Millie keeps brothers at bay

Ice on the roads may have caused some games to be called off because teams were unable to travel, but two games kept the fans warm as Newcastle Warriors versus Nottingham Panthers and Slough Jets against Fife Flyers produced exciting draws.

Slough's 3-0 start against Fife was due to a brotherly hat-trick, Gary Stefan's two goals complemented by one from his younger brother Joe. Fife pulled back to 3-3 at the end of the first period, and the second period saw the sides swap goals with Slough ending up 6-5 leaders.

The two sides continued to exchange goals until, with two minutes left, Joe Stefan scored to make it 9-8. With 90 seconds remaining, Les Millie, who comes from a Scottish ice hockey dynasty, proved that brotherhood is not everything by scoring the equaliser for a 9-9 final result.

Newcastle and Nottingham kept their match tighter but the game was just as back and forth, with the score 4-4 at the end of the second period. With defence crucial in the third period, it looked as if Mike Blaisdell, the Nottingham player-coach, had taken the points with a goal two minutes into the period.

The Panthers defended en masse but, for the second week in a row, Newcastle's Scott Morrison decided the outcome of the match with a short handed goal with minutes left for the 5-5 final score.