Fresh from slaying the Leeds Knights II last weekend, the Blackburn Hawks were back hosting a Sunday night special at the Hawks Nest as they welcomed another Yorkshire side, Hull Jets. The visitors were desperate to take off after an agonisingly close loss to the Nottingham Lions in their first match-up of the season. Standing in their way was an unchanged Hawks side from the previous fixture with Barry, Valusiak and Morin still being unavailable for the home side. The stage was set and the crowd was ready to see which of these aerial adversaries would be the first to take flight.
Once play had started at a packed-out Blackburn Arena, the Hawks wasted no time testing Jets’ netminder Zack Brown. The keeper was faced with a furious flurry of shots to open the game, and whilst he initially managed to weather this storm, it was only a matter of time before the Hawks would land a hit. With just under ten minutes on the clock, Garry Simpson collected the puck deep in his own zone, played a slick one-two with Adam Barnes, and then hit the afterburners – flying past the Jets defence. The Scot crossed the blue line into enemy territory and lasered a shot into the top left corner. The goal was the first in a Hawks jersey for the summer recruit and a statement strike that had the Nest roaring. Not deterred by this early blow, Hull rallied late in the period. Their efforts came close, but Hawks goalie Harrison Walker was able to stand strong against the Jets’ bombardment.
Hull opened the next period ready for lift-off. Their Slovakian Starman Boris Giba almost found altitude on a high man breakaway, but Walker once again clipped the Jets’ wings with another clutch save. This early offensive effort from Hull saw them slacken up at the back, with Blackburn clearly looking to expose the Jets in transition. This occurred just three minutes into the period when Adam Barnes intercepted a puck within the Hawks’ zone. Liam Charnock swooped down to pick up the loose puck and carried it all the way into Hull’s end – sliding it wide to Adam Barnes, who was perched up in his usual far-left positioning. With all in attendance anticipating a Barnes barnstormer, the winger cleverly faked his trademark top-corner shot and fed Andy McKinney who had skated through into the slot. The Captain cooly deked around Zack Brown and backhanded the puck home, doubling the Hawks lead early in the second. With the game seemingly slipping through their fingers, the Jets began taking penalties. Blackburn had a substantial amount of powerplay minutes in the middle period; however, they couldn’t quite muscle their way through Hull’s tight penalty kill set-up.
About mid-way through this period emotions started to boil over for both teams. An altercation near the benches saw Hawks’ Captain Andy McKinney step up and drop his gloves, inviting his opponent to meet him at centre ice. The Jets dispatched their towering, young six-foot-five bruiser Alex Kent in a clear size mismatch. Though Kent used his significant reach advantage to keep his distance when clinched up with McKinney, the experienced Hawks forward would catch Kent with a quick counter every time he threw a punch. A right-sided overhand wobbled the Hull player, and as he attempted to end the fight by pulling over McKinney’s jersey, the Captain ducked under and pulled off a textbook uppercut – bringing Kent down to his knees and the Hawks fans up on their feet. The remaining part of the period had some great chances, but it would be hard to remember anything else from the last five minutes after that spectacular old-school scrap.
If the Jets had any chance of getting back into the game, they needed to come out for the final period flying. Instead it would be the Hawks who would reach terminal velocity, with Jacob Lutwyche having the strongest start. The forward flew down the left wing and fired a low, driven shot which forced another good save from Brown. Amid the scramble caused by this parried effort, James Royds dug out the puck and managed to work it over to an open James Riddoch – with the Assistant Captain burying his first of the season. Now three goals to the good, the physical edge to the game really became sharp at both sides of the ice. Luke Watson welcomed former Hawk Devids Jurinenoks back to the Nest with a tussle in front of net. Watson may have ruffled a few feathers with this as just minutes later, he would exchange further pleasantries with Kohen Taylor. Whilst no gloves were dropped, the kerfuffle resulted in both players being pulled up for Roughing. Though the game continued as five-on-five, Blackburn spent so long occupying Hull’s zone you’d have thought they had a man advantage. Captain McKinney capped his all-action night with a clever play, carrying a loose puck out of Hull’s zone and swinging over to the right. This dragged all of the Jets’ players over, leaving Adam Barnes unmarked on the far side who received the switch pass and fired in Blackburn’s final goal of the game. The Hawks held on in defence as the Jets tried desperately to get one on the board, but it was to no avail. Blackburn’s backline held strong and as soon as the final buzzer sounded, Harrison Walker was mobbed by his teammates to celebrate his 28-save shutout – a fantastic first clean sheet since re-joining the Hawks.
The 4–0 win keeps Blackburn’s perfect start intact and levels them atop the NIHL1 standings with usual suspects Solihull and Deeside. Next weekend brings a demanding double-header on the road: an uncharted expedition down to Shropshire on Saturday to play new boys Telford Tigers 2, followed by a shorter and much more familiar face-off against Widnes Wild. The Blackburn Hawks are off to a flying start this season, but can they keep their momentum next weekend against these feline foes…
The Blackburn Hawks will play against the Telford Tigers 2 @ Telford Ice Rink on Saturday September 20th, Face-Off: 7:00pm
The Blackburn Hawks will also play against the Widnes Wild @ Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday September 21st, Face-Off: 5:30pm
Article Courtesy of Nathan Dove
FEATURED IMAGES CREDIT: Luke Riley