The TSI World Bees have a tough weekend ahead as they have a 3 game weekend where they welcome the Raiders IHC to the Slough Ice Arena on Friday afternoon. Then the Bees are on the road as they make their way up to Dumfries to face the Solway Sharks on Saturday evening leaving them to face the Leeds Knights on Sunday evening in Leeds. 

Raiders IHC

Raiders currently 7th within the league standings as they have managed to secure 43 points (same amount as the Bees in the same amount of games played) in 47 games by winning 18 games, losing 22 games and losing 7 games in overtime. The Raiders are going into Friday’s fixture off the back of a 8-0 win against the Bristol Pitbull last Sunday but had previously lost to the Telford Tigers on Saturday evening. 

The Raiders’ power play in the 47 games they have completed has been 24% effective as they have been able to use 43 out of 181 chances they have had with a man advantage while the penalty kill this season for the Raiders has been 72% effective as they have been able to successfully see through 136 out of 188 times where they have found themselves short-handed.There have been a total of 13 short-handed goals against the Raiders this season by teams across the league, but the Raiders have been able to only score 3 short-handed goals themselves that have been scored by Brandon Ayliffe and George Norcliffe.

There have been a total of 1,586 shots on goal against them from the 47 games completed and this has led to roughly 34 shots on goal against the Raiders netminders per game. On the other side, the Raiders have been able to have 1,717 shots on goal and have created an average of 37 shots on goal per game. 212 goals have gotten to the back of the Raiders net by players across the league while Raiders have been able to score 203 goals.

Going into Friday’s fixture, the ones to watch for the Bees will be Adam Laishram and Jake Sylvetser. Adam Laishram is currently the top point scorer for the Raiders as he has been able to collect 77 points from scoring 37 goals and getting 40 assists. He is a massive part of their offensive pushes and has been able to get 6 power play and 5 game winning goals for the Raiders this season. Jake Sylvester is the top point scoring British trained player for the Raiders as he has collected 56 points from scoring 36 goals and having 20 assists, whilst collecting these he has only faced 4 penalty minutes. Something the Bees will need to watch out for is his powerful shot straight off the face-offs that sometimes catches teams off.

Solway Sharks

The Sharks find themselves occupying 9th place after completing 48 games and securing 40 points, 3 points off the Bees, as they have won 18 games, lost 26 and had 4 games go to overtime that have led to a loss. Solway are going into this weekend after facing a doubleheader against the Peterborough Phantoms where they were able to get a 3 point weekend against the Phantoms after a 6-5 win on Saturday evening then a 5-6 loss after overtime in Peterborough on Sunday evening. 

Solway’s power play unit after the 48 games completed had been roughly 23% effective as they’ve been able to use 45 out of 196 chances where they have had a man advantage in games while their penalty kill has been 71% effective as they have been able to shut down 130 out of 183 times the opposing team have found themselves with a man advantage. There have been a total of 9 short-handed goals scored against the Sharks this season from teams across the league while the Sharks have been able to score 4 short-handed goals that were scored by Nolan Gardiner, Scott Henderson, Liam Stenton and Kell Beattie.

There have been a total of 1,529 shots on goal against the Sharks’ netminders in the games they’ve completed and this has resulted in an average of 32 shots on goal against Solway per game. However, the Sharks have been able to have 1,448 shots on goal across all their games this season and created an average of 30 shots on goal. 220 goals have been scored against the Sharks so far this season while the Sharks players have been able to get the puck to the back of the net 171 times over the 48 games completed.

Going into Saturday’s game, the Bees will need to watch out for Nolan Gardiner and Liam Stenton. Nolan Gardiner is a massive part of the Sharks’ power play from what we have seen this season and this will be something the Bees will need to try to take control of if they find themselves on the penalty kill. He has managed to collect 67 points this season with 41 goals and 26 assists with 17 of his goals coming from power play opportunities that Sharks have had and 23 of his assists coming from the power play as well. He has also been able to score 1 short-handed and 3 game winning goals for Solway this season and will be a key individual going forward for the Sharks in their push for the playoffs. Liam Stenton is a huge part of the Sharks’ defence and has been the whole season especially while Solway have been caught on the penalty kill. In 48 games, he has been able to collect 27 points from 5 goals and 22 assists with 2 power play goals and 1 short-handed. 

Leeds Knights

It’s a big weekend for Leeds as they edge closer and closer to securing the league champions title. They are currently top of the league as after 48 games they have completed it has resulted in them securing 85 points due to 42 wins, 5 loses and 1 game that went to overtime but they lost. Leeds are going into this weekend with an 11 game win streak after a 4 point weekend last weekend against the Hull Seahawks after they had a doubleheader against each other. 

Leeds’ power play stands at 26% effective after they have been able to convert a man advantage into a power play goal 45 out of 172 chances they’ve had this season. Their penalty kill has been 84% effective this season as they have been able to stop 156 out of 186 times the opposing team’s around the league have found themselves with a man advantage. There have been only 2 short-handed goals scored against the Knights this season while the Knights have been able to score short-handed 18 times and those goals have been scored by: Kieran Brown, Mac Howlett, Jordan Buesa, Josh Adkins, Ethan Hehir and Dylan Hehir.

There have been a total of 1,441 shots on goal against the Knights this season with their netminders facing an average of 30 shots on goal per game. While Leeds have been able to have a total of 1,625 shots on goal all together with roughly 34 shots on goal per game. There have only been a total of 107 goals scored against the Knights while the Leeds players have been able to score 236 goals in total this season.

Going into this fixture, the Bees will need to watch out for Mac Howlett who has managed to collect 66 points this season. While the Knights have been on the penalty kill he has been able to score 4 short-handed goals and this will be something the Bees will need to watch out for. Another player the Bees need to be cautious of is Bow Neely who seems to go under the radar, not everything he does in noticeable but what he does to aid his team defensively plays a massive role in their success.