Mayhem Start New Para Season This Saturday

Manchester Mayhem Para Ice Hockey Team (Photo by Roksana Oniszczuk)

The Mayhem sledge hockey team are back in action this Saturday 16th May when they take on Cardiff Huskies in their opening match of the 2026 British Para Ice Hockey League season at Planet Ice Widnes, 6.10pm face off.

There are 5 teams in the league again this season with Cardiff Huskies, Peterborough Phantoms and two teams from Sheffield – the Steelkings and the Steelstings – making up the Mayhem’s opposition. Each team plays the others once at home and once away and the top four finishers also qualify for the end of season play offs.

Looking ahead to the new season, Team Manager Peter Hagan said:

“We are excited to get back to league action in 2026, after a strong finish in 2025 and we are hoping to build on that this year. We have grown both on and off the ice as we have several new faces who have joined the team, so we’ll hopefully see a few debuts this season as well, which is great for the team and the sport as a whole.”

“We have managed to attract a few new sponsors, which really helps the club’s stability, and we are always happy to chat to anyone interested in getting involved on or off ice.”

“Hopefully, with the Winter Paralympics having recently been on, we can attract more fans league wide to “discover" para ice hockey on their doorstep, and get more people involved and grow the sport.

“Every team has improved and it will be a tough season this year, possibly the toughest so far - which can only benefit the sport and the GB teams. So, as difficult as it will be for the teams, it's a bright future for the sport as a whole.”

The full list of Mayhem fixtures for the 2026 BPIHL season is:

• 16th May:  Home v Cardiff Huskies
• 30th May: Away @ Cardiff Huskies
• 7th June: Home v Sheffield Steelkings
• 20th June:  Home v Peterborough Phantoms
• 27th June: Away @ Sheffield Steelkings
• 4th July: Away @ Sheffield Steelstings
• 25th July: Home v Sheffield Steelstings
• 30th August: Away @ Peterborough Phantoms

Home games at Widnes faceoff at the later time of 5.10pm this season. Admission is free for all spectators.

The opening game against Cardiff this Saturday starts at 6.10pm as there is a figure skating competition on at the Planet Ice rink beforehand.

Find out more about the Mayhem Para Ice Hockey Team on their official website HERE

Match Report: Sheffield Shadows 1 - Deeside Dragons U16 Girls 3 (WNIHL Under 16 Girls North)

The Dragonettes team away at Sheffield (Photo by Kate Foster-Noble)

Saturday 9^th May 2026 – WNIHL Under 16 Girls Nth: Sheffield Shadows 1 - Deeside Dragons U16G 3

The Deeside Dragons Under 16 girls team rounded off their regular season schedule with a closely-contested 1-3 victory away at Sheffield Shadows on Saturday.

The Dragonettes took a narrow 1-goal lead into the first break after a 7^th minute goal from top scorer Poppy Ward and the same player doubled the advantage 5 minutes into the second period.

Emmie Lauder put Deeside 0-3 ahead on 26 minutes and that remained the score at the second interval.  Sheffield pulled a goal back with 5 minutes left to play and that set up a nail-biting finale as they removed their netminder in favour of an extra attacker in the closing minutes in an attempt to stage a late rally.

They put the Deeside goal under immense pressure but the Dragonettes defence held firm and almost scored again themselves with a couple of long clearances towards the empty Shadows net, with Hallie Morgan coming the closest when she hit the post with a shot from behind her own goal line.

The Dragonettes finish the season second in the league table, 4 points behind champions Whitley who finished with a 100% record.

They will next play the champions of the Under 16 Girls South Division in the national semi final at the Women’s Play Offs at Sheffield in two weeks time.

Hartshorn Named Mayhem Player Of The Year

Dan Hartshorn with the
Mayhem Player of the Year Award
(Photo by Mayhem PIHC)

Daniel Hartshorn has been named as the Mayhem Player Of The Year for 2025 after a poll among his fellow players and team staff.

Hartshorn heroically took over as the team’s netminder for the 2025 season, despite never having played in goal before, after regular netminder Darren Pomfret was ruled out through injury.

Talking about switching roles he said:

“As a defender, I was focused on pushing myself physically and doing everything I could to reduce chances. Moving into goal, I realised very quickly how much of it is mental. You have to read the game, manage your emotions, pick up on patterns and player tendencies, it’s constant.”

“ Early on it felt overwhelming, but now, when I get it right, it almost becomes second nature. I’ve also been surprised by just how physical the role is, despite all the padding, some of those hits really hurt!”

