Wild Junior Academy Round Up

The Wild Academy team were last season's North Division Under 12 champions (Photo by Hannah Walker)

The Widnes Wild Academy junior teams had a busy weekend with opening games of the new season for the Under 12s, U14s and U16s.

The Under 14 team won 9-6 at home to Billingham, while the Under 12s – who are looking to defend the league title that they won last year - lost 0-8 to Solihull. 

The Under 16 team lost 4-1 away to Coventry.

Admission is free for all spectators to Wild Academy home games at Planet Ice Widnes and fans are encouraged to go along and support the stars of the future.

5 More Sign For Wild Women

Laura Moran (in purple) playing for Oxford against Widnes at the Bristol Tournament, seen with Wild's Victoria Connelly (#88) (Photo by Flyfifer Photography)

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team have a new player to boost their squad for the forthcoming 2023/24 WNIHL North season, as well as the return of a familiar face.

Laura Moran has played for the Oxford Midnight Stars in Division 2 South for the past 8 years and has over 70 WNIHL matches under her belt. In that time she contributed 4 goals and 11 assists from her defensive role and notched up 42 penalty minutes.

Moran also played University hockey for 4 seasons with the UAE (University Of East Anglia) Avalanche, scoring 1+2 in 18 games. 

Talking about her move to the Wild women, Laura said: “I can’t wait to get this season started with Widnes! I was sad to be leaving Oxford at the end of last season after 8 years but Widnes have been so welcoming. I’m looking forward to getting to know all the girls more and seeing how much we can achieve on the ice this year!”

Jemma Brown
(Photo by Geoff White)

Returnee Jemma Brown needs no introduction to Widnes fans as she played three seasons for the Wild women from 2018 to 2022 before taking a break from competitive hockey last year.

In that time she played 38 league and challenge matches scoring 6 goals and 8 assists and was a member of the Wild women’s team that won the Division 1 North title in 2019/20.

Before joining Widnes, Jemma had played for the Kingston Diamonds in the Women’s Premier League as well as junior hockey for Blackburn and Trafford and has over 90 competitive games to her record.

She said of her return to the Wild women’s team: “I am incredibly excited to be returning back to playing for the women after having a season off. After seeing how well the team performed last season, I am excited to see how well the team performs this season.”

“I’m sure it will be an amazing season with new team members and some very experienced players with lots of fun and exciting memories for us all to remember as a team.”

Three more players from last season’s squad have also returned to the Wild women for the new campaign.  

Ontario-born Lise Gillen brings a wealth of experience having played 3 seasons for the Guildford Lightning in the Womens’ Elite League, as well as playing in her native Canada. She played 10 games for Widnes last season, scoring 2 goals and 4 assists

Victoria Connelly also played 10 games for Widnes last season, scoring 3 goals and 2 assists she is also a former Guildford Lightning Elite player, previously playing for the Bracknell Fire Bees and, in total, has made over 50 WNIHL appearances.

Jennifer Hickey joined the Wild women for the 2021/22 and has played in all 30 games that the team have played since then.   She has contributed 3 goals and 4 assists and picked up just 4 penalty minutes.

Hickey also plays University hockey for the Manchester Metros, scoring 6+9 in 28 games over two seasons.

The DMUK Widnes Wild women play their first game of the new season on Sunday 1st October when they take on the Grimsby Wolves at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Match Report: Widnes Wild 4 - Nottingham Lions 3 (OT) - Moralee Division

 

Jonathan Williamson scored an all-important Wild equaliser against Nottingham (Photo by Ste Cunningham)

17th September 2023 – NIHL Moralee Division: YKK Widnes Wild 4 – Nottingham Lions 3 (OT)

THE Widnes Wild NIHL team staged a dramatic fightback to win both points with a 4-3 overtime victory over Nottingham Lions at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

This was the Wild’s first Moralee Division game of the season, following on from back to back challenge match wins over lower league Telford Tigers2 and was a significant test for player coach Joey Coulter’s new look squad.

It was highly entertaining to watch throughout, very closely contested, and could really have gone either way. 

The first period played out goal-less and it took until the 24th minute for the first breakthrough to come.  Despite Widnes having the edge on shots on goal in the early stages, it was the visitors who scored first with a shorthanded strike while the Wild were pressing forward on a hooking powerplay.

The Wild outshot the Lions by almost 2 to 1 during the second period, but a stream of minor penalties stopped them building up any kind of momentum and Nottingham struck again – on a powerplay - with just 5 seconds left on the clock to take a 0-2 lead into the second break.

Home fans finally got something to cheer about 6 minutes into the third period when Nathan Britton fired the puck home to open the Wild account for the evening.  

Things began to get niggly after this and some heavy checks were dealt out by both teams.  Rhys Edwards took particular exception to a check from behind and the influential youngster picked up a 5+game major penalty for fighting and missed the remainder of the match.

If anything, this fired the Wild team up all the more and just 60 seconds later, the scores were tied with an equaliser from Jonathan Wilkinson, leaving it was much “game on” with 10 minutes left to play.

