Chris 0:19

Week we look into everything lifestacting on things lightning. And once again this week, I'm really pleased to have on the pod with me Harrison. How are you doing? Yes off. Yeah, I'm good. Voice is still a bit squeaky. I'm still not I'm I'm not quite seasoned into doing two straight weeks of commentary, and as a result, I've got a bit of a cold and I'm starting to lose my voice. It's going to be a squeaky. But other than that, um, really, really good. Uh, you know, from an ice hockey point of view, uh, everything from a points-wise is rosy in the Milton Keynes camp, so can't complain, really.

Harrison 0:51

Yeah, nothing to complain about, really. Um, top of the league still unbeaten. I I suppose what more can you say than that? I mean, obviously, we're gonna deep dive into it, though, otherwise that would be quite a short podcast. But yeah, no, I think yeah, that if you look too deep into it, there are things you can pick apart. But at the end of the day, four points is four points, and you're not gonna go into too much how you lose or how you win the games. Um, it'll be the scrollines themselves that will do the talking as opposed to how you got that score line. Yeah, absolutely. Um but yeah, I think positives all round really. Um, definitely a couple of things from Sunday that could do working on, but again, four points to four points. What can you say? What can you say to Umber?

Chris 1:35

Yeah, what's you can't you can't do too much criticism, can you? No, you can't you can't level too much criticism. You know, you'd be you'd be very, very hard to please. Um there are there are those out there, there are people very hard to please, but I mean let's have a look at the weekend then because a topsy turvy weekend in so much that Lightning were away on a Saturday, home on a Sunday. Um, and we looked at that last week in last week's pod, didn't we? We knew that you know potentially Leeds was going to be a really, really tough game. And you know, uh and and so it proved. I mean, I I I still think it was a great score line, absolutely great score line if you're a Lightning fan and anybody connected with Lightning. Um, but I still don't think that game was as easy as a lot of people would like to think it was. It was still a toughie.

Harrison 2:20

Yeah, I think Lightning were made to work in that first period and won the stake early doors and Liam Payton scored the opening goal, and suddenly you think, okay, this is what Leeds has first real big opportunity, and they've taken it. And Leeds are one of those sides that on form they will score for fun. They did it last weekend against Peterborough, it's not like they can't do it. Um I think that's where it nervy there were nervy signs early on, um, especially with that first Peyton goal, and it was taken really well from Peyton, who I think has got a point to prove this season. Um, didn't get as many points as I think he would have wanted last season, so big put point for him to prove. But I think the story of the night started really from the short-handed goal from Disco because the way that he took that down, the pass from Brady Johnson was was good, but it it left a lot of work.

Chris 3:18

Let's say it was in the air for a start, it was you know, it was it was looping.

Harrison 3:23

Yeah, it it's something that it's something that someone playing Quidditch would have been proud of. But yeah, Lin's show is knocked out of thin air, and Lightning have gone on into the break at one-off, and I think one all for the end of the first was probably a fair result. Um, both sides were looking quite cagey at first. I think the Peyton goal opened it up a little bit, then Leeds got on the power play, and suddenly you just think, okay, our Lightning's troubles in Leeds gonna continue because that is arguably the toughest place for Lightning to go. Um, but the second period, I mean, what can we say about that second period?

Chris 4:04

I I I mean to me I I wouldn't say it wasn't faultless, but it was it was as it was probably as as near to a complete ice hockey period that you can play this season so far. Um, you know, very, very coherent, very, very joined up. Um the passes were going tape to tape, you know, and the I think the the puck support going in transition front to back um was was absolutely sublime. And and playing the other way as well. You know, the unit of five was was playing well um on the on the defense in very, very, very coherent period that yeah, it was.

Harrison 4:43

I mean, David Thompson, the star of the night, he got his first just over four minutes into that second period, and then 19 seconds later, um a great, really a very good sort of forward play from Peyton and Sobchak. Sobchak had every opportunity to shoot, and Headley has come far out of his quiz, he's closed the angle, which is exactly what you need to do as a netminder. But the problem is that Peyton was sneaking at the back door, and Sobchak does what Sobchak does best and finds Peyton's stick. Um, I think past a couple of D-men as well. It was a super pass, and 19 seconds later, you're just like, Well, and we're back. So that was another bit of adversity that Lightning then had to come back from because you are always at your most vulnerable once you've scored. Everyone knows that. It's a very common saying in in hockey more so than in other sports, but it's it is still very common nonetheless. And you thought it was going to be the patent show because he showed up massively. Um, but you then get Sean Norris get on the score sheet, suddenly lightning retake that lead, and it almost settles the nerves again. Yeah, because of that keep taking the lead and then keeping the lead um for longer than the 19 seconds is definitely what gave that little bit of confidence, that little bit of ability to just play with a bit more freedom. And that's exactly what Lightning did getting Sean Rice getting his second uh not long after that um at 31 minutes. Then you've got a two-goal advantage, and the goals just kept flowing. We're talking what 24th minute, 28th minute, 31st minute, 33rd minute, and suddenly in the space of just less than 10 minutes, lightning have gone from being level to then being five to up.

Chris 6:43

Yeah. Yeah. And then by that, but you know, by that time, it's you it's really uh you're not watching the game out, but you do you just all you're doing, you're playing your game, aren't you? You're playing your game. I want to just quickly go back to the the the uh the Liam Stewart goal at the very start. I think we said on you know, I said it on comms yesterday, the way he took that puck out of the air, you know. I I'm gonna say it here first, and Lightning fans need to back me up here. Um, it would be great if Liam Stewart enters the Orney pancake race next February because he's got to be in with with handling like that, he's not gonna drop a pancake, you know, if he's got to run a few uh a few yards. So there you go. So if you are listening to the pod, Liam Stewart from On. Yeah, and you're from Oni. Liam Stewart for the pancake race next next year to see if he can actually do it. The way he took it on his stick was absolutely brilliant.

Harrison 7:33

Oh, he'd be down for that for doing that race as well, 100%. He'll sign up for it, you know as well. And why do I imagine that Rod would come over and watch it as well? Yeah, absolutely. I think he's on tour next, he's he's on his tour next year, I think. Oh, yeah, he's on his on his tour, yeah. Um, but yeah, nonetheless, you look you look at that, and the uh Danny Wade's goal as well on the power play. It sort of he almost unlocked himself there, I think. It was that he got the time and the space and then went near side high on Sam Gospel. And normally the way he beat Sam Gospel was lateral movement, and it it was there were a good couple goals that on um Saturday that it did seem like it was that movement laterally. There were a lot of times where Gospel was flailing or it was not in the net fully, and lightning were first to the puck, and that's something that it seems that has been drilled into this Lightning squad. We said it a lot early to us. There's a player in the crease pretty much all the time. Liam Stewart scored a couple in pre-season for it, Carl Hamill's got a good few as well in that area, and you saw David Thompson get a couple as well on Saturday in and amongst that crease, just getting the first stick to the puck. And it happened on multiple occasions, and the game wouldn't have been 8-2 if it wasn't for those sort of being first for the puck.

