Hull Pirates put faith in new netminder to help silverware bid

The Pirates go into the second leg of their EPL Cup semi-final against Milton Keynes Lightning simply needing to win in regulation due to the normal aggregate score system used in most two-legged ties not being in place..

Should Hull manage to secure victory in 60 minutes, the tie and a place in the final will then be determined by golden goal overtime.

But Hull’s decision to bring in Czech-born netminder Lakosil and release British-born goalie Jordan Marr cause outrage among some of the club’s fans who, along with players at other EPL clubs, took to social media to register their dismay at the switch.

The chief complaint for critics of the Pirates’ decision centres around their firm belief that it sends out the wrong message to British players looking to make their way in the game.

But, while acknowledging that the decision had upset some Hull fans, Pirates’ owner Shane Smith was adamant the club had chosen the right path.

“We understand the reaction from some fans to the news of Jordan’s departure,” said Smith, who made the decision jointly with player-coach Dominic Osman.

“This is not something we have taken lightly.

“What we have coming in is a goaltender who has experience of playing in the top leagues in Europe and has the experience of winning some of the best trophies there are to win in Europe.

“Vlastimil will help in our pursuit of success this season. We have a huge game coming up on Wednesday as well as the end-of-season play-offs.

“ As things stand right now, the top four teams in this league all have import netminders and we’ve seen in our performances against those top teams that their netminders were the difference on many occasions.

“We have had some poor performances of late, but in both games against Milton Keynes this week their netminder became the difference.

“So we feel that bringing in Vlastimil is the right decision for us as a club to move forward.”

Marr, 26, can count himself unlucky having been axed despite being one of the league’s leading goalies, with a save percentage of 91.4 per cent, putting him in the top five netminders for the season.

Lakosil, who played for Dundee Stars in the Elite League last season, has spent the majority of his career in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, winning the Slovakian league title last year with HK Nitra. In 2009, the 37-year-old won the Continental Cup with MHC Martin.

Hull go in to Wednesday night’s second leg having won just one of their last four games.

They followed up last Thursday’s 4-1 defeat in the first leg with another defeat to Lightning, this time going down 4-2 in the league on the road on Saturday night.

But then worse was to follow on Sunday night when they suffered a 7-2 reverse on home ice against second-bottom Bracknell Bees.

It leaves the Pirates in fifth place, five points behind fourth-placed Basingstoke, but with a game in hand.

Guildford Flames, who thrashed bottom club Manchester PHoenix 11-5 on Saturday night, are just two points behind Hull in sixth.