Nottingham edged back into the lead again on 53 minutes on a powerplay punishing the Edwards penalty but, undeterred, the Wild kept pushing forward and their efforts were rewarded with another equaliser on 56 minutes with a goal from Matty Barlow.

The score remained at 3-3 at the end of the regulation 60 minutes playing time so an additional period of sudden death overtime was played to decide a winner.

Overtime is played with just 3 players against 3 on the ice and is fast moving and very tense. With a single “sudden death” goal deciding who wins the match there is everything to play for - and no room for error!

Both teams had their chances in overtime and the unbearable tension around the rink was racked up even further as both sides called 30 second time outs to discuss strategy. But, just as it looked as if the game might have to go to a penalty shoot out, and with just 90 seconds left on the clock, the Lions picked up a penalty for high sticks.

If a penalty is awarded in overtime, rather than playing on with just 2 skaters, the opposing team is allowed to bring on an extra player so Widnes had a 4 on 3 man advantage in these crucial remaining seconds of the game. 

In the ensuing powerplay, with just 43 seconds left on the clock, Kyle Carruth slotted the puck home to give Widnes a dramatic overtime win.

The result means that the Wild get 2 Moralee Division points for the win, while Nottingham get a single point for an “overtime loss”.

The Wild are next in action this Saturday 23rd September when they make the long journey to the North East to face the Whitley Warriors – 7pm face off - and are then at home the following night when they take on North West rivals Blackburn Hawks at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off. 

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The Halton Huskies recreational team have a challenge match away to Deeside-based Connah’s Quay Cobras on Sunday – face off 8.30pm. Admission is free.

More Signings For Wild Women

Charlotte Cramp (Photo by Anne Bennison)

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team continue to prepare for their 2023/24 WNIHL Division 2 North league title challenge with the return of 4 more players from last season’s squad. 

Forward Charlotte Cramp returns to the Wild women for her third season, having joined the team in 2021 from a background of university hockey with Manchester Metros.

In her two seasons with the Wild to date, she has played 31 games and scored 5 goals and 11 assists.

Cramp is very versatile and even played in goal for the first game of last season, picking up the MVP award away at Solway.  She is also a qualified Level 3 match official and regularly referees junior matches and can cover senior men’s games at NIHL 2 level if required.

Charlotte also has an IIHF licence, which allows her top officiate at international women’s tournaments.

She will be the captain of the Wild women’s team for the new season.

Karyn Cooper (Photo by Wil Evans)

Karyn Cooper  has re-signed for her 5th season with the Wild women, having joined the team from the 2018/19 season. She also played University hockey for the Manchester Metros team, clocking up 43 games in 4 years.

In her 4 seasons to date at Widnes, Karyn has played in 52 league, playoff and challenge matches, contributing 6 assists.

She is also the Wild women’s team manager and puts in a huge amount of work behind the scenes. 

Rachael Pearce (Photo by DMUK Widnes Wild women's team)

Rachael Pearce only joined the Wild women last season, but she has a fascinating background in ice hockey and brings a wealth of experience to the team.  

Rachael originally played with the Blackpool women’s team in the late 1980s and then joined the Blackburn Falcons rec team at the then newly opened  East Lancs rink. She then had a 20 year break from ice hockey, playing football up to county level, before playing for the Wyre Seagulls at the SubZero rink in Cleveleys in 2011/12 and then joining the Blackburn Thunder women’s team the following year.

She played 6 seasons for the Thunder from 2012 to 2018, finishing as a runner-up in the Division 1 North table before the team sadly folded at the end of that season.

4 years later, Pearce joined the Wild women’s team where she was an ever-present for the 2022/23 season, having her best campaign in terms of points with 8 goals and 10 assists in 15 league and play off games.

Talking about re-joining the Wild women for the new season, Rachael said:  

“Joining Widnes last season I couldn't have wished for a better bunch of team-mates to play with as I have learnt so much more in this last season and it has, once again, renewed my passion to keep playing this amazing sport as long as I can!” 

“This year, I hope to keep assisting and scoring goals - and hopefully get to the playoffs once again at the end of the season, with teamwork and a great bunch of people!”

Mayhem Players In World Women’s Challenge

Mayhem player Felicity Gregory at the World Women's Challenge (Photo by Peter Hagan)

Players and staff from the Widnes–based Mayhem sledge team travelled to Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA, as part of the Great Britain women’s Para Ice Hockey to compete in a 4-team international tournament.

Felicity Gregory was named in the GB squad while Ontario-born Peggy Assinck lined up for her native Canada.  Karl Nicholson travelled as one of three Assistant Coaches and Peter Hagan was Equipment Manager.

Despite putting in plucky performances, the Great Britain team lost all three of their group games – 9-0 to Canada, 7-0 to USA and 5-1 to “Team World”, made up from a combination of players from Europe and Asia.  

In the final medal round, GB lost 7-0 to Team World in the bronze medal match while Peggy Assinck picked up a silver after her Canada team lost 2-0 to overall winners USA.

GB’s only goal of the tournament came 5.50 into their first game against Team World and was scored by team captain Stacey Quirk – who plays for the Peterborough Phantoms - assisted by Emily McLean of Sheffield Steelkings.

