2008–09 Guildford Flames season

Guildford Flames 	Guildford Flames
Season 2008-09 	Season 2008-09
League 	EPIHL
GM/Head Coach 	Paul Dixon
Home Ice Rink 	Guildford Spectrum
League position 	3rd
Premier Cup 	Runners-up
Play-Offs 	Semi Finalists
Average attendance	1499
During the 2008-09 season, the Guildford Flames participated in the semi-professional English Premier Ice Hockey League. It was the 17th year of Ice Hockey played by the Guildford Flames and the second season under Paul Dixon as head coach.
During the summer Dixon worked to improve the defensive line by shipping out Dominic Hopkins and Ben Johnson, replacing them with 17 year old Steven Lee Official Release, Published Summer 2008 whom had already played two seasons with Elite League side Hull, and bringing toughness to the team in the form of Mark Williams Official Release, Published Summer 2008 from Romford. Other departures included fringe player Ben Duggan who was replaced by Matt Hepburn Official Release, Published Summer 2008 from the juniors. The main talking point over the summer was the departure of long time top goal scorer Jozef Kohut Official Release, Published Summer 2008, leaving the team with what many believed was a weak offence.
After an indifferent start to the season with 3 wins and 3 losses, it was announced on the 9th October that the Flames would travel to Slovakia and take part in an exhibition against Extraliga side Poprad in a game opened by the Queen during her state visit to the country. Official Release, Published October 9, 2008. After a poor run of results in November and a multiple game ban for import Vaclav Zavoral, the decision was taken to sign Czech Martin Bouz. Official Release, Published November 19, 2008. A surprise departure was the main feature of January with Mark Williams Official Release, Published January,
2008 leaving to pursue work commitments and to play closer to home with the Romford Raiders.
==League table==
Final Table
Team 	Pld.	W 	OTL/SOL	L 	GF 	GA 	Pts.
Peterborough Phantoms ** 	54 	38	3 	13	275	166	79
Milton Keynes Lightning *	54 	34	6 	14	221	159	74
Guildford Flames * 	54 	34	3 	17	230	173	71
Slough Jets * 	54 	31	2 	21	217	179	64
Bracknell Bees * 	54 	30	1 	23	176	148	61
Romford Raiders * 	54 	27	3 	24	197	259	57
Sheffield Scimitars * 	54 	22	5 	27	187	202	49
Swindon Wildcats * 	54 	23	2 	29	157	194	48
Telford Tigers 	54 	17	5 	32	186	245	39
Wightlink Raiders 	54 	14	2 	38	189	321	30
[*] Secured Play-off Berth. [**] EPL League Champions
Peterborough are EPL League Champions 2008/09
==Premier Cup Table==
Final Table
Team 	Pld.	W 	OTL/SOL	L 	GF	GA 	Pts.
Peterborough Phantoms *	18 	13	1 	4 	88	54 	27
Guildford Flames * 	18 	12	1 	5 	80	56 	25
Slough Jets * 	18 	12	1 	5 	77	51 	25
Bracknell Bees * 	18 	11	0 	7 	62	44 	22
Sheffield Scimitars 	18 	9 	2 	7 	63	55 	20
Telford Tigers 	18 	9 	2 	7 	68	70 	20
Milton Keynes Lightning	18 	8 	2 	8 	59	58 	18
Swindon Wildcats 	18 	9 	0 	9 	53	54 	18
Wightlink Raiders 	18 	5 	0 	13	53	99 	10
Romford Raiders 	18 	2 	1 	15	48	110	5
[*] Secured Semi Final Berth.
