Andrew Hopkins receives the Wild Player Of The Month Award for March 20923 (Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies)
The Widnes Wild NIHL team have announced that Andrew Hopkins will be returning to the side for the forthcoming 2024/25 Moralee Division campaign.
Belfast born Hopkins previously played for the Belfast Giants U20s team and then had two NIHL seasons with Altrincham Aces before joining the Wild in the summer of 2022.
In his 2 seasons to date with the Wild, Hopkins has played 66 games in all competitions, scoring 10 goals and 15 assists, picking up 32 penalty minutes.
Talking about Hopkins’ return, Wild Player/Coach, Tom Jackson said:
“I’m really happy to welcome Hoppy back for the 3rd season. He had a rough season last year with injuries so I’m looking forward to see him bounce back after having the off season to recover. Hoppy has the ability to score goals and works hard all over the ice so it was an easy decision for me to welcome him back!”
Hopkins added: “I’m buzzing to be back playing for the Wild next season, after a fairly disappointing season last year personally due to a number of injuries. I’m grateful for TJ asking me to come back and looking forward to see him step up into the coaching role and take the club forward. I can’t wait to see the fans again, hopefully fill out the barn and build up what we had last year.”
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As part of their preparations for the 2024/25 Moralee Division season, the Wild are holding an open player trial at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday 14th July.
Players are required to arrive at 3.15pm to be ready to go in the ice 4.15. Anybody who wants to take part is asked to contact gm@widneswild.co.uk in advance to register their interest.
Immediately after the player trial, the Wild club are holding an open fans’ meeting at the rink where supporters will be able to ask new player coach Tom Jackson any questions they have.
The event starts at 5.30pm on Sunday with doors opening at 5pm so that fans can watch the last 15 minutes of the players trial session.