This was the second year that the World Women’s Challenge had taken place in Green Bay and there are plans for an official World Championship for next year.

Mayhem head coach Peter Hagan – who travelled to the tournament as Equipment Manager - said:

“The team performed exceptionally, the coaching team had specific things they wanted to get out of the tournament and the team accomplished them,  and the feedback from all the other teams reinforced how much the team had improved from the first year.” 

“The team should be immensely proud of how they played and it was an honour for me to be part of the off ice team. I am looking forward to what lies ahead for the programme and the sport.”

Team GB Results Schedule 

Group Games: 31st Aug: Team World 5 – Great Britain 1, 1st Sept: USA 7 – Great Britain 0, 2nd Sept: Canada 9 – Great Britain 0

Bronze Medal Play Off: 3rd Sept: Team World 7 – Team GB 0

Gold Medal Game: 3rd Sept: USA 2 - Canada 0 

GB Team Photo

Players (left to right): Susi Marguerite, Nicola Terrell, Leanne Emmerson, Freya Levy, Helen McGivern, Sarah Hope A, Stacey Quirk C, Felicity Gregory A, Shannon Couch A, Dani Czernuszka-Watts, Emily McLean, Alysha Atkinson, Jodie Hill

Team Staff: Peter Hagan (Equipment Manager), Ian Offers (Head Coach), Karl Nicholson (Assistant Coach - Offense) Breanna Wagner (Assistant Coach - Defence), Louise Beresford (Assistant Coach - Netminders).

Match Report: Telford Tigers2 3 - Widnes Wild 6 (Challenge)

Saturday 9th September 2023 – Challenge Match: Telford Tigers2 3 – Widnes Wild 6

The Widnes Wild NIHL team rounded off their two game pre season challenge series against Telford Tigers 2 with a 3-6 win away in Shropshire on Saturday.

The game saw Wild debuts for former Chelmsford and Great Britain Under 18 netminder Luca Tessadri – who has signed for the Wild on a 2-way arrangement with National Division Leeds Knights -  and 17 year old forward Thomas Mardell who is on a 2-way contract with Laidler Division Bradford Bulldogs.

Widnes took the lead in the 9th minute with a goal from Rhys Edwards and doubled the advantage through Andrew Hopkins  on 15 minutes to lead 0-2 at the first break.

Bez Hughes fired the Wild further ahead with a goal just 85 seconds into the second period and Matty Barlow made the score 0-4 on 26 minutes.

A goal from Mikey Gilbert on 30 minutes brought the score to 0-5 to Widnes and it looked as if a whitewash might be on the cards but Telford struck back and scored their first goal just 20 seconds later.

A second goal for the Tigers just 53 seconds after that narrowed the score to 2-5 and the Wild held off some later pressure to hold on to the 3-goal advantage heading into the second break.

Hopkins scored his second goal of the game – and the Wild’s sixth - 65 seconds into the third period, putting Widnes firmly back in control. Both teams had their chances in the latter stages and Telford eventually scored again on 52 minutes but that was the last goal action of the game and the Wild came away with a 3-6 victory.

The MVP award for Widnes went to Gregor Donaldson and Luca Tessadri was able to record a 90.00% Save % in his first Wild game.

The Wild are next in action this Sunday 17th September when they take on Nottingham Lions in their Moralee Division opener at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off. 

New Book: Wild Review - Season 2022/23

The new season may be just getting underway but ice hockey fans have the chance to relive all the excitement of the 2022/23 season in the new “Wild Review” book that has been published by specialist publisher Ice Hockey Review.

As with the previous season’s edition, the book features in-depth coverage of all of the various Widnes Wild teams, with player statistics, reports and final standings for the:

YKK Widnes Wild NIHL team

DMUK Widnes Wild Women's team

Wild Academy Under 18 team

Wild Academy Under 16 team

Wild Academy Under 14 team

Wild Academy Under 12 team

Wild Academy Under 10 team

plus a 10 Year Record for the Widnes Wild NIHL team, 2013-2023 and the season’s collection of poems from Poet In Residence Lucy London. 

Newly added for this year are details of the Mayhem sledge team's 2023 British Para Ice Hockey League campaign, the Riverside Raiders and Halton Huskies in the Summer Classic Cup - and lots more besides!

The book is illustrated throughout with superb photos from, among others, Geoff White, Steve Cunningham and is available for mail order via THIS LINK   

Three More Return For Wild Women

Re-signed for the new Wild women's season: Ellen Tyrer, Ellie Green & Phoebe Patient (Photo by Paul Breeze)

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team have announced the re-signing of a trio of young players as they continue to build their squad for the forthcoming 2023/34 WNIHL season.

Ellie Green, Phoebe Patient and Ellen Tyrer have all previously played junior hockey for the Wild Academy and are a shining example of how developing local talent is reaping positive benefits for the Widnes senior teams.

Ellie Green began her career at Blackburn but played for the Wild Academy Under 18 team for the 2021/22 season and made her senior debut last season for the Wild women, when the team finished as runners up in the league. 