Reacting to the Player award, Hartshorn added:

“I’m incredibly proud, but honestly my first reaction was pure embarrassment and shock. We were in the changing rooms after training when it was announced, and I just remember thinking, “There are so many people here who’ve achieved so much more than me.”

“As it’s sunk in, though, I’ve started to appreciate what it represents. I’ve worked really hard this year, not just on my own game, but trying to support others where I can, and to be nominated and recognised by the team means a lot.”

The full list of Mayhem Players Of The Year since the award was introduced in 2017 is as follows:

• 2017:  Anthony Booth
• 2018: Karl Nicholson
• 2019: Darren Pomfret
• 2022: Mark Colquitt
• 2023: Felicity Gregory
• 2024: Felicity Gregory
• 2025: Dan Hartshorn

You can read more about the Manchester Mayhem sledge hockey team on their official website HERE

Widnes Wild Women 2025/26 Season Review

The Widnes Wild Women had a highly eventful season playing at the higher Division 1 level for the first time since 2021/22, having been promoted after winning the Division 2 North title last year.

A number of new faces joined the Wild Women during the summer either as regular signings or on 2 way arrangements with other clubs – and many made their debuts at Division 1 North (previously known as Women’s Premier League) level.

The season was pretty hard going – as it had been expected to be - with a 20-match schedule playing 5 other teams twice home and twice away.  It wasn’t really a level playing field either as some of the opposing teams had current or former GB players on their rosters and also a number of players who regularly played up at Elite League level.

It took a while for the new-look Wild squad to gel and this was reflected in their early season results.

The campaign started off with a 2-16 defeat at home to Sheffield Shadows and a similar pattern of lucky battling performances followed where the Wild Women did well but were often beaten by a significant margin.

They lost all four games against eventual league champions Kingston Diamonds without scoring a single goal but eventually managed two wins – 3-1 over Nottingham Vipers and 8-7 against Solway Sharks - to finish the season on 4 points.

Two wins from 20 games may not sound like much but the win over Nottingham in January was the first time that the Wild Women had picked up a victory at WPL level since December 2017 and their final tally of two wins was their best in the higher division since the 2016/17 season.

Leen de Decker was the top goalscorer for the season with 8 goals and 2 assists from 17 games.  Lise Gillen joined her on 10 points, having scored 5 goals and 5 assists and former GB player Lydia Lutwyche gave an impressive cameo performance with 5+2 in only 4 games after joining the Wild Women just before the signing deadline.

Tayla Huxley-Richards impressed in her first season of senior women’s hockey with 5 goals from her 14 starts, while another breakout player, Ilyssa Flemington, also managed 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points.

Maggie Whitmore, Jenny Hickey, Dee Vause, Ellen Tyrer, Emma Dutton, Karyn Cooper and Victoria Connelly all contributed goals during the season and Nicola Wallace, Catherine Fell, Eleanor Johnson, Abigail Aldred, Laura Bibby and Elizabeth Bird all got on the scoresheet with assists.

As with previous seasons playing at this higher WPL level, Stephanie Drinkwater was, again, the most over-worked netminder in the Division.  In the 19 games that she played in, she faced an eye-watering 1334 shots, She did however, save a very impressive 1145 of them, finishing up with a Save Percentage of 85.83.

Isabel Bateson – who usually plays university hockey – got herself a WNIHL Division 1 debut by filling in for the first game away to Caledonia Steel Queens and Maggie Whitmore bravely put in a 20 minute spell between the pipes in the away game at Nottingham after Drinkwater sustained an injury – even though she had never played in goal before.

There was a 4-way tie at the top of the “Bad Girl” stakes for penalty minutes with Nicola Wallace, Catherine Fell, Victoria Connelly and Maggie Whitmore all picking up 12 minutes over the course of the season - and 11 other players also paying a visit to the sin bin at some point.

Looking back over the season, Wild Women General Manager Karyn Cooper said:  

"We knew it was going to be a tough season but I couldn't be prouder of all the team for how they've applied themselves, and everyone has improved from the start of the season to the end." 

"There have been some tough results but the way the players have responded and kept morale levels high on the bench has been really commendable. I'd also like to give thanks to anyone who's helped with volunteering to support us this year, we couldn't do it without the help they give."

