NIHL National League
Telford Ice Rink
Right then hockey fans, it's time to officially say hello and welcome to our brand new blog, 'Thin Ice'. Yes, in a world overpopulated with podcasts, vlogs, blogs and everything in-between, we have decided to throw our hat in the ring as we attempt to start following Ice Hockey and document the outcome as we hope to learn the game- and more importantly, love it! To give you a wee bit of background about the minds behind TI, the lead writer is me, Daz. Having spent the past four years writing a football blog called 'Pint of Football' I have decided to join up with my partner Sophie, who is the "blogtographer" and also designer of our logo and social media stuff, to start up a new joint hobby-cum-adventure into the chilly lifestyle that comes with rinkhopping. Being based in Stafford, we've decided to get cracking by becoming Tigers fans and I expect that most of our "learning" will come from the delightful Telford Ice Rink. We aim to expand our minds across the nation and will no doubt be checking up on Coventry Blaze, Manchester Storm and even the Solihull Barons! It's bound to be a hell of a ride, but please do bear with us as we ask such ridiculous questions such as "why are there so many subs?" and "who picks the playlists at these things?"
Having already been a part of history on this fine day by attending the afternoon's Stoke City Women Football Club's record attendance match at the Bet365 Stadium in front of 855 people, we drove south in search of the unknown- aka, Telford Ice Rink. In an attempt to get a full experience of the evening, we'd not done any research into the rules of the game, studied the form books or even checked what "18:00 face-off" meant, but with just ten minutes to spare we made it into the town centre, parked up and made our way in to see what the match would bring. There is a lot of things said about Ice Hockey being a violent sport and to be honest after the introduction of VAR into the top flight of football, we were very much looking forward to some fast-paced proper action and indeed that's what we would get over the next couple of hours or so!
The Ice Rink, a £250 million complex in the heart of Telford, was opened in 1984 and has been used for general lessons, figure skating and ice hockey throughout its 35 year history. The Tigers themselves were formed in 1985 and despite renaming briefly between 2001 and 2005 as the Wild Foxes, they have largely been a mainstay in the rink. Looking at their history they've been through some tough financial times, but hopefully the club who are the oldest in the division by one year ahead of 1986 born Swindon Wildcats, will look to recapture the form that saw them win the old English Premier Ice Hockey back in 2015. Things didn't go to plan on the opening day just 24-hours before their first home game of the season, thanks to a 5-7 loss over in Basingstoke against Bison, so they would be hoping that new boys Leeds Chiefs would provide the chance to get a first win of the campaign.
After a very intense opening to the game with loud music, flashing lights and even the national anthem, there wasn't a person in sight who was not pumped for the match and with the message of "welcome to the jungle" being displayed on the board behind us, it was time to rumble. The Referees, looking super cool as they darted around the rink before the players arrived, got the puck into play and instantly we were thrilled to be in attendance. The first shot we witnessed, just moments into play, was from a Tigers attacker and this would prove to be the first that fan favourite and eventual player of the match Sam Gospel. The Chiefs puck stopper would have a busy evening ahead, but it clearly pleased both sets of fans to see him save the left handed stroke that flew towards him. Of course the Chiefs are a brand new team and they are so fresh that even their rink hasn't finished being built yet, but after opening their campaign with a tough Yorkshire derby which they lost 1-3 to the Sheffield Steeldogs, the blue, yellow and white stripped side were looking to get their first win here and they made a great early start when James Archer struck home a rebound effort in just the third minute. Talk about an action-packed start! Tigers 0-1 Chiefs. Officially the first goal we've ever seen, a true moment of magic. Thanks very much, Mr Archer.
With the action and aggression slowly building up in the rink the Tigers awoke and began to roar, perhaps a little too loudly as the first of many wall side brawls began and the first penalty was given to Telford, reducing them temporarily to five men. However, the amount of spirit in the hosts was greater than the number of lads skating around and through Dominik Florian the equaliser was tucked away. Tigers 1-1 Chiefs. The Czech-born number 7, who spent a couple of seasons with Canada's humorously named "Notre Dame Argos Midget AAA", was pleased to have notched and we were both up on our feet to celebrate too. The game quickly restarted and with only ten minutes played another couple of timeouts occurred after an exchange of slaps between two opposing lads. In and amongst all of this, Lewis Baldwin continued to add to his impressive goal-scoring record as a defensive player as he gave Leeds the lead once again in the 12th minute. Tigers 1-2 Chiefs. Things weren't exactly going to plan and with frustrations building Telford again took a penalty as Andrew McKinney was temporarily dismissed. By this stage, we felt that we were getting the hang of the sin bin rules, but we still couldn't fathom the constant subbing in and out. The DJ blasted out a beaty tune, then half of both teams would jump out of the rink and others came in to replace. What's that all about?