She played in 9 league and play off games, facing a total of 167 shots and conceding just 12 goals, for a hugely impressive Save % of 92.81 and a Goals Against Average of 2.37.

Phoebe Patient played for the Wild Academy Under 15 and Under 18 teams and made her Wild women’s senior debut in the Women’s Premier League in the 2021/22 season.

In 29 league, play off and challenge games over her two seasons with the Wild women so far, she has scored 3 goals and 4 assists and was named Best Forward at End of Season Award for last season.

Talking about her resigning, Patient said: “I’m excited about the season ahead and seeing how the team develops even more with new and established players. I have high hopes after least season’s brilliant performance as a team”

Ellen Tyrer also played for the Wild Academy Under 15 and Under 18 teams and made her Wild women’s senior debut in the Women’s Premier League in the 2021/22 season.

In 28 league, play off and challenge games over her two seasons with the Wild women so far, she has also scored 3 goals and 4 assists and, like Patient and Green, was a member of the Wild women’s team who finished second in the WNIHL Division 2 North last season.

With regard to her return to the Wild women for another season, Ellen said:

“I’m really looking forward to the upcoming season after the year we just had and watching the team grow closer and improve throughout.”

“I’m incredibly excited to have some new players joining us and becoming part of this brilliant team.  I’m sure it will be an awesome season with lots of fun and memorable moments.”

Match Report: Widnes Wild 7 - Telford Tigers2 6 (PS)

Wild's Andrew Hopkins (#17) edges Widnes back into the lead early in the second period against  Telford (photo by Steve Cunningham)

Sunday 3rd September 2023 – Challenge Match: Widnes Wild 7 – Telford Tigers2 6 (PS)

The Widnes Wild NIHL team got their 2023/24 season off to an entertaining start with a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Telford Tigers 2 in their pre-season challenge match at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The game saw Wild debuts for a trio of young Scottish players Gregor Donaldson, Owen Rae and Kyle Carruth, who player coach Joey Coulter has taken on 2-way contracts from their home clubs Solway, Solway and Kilmarnock respectively – and also saw experienced netminder Phil Pearson play his first game for Widnes since 2021 after rejoining the club in the summer.

Extra frisson was added by the inclusion of former Wild player coach Scott McKenzie to the Tigers line up and the highly talented National Division – and former Elite League – player made quite an impact on the game.

Telford took an early lead after 2 minutes and, despite furious activity from both sides, it took until the last minute of the period for Alex Mitchell to fire in a Wild equaliser. Then, just as it looked as if it would remain all square at the first break, Matty Barlow nudged Widnes into the lead with 12 seconds left on the clock.

Telford scored a powerplay goal just 90 seconds into the second period to draw level; but Widnes re-established their narrow lead with a goal from Andrew Hopkins just 30 seconds later. 

McKenzie drew Telford level again on 26 minutes and Widnes got into penalty trouble and ended up conceding again to the same player on a 3 v 5 Tigers powerplay. A third goal for the former Wild boss rounded off a stunning hat-trick within just over 3 minutes and saw the Tigers leading 3-5 at the midway point of the game.

Mikey Gilbert eventually pulled a goal back for the Wild with 2 minutes left to play in the second period and Hopkins levelled the score at 5-5 with a quick-fire goal straight from the restart.

Widnes took the lead again with a goal from debutant Kyle Carruth on 41 minutes but Telford levelled once again just 25 seconds later. 

There were chances galore for both teams in the closing stages but the score remained stubbornly fixed at 6-6 at the end of the regulation 60 minutes play.  An extra period of 5 minutes sudden death overtime failed to decide a winner and the game went to a penalty shootout, where Coulter, Carruth and Hopkins all fired away their shots to hand Widnes the narrowest of victories.

The Wild play the Tigers2 in the return fixture away in Telford on Saturday 9th September– face off 7.30pm – and then play their first game of the new Moralee Division season at home to Nottingham Lions on Sunday 17th September at Planet Ice Widnes.  

Wild Women Add Firepower For New Season

Wild Women's Katie Fairclough in action at the 2023 Bristol Tournament (Photo by Flyfifer Photography)

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team have added some firepower to their roster for the new 2023/24 WNIHL season with the return of 3 more players from last season’s team.

Between them, Katie Fairclough, Preston Gennoe and Laura Marcroft notched up 37 goals and 25 assists in the Wild Women’s Division 2 North campaign, which saw them finish runners up in the final league table.

Katie Fairclough first joined the Wild in 2017 and will be back for her sixth season in Widnes colours.

She originally started off playing Roller Hockey and was a GB International in that sport before switching to playing on ice. Since taking up ice hockey, Katie has gained international honours at GB Women’s Under 18 level and was league title winner with the Wild women in 2020.

Last season, Fairclough was the Wild women’s second highest scorer with 20 goals and 12 assists  in 13 games and, overall, she has played 62 games for Widnes, scoring 29+20 with 71 penalty minutes. 

She also played 17 games for the Manchester University teams last season, scoring 11 goals and 2 assists.