While the regular WNIHL season may now be over, there is still work to be done as the Wild Women prepare to take part in the Bristol Tournament over the weekend of 21st/22nd June

This annual end of season jamboree is a fairly unique competition as it involves teams from the different EIHA divisions – Elite League, Divisions 1 and 2 North & South - all playing against each other in one big qualifying group.

Particular spice will be added to this year’s tournament as the new Blackburn Hawks women’s team are also taking part. They have a number of former Wild Women players in their ranks and the group stage encounter will be the first time that the two north-west sides have met in a competitive game.

Match Report: Connah’s Quay Cobras 21 – Riverside Raiders 9 (Challenge Match)

Former Dragons player Sam Krempasky scored a hat-trick against the Raiders (Photo by RDG Digital)

Sunday 3rd May 2026 - Challenge Match: Connah’s Quay Cobras 21 – Riverside Raiders 9

The Connah’s Quay Cobras took part in a remarkable THIRTY goal thriller, beating local rivals Riverside Raiders 21-9 at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

Games between Deeside and Widnes based clubs are always keenly contested, passionate affairs due to the relative proximity of the two venues and a regular migration of players over the years in both directions, are rarely dull – and this was no exception.

The visiting Raiders were only able to muster a small squad for this game – 10 skaters and 1 netminder – as opposed to the Cobras’ 16+2 – so it was always likely that Connah’s Quay would have the advantage.

It actually took until the 12^th minute for the Cobras to open the scoring – with a goal from Slavomir Sykora – but, once they had made the initial breakthrough, more goals quickly followed.

Former Deeside Dragons league player Sam Krempasky scored the Cobras’ second goal just 21 seconds later and added a third 32 seconds after that.  He rounded off a straight hat-trick on 17 minutes and a goal from Martin Stolicny saw Connah’s Quay leading 5-0 at the first period break.

The Raiders scored a goal of their own 28 seconds into the second period but a flurry of goals for the Cobras – from Stolicny again, Karl Jones, Libor Krempasky, player coach Emma Dutton and Mark Stringfellow within a 4 minute spell put the game well beyond the reach of the Raiders.

The visitors did manage two more goals in the second period but yet more strikes - from former Raider Sam Plant (2), George Spofforth (2), Ellis Flanagan and a hat-trick marker for Stolicny rounded off an incredible 14-goal period, leaving the score standing at 16-3 at the second interval.

The Raiders actually had the better of the third period by a narrow margin, scoring 6 goals to help make the score look a bit more respectable, but 5 more for the Cobras – from former Deeside Duck Louis Ellwood, another former Raider Mike Filek, Brad Bannon, a second for Dutton and a hat-trick goal for Sam Plant saw the Cobras cruise to victory.

Match Report: Widnes Wild Women 1 – Nottingham Vipers 8 ( WNIHL Division 1 North)

Charlotte McAdam was the Wild Women's MVP against Nottingham (Photo by Paul Breeze)

Sunday 3^rd May 2026 – WNIHL Division 1 North: Widnes Wild Women 1 – Nottingham Vipers 8

The Widnes Wild women’s team rounded off their rollercoaster Division 1 season with a keenly contested and highly entertaining 1-8 defeat to Nottingham Vipers at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The game saw a WNIHL debut for Grace Teinert and a welcome return for experienced player Jennifer Greenwood, who had missed most of the season through injury.

Despite the eventual scoreline, this was far from being a one-sided game and featured plenty of end to end hockey with lots of chances for both sides.

The Wild Women actually took the lead in the 3^rd minute with a well-taken goal from former Belgium international player Leen de Decker. 

This was important, not only as it opened the scoring for the home team, but it also saw off the spectre of a record breaking goal-less spell that had been hovering since the Wild Women had been shut out in their two previous games.  Back in the 2021/22 season – which was the last time that they had played at this higher Division 1 / WPL level – they managed to go three games in a row without scoring at all and went 208 minutes and 48 seconds in total without a goal across 5 games.

De Decker’s goal against Nottingham at 2.52 on Sunday meant that the current season’s goal drought only amounted to 159 minutes and 32 seconds, and another unwanted record was happily averted.

Unfortunately, the lead only lasted 21 seconds as Nottingham immediately equalised and then fired themselves in front just 13 seconds after that.

The rest of the period played out goal-less - with Widnes giving as good as they got – and the score remained 1-2 at the first break.

The second period started badly for the Wild Women as Nottingham edged further ahead just 54 seconds in and went on to score 3 more unanswered goals to lead 1-6 at the second interval.