===Premier Cup Finals===
Aggregate Scores
* Peterborough Phantoms are the EPL Cup Champions 2008/09
===Playoffs===
Aggregate Scores for Quarter Finals
*Peterborough are the 2008/09 EPL Playoff champions
==Results==
Legend: 
===September===
Date	Opponent 	Venue	Result 	Attendance 	Competition	Man of the Match
20th	Bracknell Bees 	Home 	Won 4-1 	1,737 	League/Cup 	Joe Watkins
21st	Romford Raiders 	Away 	Won 8-2 	Not Reported	League/Cup 	N/A
27th	Swindon Wildcats 	Away 	Won 3-2 	Not Reported	League/Cup 	N/A
28th	Wightlink Raiders	Home 	Lost 4-6	1,157 	League/Cup 	Paul Dixon
===October===
Date	Opponent 	Venue	Result 	Attendance	Competition	Man of the Match
4th 	Milton Keynes Lightning	Away 	Lost 6-5 (OT)	1,093 	League/Cup 	Lukas Smital
5th 	Telford Tigers 	Home 	Lost 3-4 	1,538 	League/Cup 	Lukas Smital
11th	Sheffield Scimitars 	Home 	Won 3-2 (SO) 	1,249 	League/Cup 	Joe Watkins
12th	Peterborough Phantoms 	Away 	Won 7-3 	526 	League/Cup 	Joe Watkins
15th	Peterborough Phantoms 	Home 	Won 4-2 	945 	League/Cup 	Joe Watkins
18th	Slough Jets 	Away 	Won 6-5 	649 	League/Cup 	Lukas Smital
19th	Wightlink Raiders 	Home 	Lost 4-5 	1,424 	League 	Stephen Lee
24th	HK Aquacity ŠKP Poprad 	Away 	Lost 6-5 	4,500 	Exhibition 	N/A
25th	Bracknell Bees 	Home 	Won 1-0 	1,542 	League 	Nick Cross
26th	Telford Tigers 	Away 	Won 4-3 (OT) 	675 	League/Cup 	Rick Plant
===November===
Date	Opponent 	Venue	Result 	Attendance 	Competition	Man of the Match
1st 	Slough Jets 	Home 	Lost 2-3 	1,308 	League/Cup 	Lukas Smital
2nd 	Slough Jets 	Away 	Lost 5-6 (OT)	320 	League 	Paul Dixon
8th 	Swindon Wildcats 	Away 	Won 6-3 	754 	League/Cup 	Lukas Smital
9th 	Swindon Wildcats 	Home 	Won 4-2 	1,568 	League/Cup 	Neil Liddiard
15th	Sheffield Scimitars 	Away 	Won 7-4 	364 	League/Cup 	Rick Plant
16th	Milton Keynes Lightning	Home 	Lost 2-4 	1,161 	League/Cup 	David Savage
19th	Romford Raiders 	Home 	Won 6-2 	1,016 	League/Cup 	Alex Mettam
22nd	Wightlink Raiders 	Away 	Lost 5-4 	509 	League/Cup 	Stuart Potts
23rd	Telford Tigers 	Home 	Won 4-2 	1,368 	League 	Alex Mettam/Mark Williams
29th	Romford Raiders 	Home 	Won 7-2 	1,238 	League 	Martin Bouz
30th	Bracknell Bees 	Away 	Won 4-0 	Not Reported	League/Cup 	Joe Watkins
===December===
Date	Opponent 	Venue	Result 	Attendance 	Competition	Man of the Match
6th 	Milton Keynes Lightning	Away 	Lost 2-5 	809 	League 	N/A
7th 	Sheffield Scimitars 	Home 	Won 4-3 	1,568 	League 	Lukas Smital
14th	Peterborough Phantoms 	Away 	Lost 2-4 	542 	League 	Joe Watkins
26th	Bracknell Bees 	Away 	Lost 1-2 	910 	League 	David Savage
27th	Peterborough Phantoms 	Home 	Won 6-5 (OT)	1,623 	League 	Lukas Smital
28th	Telford Tigers 	Away 	Won 5-4 	Not Reported	League 	Ollie Bronnimann
===January===
Date	Opponent 	Venue	Result 	Attendance	Competition	Man of the Match
1st 	Bracknell Bees 	Home 	Won 4-1 	1,753 	League 	Martin Bouz
3rd 	Slough Jets 	Away 	Won 7-3 	751 	League 	Joe Watkins