Looking ahead to the new season, Fairclough said: “After the amazing season we just had, I’m looking forward to what should be another great season this year. While we narrowly missed out on promotion, I think we’re in with a good shot this year. It’s been great to see so many new players on the team, but at the same time we have a very strong base of well established players who can bring in the results at the same time as developing the newer members of the squad. I can’t wait to get back on the ice for the first game!” 

Preston Gennoe (Photo by Flyfifer Photography)

Preston Gennoe joined the Wild women for the 2021/22 season and is returning for her third  campaign.  She was the team’s top scorer in the Women’s Premier League that year and, in 26 games overall, has contributed 21 goals and 14 assists, with 32 penalty minutes.

Talking about her re-signing, Gennoe said: ““I’m feeling excited about the new season. It’s my 3rd season with the Wild and I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls to play and progress with.”

Laura Marcroft (Photo by Flyfifer Photography)

Laura Marcroft has played for the Wild women for 4 seasons overall and was another member of the team that won the Division 1 North title in 2020.

Overall she has scored 5 goals and 9 assists in 53 games, picking up just 4 penalty minutes in that time and last season was her most productive to date in terms of points, as she scored 4+2 and was also awarded the Hardest Worker award by the coaches. 

Marcroft said of her return for the new season: I’m looking forward to the season ahead, to see how we can build on the last season as a team. Taking part in the playoffs was a huge boost for the team and for me as a player. I hope as a player I can continue to improve and contribute to some more goals this year. All in all, I am looking forward to the year ahead and what it will bring.”

Armstrong Goes Wild For 11th Season

Ken Armstrong at the end of his 10th full season for the Wild back in April (Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies)

The Widnes Wild NIHL team had confirmed 5 more signings ahead of this weekend’s opening game of the 2023/24 NIHL season. 

Longest serving player Ken Armstrong has re-signed for what will be his 11th year with the club.  Armstrong played in the Wild’s very first game in 2013 and since then has made 294 appearances for Widnes, scoring a total of 28 goals, 28 assists and picked up 52 penalty minutes.

In his time with the Wild, Armstrong has won 1 Laidler Division league title, 3 Laidler Play Off titles, the North 21 Cup, the 2021 Division 1 National Championship, the 2021/22 Moralee Cup and the 2022/23 North West Challenge Cup. 

Talking about his return to the club for an 11th year, Armstrong said: 

“I’d like to thank Joey for wanting me back for another season with the Wild and giving me the chance to play with a great set of mates. If everyone plays the way Joey’s wanting us to play it should be another good season for the club and there’s no reason why we can’t add another trophy to the collection.” 

“The club has gone through lots of changes over the years, but it’s always been a great place to play hockey mostly because we’ve always had the same great fan base and a great set of volunteers that make a match night at Widnes one of the best in the league.”

Matty Barlow in action for the Wild (Photo by Geoff White)

Matty Barlow returns for his 4th season with the Wild off the back of his best season to date last year when he scored 11 goals and 20 assists in 37 games. In two separate stints at Widnes, Barlow has played 95 games in total, scoring 24+42 and picking up 91 penalty minutes. 

Matty is a two-time cup winner with the Wild, having been a member of the team that won the Moralee Cup in 2021/22 and the North West Cup last season.  He also has an international honour to his credit, after playing for the England Under 23 team in 2022.

Continuing with their policy of encouraging younger players, the Wild have also re-signed three promising up and coming talents from last season’s team.

Alex Mitchell and netminder Jake Lowndes are both on 2-way contracts with Laidler Division side Bradford Bulldogs, meaning that they will benefit from getting ice time when they are not playing for the Wild. 

Jake Meehan completes the trio of youngsters. He is the former Wild Academy Under 18s captain and was the first fully home grown Widnes trained player to ice for the Wild NIHL team.   

The Wild play their first game of the season this Sunday when they take on Laidler Division side Telford Tigers2 at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off.  They have an away game against the same opposition the following Saturday and then start their Moralee Division league campaign on Sunday 17th September with a home game against Nottingham Lions

Georgia's Wild Charity Skydive

Georgia Weekes at the Charity Skydive (photo by Danny Davies)

Widnes Wild club director Georgia Weekes took to the skies last week to make a parachute jump in aid of Halton Haven Hospice, which is the Wild’s chosen charity for the year.

The jump – organised with Skydive Northwest in Morecambe - had originally been planned for 12th August but had to be postponed due to adverse weather conditions.

Georgia explained how the idea came about:  “I have always wanted to do a skydive and when our chosen charity Halton Haven asked us if we would be interested in taking part, it felt like the perfect opportunity! It was great to be able to not only tick something off the bucket list, but more importantly, be able to help raise funds for an amazing cause.” 

She described how it felt up in the air: “I thought I would be really nervous when it got to me being almost ready to jump out, but I was OK in the plane. When it came to jumping out, I was the first one out and didn’t have much time to think about it! The free falling part was a crazy feeling and really difficult to explain, but the main thing I remember thinking about was that I thought my goggles were going to fly off!” 