Either way, it was obviously working and the "tactics" paid off in the 17th minute when Telford born Adam Taylor, who has been with the club since youth level, banged in the second equaliser after a great move from the home team. Tigers 2-2 Chiefs. Hard to believe that we were still in the opening third and when the clock struck 20 it was time to grab a drink and see what the facilities around the rink were like. The answer is, very good! Despite not sampling a beer, the option for drinks of hot, cold or alcoholic was great and there was plenty of food on show. I kept it PG and went for a donut and coke, but I expect to be sampling a few beers next time around!
With jammy lips and a hunger that could now only be satisfied with more Ice Hockey, we retook our seats in the stand and watched a middle third that was largely dominated by the Tigers. Despite Gospel saving a huge chance straight after the restart, the puck kept flying at him and the only temporary stoppage from the peppering of his goal was when McKinney offered former Tigers favourite Sam Zajac out for a proper fight. Unlike anything I've ever seen before, both players downed their sticks, removed helmets and were allowed to throw actual punches at each other. Nobody else got involved until Zajac eventually downed McKinney and at that point the Ref piled on to prevent any further damage. Once everyone calmed down, the lads left for their two-minute detention and play resumed as though nothing ever happened. Unbelievable!
Fearing that we'd seen the best action of the game, Jack Watkins decided to raise the stakes and when he ran in one-on-one he hit the puck underneath Gospel and watched as it squirmed into the net, setting off the flashing light and jubilant celebrations. Tigers 3-2 Chiefs. Watkins knows what it takes to feature in big games, having spent the past five seasons in the playoffs with the Tigers, Billingham Stars, MK Lightning and Manchester Phoenix, so it was no surprise to see him keep a cool head. More impressively though, was the continued brilliance of Florian and although he didn't manage any goals last season with Coventry Blaze, he managed to produce a wonderful solo goal in the 38th minute to put his side in control at the most perfect time just before the second break. Tigers 4-2 Chiefs. We spent the second recess in the upstairs bar, which was very well kitted out, and discussed what had unfolded so far. Was the win sealed for the Tigers? Is four Referees enough for such a high-paced game? Would the DJ pull out anymore old school favourites in the final third? We truly only knew the answer to one of these questions.
The final third began and we quickly got back to our seats, just in time to see an early Chiefs strike rattle the metalwork of Bradley Day's goal. At this stage, I was amazed as I looked over to only just notice the man-mountain of a player that Leeds had on the left. Radek Meidl, the monster-human from Prostejov, was an absolute beast for the limited time we saw him in the rink and it just went to show how engrossed we were in the action for it to take that long to notice the number 81. by this stage, the action had made its way into the last fifteen and with all still to play for we looked at each other knowing that the next goal would probably decide it. Thankfully for Telford, it was a goal for them and it came from another lad from the academy as Joseph Aston scored a real poachers effort. The Tiger from Plymouth celebrated like a hero as he got his second goal from two games so far this season. Tigers 5-2 Chiefs. I'd love to tell you that the fifth goal made for a steady finish for the Tigers, but desperate for more goals the Chiefs forced a triple save from Day and in truth Telford could have scored more of their own. We cheered on as Florian went for the hat-trick, but ultimately it would end with the hosts grabbing a win by three. A good result, albeit one that leaves them 8th from 10 teams after two games.
For those of you who've stuck with us to the end, I hope you enjoyed the read as much as we enjoyed writing it and editing the photos. If you want to follow us on Twitter, here we are! We were massively impressed with the game, the atmosphere, the facilities and the great cultural outing we experienced. We'll be certainly attending another game in the near future, so please do look out for us! UP THE TIGERS!