Chris 9:21

Yeah, and you know, going back to David Thompson as well, we m we mentioned it on last week's pod, didn't we? That about you know the fact that on the Saturday night last week he he got those, he scored those goals, and it almost visibly looked like he just drugged off a very, very heavy coat. You know, it looked like the weight had gone, and and and that weight of expectation, I don't think was coming anywhere from other than himself. You know, I think and all of and you could see it all almost released him, and it was great to see. And you know, he obviously played you know well that the rest of the weekend after that, and then turned it on again on on uh on on Saturday night as well. And you know, you you really start to see the value of getting him into the squad you know this season. We knew he was dangerous, we saw him all last season, you know, um in the orange at Telford. Um, but put him into this squad, no disrespect to anybody else. And you know, I I think his projecting points uh you know on elite prospects, they're they're ridiculously high now.

Harrison 10:25

Yeah, and the thing is that he almost doesn't need to be as productive this season as he was last season. Last season he was a part of that that line with uh it ended up being I think it was Harry Ferguson and Eric Henderson. Um so he was almost on that sort of top line that they were trying, Tigers were rolling out a lot trying to get the the points on. Whereas at this point, he's not really having to do that because Lightning are playing that four-line hockey, they're not needing to rely on David Thompson like Telford were a little bit last season. That's no disrespect to Telford, but David Thompson showed his quality last season, and that's why Lightning have come in for him. But he's shown his quality the last couple weekends, he's sort of he eased himself into the season, and he wasn't in terms of if you looked at him on the ice, you wouldn't say that he was easing himself in. You would say, Oh yeah, we've signed the the Telford um Thompson, but the point production wasn't there that people were expecting, I think. And it wasn't until he got that first goal um last weekend, and it just seemed to settle all the nerves. I mean, we saw what quality he had in pre-season, he scored an absolute beauty against Rostock, um, but it just hadn't quite worked for him at the start of the season in the league, and yeah, I mean, four plus one on Saturday night, and yeah, he was unplayable against Leeds, and yeah, lightning came away, eight two victors, um, a full away block as well. That would have been a fun journey home for the fans, and I can imagine the coach was quite an enjoyable one as well.

Chris 12:02

Yeah, that would have been a good journey for him. You know, that you know, it's it's always been a bit of a bit of a hoodoo ring, but and then on Sunday, the visit of um uh our friends from from Solway. You know, we always know when we get there we're gonna get two national answers, which is absolutely brilliant. Um you know, we I don't know how many times we said it last night on on commentary. It's brilliant to see them, you know, still in the league, still going, and more importantly, giving their fans the enjoyment that they get by travelling around up and down the country because you know they've got some very, very, very, very passionate fans, haven't they?

Harrison 12:37

Oh yes. Uh I have to give a fout out to Billy that it always comes down in his kilt with the the megaphone as well. That you can hear over the headphones as well. You think I remember the first time on comms when he came down a couple seasons ago, that I'm hearing voices and I'm just like, where has that come from? And it's not until I've looked over and seen a megaphone that I was like, okay, that's that's what it is. But yeah, the Solway fans have always been, they've always travelled well. They obviously would have come down on the Saturday night, um, having had a double-away weekend playing Swindon the night before, which again they they were tested by Swindon. However, they took them the whole way, they led a good couple times, and Swindon had to really push themselves over the line to get the two points against Solway. And Lightning were pushed all the way to the end as well. I mean, at first it was Jordan Buessa's night. I think it you look at Danny Wakecott man a match for Lightning, but we have to mention Jordan Buessa. Yeah, a hat-trick for him, a short-handed goal, a power play goal, and an even strength goal. I don't know what kind of hat trick you call that, but it's definitely a different one. But yeah, he was unbelievable last night.

Chris 13:53

He was a class above last night, he really was. And you know, you could you could see him he almost rolled back the years, and you could see the talent that he's got. He's taken him to you know really good heights, you know, in not just in our league, but he's obviously he's you know he's been in the elite league as well. And um, you don't have a pedigree like that without being a without being a great player. And it's I think one thing that showed up for me yesterday was his speed and his vision. Um, you know, he was he was he's quite willing to go and do some of the dirty work in the corners, um, but he can also, you know, um he can get himself in out in front of net very, very quickly as well. And it's I think again some of we talked about his is his shot release is almost instantaneous. There's no warning um that shot's coming in. And you know, um, okay, it was a tough night for Lightning last night, albeit to pick up, you know, to pick up those two points. Um, but you know, sometimes you've got to win, you you you've got to win ugly to to to pick up those results. But people like Jordan Buessa, I I you know I think Solway are in good hands, they've got a good squad. You know, admittedly they they lost Yanceis literally. Uh you know, we'd filled the game Gow, hadn't we? And then got told that that Yanceis wouldn't be icing. So uh I I don't know what happened there. There was an injury from the previous night or or illness or something along those lines, but they missed him last night.

Harrison 15:12

Yeah, they really did. But I mean, look at what could have happened if they had did have him. I mean, five goals to four. Yanses had already scored seven goals in five games, so there's every chance that that game could have gone to overtime, and they might have even nicked it. And Solway have been that side this year, they've taken points off of Sheffield as their only two points of the year, but they have made every team they've played work for the win, whether that be Sheffield away last weekend, where they had a three-goal lead, um, and then Sheffield had to take a timeout and really coop um to try and get back into the game. And Sheffield are a very good side, and we'll go into that when we talk more about the upcoming weekend. But they then took a Swindon side, both at their place and at Lightning's rink, all the way to the end, and they've not had an easy start to the season. Let's not let's not forget that um that they've had a very difficult run of games. They've played Sheffield twice and Swindon twice and MK. Yeah, that that's not an easy set of fixtures, and also I'm pretty sure their other ones were a way to hull. So they have had a very tough run of fixtures, and they'll be looking at this weekend, hoping to get some points on the ball. I think they've got um Bristol and uh Telford, if I'm right. So they've they're gonna be looking at those fixtures, trying to get themselves a four-point weekend, and it's gonna be their best opportunity to do so. And looking at the way that they played last night, I don't see why they can't.

Chris 16:42

No, absolutely. Well, Martin Grubb will be sat there targeting this week this coming weekend as a four-point weekend for them. I think they'd be disappointed if it were they not to get it.

Harrison 16:51

Yeah, 100%. But we we have to talk about lightning last night as well, and I think Danny Wake was the was the standout. But the one thing that I wanted to mention was it was Danny Wake's goal with seven seconds left of the the period. And I mentioned this on comms, and I'm quite proud of it. I'm gonna say it um that lightning drew a penalty late on in the second, and there was about two minutes 20 left of the period. They've kept the puck, and then a Soloway players touched the puck with about one minute and I think it was 153 or something. Yeah, yeah, 155. Um, it was a clipping call. And that meant that Lightning were either gonna you've killed enough times that Lightning had to either score, go into the break, get a goal ahead, which they hadn't been um at that point, or they were gonna start the period on a power play. And it would have been a long one, there would have only been five seconds, but that would have still been an advantage if you win the face-off and get in the zone quick enough. That would have been an advantage. And then, yeah, with seven seconds left of the period, you get Danny Wade scoring a goal to send Lightning into the period break, a goal ahead, and I think that might have been what won it for Lightning in the end. I think it was going into the period break after playing not the prettiest of hockey at times. The the puck wasn't bouncing to play as much as Lightning would have liked. Um, but going into the break, a goal ahead when you're not playing pretty hockey is something that I think people would have probably realized that this is not like the league tonight the night before. You they have to play a different style of hockey. And Lightning did that, and you don't always have to win pretty.

