We caught up with Phantoms’ defenceman, Billy Thorpe, about the season so far, adapting when injuries occur, last weekend, this weekend and the support of the fans.
At 21, Billy is still in the early days of his hockey career, but his importance to the team is that of someone far beyond his years. Week-on-week, Billy has shown improvement and is now comfortably one of the most reliable defenceman in the league.
He’s also rising up the Phantoms’ all-time appearance charts, already sitting 24th on 227 games - an impressive stat given he only recently turned 21.
An integral part of the Phantoms’ D-core, Billy feels this season has been a positive one so far, both personally and collectively, with the team sitting fourth in the NIHL National standings.
“I feel as though, personally, this year has been my best so far. I’m feeling confident and feel as though I have taken good steps in my development up to now. I want to continue the way I’m playing going into the rest of the season and playoffs, to help the team as much as I can. I’d say collectively I think we have done well up to now. Making the cup semi final and currently sat top four in the table, I’d say it’s definitely been positive and we need to continue picking up points every weekend!” Thorpe said.
The season so far has been even more impressive when you consider the amount of injuries the team has had - Phantoms haven’t had a full complement of defencemen to choose from for the majority of the season and, as one player returns, another one comes out of the line up. It’s something the players have had to get used to adapting to as the season has gone on, and will continue to do as we head into the business end of 2025/26.
“It’s been tough this year with injuries, especially within the d-core and now losing a player like Brad [Bowering], it’s definitely a big blow considering what he brings to the lineup each night. He’s hard to replace, but when guys have stepped up throughout the year to help out on D they have all done really well and we have beaten top teams when being light on D. So, we know we can rely on bringing guys in and still picking up good results each weekend.” Thorpe commented.
The Wendy’s Peterborough Phantoms capped off an excellent performance with an impressive 7-4 win over second placed Sheffield Steeldogs on Sunday night, further showing the potential of the side and its ability to battle against adversity.
Billy said: “I think Sunday was a perfect example of us showing what we can do when we all start on time and are ready to go. Obviously Saturday’s result didn’t go how we would have liked, so it was nice to put on a good performance Sunday and get the two points.”
This weekend, Phantoms make the journey down south to Basingstoke for a battle with the Bison on Saturday night, before the Leeds Knights pay another visit to Planet Ice Peterborough on Sunday evening.
“it’s going to be tough with the injuries we have going on at the moment, but we have had a good couple games there this season. I think we need to use the motivation of losing last time we went to Basingstoke, to put in a good team performance and get the two points, which we know we are more than capable of doing when we play the right way.”
“Leeds are obviously a good hockey team, they have a lot of good skilled players, but I think we have matched up well against them this year and had very good games throughout the year so far. I think last Sunday [4-5 OT defeat] will give us motivation to get the two points, which we all know we should have got. We just need to play how we did in that game, but see it out for the full 60 minutes.”
The Phantoms fans have been vocal in their support of the team once again this year, with high attendances and lots of noise coming from the stands each week. Billy was keen to acknowledge the impact the fans have had, and can continue to have on the team.
“The fans have been unreal this year. They have helped us make Peterborough a really tough place to come and play for teams, by packing out the rink each week and making it loud! They’re going to be huge going into the back end of the season and playoffs, and we all hope the support continues!”