One third of the way through the 2018-19 Sport Corner Siam Hockey League (SHL) campaign AWARE was unbeaten at 7-0 and very much looked like the team to beat.
AWARE's top three defensemen of captain Patrik Lundback plus Thai national team coach Juhani Ijas and former Israeli national team player Roman Larin move the puck around so well that it is hard for any opposing team to mount a sustained attack on AWARE keeper Patrick Leduc.
And AWARE's two teenage forwards, Phu Suwachirat and Winnie Luckanatinakorn have also put on a quick show displaying maturity beyond their years and teaming with sniper Harrison Oztemel to give AWARE a potent offensive force.
The Novotel Spitfires hold down second spot with a 5-2 record with both their losses coming to AWARE. The Spitfires have been nicknamed "the White Walkers" and their top forward line of Corry Day, Michael White and Brandon Vick is on fire with Day being the SHL's leading scorer, and White and Vick following closely in the scoring race.
AWARE's top three defensemen of captain Patrik Lundback plus Thai national team coach Juhani Ijas and former Israeli national team player Roman Larin move the puck around so well that it is hard for any opposing team to mount a sustained attack on AWARE keeper Patrick Leduc.
And AWARE's two teenage forwards, Phu Suwachirat and Winnie Luckanatinakorn have also put on a quick show displaying maturity beyond their years and teaming with sniper Harrison Oztemel to give AWARE a potent offensive force.
The Novotel Spitfires hold down second spot with a 5-2 record with both their losses coming to AWARE. The Spitfires have been nicknamed "the White Walkers" and their top forward line of Corry Day, Michael White and Brandon Vick is on fire with Day being the SHL's leading scorer, and White and Vick following closely in the scoring race.
Novotel has also been bolstered by the goaltending of Gabor Toth, who has played extremely well while substituting for the injured Yves Gaborauilt. Novotel defenseman Ken Kindborn has been a force to be reckoned with at both ends of the ice; look-kreung Ken returned to Thailand from Sweden so he could play with the national team and is helping coach Ijas take that squad to new levels. Hertz with a 2-5 record sits in third spot and their two wins have come at the expense of TRUE though Hertz's goalie Dream Ungkulpattanasuk has kept them in almost every game including a near upset of AWARE. TRUE sits a 0-7 but that statistic is somewhat misleading as they have lost games in which they have outshot the opposition 2-1 and their goaltender has struggled at times, but on paper this is a very good squad. SHL history was made in mid-November when two female competitors took to the ice against each other as Novotel's Carly Hill faced off against AWARE's Caley Steinert. SHL action take place at the Rink, 7th floor, Central Grand Rama IX, and admission is free; check out the schedule at www.siamhockeyleague.com. The SHL would like to thank the Big Chilli for sponsoring the SHL News podcast with Dom Dumais. For a typical SHL podcast go to http://siamhockeyleague.com |