4th 	Slough Jets 	Home 	Lost 5-3 	1,421 	League 	Nick Cross
11th	Wightlink Raiders	Home 	Won 7-2 	1,552 	League 	Neil Liddiard
17th	Romford Raiders 	Home 	Lost 3-4 	1,535 	League 	Stuart Potts
24th	Swindon Wildcats 	Away 	Lost 2-4 	902 	League 	Lukas Smital
25th	Swindon Wildcats 	Home 	Won 8-2 	2,124 	League 	Vaclav Zavoral
31st	Wightlink Raiders	Away 	Won 6-5 (SO)	560 	League 	Lukas Smital
===February===
Date	Opponent 	Venue	Result 	Attendance	Competition 	Man of the Match
1st 	Milton Keynes Lightning	Home 	Won 5-4 	1,336 	League 	Terry Miles
8th 	Bracknell Bees 	Away 	Won 4-3 (OT) 	N/A 	League 	Ollie Bronnimann
14th	Peterborough Phantoms 	Away 	Won 4-2 	493 	League 	N/A
15th	Slough Jets 	Home 	Lost 3-2 	1,634 	League 	Joe Watkins
19th	Slough Jets 	Home 	Drawn 1-1 	2,057 	Cup Semi-Final (1st Leg)	David Savage
21st	Peterborough Phantoms 	Home 	Won 5-3 	1,551 	League 	Ben Austin
22nd	Sheffield Scimitars 	Away 	Lost 5-4 	627 	League 	N/A
25th	Slough Jets 	Away 	Won 4-2 	702 	Cup Semi-Final (2nd Leg)	N/A
28th	Wightlink Raiders 	Away 	Lost 3-2 (SO)	582 	League 	Stuart Potts
===March===
Date	Opponent 	Venue	Result 	Attendance	Competition 	Man of the Match
1st 	Milton Keynes Lightning	Home 	Lost 4-2 	1,442 	League 	Milos Melicherik
7th 	Telford Tigers 	Home 	Won 4-1 	1,923 	League 	Rob Lamey
8th 	Romford Raiders 	Away 	Lost 3-2 	382 	League 	Paul Dixon
14th	Telford Tigers 	Away 	Won 5-3 	450 	League 	N/A
15th	Sheffield Scimitars 	Home 	Won 4-2 	1,332 	League 	Taras Foremsky
18th	Peterborough Phantoms 	Home 	Won 4-3 	1,347 	Cup Final (1st Leg)	Rick Skene
21st	Milton Keynes Lightning	Away 	Won 4-3 (SO) 	965 	League 	Nick Cross
22nd	Swindon Wildcats 	Home 	Won 6-1 	1,252 	League 	David Savage
26th	Peterborough Phantoms 	Away 	Lost 6-4 (Lost 9-7 on Agg)	N/A 	Cup Final (2nd Leg)	Unknown
28th	Sheffield Scimitars 	Away 	Won 4-2 	757 	League 	Unknown
29th	Romford Raiders 	Away 	Lost 8-6 	N/A 	League 	Ollie Bronnimann
===April===
Date	Opponent 	Venue 	Result 	Attendance	Competition 	Man of the Match
4th 	Romford Raiders 	Away 	Won 6-4 	N/A 	Play-off Quarter-final (1st Leg)	Lukas Smital
5th 	Romford Raiders 	Home 	Won 5-1 (Won 11-5 on Agg)	2,126 	Play-off Quarter-final (2nd Leg)	Rick Plant
11th	Milton Keynes Lightning	SkyDome Arena	Lost 3-2 (SO) 	N/A 	Play-off Semi-Final 	Ollie Bronnimann
==Points for the 2008/09 season==
Final Standing
Name 	Pld.	Goals	Assists	Points	Pims	PP	SH	GW	OT	EN
Milos Melicherik	57 	22 	56 	78 	40 	5 	3 	6 	1 	0
Lukas Smital 	59 	31 	45 	76 	80 	5 	3 	5 	0 	0
Taras Foremsky 	53 	33 	37 	70 	78 	6 	2 	4 	0 	0
Rob Lamey 	60 	25 	34 	59 	20 	4 	0 	3 	0 	0
Rick Plant 	55 	19 	34 	53 	79 	0 	1 	5 	1 	0
Stuart Potts 	61 	10 	37 	47 	43 	1 	1 	1 	0 	0
Ollie Bronnimann	60 	21 	18 	39 	16 	2 	1 	3 	0 	0
Paul Dixon 	57 	7 	30 	37 	32 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0
David Savage 	61 	17 	19 	36 	102 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0