Chris 18:41

No, and and you know, it's it's it's there are going to be you know, we've had a couple of ugly wins now. Um, but but but but the the only thing that really matters in that column is the W that goes in and the two points he goes alongside that. And you know, I I think actually in all fairness, we'll probably have harder games this this season than than last night. I think um I think we made it slightly you know bit a bit harder on ourselves, but it is what it is. We you know we can box that weekend off and and and think, right, okay, uh done that, move on.

Harrison 19:09

Yeah, and as I said, four-point weekend, you're not gonna moan about that. You've scored 13 goals across two games, conceded six. If you look at it on the basis of that, that is not a bad weekend by any stretch of the imagination.

Chris 19:25

No, and still retain top of the league with an unbeaten one unbeaten Rob.

Harrison 19:29

Yeah, there's two points ahead of second place, um, and that'll be a tasty one to talk about in a couple weeks' time, um, if it stays like that going into um a couple weekends time. But just before we move on, we will mention some of the other games that happened uh last weekend as well. Started on the Friday night. Sheffield Steel dogs were taken to overtime. A very, very late uh equaliser for the Tigers on Friday night. It was Max Dukovac got a double and at 59-58 is equalised to send it into overtime, but it was Liam Steele playing down for the dogs that got the winner for them on the Friday night. On the Saturday night, Peterborough Phantoms went to Basenstoke. That was a fixture that was the first league opener for Bison last season back at their barn, and Peterborough got the win in overtime. That was a result that I think shocks a few people as well, with Basenstoke being unbeaten at home and it was Don Gabay that got the winner. Obviously, Lightning went to the castle and won emphatically 8-2. Think that was probably a statement win, most would have said and Swindon 5-3 victors against Solway, as I said. Solway made the Wildcats work for it. There were a couple early goals on in that one, though. Swindon did score uh 28 seconds in and one minute 11 seconds in. And that seems to be the story of Swindon's season so far. It's scoring early doors. Um, but they did get the win in the end. Romford Raiders, an overtime victory away at Telford. Um, it was a two-point weekend for Telford, but it was two overtime losses. Unfortunate for them, that is. But Romford Raiders getting the victory just to stay hot on the tails um of Lightning at the time. And then Hull Seahawks, 6-2 victors down at the pound. Um, Bristol start to the season has been very tough and they have struggled. Um, still uh the only side yet to win at this moment. And the only side for a true point, I think, are they? Yeah, and Hull at home was never going to be an easy one. Hull are the team second in the table at the moment, chasing lightning, um, having only lost one game, and that was away to Basenstoke. Um, however, they did make up for it, beating Basenstoke at home on the Sunday, six goals to two, emphatic victory, and I'd probably say the standout victory uh on that Sunday um just shows the quality that Hull have this season. Um, and Patrick Brown starred in that one. Sheffield Steel Dogs beat the Pitbulls five goals to one. Um Romford Raiders lost five one at home to Leeds Knights, bouncing back after that difficult game against the Lightning on Saturday. Um, and then the Swindon Wildcats took Peterborough Phantoms six goals to three. Um Um down in Breton. Good result for Swindon away from home. And Peterborough's very mixed start to the season continues. Beating Bison away and losing at home. It's an interesting season at Peterborough.

Chris 22:44

Yeah, it's it's it's always turbulent for Peterborough, but uh I just think that you know this season more than anything is uh I don't know that you know we mentioned about the a little bit of discourse in the fan base a few weeks ago. Uh hopefully that started to settle down a little bit now because I think AshTate uh you know has put together a decent side. Um and I think once they get a little bit of familiarity uh and they'll they start finding their legs. I I think Peterborough will be fine. There's always uh historically they've always been every squad that's come out of that barn has been tough to play against. And I and I don't think that'll change. You know, you've got to Ash Take's a good, you know, is a is a decent coach, he's not a bad coach. Um I think you'll get them firing.

Harrison 23:27

Yeah, and Peterborough will be a tough team to play against. You don't want to go to Bretton, it's not an easy place to go. And Peterborough are one of those banana uh those bogey teams for people that are but they're a banana skin, they will make teams slip up, they they will pick up big points against the top teams, it will happen, you can guarantee it. But they always seem to find their struggles as well against the lower teams as well, like struggling against teams like Bristol Solway um of previous years. So it'll be interesting to see. So those were the results from the previous weekend. One thing to mention uh before we go through to the interview that we have um in today's one is just wanted to mention there are a couple Hull Seahawks fans um for charity last weekend. Glenn Hartley and John Fish um cycled from Hull Ice Arena to Ice Sheffield on Friday night for the Sheffield Steel Dogs Alpha Tigers game. Good game that he got there as well, to be fair. Um and then cycled all the way from there to Planet Ice Leeds to watch the Leeds tonight's Milton Kings Lightning game, which again cracking game he got there. Maybe not so much for the Yorkshire outfit, but in terms of overall, good game of hockey got 10 goals there, um, and then cycled um back to Hull Ice Arena for the Hull Basin Stoke game on Sunday. Um, all of that was to raise donations from the Neuron Disease Association and his man club. Um, he was offered two seats uh by Leeds for the match against Lightning as well as a post-game photo on the ice with the players and mascot to celebrate the challenge and help them raise more funds. Um, hopefully, uh, if you have heard about it, NIHO's national uh page have posted it a couple weeks ago. Um, the just giving page is still up. If you are able to donate to it, um would be useful if you can show some love for the hockey family. Um, it's a great cause, and I'm hoping that they they now have a nice chance to rest their legs because I cannot imagine that was an easy, easy ride. But you got a lot of games of hockey, a lot of good games of hockey, and they managed to see themselves a lovely 23 goals across the three games. So uh they got some good hockey for it, and yeah, raising uh money for uh such an important cause as well. So, yeah, do donate if you can. Um there'll be it'll be on the national socials, and Hull have posted it as well.

Chris 25:56

Brilliant, yeah, great achievement as well. Absolutely fantastic. Okay, so um time to bring on our guest for this week, and uh, you know, uh this is so timely. You know, last week he celebrated his 22nd birthday with his brother. He's Lightning's top British point scorer. He's played six games, he's got five goals, six assists, and he's only had 10 minutes in penalties so far. He's got 11 points. Um, really, really pleased to have on the pod this week. Um, number 24 for Lightning, Carter Hamill. So, Carter, first of all, welcome to uh Lightning Talks. I mean, uh you've done the podcast with the team before, obviously, because you did the the pre-season ones, but this is the first time we've spoken to you actually as the season's been progressing.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Yeah, thanks for having me on. Um I think it was uh the weather was a bit warmer last time I was on the on the podcast. So it's been a few months, but uh excited for another chat.

