Bees IHC’s victory over Solway Sharks confirmed their spot in the Planet Ice NIHL National Division play-offs on Sunday, 24 hours after losing 8-2 to Raiders IHC as they secured their own top eight berth.
Bees went into the penultimate weekend with games against the two sides either side of them and did enough to confirm their play-off position.
The Raiders, meanwhile, moved four points behind both Peterborough Phantoms and Telford Tigers ahead of the final two games of the regular season this weekend.
Despite the Bees’ defeat in London, Solway’s loss to Telford in their first game of the weekend resulted in a win-and-in game for the Slough-based side, who confirmed eighth place with a closely-contested 4-3 victory.
This means that Solway’s debut season in the NIHL National Division sees them fall just short of the play-offs.
Elsewhere, champions Leeds Knights were victorious in both games of their double-header against Sheffield Steeldogs.
The future top two seeds in Group B when the play-offs begin went head-to-head, with Swindon Wildcats coming out on top against MK Lightning with a 4-2 win on Saturday night.
That ensured a perfect weekend for the Wildcats, who made it four points from four after an emphatic 5-0 victory away at bottom side Bristol Pitbulls.
Fourth-placed Hull Seahawks lost two out of two, making it three defeats in the week after Wednesday’s loss to MK Lightning in the first leg of their National Cup final.
Lightning and the Seahawks will meet in the second leg on Tuesday night.
Outside of the National Division, the regular seasons of Divisions 1 and 2 culminated this weekend, with the play-off seeds confirmed. The quarter-finals take place this coming weekend.
Full results for the weekend can be found below. Thanks to our friends at NIHL Stats, you can also check out the latest results from the WNIHL and junior leagues.
Fri 22nd Mar Bristol Pitbulls 0-5 Swindon Wildcats L
Sat 23rd Mar Hull Seahawks 4-8 Peterborough Phantoms L
Sat 23rd Mar Raiders IHC 8-2 Bees IHC L
Sat 23rd Mar Sheffield Steeldogs 4-5 Leeds Knights L
Sat 23rd Mar Solway Sharks 4-10 Telford Tigers L
Sat 23rd Mar Swindon Wildcats 4-2 Milton Keynes Lightning L
Sun 24th Mar Bees IHC 4-3 Solway Sharks L
Sun 24th Mar Leeds Knights 6-3 Sheffield Steeldogs L
Sun 24th Mar Milton Keynes Lightning 8-1 Bristol Pitbulls L
Sun 24th Mar Peterborough Phantoms 3-6 Raiders IHC L
Sun 24th Mar Telford Tigers 8-3 Hull Seahawks L
Sat 23rd Mar Nottingham Lions 3-6 Whitley Warriors L
Sun 24th Mar Billingham Stars 2-5 Whitley Warriors L
Sun 24th Mar Deeside Dragons 6-1 Widnes Wild L
Sun 24th Mar Sheffield Scimitars 2-4 Hull Jets L
Sun 24th Mar Solihull Barons 5-3 Blackburn Hawks L
Sat 23rd Mar Chelmsford Chieftains 11-3 Oxford City Stars BC
Sat 23rd Mar Slough Jets 3-1 Invicta Dynamos BC
Sat 23rd Mar Solent Devils 7-3 Romford Buccaneers L
Sun 24th Mar Invicta Dynamos 4-6 Chelmsford Chieftains BC
Sun 24th Mar Romford Buccaneers 7-2 Milton Keynes Thunder L
Sun 24th Mar Streatham Redhawks 4-0 Solent Devils L
Sat 23rd Mar Coventry NIHL Blaze 5-1 Altrincham Aces L
Sat 23rd Mar Sutton Sting 6-3 Bradford Bulldogs L
Sun 24th Mar Altrincham Aces 5-7 Sheffield Titans L
Sun 24th Mar Kingston Sharks 0-11 Telford Tigers NIHL 2 L
Sun 24th Mar Nottingham Lions NIHL 2 4-5 (SO) Sutton Sting L
Sat 23rd Mar Bristol Pitbulls NIHL 2 2-4 Peterborough Phantoms NIHL 2 L
Sat 23rd Mar Cardiff Fire 7-1 Streatham Black Hawks L
Sat 23rd Mar Haringey Huskies 3-4 Guildford Phoenix L
Sat 23rd Mar Lee Valley Lions 1-12 Basingstoke Buffalo L
Sun 24th Mar Guildford Phoenix 7-0 Chelmsford Warriors L
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