Vaclav Zavoral 	46 	14 	18 	32 	215 	2 	1 	2 	0 	0
Martin Bouz 	26 	12 	15 	27 	32 	0 	0 	3 	1 	0
Nick Cross 	29 	13 	11 	23 	74 	3 	0 	0 	0 	1
Neil Liddiard 	58 	7 	17 	24 	96 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0
Steve Lee 	56 	11 	12 	23 	61 	4 	1 	2 	0 	0
Terry Miles 	50 	5 	16 	21 	26 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Rick Skene 	52 	3 	11 	14 	80 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Mark Williams * 	30 	1 	3 	4 	62 	0 	0 	1 	0 	0
Ben Austin 	61 	1 	3 	4 	16 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Matt Hepburn 	38 	0 	2 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Callum Best 	35 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Joe Watkins 	54 	0 	1 	1 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Andrew Sumner 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Alex Mettam 	9 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
[*]No Longer On Active Roster
==Goaltender Stats 2008/09==
Final
Name 	Mins Pld.	GA 	GAA 	Shots	Saves	Save %	SO	Record (W-L-OTL-T)
Alex Mettam	460:00 	19 	2.478	219 	200 	0.913 	0 	6-1-0-0
Joe Watkins	3232:21 	169	3.132	1895 	1726 	0.911 	2 	32-17-4-1
Empty Net 	7:47 	3 	- 	3 	- 	- 	- 	-
==Special teams==
Final
*Powerplay 42 for 204 - 20.6%
*Penalty Kill 241 for 293 - 82.3%
==Penalty Shots 08/09==
Final
===Skaters===
Name 	Shots	Goals	Pct. %
Martin Bouz 	5 	4 	80
Lukas Smital 	7 	2 	28.6
Taras Foremsky	4 	1 	25
Vaclav Zavoral	3 	0 	0
===Goaltenders===
Name 	Shots	Saves	Pct. %
Joe Watkins	21 	14 	66.6
==End of Season Awards==
The traditional End of Season Awards dinner was held on Monday 30 March 2009. The following awards were given out:
Most Sportsman like - #37 Ben Austin
British Player of the year - #8 Rob Lamey
Players Player of the year - #8 Rob Lamey
Top Point Scorer - #21 Milos Melicherik
The GIHSC (Guildford Ice Hockey Supporters Club) Voted the following:
Supporters British Player of the year - #8 Rob Lamey
Supporters Player of the year - #77 Taras Foremsky
==Team Roster==
MANAGEMENT
CEO Rob Hepburn
Commercial Manager Kirk Humphreys
Financial Controller Thomas Hepburn
COACHING STAFF
Head Coach Paul Dixon
Assistant Coach Milos Melicherik
Assistant/Equipment Manager Dave Wiggins
GOALTENDERS
30 Joe Watkins
31 Alex Mettam
FORWARDS
8 Rob Lamey
12 Matt Hepburn
14 Stuart Potts
17 Rick Plant - Captain
18 Callum Best
19 Terry Miles
21 Milos Melicherik - Alternate Captain
25 Vinnie Zavoral
32 Lukas Smital
44 Nick Cross
47 Martin Bouz
76 Taras Foremsky
91 Ollie Bronnimann
DEFENDERS
4 Neil Liddiard - Alternate Captain
6 David Savage
22 Paul Dixon
24 Mark Williams
37 Ben Austin
45 Steve Lee
55 Rick Skene
==External links==
*Official Guildford Flames website
*Guildford Flames Facebook Group
*Flames Backburner Site (supporters club)
*Flames Photos
*The Hockey Forum - UK Hockey forum site
==References==
Category:2008 in hockey
Category:2009 in hockey