The North West Lions tournament team launched their playing kit at a special training event at Planet Ice Widnes last weekend. It was a big occasion for the new team as it was the first time that the players had been able to get together due to the various rink closures and training restrictions caused by the Covid pandemic over the past 18 months.
Rather like the rugby union representative team with a similar name, this new Lions ice hockey team has been set up especially to play tournaments and matches abroad and, as its name suggests, comprises players taken from the north west rinks of Widnes, Deeside, Altrincham and Blackburn.
The team had arranged to take part in an 8-team international tournament in Prague in September - where they would have been lining up against teams from the Netherlands, Romania and Slovakia as well as the host country - but the ongoing uncertainty regarding foreign travel and lockdowns in mainland Europe have made it impractical to attend.
They now hope to travel to the Czech Republic in April next year instead for a similar tournament and it is hoped that restrictions will have been sufficiently relaxed by then to enable the Lions to take part.
You can find out more about the North West Lions teams on their Facebook page at: CLICK HERE
