NIHL North News

NIHL North Bulletin

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Continuing to release signing news on a regular basis, Billingham Stars have confirmed that forwards Michael Elder and James Moss will remain at the club for another season. Deemed the side’s Best Forward, Elder’s points production in his previous campaign was his best to date, having picked up twenty one goals and fourteen assists. Contributing pace and power, Elder is a superb signing for the Stars and will no doubt link up with line mates Chris Sykes and Callum Davies next season as the Teesside club sets its sights on silverware once more. Likewise, returning forward James Moss heads into his sixth season with the Stars on the back of his best campaign yet. Tallying thirty points in twenty nine league games, Moss enhances Billingham’s offensive line up which already includes three of the outfit’s top players in player-assistant coach Michael Bowman, Sykes and Davies. Meanwhile, experienced defenceman and alternate captain Andy Munroe will not sign for the Stars next season, the blue liner taking a job in Peterborough instead. Whether or not Munroe will play ice hockey next season remains to be seen but it is clear that the ‘D’ man has been an asset on Teesside since he signed for the outfit in 2013 and will certainly be missed by the Stars as they prepare to confront a new set of challenges in their upcoming campaign.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Further to this news, Whitley Warriors have added their fifteenth signing to their roster in the form of forward Shaun Kippin who joins the Hillheads outfit for a second consecutive season. Having previously iced for the club between 2002 and 2012, Kippin went on to sign for Deeside Dragons where he was eventually made alternate captain. Unable to ice for the Dragons in their 2014-15 campaign due to a shoulder injury, Kippin made his return to Tyneside last season and slotted seamlessly into Whitley’s line-up. Chipping in with goals where possible and playing in all but one league game for the side, the reliable fan-favourite is a welcome addition to David Longstaff’s roster. By contrast, it has been confirmed that young forward Callum Queenan will leave the Warriors this summer to further his ice hockey career in North America. Offered a fantastic opportunity to advance in the sport, Queenan leaves the Warriors having enjoyed three fruitful seasons at Whitley in which his skill in front of goal quickly became apparent and his progression a certainty.

In other news, Deeside player-coach Scott McKenzie has appointed the versatile Marc Lovell as player-assistant coach, the captain stepping into the role on the back of the Dragons’ promotion to the Moralee Conference. Making the switch from Widnes Wild along with McKenzie are Chris Gee and Geoff Wigglesworth who collectively contributed sixty seven points to enhance their side’s chances of promotion last season. With much experience in the lower tiers of British Ice Hockey, both Gee and Wigglesworth will be valuable members of Deeside’s roster as McKenzie begins to assemble his squad for September. 

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