempts on almost every occasion. The three goals the young netminder conceded in Hull were at no fault of his own, and his imposing frame in the Swindon goal offers the Wildcats the advantage when in one-on-one situations at the back. Hedley won’t have been particularly happy with how events unfolded at Peterborough, though his team mates were quick to hold up their hands and say they let their goalie down. The future is bright for the 20-year-old.

The new import is needed, quickly

Despite winning in Hull and performing commendably for two periods in Peterborough, the lacking of import input was all too obvious, something which Lyle did acknowledge following the Phantoms defeat. With the Cats new man set to be unveiled on Thursday, an element of balance will be restored to the side. Fortunately for Lyle and his side, bench coach Kenton Smith was able to step up and don his blades over the weekend, but with this comes a lack of guidance from the side lines. Perhaps this was partially the reason why Lyle opted to keep himself off the ice on for both games over the weekend. Either way, it’s a hindrance he can do without.

Wildcats need to keeps their heads for the full 60

If the Swindon side had only played five periods over the weekend instead of six, they probably would have looked back upon their collective performance as a great success. As it happened, Cats turned off completely in the third against Peterborough and paid for it severely. Three goals in four minutes violently extinguished their hopes of leaving Cambridgeshire with any points. This concentration lapse meant Lyle’s side completely came away from their game plan of trapping in the neutral zone as heads were lost. Matt Selby’s dismissal for illegal equipment and game misconduct didn’t help matters, but going forwards Cats must focus for the entirety if they are to collect points, starting with Sheffield Steeldogs on Saturday.

The Ice Arena at the Link is perhaps undervalued

Sunday’s defeat to Peterborough Phantoms brought more than just disappointment… it also almost brought the early stages of frostbite. The rickety old arena isn’t really befitting of a team who were last season’s play-off champions. Ice rinks are expected to be cold, but Peterborough’s unusual little venue takes it to a whole new level. New import signings such as Sami Ryhanen were perhaps less than impressed at the match day stage, and it goes to show just how good we have it at the Link Centre. Still, the venue still had a decent enough internet connection which, as a reporter sat shivering rink side, was a welcome relief.