2006–07 Guildford Flames season
| Season 2006–07 | |
|---|---|
| League | English Premier Ice Hockey League |
| GM/Head Coach | Stan Marple |
| Home Ice Rink | Guildford Spectrum |
| English Premier League position | |
| EPL Cup | Semi-finalists |
| Play-offs | Runners-up |
During the 2006–07 season, the Guildford Flames played their second season in the EPIHL. It was the 15th year of Ice Hockey played by the Guildford Flames. It was to be the tenth and final season under head coach Stan Marple.
The Flames made a solid start with nine wins in their first ten games to secure a cup semi-final place, but fell behind in the league after dropping points to Slough Jets and Sheffield Scimitars. Injuries to Jozef Kohut and netminder Joe Watkins then caused concern, but the final game of 2006 at the Spectrum produced a battle for top spot with Tom Annetts backstopping the team to a 3–1 victory over the Scimitars.
The New Year started bleakly. After losing only eight points in the first four months of the season, Guildford dropped nine in January. This persuaded Marple to make changes and he brought back Nick Cross from retirement and signed Robert Sobala from Solihull Barons as cover for Kohut. But Sobala lasted only 13 games before suffering a season-ending injury.
In the cup semi-final the Flames gained revenge over Slough, with Marian Smerciak's overtime winner putting them into the final against Milton Keynes Lightning. There they took a 3–2 home advantage to Milton Keynes and, in a thriller, triumphed 4–3. Marple and his men duly celebrated but it turned out to be their only trophy of the season.
Three losses in February and an injury to their top scorer, Milos Melicherik, put an end to them retaining the league title and they eventually slipped to fourth. After clinching a place in the playoff final, Melicherik returned for the weekend's games in Coventry. In a memorable semi, the Flames overcame the Scimitars 5–4 with Rick Plant scoring the winner 18 seconds before the end of overtime.
But their defeat by Bracknell Bees in the final was a bitter pill to swallow after they had lost only one of season's previous eight encounters against their local rivals.
Player statistics
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milos Melicherik | 52 | 26 | 67 | 93 | 104:00 |
| Jozef Kohut | 41 | 43 | 30 | 73 | 195:00 |
| Rick Plant | 62 | 23 | 48 | 71 | 109:00 |
| Ollie Bronnimann | 58 | 30 | 36 | 66 | 94:00 |
| Rob Lamey | 59 | 25 | 35 | 60 | 42:00 |
| Paul Dixon | 59 | 12 | 46 | 58 | 66:00 |
| Vaclav Zavoral | 54 | 28 | 30 | 58 | 291:00 |
| Stuart Potts | 54 | 21 | 31 | 52 | 32:00 |
| Marian Smerciak | 61 | 17 | 31 | 48 | 154:00 |
| Neil Liddiard | 62 | 8 | 27 | 35 | 138:00 |
| Andrew Hemmings | 52 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 8:00 |
| David Savage | 51 | 12 | 8 | 20 | 48:00 |
| Rick Skene | 55 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 100:00 |
| Robert Sobala | 13 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 16:00 |
| Nick Cross | 16 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 44:00 |
| Chris Wiggins | 54 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 62:00 |
| Ben Duggan | 57 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 24:00 |
| Robert Young | 55 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8:00 |
| Ben Johnson | 62 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 24:00 |
| Stan Marple | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 39:00 |
| Joe Watkins | 47 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 22:00 |
| Adam Hyman | 19 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8:00 |
| Russ Plant | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4:00 |
| Tom Annetts | 24 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0:00 |
| Simon James | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2:00 |
| Tom Horton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:00 |
| Matt Colclough | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:00 |
| Michael Varcoe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:00 |
| Ben Austin | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:00 |
Netminders
The asterisk represents the fact that Tom Annetts and Joe Watkins shared a shutout.
| Netminder | Mins | GA | GAA | Shots | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Watkins | 2640:52 | 121 | 2.748 | 1503 | 0.919 | 3* |
| Tom Annetts | 1109:00 | 51 | 2.759 | 532 | 0.904 | 1* |
Results
Pre season
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Competition | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 9 September 2006 | Peterborough Phantoms | Home | Lost 4–3 | Challenge | - |
| Sunday 10 September 2006 | Peterborough Phantoms | Away | Won 6–2 | Challenge | - |
Regular season
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Competition | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 23 September 2006 | Milton Keynes Lightning | Away | Won 3–2 | League | - |
| Sunday 24 September 2006 | Wightlink Raiders | Home | Won 10–2 | Cup | - |
| Saturday 30 September 2006 | Bracknell Bees | Away | Won 4–2 | Cup | - |
| Sunday 1 October 2006 | Bracknell Bees | Home | Won 2–0 | Cup | 1,745 |
| Saturday 7 October 2006 | Wightlink Raiders | Away | Won 13–3 | Cup | 626 |
| Sunday 8 October 2006 | Romford Raiders | Home | Won 9–0 | League | 1,342 |
| Saturday 14 October 2006 | Chelmsford Chieftains | Home | Won 9–3 | League | 1,438 |
| Sunday 15 October 2006 | Peterborough Phantoms | Away | Lost 8–7 | League | 412 |
| Saturday 21 October 2006 | Telford Tigers | Away | Won 8–5 | League | 600 |
| Sunday 22 October 2006 | Milton Keynes Lightning | Home | Won 4–1 | League | 1,582 |
| Saturday 28 October 2006 | Slough Jets | Away | Lost 6–4 | League | - |
| Sunday 29 October 2006 | Swindon Wildcats | Home | Won 6–1 | League | - |
| Saturday 4 November 2006 | Wightlink Raiders | Away | Won 8–2 | League | - |
| Sunday 5 November 2006 | Bracknell Bees | Away | Won 4–0 | League | - |
| Saturday 11 November 2006 | Telford Tigers | Home | Won 9–1 | League | 1,472 |
| Saturday 18 November 2006 | Solihull Barons | Away | Won 2–1 | League | - |
| Sunday 19 November 2006 | Milton Keynes Lightning | Home | Won 3–2 | League | - |
| Saturday 25 November 2006 | Slough Jets | Away | Lost 4–3 | League | 689 |
| Sunday 26 November 2006 | Telford Tigers | Home | Won 6–1 | League | 1,242 |
| Monday 5 February 2007 | Chelmsford Chieftains | Away | Lost 6–1 | League | - |
| Saturday 3 March 2007 | Bracknell Bees | Away | Tied 4–4 (OT) | League | - |
| Sunday 18 March 2007 | Chelmsford Chieftains | Away | Won 5–0 | League | - |
End of Season Awards
- Player's Player of the Year – Vaclav Zavoral
- Player of the Year – Vaclav Zavoral
- Top Points Scorer – Milos Melicherik
- Most Sportsmanlike – Rick Skene
- British Player's Player of the Year – Rick Plant
- British Player of the Year – David Savage