PREVIEW: MATCH WEEK 16

BILLINGHAM STARS will get their National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 weekend done early with a midday face off against Nottingham Lions in the Midlands tomorrow.

Nottingham are already looking like a solid bet for making the playoffs, sitting comfortably in seventh with a gap between themselves and eighth placed Leeds Knights 2. The issue for the Lions is that there is also a gap of ten points up to sixth placed Whitley Warriors – in order to make a climb up the table they need to make some of their ‘surprise’ results this season more like the norm. Nottingham have improved on last season however, and much has been made of the contribution of veteran Aleš Padělek, however the Lions are far from a one-man team and Billingham will need to keep a close eye on the likes of Alex Rushby and Tyler Somerton. New signing Bailey Challans is a familiar face, having iced for Solihull Barons at the Forum less than two weeks ago.

🔗 Nottingham Lions on Elite Prospects: https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/3382/nottingham-lions

A long, early trip is the Stars only action this weekend, and after last Sunday’s performance that saw Billingham despatch nearest title challengers Blackburn Hawks in ruthless fashion, it is vital that they keep their foot on the throttle. There are four games to go until the end of the calendar year and all four count towards the Moralee Cup competition, so there is added importance as well as the need to keep momentum up. The Stars will still be missing some key players tomorrow but expect to take a strong squad and nothing less than three points is the target.

The Stars are at the Motorpoint Arena for a National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 clash with Nottingham Lions tomorrow lunchtime, face off 12pm.

Weekend Fixtures:

 NIHL N1 Saturday:

🦁 Nottingham Lions 🆚 Billingham Stars 💫

✈️ Hull Jets 🆚 Deeside Dragons 🐉

🗡️ Sheffield Scimitars 🆚 Widnes Wild 🐾

NIHL N1 Sunday:

⚜️ Solihull Barons 🆚 Leeds Knights 2 ⚔️

🦅 Blackburn Hawks 🆚 Widnes Wild 🐾

🦁 Nottingham Lions 🆚 Sheffield Scimitars🗡️