The Halton Huskies celebrate the team's 7th birthday in colourful style (Photo by Haganovaphoto)
Sunday 28th May 2023 – Summer Classic Cup: Halton Huskies 7 – Blackburn Buccaneers 1
The Widnes based Halton Huskies moved to the top of the Summer Classic Cup group on goal difference with a 7-1 victory over the Blackburn Buccaneers at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.
The game saw the 7th anniversary of the Huskies club and the players arrived wearing brightly coloured Hawaiian shirts to mark the occasion.
Representatives of the Saints Sled Dog Rescue charity – who offer to help re-home unwanted Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes – were special guests at the game.
The Halton goals were scored by Jake Berry (2+1), Ethan Trickett (2+0), Matthew Kohler (2+0) and Nathan Hweitt (1+2) with Anthony Hough and Conor Cooper adding assists. The Huskies netminder Rebecca Donnelly was named Most Valuable Player for the home side.
Sunday’s result sees the Huskies tied on points at the top of the table with the Riverside Raiders but according to the rules of the competition, teams level on the same number of points are separated by overall goal difference – and not by games between the two teams, as is common in other ice hockey tournaments.
The Huskies have two wins from their three games to date – with a goal difference of +17 - while the Raiders have two wins from two with a goal difference of +16.
The Raiders play away in Hull next Saturday 3rd June and are at home to Blackburn on Sunday 10th June. The Huskies are away in Blackburn on 4th June and then at home to Hull on 10th June as the second instalment of a mouth-watering “Widnes double bill” of ice hockey straight after the Raiders game.
If current form prevails in the intervening matches, the Huskies and Raiders look likely to battle out for to decide who finishes in top position in the group in their second meeting of the campaign on 1st July at Planet Ice Widnes. The top two teams in each of the regional Cup groups qualify for the play offs weekend which will be held in Sheffield over 8th & 9th August.
