Deeside Dragons To Wear Special Remembrance Shirts

Deeside netminder Phil Pearson models the Dragons' special 2025 remembrance shirt (Photo by Emilia Roberts Media)

The Deeside Dragons v Blackburn Hawks game on Remembrance Sunday (9th November) will see the Dragons players wearing special themed shirts in honour of the fallen in conflicts past and present which will all be raffled off in a live “Shirt Off the Back” draw after the game, giving fans the opportunity to take home a piece of Dragons history straight from the ice.

A donation from the proceeds will be made to the Royal British Legion – supporting their work with veterans and families across the UK.

You can read more about the Remembrance shirts and how to take part in the raffle on the Dragons official website HERE

The Dragons have back to back matches against Blackburn Hawks this coming weekend. The away game is in East Lancashire on Saturday 8^th November and the home game at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday 9^th November, 5.15pm face off.

Colin Cromie Named Deeside Dragons Player Of The Month For October

Deeside Dragons' Colin Cromie (Photo by Emilia Roberts Photography)

The Deeside Dragons Player of the Month for October has been announced as Colin Cromie.

American forward Cromie is new to the Dragons this season and, in the short time that he has been here, has become a firm favourite with the fans.

He was an ever-present in the Dragons team during the month of October, having played in all 7 league games. In that time, he has scored 7 goals and 9 assists – including an impressive 5-goal haul in the home win over Leeds and the all-important match-winning goal in the home victory over Hull Jets.

Cromie received the October Player Of The Month Award after the Dragons’ home game against Telford Tigers on Sunday. The presentation was made by trophy sponsor and award organiser Paul Breeze, of the Ice Hockey Review grass-roots news website and publisher.

Deeside Dragons v Telford Tigers Weekend Report (NIHL Moralee Division)

Rhys Edwards scored in both games over the weekend (Photo by Emilia Roberts Photography)

Saturday 1^st November 2025 – NIHL Moralee Division: Telford Tigers 6 – Deeside D1 Dragons 4

Sunday 2^nd November 2025 – NIHL Moralee Division: Deeside D1 Dragons 7 – Telford Tigers 5

The Deeside Dragons had a mixed weekend in back to back games against Telford Tigers, losing 6-4 away in Shropshire on Saturday and then winning 7-5 at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

In the away game on Saturday, the Dragons scored first with a goal from Rhys Edwards after just 2 minutes and then doubled the lead with a Charles Phillips strike 90 seconds later.  The score remained 0-2 at the first period break and things were looking good for Deeside, who went on to outshoot the Tigers by a considerable margin over the course of the game.

Telford fought back early in the second period, however, and two quick goals saw them level the score.  They went ahead with a shorthanded goal on 33 minutes but Deeside equalised two minutes later with a powerplay goal from Jake Witkowski and the game remained at a finely balanced 3-3 at the second interval.

Tensions boiled over early in the third period with a couple of fights that saw players from both sides in the penalty boxes. The Dragons took advantage of the ensuing disruption to edge back into the lead again on 48 minutes with a powerplay goal from Ross Kennedy but a shorthanded goal for the Tigers two minutes after that left it level pegging with 10 minutes left to play.

Then came the hammer blow of two Telford goals within 60 seconds of each other that put daylight between the two teams. There were still 6 minutes left to play but Deeside couldn’t find their way back into the game and it ended up in a 6-4 victory for the hosts.

The return game on Sunday was very fiercely contested with lots of penalties being dished out to both sides – some 100 minutes in total over the course of the game.

Telford had the edge for the first two periods although the score was an evenly balanced 1-1 at the first period break with a Jake Witkowski goal levelling an early Telford strike.

Tempers flared as the teams returned to the changing rooms and a fight in the tunnel saw Deeside’s Will Harper and Telford’s Connor Keys ejected from the game and two more players from each team sent to the penalty box.  

Telford took the lead again on 22 minutes and Deeside equalised again with a Ross Kennedy goal on 24.  Just 20 seconds after that, Telford re-took the lead and then a third goal of the game for the Tigers highly- rated Czech player Vladimir Luka on 30 minutes saw the visitors leading 2-4.

Matty Barlow pulled a goal back for the Dragons on 34 minutes and the score remained 3-4 at the second interval.

Telford restored their two-goal cushion just 40 seconds after the restart but Deeside visibly upped their game in the third period and clawed their way back into contention.

A second goal from Barlow on 44 minutes was followed by Witkowski’s second just 50 seconds later and the Dragons were level again.  This time, they were able to push on and Witkowski’s hat-trick goal on 50 minutes put Deeside ahead for the first time in the game.

A goal from Rhys Edwards with 2½ minutes to go released the unbearable tension that had been building up around the rink and Deeside were able to weather some late Telford pressure and hang on for an important 7-5 win.

After the weekend’s matches, the Dragons remain in third place in the Moralee Division table with 23 points from their 12 games to date – two points ahead of Telford, who have three games in hand.

Solihull Barons remain top of the table with 28 points from 10 games – 1 point ahead of Blackburn Hawks, whose unbeaten start to the season came to an end when the Barons beat them on Saturday.

The Dragons have back to back matches against Blackburn Hawks this coming weekend.

The away game is in East Lancashire on Saturday 8^th November and the home game at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday 9^th November, 5.15pm face off.

The Division 2 Dragons are also at home at the weekend with a game against Kingston Sharks on Saturday, 5.15pm face off.