Luke Alston playing for the Wild away at Hull last season (Photo by Vince Cowell)
The Widnes Wild NIHL team have announced the signing of a new player and a returnee from last season.
The new player is 19 year-old defenceman Joe Howie who is a former Nottingham junior player. He played a number of games for the Nottingham Lions in both Laidler and Moralee Divisions and spent last season with Bradford Bulldogs, where he made 32 appearances, scoring 2 goals and 15 assists.
Talking about signing Howie for the Wild, Widnes player-coach Tom Jackson said: “Joe was recommended by Bradford coach Andy Brown to me when building the team this season for being ready to step up into NIHL 1. At the time of writing this I’ve only seen Joe on the ice a few times but he moves well and makes good decisions and will certainly add to our defensive core for this upcoming season. He’s got a great attitude for hockey and I’m delighted to have him on board.”
New Wild signing Joe Howie
(Photo by Nottingham Lions IHC)
Talking about joining Widnes, Howie said: “I am really excited to get started with the Wild and hoping to add value to the team straight away defensively. I’m also looking forward to building and developing on my previous NIHL 1 experience with Nottingham. I’m also very lucky to be able to still train with Bradford each week and hopefully get a few games in with them too.”
The returning player is 17 year old Luke Alston - a Wild Academy junior player who made his senior NIHL debut for Widnes last season playing on a 3 way deal with the Under 18s, the Wild in the Moralee Division and the Kilmarnock Thunder in the Scottish National League, which gave him plenty of ice time across the three separate teams.
In his debut season for the Wild NIHL team, Alston made 12 appearances in all competitions. He rejoins the Wild on the same 3-way basis this season, which will continue to help with his development.
Wild player-coach Tom Jackson said of Alston: “Luke is another great product of the Wild junior development. Last season saw him gain the opportunity to play with the Wild for the first time, which he has earned for another season this coming year. Luke will be on a two-way arrangement with Kilmarnock Thunder this year, as he was last season to further his development.”
Meanwhile, Luke added: “I’m very glad to be back at Widnes for another season, building on from last year we can definitely strive for great things. I’ve been working hard during the off season to improve and looking forward to having the opportunity to show this on the ice.”