“Once the parachute was pulled, it was so silent in the air and the views below of Morecambe Bay and Grange-over-Sands were magnificent. It’s such a surreal feeling!”  

Photo by Steve Nolan / Skydive Northwest

 And having now achieved her objective, Georgia said:  “I’m so pleased that I decided to take part and I’m really grateful to all those who have sponsored us to help in raising funds for Halton Haven, it’s such an important cause. As for Skydiving, I think it’s a bit addictive! I now really want to give it another go as I feel like I didn’t quite manage to take it all in!”

If anybody would like to support Georgia’s impressive feat in aid of Halton Haven Hospice, they can make a donation via the event’s Just Giving page at:  https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ken-georgia-skydive 

Widnes Wild Women Announce First Signings

DMUK Widnes Wild women's netminder Stephanie Drinkwater  (Photo by Geoff White)

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team are back in training after a short summer break and preparations are well under way for the new 2023/24 WNIHL season, which starts in October.

Last season’s coaching team of Adam Lappin, Steve Furber and Thomas Horner are back for another season and are building a competitive team roster in the hope of improving on last season’s runners up spot in Division 2 North.

Two early signings to the team are returnees Stephanie Drinkwater and Vanessa Crickmore-Clarke, who have both been with the Wild team since it relocated to Widnes from Altrincham back in 2015.

Netminder Drinkwater has played over 100 competitive games in total – some 75 for Widnes – and was a member of the Wild women’s team that won the Division 1 North league title in the 2019/20 season to add the title she won at Altrincham in 2014/15.

She played in 9 games last season and ended up with a very impressive Save Percentage of 90.34%, a Goals Against Average of 2.88 and 1 shut out. 

Vanessa Crickmore-Clarke (Photo by David Law Photography)

Crickmore-Clarke is a highly experienced attacker turned defender who won 5 league titles with the Sunderland Scorpions in her native north east and then spent 9 seasons playing at Deeside and Altrincham before the move to Widnes.  

Like Drinkwater, she also won the Division 1 North title with Altrincham in 2014 and Widnes in 2020 and, in an impressive career to date, has played over 250 competitive games in total. She also played in 9 games last season, scoring 1 goal from her defensive position.

Talking about her return to the team, Vanessa said:  “I am really pleased to be re-signing with the Wild again and can’t wait to get back on the ice with the team. We had a successful 22/23 season for our league team, as well as the successful growth and progression of our development players and hopefully we’ll be in for a chance of reaching out for the silverware again.”

Mayhem Players In International Call Up

Felicity Gregory in action for the Mayhem (photo by@haganovaphoto)

Mayhem Sledge hockey players Felicity Gregory and Peggy Assinck have received international call ups to take part in the Women’s World Challenge tournament in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA at the end of the month.

Gregory will be icing for the Great Britain women’s para team while Canadian born Assinck will be playing for her own national side. Felicity will be in good company, however, as members of the Mayhem team staff are also accompanying the women’s GB team with Karl Nicholson travelling as assistant coach and Peter Hagan as Equipment Manager.

The tournament runs for 4 days from 31st August to 3rd September and features teams from the USA, Canada, as well as Team GB, plus a "World" representative team made up of players from Asia and Europe, with all teams playing each other once in a “round robin” group. 

Team USA won last year’s inaugural competition beating Canada 5-1 in the last game to finish with a 100% record from their 4 matches.

Left to right:  Peggy Assinck, Karl Nicholson and Peter Hagan (photos by @haganovaphoto)

Peter Hagan, who is the Mayhem’s Head Coach and General Manager said of the international selections:

“I’m so happy for Felicity to make the squad, she’s really grown this year with added responsibility of being an alternate captain for us at Mayhem. She’s a calming presence and established herself as a core player for us, so a great reward. We are obviously super proud of her.”

“Peggy is still representing Canada & her drive is still as strong as ever. She is a player that everyone looks up to and, having set up the GB women’s programme, she’s a huge supporter of the game globally as well as domestically too. Hopefully she has a bad game against GB!”

“Karl has been there, seen it all several times over, and has been a huge part of our coaching staff with Mayhem since it’s inception & translated it to the GB programmes. He’s a wealth of knowledge and will be a vital part of the coaching team as GB look to medal this tournament.” 

“I’m obviously hugely proud to be asked to join the off-ice team, anytime you get to represent your country is huge. I’m hoping I can help anyway I can and make some contribution in Green Bay.”

The full Great Britain squad for the 2023 Women’s World Challenge is:

Netminders - Susi Marguerite (Peterborough Phantoms), Jodi Hill (Cardiff Huskies)

Defence - Nik Terrell, Sarah Hope (Peterborough Phantoms), Alysha Atkinson (Peterborough Phantoms), Leanne Emmerson (Cardiff Huskies), Helen McGivern

Forwards - Emily McLean (Sheffield Steelkings), Stacey Quirk (Peterborough Phantoms), Dani Watts (Cardiff Huskies), Felicity Gregory (Mayhem), Shannon Couch (Cardiff Huskies), Freya Levy

Team Staff - Ian Offers (Head Coach), Karl Nicholson (Assistant Coach), Breanna Wagner (Assistant Coach), Louise Beresford (Assistant Coach), Pete Hagan (Equipment Manager).

