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| Wild's former Nottingham Lion Joe Howie (Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies) |
Despite being a winter sport, ice hockey fell victim to the weather this weekend and the Widnes Wild NIHL team found themselves without a game.
They had been due to play a juicy double header against Nottingham Lions - away in the Lace City on Saturday and then at home at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday - in a pair of games where victories might have seen them pull further away from the bottom of the Moralee Division table, following their timely win over Sheffield Scimitars in the last game of 2024.
Unfortunately, the away game on Saturday was called off due to issues in the Nottingham camp and then with heavy snowfall across the country over Saturday night, and an amber weather warning from the Met Office remaining in place throughout Sunday, it was deemed unwise for Nottingham to undertake the journey across the Pennines and, indeed, a number of games in NIHL North were postponed on safety grounds.
It is hoped that alternative dates can be found for these two games later in the season – especially as Nottingham are one of the teams that Widnes have a chance of overtaking in the league table, if results go their way.
However, with a number of teams now needing to re-arrange unplayed games, this will have a knock-on effect across the league. Also, with ice time being difficult to secure at Nottingham’s home rink due to the number of other teams that also play there, it could become a scheduling nightmare for the sport’s governing body, England Ice Hockey.
Because of a quirk in the fixture list, Widnes haven’t played Nottingham yet this season, meaning that 4 of their remaining 15 league games will be against the Lions, twice home and twice away. Former Lions player Joe Howie joined the Wild in the summer and the weekend postponements mean that he will have to wait a little longer to come up against his former team-mates.
Weather permitting, Widnes will be back in action this weekend with a visit on Saturday 11th January to Leeds Knights – who are just above them in the league table, occupying the last play off spot - and then at home to Solihull Barons on Sunday at Planet Ice Widnes.
