NIHL North News

NIHL North Bulletin

Adding to their line-up this week, Billingham Stars have confirmed the signing of last season’s Under 20s captain, Luke Brown. Fulfilling the duties of his captaincy alongside his role in Billingham’s NIHL outfit, Brown was named the Stars’ Most Improved Player at the end of his 2015-16 campaign having guided Teesside’s Under 20s team to league success. Whilst Brown collected twenty eight points in eleven games for the Under 20s, it is also clear that the forward is no stranger to the sin bin. Accumulating fifty four penalty minutes across the thirty one games he featured in for the Stars at senior level, Brown often involves himself in the physical aspect of the sport which may provide Billingham with an additional edge to their game as they take to the ice in September.

Besides the signing of Brown, Billingham have added a new Star to their roster in the form of forward Jack Watkins. Starting out with Newcastle Vipers junior development setup in 2005, Watkins went on to feature for the Warriors before making the switch to Coventry where he has since made appearances for both the Blaze’s ENL and EIHL outfits. More recently playing for Milton Keynes Lightning in the EPL, Watkins played in forty games for the side, snatching two goals and three assists. As a result, Watkins’ wide-ranging experience suggests that the forward will be a refreshing addition to the Stars’ line-up. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Likewise, Whitley Warriors have also managed to strengthen their squad with the signing of forward Jamie Tinsley, and defencemen Josh Maddock and Joe Stamp. Captaining the Warriors last season, Tinsley tallied fourteen goals and ten assists to help Whitley achieve a top four finish and an all-important playoff spot. Offering experience to the younger members of Whitley’s roster, Tinsley’s strength and skill will be crucial in their next campaign. Meanwhile, player-coach David Longstaff has also acquired the services of Stamp, who excelled last season after a fourteen-year spell away from the sport, and Maddock who made his first debut with the Warriors during the side’s 2009-10 campaign and has since flourished as one of Whitley’s most reliable blue liners. Snatching four goals and three assists, Maddock’s last term in a Warriors’ shirt was his most successful to date and the defenceman will look to better his personal points production further as he takes to the ice in September. 

In other news, former Widnes Wild player-coach Scott McKenzie has been appointed Head Coach of the newly promoted Deeside Dragons. With plans for McKenzie to also take charge of Deeside’s junior setup, the Dragons have acquired the leadership of a player whose experience of British Ice Hockey spans fifteen seasons, the coach having started out in 2003 with EPL outfit Chelmsford Chieftains. Finishing last season as the Laidler Conference’s highest points scorer, McKenzie has a lot to offer the Dragons and it is expected that the forward will develop Deeside’s youth to seek strong foundations for the future.

Also enhancing their roster, Solihull Barons have signed versatile defenceman Dale White from Telford Tigers’ EPL side. Though he started out with Solihull’s junior teams, White joined Oxford City Stars in 2009 before moving up to the Elite League with Coventry Blaze. Last season, White dropped down from the EIHL to play for the Tigers, tallying six goals and eight assists in the fifty four games he featured. With thirteen seasons of experience behind him, White appears to be a great addition to Perry Doyle’s squad and time will surely tell as he lines up with the Barons in September.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Further to this news, young netminder Denis Bell has chosen to leave Telford Tigers after two years at the club following an opportunity of further development. Pulling off some standout performances last season to give the Tigers the best possible chance of success in Division One, Bell will now switch clubs with the hope of playing at a higher level. Replacing Bell between the pipes will be former Hawks’ shot stopper Daniel Brittle who returns to his hometown club alongside his brother Adam Brittle, the forward having tallied eighty four points for Blackburn in his previous campaign to become the league’s top points scorer last season. 

Meanwhile, former Hawks’ defenceman Andy Dunn has signed for Laidler Conference side Altrincham Aces, having left Blackburn earlier in the season with the intention of moving to Australia. These plans now cast aside, Dunn will line up for the aces next season, hoping to avoid the injury woes he endured in his previous campaign which saw the blue liner play only seventeen games from a possible thirty two.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Away from signing news, and perhaps most important of all, word has spread through the ice hockey community this week that Sheffield Spartans have sadly folded. It would seem that the Spartans have encountered an issue over funding and ice time which would prevent the team from competing next season and, as a result, the club were left little choice other than to fold. Fighting for their place in the Moralee Conference last season, the Spartans encountered Widnes Wild in a league placement playoff in April and emerged from the clash triumphant. Just weeks after this fixture, Sutton Sting’s John Ross replaced Martin White as Head Coach of the Spartans in the hope that he could take the team forward in their 2016-17 campaign. However, recent developments confirm that the Spartans are regrettably no longer active as a club and will not ice a team in the NIHL this season.  Understandably, this decision is not only devastating for the Spartans but for the ice hockey community as a whole and the team’s absence from the Moralee Conference will certainly be felt next season. For the Spartans’ official statement on this matter, please visit: http://www.sheffieldspartans.co.uk/team-news/sheffield-spartans-nihl-statement/. 

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