The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Phantoms boss happy to move up to a new level
Phantoms owner Dave Lane has given his support for plans to create a new second tier of the sport.
The city club are one of eight teams to have indicated a desire to play at the new level of the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) - which will sit above the current Division One South and Division One North - from next season.
The owners of the interested outfits met last month to draw up plans for the new division and a formal discussion will now take place with English Ice Hockey Association (EIHA) chiefs on March 16.
“I think it’s a good thing for the sport as we should be in a league where every game is competitive,” said Lane.
“As a professional club that is what we want and need to market the sport to the public.
“Phantoms are one of the clubs to have declared their intention to play in the new division.”
Phantoms have spent two seasons in NIHL Division One South following the collapse of the old English Premier League.
They are on course to finish as runners-up again this term after agonisingly missing out on the title on goal difference in the 2017/18 campaign.
However, the overall standard of competition at this level is poor with two clubs this season only avoiding going bust after launching public funding appeals.
One of those sides - rockbottom Invicta - arrived at Planet Ice with only eight players for a league fixture last Sunday.
Phantoms predictably dished out a 15-0 drubbing but the game was later awarded as a 5-0 walkover instead due to the Dynamos not having the 10 required players for an official game to take place.
Lane added: “This course of action is in the rules of competition. Due to Invicta not having enough players to officially play the game, they have technically forfeited it.
“The last thing we wanted was for the game to be cancelled and lose revenue, and the eight players from Invicta deserve huge credit for taking to the ice.
“We also needed the two points for our fight to finish second in the league and we got them, while scoring so many goals will have given the players - especially the younger lads who had a lot of ice-time - a real boost.”
Phantoms were due to be in action in Bretton again last night (Wednesday) when hosting Bracknell. They have only one fixture this weekend - a Saturday trip to Invicta.