Chris 26:57

Yeah, it certainly looks like it's changed a little bit since then. We're starting to get into the winter now, aren't we? They give you know with the you know ice hockey is after all meant to be a winter sport, so that's that's half the idea. Um so talk to us about your first few weeks in like you know in in the season then, because you know accolades are plenty literally last week, you know, player of the month for the NIHL, player of the week last week as well. Um it's it's you've started on a stormer, haven't you?

SPEAKER_00 27:25

Yeah, I mean I always go by saying starters you mean to go on, and I tell the boys that in the room um at the first game of the season, starters you mean to go on, and that's exactly what I've done. I've started well and I mean to go on that way. So basically the start of the season looked for me. I was uh doing training camp with Belfast, and I was there for a few weeks, I was grinding all summer. I was I was working out all the time, skating every day, and obviously that gave me a little bit of a head start coming over here as the boys hadn't skated too much, and I was already like about a full month into skating every single day. And obviously got a game under my belt with Belfast too, so I had a little bit of confidence coming over here to play against the German team. Played there, felt good, still finding my feet a little bit, obviously, because I'd only played one game. But once the second game came against the German team, it just started flowing for me, really. And I've been having fun ever since, and I think that's half the battle, to be honest. You know, if you're having fun, you're gonna play well, and everything else starts coming together for you. So that's how the the start of the season's looked for me this far, anyway.

Chris 28:33

I mean, you mentioned there about you know you're having fun. One thing one thing I've noticed in the commentary games that we've done, you know, you the team is starting to really gel, not just on the ice, but off the ice as well. There's a the you know that that room dynamic dynamic looks as good as it's ever been, um, if that makes sense. But but also as well, you know, you you you a lot of you you're playing with smiles on your faces, you are genuinely going out there and you're enjoying your hockey, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:59

Yeah, I mean a hundred percent. I mean, Pete said it himself at the start of the year, you know, he sounds good people as well as good hockey players. So we all me personally, I knew a lot of the boys already from playing with them before and you know, growing up with Kel, Mac, and Cami, and obviously playing here with them before, playing with Kel as all way, playing with all the MK boys before, and then obviously meeting the new uh the new imports and stuff this season. But I mean I knew that everyone was going to be good, everyone was gonna be good teammates and good people, and you know, fair fair play to Pete he's put together some group of boys, you know, we're having good fun. We're we're working hard together, and as you said, we we are playing with a smile on their face, and you know, win's fun. So when the wins come, we have more fun, and you can you know you can enjoy your day off on a Monday and you know, take a little step back for a bit. And we all like to hang out together away from the ice too. And I feel like that's a big part of it as well, you know, forming a connection to away from hockey, and it just really brings everyone together in the locker room.

Chris 30:07

Talking about you gelling, gelling together. Sorry, sorry, I wasn't um talking about you gelling together there and spending time together. I noticed that uh you know a load of you went down to to London. Was that really was that basically showing Brady Johnson around the sites and showing him what London was like?

SPEAKER_00 30:22

Yeah, pretty much. Uh that was the whole plan. Just show him where the best bars are and you know where to get the best paint. But no, that London, the London days is a good one. It uh it gives us time away from the rink and and lets everyone you know meet each other for for who you really are and not just for your hockey ability, how you how you are as a person. And obviously, a lot of us have met each other away from the rink before, but to get that day we think is really good for us and essential, and it's also MK tradition, too. So it's good to keep their tradition alive, and yeah, we had a great time.

Chris 30:58

Yeah, I was gonna say it seemed that that that seems to have been something that's been the pattern going back years. I remember, you know, uh Jimmer and you know Ross Bowers and that, you know, on their on their little trips down to London, probably coming back slightly the worse for wear on a lot of occasions. But you know, like you say, it's been that that's been a tradition for many years with Lightning.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

Yeah, that's good. I mean, whoever made the the first bar stop, it's quite out of the way. But uh some of the boys weren't happy with how far the walk was. But you know, as as we said, it's tradition, so we're we're keeping it alive. And you know, Griff does a good job of that and holding everyone, you know, to that and saying this is this is what we're doing. And kind, it was county too, to be fair. Griff Griff and Kiney both um they said this is the tradition, this is the route we're going here first. It was a little bit out of the way, but we had a good time anyway.

Harrison 31:46

Good stuff, good stuff. It doesn't really matter.

SPEAKER_00 31:50

100%, I agree.

Harrison 31:53

But uh I just wanted to cast your mind back to last weekend, um that weekend that you got the flower of the the weekend, and it was two three point nights for you, and it was one of those that it's almost it was almost poetic the way that it was you were in the slot, and it seems to be that seems to be your position that you found that is really ideal for you. And do you think that that's something that like you've got into more because you weren't always in the slot last time you were at MK? Is that something you've learned from the time at Solving?

SPEAKER_00 32:28

Yeah, I mean, that was one of the reasons you know that I had gone. I I was playing a certain role at MK before, and I was more than happy playing that role, but I just thought to take the next step in my career was to um take a step away and go somewhere else and you know to like learn a different side of the game than what I was playing here. And don't get me wrong, the main the main reason like I'm going to the net this year a lot. Like I like going to the net. I'm I'm not afraid to get into them areas, as a lot of people know, but like that is like a part of Pete's plan, like get boys to the net, get the pucks there, and it doesn't always have to be a pretty goal. So I feel like I'm just buying into the uh systems he's telling us to do, and it's it was following nicely for me, to be honest. Like it's Pete knows what he's talking about. He's gonna tell us, he's not gonna tell us to go there if it's not gonna work, you know what I mean? So I'm just doing what doing what the coach asks office, and it's working, so I'm I'm happy and he's happy.

Chris 33:26

Because it's it's it's it's something that you've been used to for a long time scoring goals, isn't it? I was I was just doing a little bit of homework earlier and I went all the way back on your um your Belfast under-16 stats when you played in the Scotland Scotland under-16 league. Yeah, your stats are absolutely insane. I mean, 17-18, you know, you played 16 games, 27 goals, 28 assists, 55 points. And then I don't know what you did the following season. You must have had an extra Wii to pick or something like that. But in you know, literally 16 games, you've got 98 points. That's insane.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Yeah, I mean, the first one that was a little bit lower, I was probably like 14, probably just turned 14 at that point. I'm playing against people a lot older, but it was um me, my brother, and Mark and Kel, we were on the ice every day. It didn't uh it didn't come that easy at the start, you know. Belfast is a small place compared to everywhere else in the hockey thing. And when we were when we were younger than under 16s, we were getting battered every weekend. We were on the other side of the scoreline, we were getting beat 15-nil every every week. It was it was hard. And then something just happened. All of us are just pushing each other every day on the ice, or even twice a week, or whatever we could get out there, and we were just pushing each other and getting better. And obviously the stats speak for themselves. We were all the top point scorers in the league, and something changed, you know. We were working hard and we knew what we wanted to do, and yeah, things were going great. I think uh I probably hold like the the league leading point scores in under 16s in Scotland or something at that. So it's obviously good to have something like that. And yeah, maybe my first few years in the league is was a little bit different for me because I wasn't scoring as much as I was used to. But uh I feel like now I'm getting I'm mature and into my game a bit more, and things are starting to happen for me more often, and you know, I put the work in away from the rank, and you know, people don't see that, but I I feel a difference and I feel better for it. So I feel like that's got a part to play in it too.