The game got scrappier as it went on – with Nottingham adopting an unnecessarily robust approach on a number of occasions - and both sides picked up niggly penalties, which affected the ebb and flow.  

The Vipers scored again 13 seconds into the third period and added their 8^th goal on 56 minutes. This was an odd one as the same player who scored the goal was also handed a 2 minute misconduct penalty at the same time – a rather rare occurrence.

Widnes had a powerplay opportunity in the dying seconds but were unable to end the game with a flourish and the match finished at 1-8 to the visitors.

The MVP (Most Valuable Player) awards for Wild Women home games are once again this season being sponsored by niche publishers Ice Hockey Review and, as well as the usual trophies, the winners also receive special edition pens handcrafted and donated by Anthony Stock. 

The awards were presented by the Wild Women General Manager Karyn Cooper and went to Jemma Dilley for Nottingham and Charlotte McAdam for Widnes.

Sunday’s result means that the Wild Women finish the season in 6^th place out of 6 teams in Division 1 with two wins from their 20 league games – two wins more than they achieved the previous time that they played at that level.

Rhys Edwards Is Dragons Player Of The Month For March

This is a bit late due to the play-offs and other goings on but we are pleased to announce that the Deeside Dragons Player of the Month for March was Rhys Edwards.

Rhys played in all 8 of the Dragons games during the month of March – 6 league games and two play-off quarter finals – scoring 4 goals and 10 assists.  He also picked up 15 penalty minutes.

Rhys was presented with his award at the Dragons Presentation Evening by assistant coaches Steve Hirst and Matt Compton.

Previous winners of the monthly award this season have been:

• September: Matty Barlow
• October: Colin Cromie
• November: Jake Witkowski
• December: Ross Kennedy
• January: Jared Dickinson
• February: MJ Clancy

The Player of the Month award is organised by Dragons press reporter Paul Breeze and the trophies are sponsored by the Ice Hockey Review grassroots news website.

D1 Dragons Presentation Evening

The Deeside D1 Dragons team held their End Of Season Presentation Evening at the Connah’s Quay Civic Hall on Friday evening.

The annual event is always very popular with fans and players alike as it enables everybody involved with the club to come together in a relaxed environment and celebrate the season.

The Player awards were:

• Top Points – Jake Witkowski
• Players’ Player Of The Season – Colin Cromie
• Coaches’ Player Of The Season – Ethan Mayoh
• Young Player of the Season – Tyler de la Bertouche
• Supporters’ Player of the Season – Tyler de la Bertouche

Two new awards were introduced for this season:

The Marc Lovell Trophy – awarded to the best “team player” – went to Ross Kennedy

and the Peter Sheffield Memorial Shield - in memory of the long term Dragons photographer and media man who tragically died in November 2024 - for the unsung hero of the year, and this was awarded to team captain Jared Dickinson.

A special “Man Of Steel” award was presented to the 4 players who had taken part in all 49 of the Dragons games over the course of the season (36 Moralee Division, 2 preseason challenge, 2 Welsh Cup, 4 Moralee Cup knockout, 4 Moralee Play Off knockout, 1 Moralee Play Off final) and these went to Ethan Mayoh, Jake Witkowski, Colin Cromie and Ross Kennedy.

Supporters also received the “own and loan” playing shirts that they had sponsored during the season and were able to take photos with their favourite players.

Dragons Players To Play In Bradford Charity Game For Blood Cancer UK

Deeside Dragons' Damarni James (Photo by Adam Bassett)

There is yet more charity ice hockey on offer next weekend as Dragons players Matty Barlow, Rhys Edwards and Damarni James will all be playing in a charity game at Bradford on Saturday 9^th May in aid of Blood Cancer UK.

The game is part of Bradford Ice Rink’s 60th anniversary celebrations and will feature a number of current and former Bulldogs players. 

All three players learned their early hockey at Bradford – who have a highly respected junior development programme – and also played for the Bulldogs in the Laidler Division. Interestingly enough, they then also all spent time at Widnes before joining the Dragons for this season.

The game on Saturday faces off at 4.45pm with doors opening at 4pm. Tickets are Adults £5, OAPS/Students £3 and Under 16s £1 

UPDATE (7th May) Prebooked tickets have now sold out and only a few tickets will be available at the box office on the day.

There will be a raffle, 50-50 draw, Chuck-a-Puck plus plenty of other ways for spectators to donate to the charity.