British Para Ice Hockey League: Steelkings 16 - Mayhem 0

 

Megan McEvoy (#27) put in a plucky display as stand-in netminder for the Mayhem away at Sheffield (Photo by @haganovaphoto)

20th August 2023 - British Para Ice Hockey League: Sheffield Steelkings 16 – Mayhem 0

The Mayhem sledge team rounded off their 2023 British Para Ice Hockey League season with a 16-0 defeat away at high flying Sheffield Steelkings on Sunday.

While a defeat is always disappointing, this wasn’t particularly unexpected as the Mayhem team had been without a number of key players for the whole season and had already accepted that this campaign would be one of restructuring and giving experience to new players.

As it was, the depleted Mayhem squad travelled across the Pennines with only 6 team members, meaning that they were unable to make any line changes during the game and that everyone had to remain on the ice for the full 45 minutes’ playing time.  Plus regular netminder Darren Pomfret was unavailable and his place in goal was filled by Megan McEvoy as an emergency back up, who had to borrow some equipment from the host side.

In view of the fact that the host Sheffield team had two full lines to choose from – plus a backup netminder – it was no surprise that they were able to maintain player freshness throughout and ran away with the game.

The opening goal came with just 22 seconds on the clock and the score stood at 6-0 at the end of the first period. 7 more goals followed in the second period and 3 more in third but it was quite a testament to the plucky Mayhem side to “only” lose by the same margin that they had lost the previous home game against the Steelkings while playing with a fuller line up.

McEvoy – who hadn’t played in goal since she stood in for a game last season for the Mayhem  – put in an heroic display, facing 54 shots overall and keeping out 38 of them.    

Sunday’s result means that the Mayhem end the season with 8 defeats from their 8 games and finish bottom of the 5 team league. But plans are already in place for next season when they hope to bounce back better and stronger! 

Last League Game Of Season For Mayhem

The Mayhem sledge team play the last game of their British Para Ice Hockey League season this Sunday 20th August when they travel away to play the Sheffield Steelkings at iceSheffield, 2.10pm face off.

It had been a difficult season for the Widnes-based team as they have been without key players and have lost all 7 of their league games so far. When they played the Sheffield team back in early July, they were beaten 0-16, so will certainly have a point to prove as they head over the Pennines this weekend.

The Mayhem’s record to date means that they are guaranteed a 5th place finish out of the 5 teams in the league and will miss taking part in the end of season play offs for the first time. The play offs will be held in Cardiff over the weekend of 14th & 15th October.

Huskies Win Semi But Lose Out In Play Off Final

Halton Netminder Adam Darbyshire picked up a shut out in the Huskies' 9-0 semi final win over Sheffield Ice Tigers (Photo by David Tatum / DJT Ice Hockey Photos)

 

report to follow (awaiting gamesheets...)

10th Anniversary Of First Ever Widnes Wild Match

Ken Armstrong playing in the Widnes Wild's first ever game in August 2013 (Photo by Geoff White)

The Widnes Wild team played their first ever game ten years ago this week with a 1-6 challenge match defeat at home to Sheffield Spartans at the Silver Blades rink – as it was originally called - in Widnes on Sunday 11th August 2013.

In the intervening decade, the Wild senior NIHL team have played a grand total of 363 league, cup, play off, challenge and charity matches, winning 210 of them, losing 129, drawing 14 – and picking up 10 overtime losses for drawn games that were subsequently decided by a golden goal.

Over that time they have iced 133 different players who, between them, have clocked up 6102 appearances, scored 1704 goals, 2438 assists and picked up 6153 penalty minutes in the process.

The longest serving Wild player is Ken Armstrong who played in that first ever game and is the only player to have remained at Widnes for the whole of the 10 year period that they have been operating.  He is the club’s leading appearances holder with 294 at the end of the 2022/23 season – 2 ahead of Tom Jackson’s 292 – during which he has scored a total of 28 goals, 28 assists and picked up 52 penalty minutes. 

Looking back to that first Wild game, Armstrong said: “I don’t really remember much about the game apart from the rink being packed and the fans were crazy. I think a lot had come straight from the Vikings Rugby League game so were fairly tipsy. They didn’t really know much about hockey but seemed to be having fun. The first season went quite well for a new team. A lot of the lads already knew each other so it was good.”

The full team for the Wild’s historic first ever match against Sheffield Spartans was: Tom McDonald, Steve Gilmartin, Greg Ruxton, Dan Bracegirdle, Richard Charles, Kurtis Hall, Stewart Marriott, Calum Ruddick, Filip Supa, Ken Armstrong, Chris Preston, Troy Evans, Bobby Caunce, Craig Williams. Head Coach: Mark Gillingham, Asst Coach: Garry Fearon, Asst Coach: Peter Bleackley. 

