Hockey is back at Planet Ice Peterborough as your Wendy’s Peterborough Phantoms welcome French second tier side, Les Bisons, for a pair of pre-season fixtures.
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Neuilly-sur-Marne is a French commune, located 13.1 km from the centre of Paris. Their hockey team, Les Bisons, were formed in 1974 and play in the second division of hockey in France.
They are led by Czech Head Coach, Radek Mika, a former player of Les Bisons, who is entering his second season at the helm of Les Bisons. He guided them to an 11th place finish in his first season as Head Coach, before they were eliminated in Round 1 of the playoffs.
Former Berkshire Bee and currently MKL forward, Dominik Gabaj, spent the 2018/19 season with Les Bisons, amid a four year spell in France.
On the Phantoms side of the matchup, Cameron Hough and Dillon Lawrence have both spent time in the same league, facing off against Les Bisons during their spells with Tours and Dunkerque respectively.
TEAM NEWS
Phantoms will be without the services of forward Nathan Salem, who will be a long-term absentee through injury.
AJ Herring and Connor Glossop are expected to feature across the weekend, as preparations for the new NIHL National season ramp up.
Les Bisons will be without Canadian import Cullen McLean, whilst Russian goalie Andrei Filonenko, defenceman Alexander Yakimenko and forward Arslan Yamalov also won’t feature.
The French club have utilised their partnership with Ligue Magnus side, Cergy-Pontoise, to add Noah Wendling (D) and Nino Abdelali (F) to their lineup for their trip to England.
ONE TO WATCH
Les Bisons’ #36, Latvian forward Romans Nekludovs, is our one to watch this weekend. The 30-year-old notched 18 goals and 22 assists for 40 points in 30 regular season games for Neuilly-sur-Marne last season, outscored only by former teammate Carson MacKinnon, who has since moved to Germany.
COACHES CORNER
“I think we’ve had a good first week of practice and we’ll be looking to have a full squad plus a couple of 2-ways and prospects, which enables me to get a look at everyone. Obviously it’s the first weekend and things are going to take time. I think playing pre season against a team that we don’t ever see will be a good test for us.” - Phantoms’ Head Coach, Ashley Tait.
TICKET NEWS
We’re running a special offer for this weekend’s double header against Les Bisons. If you buy a ticket for Saturday’s game, you’ll get your ticket to Sunday’s game for half price.
You can purchase your tickets HERE!
JERSEYS
Phantoms will wear their new dark jerseys on Saturday night and their new white jerseys will be seen for the first time on Sunday evening.
You can shop all three of Phantoms’ new jerseys HERE!