You can find out more in the run-up to the charity game on the Bradford Bulldogs Facebook page HERE

Blood Cancer UK website HERE

Dragons Players At Rob Craig Charity Game

Deeside's James Parsons at the Rob Craig Memorial game (Photo by @_jiminal)

Deeside was well represented at the annual Rob Craig Memorial match thst took place at Blackburn Arena on Sunday, featuring a wide range of current and former NIHL league players, along with recreational players from various north west clubs.

The game is played every year in memory of former Blackburn recreational player Rob Craig who took his own life in 2017 and aims to raise funds and awareness for mental health charities.

A healthy crowd of over 1000 cheered the teams on and they were treated to an entertaining goal-fest worthy of the occasion.

The “Blue” team included current D2 Dragons player/coach James Parsons while Marc Lovell and Ethan Mayoh played on the “Black” team.  Dragons Assistant Coach Steve Hirst made up the Deeside contingent by running the Black team’s bench for the game.

The money raised from this year’s event will go to the CALM Zone (Campaign Against Living Miserably). Co-organiser – and Team Blue bench coach for the game - Wez Spurrett said:

“We aren’t finished with our fundraising yet as we have the jersey auction to go, but it’s on plan to beat our record last year of £12,700.”

For the record, Team Black beat Team Blue 14-10 but, on this occasion, the taking part was certainly much more important than the winning.

You can see lots more great match photos from Jiminal - and keep up with the latest fundraising news - on the Rob Craig Memorial Game's Facebook Page HERE  

And find out more about the Calm Zone charity HERE

Dragonettes On England Duty

Deeside players with the runners up trophy (Photo by Katy Lennon)

Four Deeside players were in the England Under 13 girls team that came second in the Lions Easter Cup tournament at Most in the Czech Republic.

Violet Lennon, Poppy Ward and Hallie Morgan all play for the Dragons Under 16 Girls team while Ava Crumbie actually plays for the Billingham girls team but also for the Dragons U14 mixed side as well. The Deeside contingent was completed by Katy Lennon as team manager. 

It was quite a test for the England girls as the tournament was classed as Under 14, so most of the opposing players were older than they were.

In the group games, Team England beat Frisk Asker from Norway 5-1 - with both Morgan and Crumbie scoring a goal each - and the Czech Foxes from Vysocina 2-0, with Crumbie scoring the second goal and Ward getting an assist on the first.

They lost their other group game 4-0 to another Czech team – the Warriors from Brno.

Team England then beat the Vysocina Foxes in the semi final 3-2 – with Poppy Ward scoring the opening goal and Crumbie firing in the winner. In the final, the girls met the Warriors again but this was a much closer game, as they only very narrowly lost 2-1.

Ava Crumbie finished the tournament as England’s top scorer with 3 goals and 1 assist. Poppy Ward got 1+1 and Hallie Morgan 1+0 - and they both received Player of the Match awards. 

Violet Lennon put in a number of superb displays in the England goal and had the distinction of being named netminder of the tournament.

You can see the full results and player stats from the tournament HERE

Deeside Dragons Presentation Evening This Friday

The Deeside D1 Dragons club are holding their annual End of Season Presentation Evening this Friday 1^st May at the Connah’s Quay Civic Hall.

The event will enable, players, fans, team staff, club volunteers and sponsors to come together and celebrate a successful season that saw the Dragons win two cups and finish as runners-up in both the league and the play-offs.

A number of player awards will be presented and supporters will be able to receive the “own and loan” playing shirts that they have sponsored during the season.

Tickets for the Presentation Evening cost £10 for adults and £5 for children and must be bought in advance via the Dragons website HERE  

Match Report: Caledonia Steel Queens 23 – Widnes Wild Women 0 (WNIHL Div 1 North)

Stephanie Drinkwater
was Widnes MVP
away at Caledonia
(Photo by Nicola Cawthorne)

Saturday 25^th April 2026 – WNIHL Div 1 North: Caledonia Steel Queens 23 – Widnes Wild Women 0

The Widnes Wild Women were trounced 23-0 by league title hopefuls Caledonia Steel Queens away in Edinburgh on Saturday. 

The Widnes team travelled to Scotland rather short on numbers and had just 11 skaters and 1 netminder. The minimum player requirement for a game to go ahead is 10+1 and the maximum allowed on a bench is 20+2. 

Caledonia iced 20 players in total, giving them an almost 2 to 1 advantage in playing numbers and energy levels and, not surprisingly, they won this game at a light trot.

