SonderjyskE 2-1 Nottingham Panthers *pens (Continental Cup Final group match 1) 10.01.20
Cracovia Krakow 3-4 Nottingham Panthers (Continental Cup Final group match 2) 11.01.20
Neman Grodno 3-4 Nottingham Panthers (Continental Cup Final group match 3) 12.01.20
Nottingham Panthers finished as worthy runners up in the Continental Cup Final and took home the Silver Plate as they flew back to Robin Hood Country from Denmark proud of their achievements following a weekend of three tough games.
In the end it was Friday night and the first game of the final group stage that cost the Panthers a second ever Continental Cup trophy win but Tim Wallace’s men gave it a real good go only losing via a penalty shoot out to eventual winners and hosts SondejyskE before winning their remaining two matches on ice against Cracovia and Neman Grodno.
Friday night’s opener for Nottingham saw them up against the hosts from Vojens who Panthers had previously beaten in the earlier stages of the competition and after a fiercely competitive and scoreless opening period the travelling army finally took the lead during a powerplay when Brian Connelly struck home.
That goal might have been enough to win it but with little over 2 minutes left of play SonderjyskE equalised to take the game in to Overtime which remained goalless thus taking the tie to penalties.
The first four were all missed before Maylan slashed home to put SonderjyskE ahead and after Hansen’s miss for Nottingham Bjerrum made it two leaving Connolly needing to score to save the match. The American born defender however couldn’t force his way past the Danish Netminder Henriksen and the hosts won the extra point which in the end proved crucial in winning the tournament.
On Saturday Nottingham won their early tie of the day against Cracovia Krakow of Poland but it wasn’t without a scare as Cracovia went 0-3 up moving early into the second period. Nottingham however pulled a shot back through Hansen before Talbot levelled in the third and when Herr equalised during a powerplay Krakow who lost their opening match gambled on the win by replacing their netminder for an attacker which in the final seconds of the match played into Nottingham’s hands as Hansen finished into an empty net to give the Panthers an unlikely 4-3 win.
With SonderjyskE beating Neman Grodno on Saturday night the Danes then beat Krakow 3-1 on Sunday morning to take the tournament but Nottingham still had second place to play for as they faced Neman Grodno in what ended up to be another cracking ice hockey match.
The Belarussians were quick off the blocks and took a 2-0 lead during the first period before Hansen scored his second of the weekend to pull back the deficit to one. Artyom Kisly then made it 3-1 with the second of the game for him before Horvat found the net and Herr levelled taking the tie into a third period all square.
As both teams pushed for a winning goal it was Georgs Golokovs after good work by Brett Perlini netting the winner with just a minute and ten seconds on the clock.
Nottingham finishing second level on points with SonderjyskE after two regulation wins but having a worse head to head record following the first match shootout loss.
A lot to be proud of for Nottingham Panthers who have once again done the city proud in Europe by taking second spot in the Continental Cup they might miss out on a Champions League place (for now) but have certainly laid down a marker that UK ice hockey is improving and that Nottingham are serious side capable of beating anyone across the continent on their day.
*Main image @PanthersIHC the Nottingham team celebrate a fantastic achievement in finishing second.