Chris 35:29

I think I think people, you know, when you say people don't see that difference, I I think they do. I think they you know, people that that saw you in the last in when you were here, and like you say, you were asked to perform a role there and it was different to what you're doing now. Um, I think people, you know, with any kind of memory will see the difference in in the way you play. Um, and obviously you're asked probably to play in a very similar way in Solway um, you know, um last season. I mean, you know, that would have been a tough season for you guys in Solway last year because of everything that was going on in the background and everything else. And yeah, Harrison and I both said last night on commentary, it was it's absolutely phenomenal to see the fact that Solway has uh there's still a Solway ice hockey club in the league. I know it's got a different, you know, it's a different entity, if you like, different background company. But it's amazing to see that club still in the league with their amazing fans, and and probably more importantly, the amount of sponsors that that new business has actually managed to get on board as well and attract the players it has, it's it's brilliant to see.

SPEAKER_00 36:30

Yeah, I mean, there's there's no doubt about it that Stallway are able to pull something like that off just with the people they have at the heart of the club. Like the owners changed, yes, but the people who who run the club on a daily basis and and who actually take the club as their own, you know, like and it's it's incredible what they have done there and how and how fast they turned around. And you know, I wasn't sure what was going to happen with them in the summer. It was I was it wasn't nice. I love everyone there, everyone there is just great from you know, even like the coaches of the juniors, we were coaching the junior sessions and stuff, and just everybody to do of Solway Sharks is just or I don't know what I think they're called Solway Ice Hockey Club now, but yeah, everyone there is just amazing, and I have I have no doubt that they that their club will be the best it's ever been this year because of the people who are taking part and who have got it up and running again, and yeah, it's good I'm glad because I get to see all my friends again still playing against them, which was nice to see this weekend. They're probably a little bit annoyed I didn't take it easy on them, but they probably expected it to be fair.

Chris 37:38

Yeah, absolutely. And I guess um with the background you have in Solway, just be albeit very brief, and I don't want to go back to Belfast as well. When you when you talk about yourself, Kel, obviously the the the two of you and and Mac as well around Belfast. I know, like you said, Belfast hasn't been um it hasn't got that history in ice hockey that everybody everything else has. But I know they celebrated the anniversary uh a short time ago, and I can remember when Belfast first first became an you know an ice hockey club when they started playing out the Odyssey and everything else, and um, you know, nobody was sure whether it'll work or not. And and now if we look at all of you and and players like you as well, you're that production, you know, you're the result of that that production, I guess, and that's becoming something that that from nothing effectively.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Yeah, I feel like my dad was there the first ever Giants game. He was helping out doing stuff in the background, and yeah, it just it just shows like if people stick to it, then good things can happen. Belfast Giants were formed to bring both sides of the community together at a hard time in Belfast, and and it did. A lot of people have met forever long friends, partners, wives that have come from different sides of the community that they probably may have never met before for it wasn't um for the Giants. So I feel like it's a good thing there. And the junior giants are getting better and better, you know, every year. There's I remember whenever I was playing 14, 16s, under 20s, there wasn't that many of us at all. And now when I go and coach the juniors in the summer, there's 40 kids in each age group, you know, from like under 10s to learn to play. There's there's loads of them, so it's really good to see. And I feel like it's got uh a part to play with the Giants. Obviously, the kids go and watch them and they're like, I want to be a part of that, and then they take it up. So I feel like it just works in a big circle, and you know, everything comes together nicely, and the juniors watch them and they want to be there when they're older, and I think it's a nice setup for sure.

Harrison 39:42

Well, you've now started helping out with the coaching of NK Storm as well. Um, see you down there on Thursdays as well. So it's it's almost a bit of a link with the sort of way that things are now starting to progress at the MKU's setup, which there have been criticized criticism of it in the past as well. But now you've got that link with um having Joe Wilson and Ross Green in that as well. That must be nice for you to see coming back as well to MK.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

Yeah, for sure. I mean, before I even knew this was gonna happen, I was gonna volunteer. I enjoy you know, giving back. I feel like I can I can help her if I can make someone's day a little bit better, whether if they're they're having a bad day and they're going to play hockey and it's their way of having fun. If I can have fun with them, that's that's more than enough for me. And obviously, we want to get them better. And Pete's out there every day or every Thursday or whatever with the kids, and there's no one better for them to learn of, you know, and to have the the lightning players there that they're looking up to. Maybe they want to be there and they're older, maybe they don't, maybe they just like hanging out, but it's just uh it's a really good um situation now, and I feel like it's definitely the way forward. And I feel like the the players themselves like doing it too, you know. It's a part about giving back. The clubs give us so much, so it's only fair we can give it back to the to the younger kids too.

Chris 41:07

Where do you uh where do you see your your I mean I I don't even know if you've even thought this far forward, but you know, every every every young player has their ambitions and they want to go. Where do you see yourself maybe in the in the future?

SPEAKER_00 41:20

Um future for ice hockey or after ice hockey.

Chris 41:23

Ice uh for ice hockey, you've got years to play ice hockey.

SPEAKER_00 41:26

Yeah. Um ice hockey, I mean, I love it in the MK. I want to I want to be here for for a long time if that's if that's what happens. Um I'll say I'm linked to Belfast heavily. I'm from there. I like playing for them. It's home to me. So the end goal will always be to play for Belfast. And you never know what way hockey works, right? I could end up somewhere else, and I could be like, damn, I'm never gonna leave here. You never know. So right now I wanna play here, I'm enjoying my hockey here, be here for as long as I need to be here, for as long as I can be here, and then in the future, whenever I'm ready, play for Belfast full-time because it's home, and you know, I've been away from home for five years, and I only get home for three months in the summer. So to spend more time with you know my family and friends from back home, I feel like would be nice.

Chris 42:23

Yeah. I and and I was gonna ask you that question, a question on that, actually. Uh and this goes probably for uh quite a few of you, Mac Mac included. You know, when you're when because a lot of people don't they just see the headlines, things like you know, two-way deals with Belfast and so on and so forth. Um, but but in actual practice, what does that look like for you? Because you know, as you say, after a weekend you might have a Monday off, um, but then you're training probably Tuesday and Thursday again with Lightning. Is it a case literally of that you get you get a phone call or what's happening? It's a case of literally you get you get down to the rink, pack your bag, pack your stuff, and you've got to jump on a plane. And it's sometimes a quite short notice, right?

