This Saturday, we welcome the Peterborough Phantoms to the Link Centre. They are once more led by Slava Koulikov, he is one of the most respected coaches in the country and his teams are always difficult to play against so the Wildcats will be in for a tough evening.
In net the Phantoms have gone for continuity and they have once more brought back the tandem of Jordan Marr and Ryan Bainborough. Jordan is the older of the Marr brothers and he’s been one of the best goalies in the league for a number of seasons now, the Phantoms will definitely be counting on him for any success they hope to have this year. Backing up Marr, Ryan Bainborough is a very able deputy who will be very comfortable stepping in if and when required.
On the import front, Ales Padelek is back for another season in Peterborough, this will be the 42 year old veteran’s 7th season with the Phantoms. Joining Padelek is Lukas Sladkovsky who is making the move to Peterborough after spending 2 years with the Raiders. Sladkovsky hasn’t lit up the league in terms of point scoring, averaging around 1 point per game, but he skates hard and should be perfectly suited to the Phantoms system and ethos.
The core of the blueline has been retained for another year, the defence will be led by Callum Buglass, Scott Robson and Tom Norton. This is a strong core and it is ably supported by a group of talented youngsters looking to make their way in senior hockey. This group will give the Phantoms a solid base from which to build upon in each game they play this season.
Up front there are a number of returnees that will have delighted the Phantoms support by committing their futures to the club. The key British signings who will complement the already covered import forwards are Glenn Billing, Corey McEwen, and Duncan Speirs. There have also been two key new arrivals in Peterborough this season; Latvian born Ralfs Circenis has stepped up from NIHL1 where he boasted a superb scoring record and Austin Mitchell-King who has joined after spending last year with Telford where he scored at 0.75 points per game in his debut year in senior hockey.
Part way through the season the Phantoms made a move to bolster their attacking threat for their pursuit of the NIHL National league title, Martins Susters returned to Peterborough after some time away from the game. In his time with the Phantoms so far this year he’s scored 19 points in those 13 games.
Once again, the roster assembled in Peterborough looks to be made in the image of their coach, they will be tough to beat every single night.