It actually took the Steel Queens 4 minutes before they opened the scoring but, once they did, the floodgates opened. Four more goals quickly followed within a 2 minute period and the game was effectively over as a contest after just 7 minutes of play.

Caledonia led 9-0 at the first break, 17-0 at the second break and 6 more goals were added in the final period.

The league’s most overworked netminder Stephanie Drinkwater faced an incredible 106 shots over the 60 minute game and, to her credit, turned away 83 of them - registering a 78.30 Save Percentage.

The 23-0 defeat is one for the record books as it beats Widnes’ previous highest losing margin of 21-0 at the hands of the Bristol Huskies in the 2021/22 WPL season.

The Wild Women’s rollercoaster Division 1 season comes to a close this Sunday 3^rd May when they entertain Nottingham Vipers at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off. 

Widnes have already beaten Nottingham once earlier in the season and will be hoping to go out on a high note.

Match Report: Whitley Bay U16G 14 - Deeside Dragons U16G 0 (WNIHL Under 16 Girls North)

Deeside Dragons Under 16 Girls team (Photo by Rachael Feather)

Saturday 25^th April 2026 – WNIHL Under 16 Girls North: Whitley Bay U16G 14 - Deeside Dragons U16G 0

The Deeside Dragons Under 16 girls team’s slender chances of winning the league title were dashed after a 14-0 defeat away to league leaders Whitley Bay on Saturday.

Whitley were by far the stronger team, with a 100% record for the season so far, and were on top from the very start.

The result means that Whitley have secured their third league title in a row and the Dragonettes will finish the season as runners-up, which is still a superb achievement in only their second year of competition.

The top two teams will take part in the end of season play off weekend in Sheffield from 23^rd to 25^th May where they will play against the top two finishers from the U16 League South to decide a national champion.

The Dragons girls have another trip to Sheffield before that, however, as they take on the Sheffield Shadows U16s on Saturday 9^th May in their last game of the regular season.

Deeside Dragons Players Win End Of Season Awards

The Deeside D1 and D2 Dragons have been well represented in the end of season player awards organised by the NIHL North Updates organisation, who ran a fans’ poll via their social media pages, with Dragons players claiming an impressive 9 of the 18 awards on offer across both the Moralee (D1) and Laidler (D2) Divisions.

Leading the way was Dragons’ record points scorer Jake Witkowski, who carried off both the Forward Of The Year and the Season’s Most Valuable Player awards for the Moralee Division

Tyler de la Bertouche was named as D1 Goaltender of the Year and Ross Kennedy was Most Valuable Player in the Play Offs.

Young Dan Fadajevs, who has played for both the D1 and D2 Dragons this season was named as Most Under-Rated Player in the Moralee Division and long-term Dragons favourite James Parsons - who is now a player coach with the D2 Dragons - was given the Sportsmanship Award.

Finn Ogden was named as the Most Valuable Player in the Play Offs in the Laidler Division and the Dragons achieved a clean sweep in the Tough Guy category with Damarni James and Karl Bacon winning the D1 and D2 votes respectively.

The full list of winners in the 2026 NIHL North Updates Awards is:  

• Underrated Player D1: Daniels Fadejevs, Deeside Dragons
• Underrated Player D2: Noah Barnes, Sheffield Titans
• Tough Guy D1: Damarni James, Deeside Dragons
• Tough Guy D2: Karl Bacon, Deeside Dragons
• Young Player Of The Year D1: Alex Rushby, Nottingham Lions
• Young Player Of The Year D2: Harry Roebuck, Sheffield Titans
• Sportsmanship Award D1: Zack Brown, Telford Tigers
• Sportsmanship Award D2: James Parsons, Deeside Dragons
• Goaltender Of The Year D1: Tyler de la Bertouche, Deeside Dragons
• Goaltender Of The Year D2: Ryan Wardell, Billingham Buccaneers
• Defenceman Of The Year D1: Sam Zajac, Blackburn Hawks
• Defenceman of the Year D2: Artem Pavlov, Billingham Buccaneers
• Forward Of The Year D1: Jake Witkowski, Deeside Dragons
• Forward Of The Year D2: Sam Dowd, Billingham Buccaneers
• Play Offs Most Valuable Player D1: Ross Kennedy, Deeside Dragons
• Play Offs Most Valuable Player D2: Finn Ogden, Deeside Dragons
• Season’s Most Valuable Player D1: Jake Witkowski, Deeside Dragons
• Season’s Most Valuable Player D2: Josh Milnes, Altrincham Aces

You can see the Awards panel’s comments in full about the various winners – and keep up with lots more NIHL North news - on the NIHL North Updates Facebook page HERE

Coach Clancy Gets GB Silver Medal

Deeside Dragons coach Dave Clancy with the GB Women's Silver Trophy at the World Championships  (Photo by Great Britain Ice Hockey)  

Deeside Dragons’ coach Dave Clancy has helped to guide the Great Britain women’s team to the silver medal at the IIHF World Championships in Spain.