SPEAKER_00 43:02

That is quite literally exactly what happens. You could have a text and be like 12 o'clock in the afternoon and say you're flying at six and you put your clothes on and you go get your hockey kit and head to the head to the airport. You know, it does happen that that fast, and even last year when I was at Solway, I would have like a I could have I could have a phone call at nine o'clock at night and say you need to get on the 11:30 pm boat back to Belfast. And I would drive and have you seen how many, if you were looking at my stats, you've seen how many games I actually played for Belfast in the end last year? When 19 league games, a couple of cups games, a couple of CHL games. It was like it was close to 30 in total with preseason games too. So I was quite literally driving back and forward like at short notice basically every other week.

Chris 43:52

And it is is that admin is the admin taken off you? So they've they've they've already booked your flight or they've booked your ferry or whatever. So it's it is just a case of look, you go just uh just walk up, is the booking reference or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

Yes, it is easy to be fair. They they deal with the hard part, all I gotta do is travel, but yeah, it's nice the way it works like that. But sometimes sometimes it is it is tiring, you know. Sometimes you do you get you get comfortable, you get a nice routine here, and then your routine could just change with a snap of a finger. So I feel like that's maybe the hardest part is just to adapt to the routine change if something like that does happen.

Harrison 44:26

Yeah, and I mean you play thirty one for For Belfast last season, but you also played 46 times for Solway. And if I'm right, the only reason that you didn't play the 54 with Solway was more because you had a little bit of an injury at that point. So there was every chance you could have played nearly 80 games of hockey last season.

SPEAKER_00 44:43

Yeah, for sure. I mean when you put it like that, I knew I knew they'd play a lot. I wasn't sure of the exact number, but yeah, sometimes I would have to miss Solway games to play with Belfast if they had an injury or whatever, and then there was a point I was playing so good for Belfast, they just were bringing me back anyway. Um but that is a lot of hockey games. You know, it does, it does take a toll on your body. So I mean my summer holidays were more were more than earned, I felt. You know.

Chris 45:14

Yeah, you don't get much time off, do you really? Between, you know, it's I mean, people talk about you know, like like football, for example, where they they finish and then it's almost like they're back into pre-season training, but it's pretty much the same with you guys, you know, within ice hockey as well, isn't it? You get you get a little bit of break, but then you've got to start that conditioning and you gotta start skating again because you know you it's pretty you can lose that conditioning very, very quickly.

SPEAKER_00 45:35

Yeah, I'd be honest, I actually didn't take any time off. I I had two two week long holidays, and apart from that, I skated every like basically every other day for every other day for the first four to six weeks I got home from the season. So I was still skating like three to four times a week as soon as the season finished, and then after the four to six weeks I was skating every day again, you know. So I didn't really take a break, don't get me wrong, some of the sessions I was like just out there getting my puck touches in. I wasn't like bagging myself, I wasn't bracked after, but I was still out there every day, you know. And I feel like that's what's needed at my age, you know. When you have goals and um when you aspire to do better things, I feel like that's the the way you gotta do it, right? You gotta earn it. It doesn't just happen. So that's how it went down.

Chris 46:32

And I and I think a lot of it is you it's not just doing it, isn't it? It's that it's not just making you sure you're conditioned, it's also you you've got to be seen to be doing it as well. You've got to you've got to be seen to be that dedicated. That's half the battle a lot of the time, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 46:46

Yeah, I mean Pete's on us. He's on us all the time. You gotta he's sending us our workout plans in the summer, and we were we were we were grinding the summer. I feel like we're all in good shape and we're all still we're all still doing it. Um it's the right it's the right thing.

SPEAKER_02 47:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:07

I feel like you'll get fine. I feel like you'll get found out if you're not doing it. Yeah, for sure. Like you gotta keep up with him, which is we're we're this is our job. Well, most of our jobs at the end of the day, so it's only fair we give it our best and you know, do it for the team, really.

Harrison 47:30

So I do have to mention the Leeds game on Saturday. Um, what a performance. I mean, anyone that was following it on Twitter was just getting goal notification after goal notification.

SPEAKER_02 47:41

Yeah.

Harrison 47:41

What did what do you think sort of like led to something like that? Because I think if we look back to the previous weekend, we um we beat Bristol, but it it wasn't as easy a game as I think most were thinking. And then we've gone to a place that is very tough normally for Lightning and uh put out a performance like that. And yeah, safe to say that that lightning block was very, very vocal.

SPEAKER_00 48:05

Yeah, I personally feel like it was just down to determination and the game plan we had. You know, we we have an identity this year, and if we stick to that and the systems, then things will go our way. Um if we get away from that, then things will start becoming harder for us. So I feel like on the Saturday, everyone was dialed in, everyone knew what we had to do, everyone knew what it was going to take to win, and everyone executed it perfectly, to be honest. You know, the Thompson line was on fire, they were unbelievable. You know, credit to them, credit to all the boys, to be honest. Everyone battled hard for each other, and it was just great to be honest, to be on that side of the score line. And I feel like a situation like that gives you more belief than what you already have, and you know, you know, we can we can really do this with what we're doing right now, we're we're capable of this. And when you reach a point like that, you know you can hold yourselves to that standard for the rest of the year because you know that's what we have, and then you can go above that too. So I feel like it's good that we create standards like that early on in the season and we can try and reach out as much as possible. Don't get me wrong, it's hard to do that for 54 games in a season. Yeah, everyone's gonna be sore, everyone's gonna be tired at certain points. But as long as we have like a standard that we know we can get to, I feel like it's a good thing to try and achieve it as much as possible.

Chris 49:34

I don't think you know, just like you say, if you can do that and you can play your game. I mean, last night, yeah, two points the win was really, really important last night, but maybe it didn't quite reflect the performance in Leeds on Saturday. But it's like you say, when you've got a good squad and you know you've got a good squad, good squads will pull an ugly result out when they when they need to.

SPEAKER_00 49:53

Yeah, for sure. We have a saying in in our room, and you know, good teams find a way to win hard times, and that's what happened last night. You know, we were fighting it a little bit, things weren't going our way, and that's possibly down to our our play. Like we we weren't playing our game to the standard I was talking about, and we we were fighting it, but as I said, good teams find a way to win, and you know, the the only thing that matters is we got the two points. You know, you're not gonna think back and think, oh, I wish we tried a little bit harder. When you lose games, you do think that, but when you get the win, you know, it's you get your two points and you move on to the next one, and it's just important about building back up this week and trying to reach the peak again, really.

Chris 50:37

Yeah, I mean that you know there's no easy games in this league at all. We say that all the time, but you think a couple of toughies coming up Saturday, Sheffield down at down at Harbaugh, and then you've got to you've got to make that trip to Romford.

SPEAKER_00 50:49

Yeah, for sure. I mean the league's got so much better now from where it was five years ago. It's it gets better every season, and you know, everyone wants everyone wants to beat us. I mean, teams don't want to show up and be like, oh, we're gonna get beaten. Teams are showing up and wanting to fight for it and don't want to be rolled rolled over too easy. But yeah, it'll be a good test for us. And as I said, we we like to be tested. You know, we know what what group we have, and the the better, the better teams we face, the better, the harder games is what creates a better environment for us, you know. When we get over the hard ones, then you know we've got a lot of we've ticked that one off and move on to the next one.