Craig Williams (#88) scores the Wild's first ever goal in the
challenge match against Sheffield Spartans (Photo by Geoff White)

Now a successful match referee, Craig Williams scored the only Widnes goal of the game, 11 minutes in.  He said of that historic first ever Wild goal: “I remember thinking at the start, we are going to have to either get lucky or have a magic moment to get a goal against a well-established Division One team. It turns out that, with Chris Preston’s pass, we got the bit of magic and me being in the right place, finding just the netminder to beat we got a bit of luck. 

“I hit the blue line as the pass hit my stick, lucky the puck didn’t fly off into the corner, but the pass was well weighted, as I put my head up the keeper moved and my shot was instinct to go low as he moved high. This was a moment that will live with me forever.”

Richard Charles was the Wild's MVP in their first match
(Photo by Geoff White)

Former Dundee Rockets player and GB Under 16 international Richard Charles made a return to the game after a 15 year break, having been signed after the open player trials and was named the Wild’s first Most Valuable Player.

Looking back on that day, Charles said:  “I was awarded 'Man of the Match', which, of course, was a great honour for me. I assumed Craig Williams would have got it for scoring the first ever Widnes Wild goal - a great memory.”

“Mick Caunce, Mark Gillingham and Matt Lloyd had pulled together a very good group of lads in a very short time to get this team off the ground and I will be forever grateful for them giving an old timer like me the opportunity to be involved back then." 

“I still take great pride from my involvement with the club.”

*****

Specialist publishers Ice Hockey Review have produced a book chronicling the Wild’s first 10 years as a club entitled “10 Years In the Wild”. It features a wealth of information including season by season summaries and player statistics, Full Player A to Z, Head to Head Records against other teams and a fascinating 10 year statistical round up.  

The book is packed with colour photos from the Wild’s first 10 years by long term official photographer Geoff White and is available by mail order from the publisher’s website at www.icehockeyreview.co.uk. 

For more information - and mail order links - CLICK HERE

FREE DOWNLOAD

As a tribute to all the players, coaches, team staff, off ice officials, match volunteers and fans who have been involved with the Widnes club over its first 10 years, we are pleased to make available our “unofficial” 10 year playing records for the Wild NIHL team available as a FREE DOWNLOAD HERE:

https://app.box.com/s/rertexj0feetyhq0ldcm2pz1ywbjc0sw 

If you are interested in this sort of thing, you might like to consider buying the “10 Years In the Wild” book, which goes into a lot more detail.   

   

Wild Academy Under 10s Runners Up At Hull Tournament

The Widnes Wild Academy Under 10 team finished as runners up at the Hull Under 10s tournament after losing 1-0 in a close fought final.

In the group stage they beat  Leeds 2-1 and home side Kingston 11-1 and lost 2-3 to Billingham and 1-2 to the Southern Misfits representative team. They beat Leeds 1-0 in their semi final game and then narrowly lost out 0-1 to the Misfits in the final.

The Wild Academy are always keen to recruit new players across all age groups from Under 10 to Under 18 and are holding training sessions throughout the summer months at the Planet Ice rink in preparation for the new season.

Separate “Learn To Play” sessions are also available for anybody new who would like to take up the sport. For more information, contact Academy Head Coach mike.gilbert@wildacademy.co.uk

Riverside Raiders Win Summer Classic Cup Play Offs

The Riverside Raiders celebrate winning the Summer Classic Cup Conference, League and Play Off treble at ice Sheffield (Photo by IHSC)

The Riverside Raiders secured a unique treble in this year’s Summer Classic Cup with a 7-2 victory in the Play Off final over Widnes rink-mates Halton Huskies at iceSheffield.

The weekend started off well for the Widnes-based teams as the Raiders – who had finished top of the Western Conference qualifying group – hammered Eastern Conference runners up Grimsby Falcons 21-7 in the first semi final.

The second semi final saw Halton Huskies beat home team and Eastern Conference winners Sheffield Ice Tigers 9-0 – with Adam Darbyshire putting in an impressive performance in goal to notch up a “shut out” – setting up an all-Widnes final on the Sunday.  

The weekend results meant that the Raiders completed their 2023 campaign with a 100% record, having won all 8 of their group and play off matches and securing the Western Conference, Development Division and Play Off titles. 

In the Elite Division Play Offs, held over the same weekend, Deeside–based Flintshire Phantoms lost 5-6 to Don Valley Vikings in their semi final, while Leeds Lightning won the other one 11-5 against Newcastle Predators. The final saw the Sheffield-based Vikings come from behind to beat Leeds 8-4, meaning that they also won their treble of Conference, League and Play Off for the season. 

Looking back at the Riverside Raiders’ achievements this season, team manger Mike Teinert said:

“This year, with practically a new set of players our aim was to get back into competitive hockey and to just have fun. This team has gelled so quickly to form a really close knit group and we wanted to go into the IHSC and enjoy our hockey and try to bring home the silverware.” 

“With a mixture of heavy fitness sessions and intensive gameplay sessions, our coaches have worked really hard to give is the edge in all aspects of the game and with an 8 game winning streak to take home all 3 trophies that hard work has certainly paid off. We're now planning and looking forward to the 2023/24 season.”

Mike Teinert (Photo by David Tattum / DJT Ice Hockey Photos)