Clancy has been an assistant coach with the GB women’s team for a number of years and was joined on the back room staff by Robyn Crebbin, who is the Dragons’ Sports Therapist.

The GB team beat the host nation 3-2, Korea 3-2 in overtime, Kazakhstan 3-1 and eventual tournament winners the Netherlands 1-0 in a thrilling penalty shoot out.  Their only defeat came at the hands of Latvia, to whom they lost 4-3 in overtime.

Team GB finished in 2^nd place in the overall table with 11 points from their 5 games, 2 points behind gold medal winners Netherlands, who actually won the same amount of matches but got extra points for regulation time victories.

The full GB Women’s World Championship Schedule was:

IIHF Women’s World Championship – Div I Group B – Puigcerda, Spain

• 12th April: Korea 2 – Great Britain 3
• 13th April: Great Britain 3 – Spain 2
• 15th April:  Latvia 4 – Great Britain 3
• 17th April: Great Britain 1 - Netherlands 0
• 18th April: Great Britain 3 - Kazakhstan 1

You can see all the results, game reports and player stats from the Women’s World Championships in Spain on the IIHF website HERE

Match Report: Kingston Diamonds 11 Widnes Wild Women 0 (WNIHL Division 1 North)

Wild netminder Stephanie Drinkwater makes one of her many saves away to Kingston (Photo by Lois Tomlinson)

Sunday 19^th April 2026 – WNIHL Division 1 North: Kingston Diamonds 11 Widnes Wild Women 0

The Widnes Wild Women went to Hull and Back on Sunday, suffering an 11-0 defeat at the hands of league title favourites Kingston Diamonds.

The Wild Women had lost 16-0 on their last visit to Humberside back in February and also lost the two home fixtures 0-18 and 0-7 earlier in the season so, even with best will in the world, this latest encounter was only ever likely to go one way.

Kingston opened the scoring after just 60 seconds but Widnes actually put in a pretty solid performance in the first period and the score remained at 1-0 at the first break.

The hosts scored again on 23 minutes but the Wild Women still held firm and it wasn’t until two more quick goals went in within 15 seconds of each other on 28 minutes that they began to wobble.

Dee Vause was the Wild Women's
MVP away at Kingston
(Photo by Lois Tomlinson)

Another goal followed and the score stood at 5-0 at the second interval and 6 further unanswered strikes came in the third period which didn’t really do justice to the battling performance that the Wild Women had put in.

Netminder Stephanie Drinkwater actually turned away 62 of the 73 shots that she faced and, were it not for her heroics, in the Widnes goal, the score would undoubtedly have been much higher.

Ice hockey trivia fans might be interested to note that this was the Wild Women’s fourth shut-out of the season against the Kingston Diamonds – which may well be some sort of unwanted record.

The Wild Women have another difficult away trip ahead of them this Saturday 25^th April when they travel north of the border to face the league’s second place team, the Caledonia Steel Queens, in Edinburgh - 12.15 (noon..) face off .

They are next at home on Sunday 3^rd May when they take on Nottingham Vipers in their last game of the season at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Match Report: Deeside Dragons U16G 7 – Sheffield U16G 4 (WNIHL Under 16 Girls North)

Dragons' celebrations after the win over Sheffield (Photo by Rachael Feather)

Sunday 19^th April 2026 – WNIHL Under 16 Girls North: Deeside Dragons U16G 7 – Sheffield U16G 4

The Deeside Dragons Under 16 Girls team remain level on points with league leaders Whitley Bay after a 7-4 win over the Sheffield Shadows at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

Lana Botes opened the scoring for the Dragons just 85 seconds into the game but Sheffield equalised on 5 minutes.

Deeside hit straight back with three quick goals within 90 seconds of each other – from Poppy Ward, Botes again and Hallie Morgan – around the 6 minute mark to put some daylight between the two teams but Sheffield scored again on 10 minutes to leave the score standing at 4-2 at the first period break.

Sheffield pulled another goal back 3 minutes into the second period but a second goal of the game for Ward on 23 minutes re-established the two goal cushion for 5-3 at the second interval.