Chris 51:31

Listen, it's been absolutely brilliant chatting to you um tonight, and and we've we've gone through quite a lot. Before you go though, I am going to ask one question because obviously Danny Wade picked up the man of the match award last night. Um we've since found out that that is you know I think his his his dad was up in the dad was up in the VIP box. So we had an absolute NHL icon there last night. Who on earth told Danny Waite to pull off those dance moves during the thunderclap?

SPEAKER_00 52:02

I did. I started it last week and I just thought, you know what? It's funny, we've won. Let's just have even more fun. Let's see who's got the best dance moves, and then we'll see by the end of the season. I think it'll be me, but you know, he had a he had a great game in front of his parents, his mama and dad were there, and it was good for him. You know, we know he can do it, so it's just you know, seeing him do it is just good for him.

Chris 52:30

The good news is now we know you're doing that, we can keep all those clips at the end of all the games. So we you'll have video evidence at the end of the game.

SPEAKER_00 52:38

For sure. I mean, there's probably gonna be a few you don't even need to record because they're definitely not gonna win, but I mean, man's gonna be up there for sure. We have two minutes and you're done.

Chris 52:51

Brilliant. Well, listen, Carter, thanks very much for your time. Really do appreciate it. It's been great chat. So you you know, keep it going. Um, we don't need to say that. We know we know you're gonna be 110% every time you step step on the ice in the you know, and working hard where you're not. But listen, we'll see you on Saturday night. But thanks again for your time, really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 53:08

Perfect, thanks for having me.

Chris 53:10

So, once again, many thanks to Carter for hopping on to uh to chat to us for this week's uh pod. So, Harrison, let's start having a look forward on to this week and some uh some interesting matchups this week.

Harrison 53:23

Yeah, there certainly is, and we'll have a look quickly at the table as well, just before we get into that. Obviously, Lightning sit pretty at the top. Uh, all teams have played six games. Lightning first with 12 points, five wins, one overtime win. Um Hull Seahawks sit two points behind, having lost only their one one game. Um, so they sit on 10. Swindon Wildcats sit third on nine points after their very difficult first weekend. They have one, they've got back-to-back four-point weekends, and they are back where they belong, chasing the back. Romford Raiders and Sheffield Steel Dogs, the two opponents of Lightning sitting fourth and fifth in the league with eight points from six games. So some big wins for them. Both won four, lost two. Raiders having three wins and one overtime win. The dogs having two overtime wins and two regulation wins. Um, Baton Stokes hit sixth on seven points. Peterborough in seventh on six points. Surprisingly, in eighth, it's the Leeds Knights on five points. Um, although they have had a very tough start to the season.

Chris 54:36

If you look at the other thing, yeah, they're not gonna they're not gonna be there for very very much longer, are they? Let's be let's be honest, let's be honest.

Harrison 54:41

No, they've had some difficult fixtures. Um Telford sit in ninth place with four points from six games, Solway in tenth with two points, and Bristol Pitbulls sit at the bottom with zero points so far. So that's the league table. Obviously, the last couple weekends, um, last couple games for Lightning were also cup games, and so they now remain undefeated in the cup, three games, six points, so massive for them. There are a few other teams unbeaten in the cup as well. Hull Seahawks have got eight points from four, Swindon have got six points from three, Romford have got six points from three, Sheffield have got four points from two. So there are five teams at the moment unbeaten in the cup. Um, however, that very much will change when it comes to the weekend, won't it?

Chris 55:33

It will, but I can I can't help I can't help but think that that's gonna be you know, going into the semis, I think that's that's gonna be four from six, likely, isn't it? Really?

Harrison 55:43

Yeah, yeah, you're you're gonna need to win your games in the cup. But yeah, let's start off with Saturday night's fixture. It's not just any fixture, it is country nights at the Thunderdome. Um first edition of Country Nights for Lightning fans. It's been going for a few years in hockey, um, especially in this country, but it is a tough fixture against the Sheffield Steel Doctors, isn't it?

Chris 56:07

Yeah, it and and here's the thing, you know, Sheffield. You know, I think you said earlier Sheffield had you got them down originally, probably maybe as your your favourites. They look very, very strong, they've got a great setup. Uh, and then you throw into the mix um a certain Slava Kulakov uh as head coach. You know, I I've known of Slava and known of him for years, you know, goes back to pre-lighting days, you know, when he was when he was around Milton Keynes Kings, and he's he's got that real hockey pedigree for me, uh Slava. And um he's a he's a coach's coach, you know, he's he's a very much a I guess the terminology gets thrown a lot, the student of the game. Um he knows his stuff. And if you think about the amount of times that he's brought uh Peterborough side to us and you know, and so on and so forth, and uh you know, we've been out coached on on the night. He's very, very, very good at his situational games, gamesmanship, his situational awareness. And you know when you've got him across, you know, Pete's gonna have his hands full on Saturday night, both what's going on on the ice, but also with a bit of a side eye to what's going on the bench as well, because Slava's a great you know um strategy guy. Uh and he he you know that that's the reason he's up in he's up in uh he's up in Sheffield because you know they can see a pathway eventually to potentially Slava getting involved with you know uh in the elite league at some point. It wouldn't surprise me.

Harrison 57:37

Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me either. And I mean nothing screams Slava like being 4-1 down at home to Solweg, calling a timeout and then scoring four unanswered and winning the game eight six. Like that screams of exactly what you expect from Slava Gulakov, and he's got a Sheffield Steel dog side that is I mean, they've they've just come off the back of a four-point weekend. Um, they're gonna be looking to get themselves another four points, which on what is a very tough weekend for them as well. Let's not forget they've got lightning away on the Saturday, then they host Leeds Knights on the Sunday. So a tough weekend for them, but they're also not gonna be looking at that as if they can't win. They're gonna be looking at it with a lot of confidence and off the back of a very big victory against Bristol on Sunday, and then an OT win against Telford. They also beat Swindon in the first weekend in a shootout, so they've already played a couple of the big sides and got results against them. This is another big test for Sheffield um coming through a like an unbeaten Lightning side, and it's a very tough test for Lightning as well.

Chris 58:49

It's gonna be an interesting game because as well, because um, I mean, you're gonna be on comms on Saturday night, but as it stands right now, you're gonna be you're gonna be on your lonesome. Um it's gonna be a great night. I I think it's gonna be a cracking game. I think it's gonna be end-to-end stuff. It's gonna be a great night from an environment point of view and you know, um from character and everything else. I was talking to talking to DJ Bertie last night uh just before he left the arena, and he has got his playlists are absolutely laced with some country classics. So if you are going, if you've got your tickets, be you're from Sheffield or whether you're a Lightning fan, just go and just go and have a look in the wardrobe and see what you've got country related and and get yourself down there and get into the spirit of it and uh just have a great night.

