Kings Cup 2026 - Both Teams (Photo by Sheffield Steelkings)
A number of players from the Mayhem sledge
team had the opportunity to pull on a Great Britain shirt over the weekend of 23rd-25th October as
part of a GB team that took part in the annual Kings Cup competition in
Sheffield.
The Kings Cup is organised by the Sheffield
Steelkings club as a post-season jamboree of para ice hockey and involves
playing a number of back to back games against invited opposition at their
iceSheffield rink.
There were three games in total – on Friday
evening, Saturday mid-day and Sunday morning - and Mayhem players Dean Lahan,
Karl Nicholson, Felicity Gregory, Mark Colquitt and Emily McLean all featured
for Great Britain over the course of the weekend
McLean and Colquitt both played in all three
games, Lahan and Nicholson in two and Gregory played the game on the Saturday.
Mayhem’s Canadian international player Peggy Assinck
was GB’s coach for the tournament and also played in all three games – despite
being Canadian...
The Steelkings won all 3 games – 9-1, 6-3 and
5-2 - to retain the Kings Cup trophy that they won last year when they beat
Swedish team FIFH Malmo.
Karl Nicholson and Dean Lahan both scored a
goal each, Nicholson added 3 assists and Mark Colquitt also contributed an
assist.
It is difficult to read too much into these
results from a GB perspective because not all of the players were available for
all of the games but it was a good run-out for the international squad and gave
them the opportunity to try some things out in a competitive match situation
outside their regular GB training camps.
The weekend matches will certainly have been
useful preparation for Felicity Gregory and Emily McLean, who - along with
fellow Mayhem player Nicola Terrell - have been selected to play for the Great
Britain Women’s team at the Women’s World Championships in Australia at the end
of November.
On the domestic front, the Mayhem team train
throughout the year at their Planet Ice Widnes home venue and are always on the
look-out for new players, helpers and sponsors.
The club welcomes players of all ages and
abilities – male or female, disabled or non-disabled – and anybody who is new
to the sport can borrow kit and equipment to try it out.
Training sessions are at 10 - 11.30pm on
alternate Thursday evenings and anybody who is interested in getting involved with
the club in any capacity is asked to get in touch via info@manchestermayhem.co.uk