Lana Botes was the Dragons
MVP against Sheffield
(photo by Katy Lennon)

Deeside edged further ahead again with a goal from Grace Taylor on 32 minutes, only for Sheffield to pull another goal back 8 minutes later. A hat-trick goal for Poppy Ward in the dying seconds of the game rounded of the scoring for a 7-4 win for the Dragons.

With league leaders Whitley Bay having beaten Kingston Diamonds 22-0 on Humberside on Saturday, the Dragons remain tied on points with them at the top of the league table, although they have played a game more. 

The Deeside girls are away to Whitley this Saturday 25^th April for a crunch 1^st v 2^nd encounter and then travel to Sheffield on Saturday 9^th May to round off the regular season.

Dragons' Malone Gets GB Bronze In World Championships

The Great Britain Under 18 team celebrate their bronze medal at the World Championships in Romania (Photo by Great Britain Ice Hockey Facebook Page)

Deeside Dragons’ Theo Malone missed the play off weekend at Sheffield but he had a good excuse as he was away on international duty playing for the Great Britain Under 18 team at the World Championships in Romania.

The GB team beat the host nation 5-4 and Spain 4-1 but narrowly lost 0-1 against China, 3-2 to Croatia and 4-3 to Japan in the 6-team group.

Malone scored 1 goal in the win over Spain, got two assists each in the games against Romania and Croatia and one in the final game against eventual group winners Japan.

Team GB finished in 3rd place in the overall table – winning the bronze medal - with 6 points from their two wins, 6 points behind runners up China and 9 behind gold medal winners Japan, who won all 5 of their matches.

The full GB schedule was:

IIHF Under 18 World Championship - Div II Group A - Targu Secuiesc, Romania

• Sunday 12th April: Great Britain 5 – Romania 4
• Monday 13th April: Great Britain 0 - China 1
• Wednesday 15th April: Great Britain 4 – Spain 1
• Thursday 16th April: Croatia 3 - Great Britain 2
• Saturday 18th April: Japan 4 - Great Britain 3

You can see all the results, game reports and player stats from the Under 18 World Championships in Romania on the IIHF website HERE

Deeside Players To Take Part In Rob Craig Memorial Game

Dragons' Ethan Mayoh will be playing the Rob Craig Memorial game in aid of the Calm Zone mental health charity (Photo by Emilia Roberts Photography)

A number of Deeside players are to take part in this year’s Rob Craig Memorial charity game, which will be played at Blackburn on 26^th April.

The game is played every year in memory of former Blackburn recreational player Rob Craig who took his own life in 2017 and aims to raise funds and awareness for mental health charities.  

The Deeside contingent at this year’s game will include current D1 Dragons player Ethan Mayoh, along with long-term Dragons favourites James Parsons - who is now player coach with the D2 Dragons team - and Marc Lovell, who mainly coaches juniors nowadays but also made a few guest appearances for the D1 Dragons last season.

The memorial event is now in its 7th year, having been first staged in 2018 as a friendly match between groups of Craig’s former team mates, and it has become bigger every year as more people have wanted to become involved.

As the profile of the event has grown, more companies and sponsors have come on board and the game has been able to attract bigger player names to boost the team rosters.

Other notable players who will be involved this year include:

• Canadian-born Manchester Storm and GB international defenceman Dallas Erhardt
• Former Manchester Storm and GB international player Cameron Critchlow
• GB women’s player CJ Ashton
• Plus Adam Barnes, Jacob Lutwyche, James Riddoch and Aaron Davies from Blackburn Hawks.

More players will be added to the line up in the run up to the event and they will be spread across two teams to ensure an entertaining and competitive game.

Marc Lovell (Photo by
Keith & Jenny Davies)

Talking about taking part in the Rob Craig Memorial game this season, Marc Lovell sais:

“I am really looking forward to being part of this event. There are some great names involved and it will be fun to get out on the ice together, hopefully we will raise a good amount of money and awareness for a very worthy cause.”

The beneficiary of the 2026 Rob Craig Memorial game will be the CALM Zone (Campaign Against Living Miserably), a suicide prevention charity on a mission to help people end their misery, not their lives.

You can find out more about the Calm Zone via their website https://www.thecalmzone.net

Advance tickets for the game on 26^th April are now on sale via the Planet Ice Blackburn ticketing website at £5 for adults  and £3 for Under 16s HERE – or you can pay on the door.