Essential Info – Doors Open 6pm, Warm up 6:20pm, Face Off 7pm.
Tickets available here or on 01908 540020.
We’re expecting a good sized crowd so please try to arrive a little earlier and be in your seats by 18:45 if at all possible.
To get you in the mood, check out DJ Bertie’s pre-match playlist here.
Supporters Club
Before the match there will be a cheque presentation from the Supporters Club to the Lightning for all the funds raised over the last few weeks. Thank you all for your generosity and thank you to the Supporters Club for all their tireless efforts.
Remembrance Own and Loan shirts will be presented in the VIP bar after the game.
Don’t forget to pick up your 50/50, Ollie’s Grid, Shirt off His Back tickets and Chuck a Ducks (for this week only Dubbsie’s Ducks!) from the Supporters’ Club sellers around the rink. The raffles will all be drawn in the second period break by MKL favourite Georgs Golovkovs.
Swing by the SC stand to pick up some MK Lightning merchandise (don’t forget they take card too!). Last week saw the launch of the superb pink range of merch which is well worth looking at.
50/50 – Our sellers will be around the rink in their blue tabbards, selling 50/50 tickets for your chance to win half the money in the pot. Last weeks winner took home £364 and you could win a similar amount this week. Tickets are £1 each, 3 for £2 or 10 for £5.
Shirt Off His Back – This week we have Rio Grinell-Parke’s shirt to be won off his back. Also up for grabs we have a dark Ari Nahri jersey to be won. Our sellers can be found around the rink in the pink tabbards. Tickets are priced also at £1 each, 3 for £2 or 10 for £5.
Ollie’s Grid – This week Laura is stepping into Ollie’s shoes on the grid and she has a Tomas Kana signed warm up jersey to be won. Squares cost £1 each, and Laura will be around the rink in the Yellow tabbard.
Chuck a Duck- With Sue still away, this week Richard Wilmott will be stepping into the Orange tabbard for a one week special of Dubbsie’s Ducks. With his helpful assistant Chloe, he’ll be selling the ducks just inside the main doors. Priced at £1 each (or at 2 for £2, 3 for £3…) grab one to win by being nearest to the prize on the ice during the 2nd period break.
Match preview
Last weekend saw the immediate impact of new signing Liam Stewart who bagged 4 goals in 2 games. Some really encouraging signs from the new first line, along with goals from 7 scorers showed the super team wide performance across the two wins. Hallden Barnes-Garner, Logan Prince and Ross Green all bagging their first goals for the MKL this season. Plenty to look forward to in the visit of Raiders this weeken.d
Romford based Raiders make their first visit of the season to Planet Ice on Saturday to meet a Smith Recycling Milton Keynes Lightning team buoyed by their first four point weekend of the campaign.
Both teams go into the weekend with 10 points but Lightning will be probably be more confident after those 7-2 and 3-1 wins while Raiders lost twice – 10-1 at Peterborough Phantoms and 5-3 at home to Sheffield Steeldogs.
Lightning defeated Raiders 4-3 at the Sapphire Centre a month ago with Ari Närhi bagging a brace and CalyRobertson and Rio Grinell-Parke registering the others. Expectations will be high that they can better that result this time around, especially because MK have strengthened since then after the arrival of Liam Stewart and the news this week that both Tom Carlon and Lewis Christie have agreed contracts to remain until the end of the season to add vital experience to the side.
However Raiders will be hoping that their recently acquired Slovakian import, Erik Piatak, will be able to add to his single goal tally. Piatak who replaced Marek Malinsky late last month spent a single season with Guildford Flames scoring 14 goals and assisting on 14 during the 2015-2016 campaign.
Leading scorer is Chelmsford born Jake Sylvester who has found the back of the net eight times and with eight assists has 16 points in 15 games while dual Slovakian-UK national Blahoslav Novák is two points behind with nine goals and five helpers.
First choice goalie is Michael Gray who made his debut for Raiders in 2010-2011 – then known as Romford Raiders – during the season after the club left the now defunct English Premier League having finished bottom as Lightning took top spot for the last time.
He has been joined on the books by Greg Blais who has come out of retirement having not played since 2015. Blais will be a familiar name to long time MK fans with service at Wightlink Raiders and later Telford Tigers.
Other names to look out for include Aaron Connolly who is in his second year with Raiders. Earlier in his career he played for Slough Jets and then spending three seasons with Basingstoke Bison. Dan Scott started his career with Connolly at Invicta Dynamos. Since then their careers have gone different ways as well as spending time together at Slough and Basingstoke. Now they are both on Raiders roster.
Face off on Saturday is at a 7pm. Tickets can be obtained in advance by contacting Planet Ice on 01908 540020 and online here. On Sunday Lightning are on the road, at Telford where face off is at 6pm.