Harrison 59:33

Yeah, you may see a couple of us up in Lightning TV and some country outfits as well. So for that one, yeah.

Chris 59:39

I've seen I've seen the Lightning TV roster for this one for this one, and I actually yeah, I can I can confidently say that there will be a lot of Western gear going up on that country.

Harrison 59:49

There's definitely a couple of us, put it that way. I don't know about the rest, but I know I know that I'm pretty sure it's me and Aaron, um Cameron and Aaron, that are having a nice little outfit. But I think Kim's working as well this weekend, isn't she? Or is she not? I'm not sure, but either way, it's gonna be uh it's gonna be a very get your country outfits, everyone. If you're going, have fun with it. It's gonna be a good night, whether the hockey on the ice um is a victory for lightning or not. Enjoy the night. It's one of those special ones, do it. We love a good uh themed night, don't we?

Chris 1:00:24

Yeah, absolutely. And fingers crossed, of course, for a lightning win. But then on Sunday, another tough trip. I mean, we keep saying no easy games.

Harrison 1:00:33

Oh boy, it doesn't you know it does not get it does not get any easier. I mean away at the sapphire for Romford is one of the rinks that I think lightning fans do not enjoy playing in. It is not a rank that Lightning have been notoriously good at the last couple of years. If we go back a few years, they went the whole season unbeaten there. Um and if I remember rightly, it was a double-digit scorer, I think, for at one point. I think it was an 11-2. I think it was 11-2 that one, yeah. Yeah, um, but the last couple of years have been very tough um for Lightning. There was the cup semi-final um as well a couple years back against Romford. There's been a couple playoff games that have been tough there. It is not an easy place to go, and at the moment their imports are absolutely firing. We saw them when they played here um last weekend, um, and lightning again, I wouldn't say hobbled over the finish line, but it wasn't a pretty win in the end for Lightning. But Leo Bacallo and Barrett Kowin, 15 points and 14 points. That's 29 points between the two of them. Uh, 10 goals and 19 assists, and Jake Sylvester with six goals from six as well. I mean, they are a dangerous side, they've proven it already this season. They don't have eight points from six games for no reason. They have they went a very high-scoring double head a weekend against Bristol on an opening. Um then fell to Lightning away from home, four goals to two, and empty netter really making that scroll line look prettier than it was for Lightning. Um, a big, big home victory on the Sunday after that against Basenstoke, six goals to four, and that ruined Basenstoke's unbeaten um streak. And then last weekend, an overtime victory away in Telford, another tough place to go, and then they fell short to at least night team who were probably bouncing and just needed that bounce back against them. So you can't imagine that you'll get many of those only one goals at home for Romford. And the one thing I think it's worth mentioning is those benches, how wide they are, how far into the zone they go. That second period for lightning will be the most important.

Chris 1:03:03

Yeah, and I think that's where a lot of teams fall over down there because you you know the with the problem with the way the benches are, you you're you know, depending on where you're going, you you're off you you're almost off side before you get on the ice, and that that's where you've got to be careful of. And it's a couple of really a couple of rinks around that. And Romford's always it's always been uh I'm gonna use the word hostile, but hostile in the atmosphere, you know, as you you're not you're not welcome in there as a as an away team, away fans, and that's sometimes as that's exactly how it should be. And it's that's not uncommon to I mean that's the sapphire now. Rom Valley Wave, the the old rink, used to be, you know, you used to have to run the gauntlet when you went in there because you had to go past literally every single Romford fan to get to the uh to get to the the away team area. Uh and and boy oh boy, it it was very much on a level, a bit like Peterborough, you have to walk in front of everybody as you walk round. Um that was volatile. Um, really was volatile. You don't quite get the same characters that sapphire as you did at Ron Valleyway. I don't want to say thankfully. Um but it's a tough place to come. And you know, even when even when you listen to the stream, you know, how many comments do we get every single season on the stream? Because the atmosphere, Mike, is picking up, you know, uh something maybe that that shouldn't be, uh, shouldn't be there. But that's their layout, you know. And at the end of the day, there's not a great deal you can do about it. You you know, you're gonna get you're gonna get that in a in a lot of rinks. Sometimes the mics that pick it up, sometimes they don't pick it up. It's a tough, tough place to go. Nobody enjoys going down there. And and that's to Romford's credit, to be fair. You make your you make your home pad a fortress, and that's what it should be like.

Harrison 1:04:41

Yeah, 100%. And it goes from everyone from the fans, especially if there's a timeout, the horns get blown right into the bench so that you can't the the players and coaches can't hear anything. Um, you get a good bit of banter from the MC as well. It it runs all the way down and they know what they've got there. Um, it's a it's a lovely rink as well. It's uh I want to say uh a very a lower league Madison Square Garden style. It's not on the bottom floor, yeah. It's above a swimming pool. It's very unique to say the least, but it is a it's a nice rink, but as you said, it is a very hostile one to play in. And Romford are gonna have to do that. That is one of the bet the things that Romford have to do is season in, season out, they've got to make their home place a fortress. And if they can pick points up against those teams, um, I think they were unlucky probably against Leeds, they were coming up against an angry Leeds. Yeah, um, but on another night, they took a couple points from Leeds last season at their barn, and they're gonna do it again. Um, they've got to again, they've got a tough weekend themselves, they're away to Swindon on the Saturday night, and then they've got a host MK. So a difficult, difficult night for basically all three teams involved with Lightning this weekend. Lightning got a tough set, Sheffield's got a tough set, Romford's got a tough set. But Lightning fans, obviously, we're gonna be hoping for a four-point weekend, but it's gonna be another weekend where Lightning's gonna be made to work for it.

Chris 1:06:15

Well, we'll see, and we can certainly mop that up when we come back to the uh come back to the uh the pod next week. Um, but yeah, not a tight, not a tight weekend all round again. So I think that brings us to the to the end of this week's pod today. I think um we've already mentioned the um the fact that we've got the country night this weekend. Don't forget as well that the raffle to win yourself one of those game-worn uh special edition country shirts are um you know uh that's still running. So all you need to do is go to the um Lightning website and pick up the Lightning socials. Um that'll direct you to the Raffle website. One pound gets you a ticket. You know, you've got to be in it to win it and all those other cliches as well. Somebody is gonna win one of those shirts. And don't forget, of course, with all the updates, you can get all the updates on the Lightning website and of course on the supporters club page. Just go to Facebook and search that and get yourself on there. Loads and loads of stuff going on there, loads and loads of information. Um, but I think that's pretty much it for everything. Lifestack Milton King's Lightning. Um, thank you once again, Harrison. It's been absolutely brilliant um chatting to you. Enjoy your um your solo flight on on Saturday night. Um listen from afar. Well, we're gonna we're gonna we'll we'll keep an eye on the scores from afar. We're we're we're otherwise engaged. And uh once again want to say thank you to Carter Hamill for taking the time to come and join us this week. But until next week, have yourselves a great week. Enjoy the games over the weekend, and we'll see you again soon. Take care.