CHRISTCHURCH, NZ – When Damien King sat down with his girlfriend Jade after lifting the NIHL Play-Off trophy with UK based Invicta Dynamos and proposed a trip to Canterbury, she probably envisaged a romantic trip to the nearby cathedral city for dinner and drinks.
Canterbury Red Devils goalie Damien King (Photo courtesy of NZIHF)
Just a few weeks later they were flying to the other side of the world to start a new adventure on and off the ice in the exciting New Zealand Ice Hockey League with the Canterbury Red Devils. The move was a spur of the moment decision by King, who had answered a call for help from former Telford, Romford and Solihull favourite Dean Tonks, who now coaches in Canterbury.
‘The team lost their Kiwi starting goalie in the summer due to injury and with no solid replacement yet ready to fully step up in the system, Dean and the coaching staff went looking for an import’ explained the 26 year old stopper.
‘Dean initially contacted Euan (King’s brother and London Raiders goalie) and asked him to help find a UK goalie that wanted to play. Euan put a post out on social media and I responded. It was only 18 days from deciding to accept the opportunity and actually arriving.’
King was thrown into action just three days after arriving in the land of the legendary kakapo in a warm up game on the South East coast against Dunedin Thunder. He had attended one training session prior to the game where he met his new team mates at the Alpine Ice Sports Centre.
‘I didn’t really know what to expect’ admitted the Peterborough native. ‘The games were pre- season games but played with the intensity of a Play-Off final.’
‘The standard was around low end NIHL 1 (last years) but when we went to Queenstown the following week to play the Stampede, my opinion changed a little.’
‘They iced a big strong team with some serious import fire power, I felt they could have challenged the Dynamos in a game. Same goes for West Auckland Admirals who had more skill compared to Stampedes muscle.’
The Red Devils are competing in the only senior league in New Zealand and are based in Christchurch. They play in the five team NZIHL along with Botany Swarm (Auckland), Dunedin Thunder, Skycity Stampede (Queenstown) and West Auckland Admirals.
Courtesy of www.eliteprospects.com
King and his team have made a slow start to the season however on a personal level he has the second best save average in the division despite facing a whopping 265 shots in only six games so far – almost triple the number some of his opposite numbers have had.
‘The team is very young and it’s a transition year here’ admitted King. ‘A few old wise heads retired and young fresh guys have come up from the juniors. They are a great bunch of guys with a lot of heart and desire to achieve team goals but with a lack of age comes an obvious lack of experience on the ice.’
Red Devils training session in Christchurch
‘Hopefully the extreme highs like beating Botany 6-5 in overtime, and lows such as losing 16-2 to West Auckland will accelerate their hockey progression to help them deal with the situations and improve as players.’
‘Off the ice the team has a great manager in Sherry Peck who is a guardian angel to the guys and a credit to the organisation’
A number of British players have made the trip to play in Australia in the UK off-season, however the road to New Zealand is far less trodden. In recent years Manchester Storm’s Ciaran Long and Hull Pirates James Archer have starred in the NZIHL. The outstanding natural beauty of the country and the chance to play the beautiful game in a far flung corner of the world holds a great appeal and King believes that more Brits should give it a go if they can.
His position in the Red Devils crease has however helped him identify a few other differences between the Kiwi game and his experiences in the UK with Peterborough, Milton Keynes and Invicta.
‘The game is played almost completely different here and it is very much a rugby player’s mentality’ he admits.
‘You get run over (clean or not) and you just get up and carry on, no one within your team really goes out and deals with it. It’s an automatic suspension for any fights so guys can’t deal with the issues rising, they often have to seek revenge with a behind the play cheap shot or a big hit of their own. The main outcome of that is the game rarely settles, its sixty mins with lots of physicality and a load of goals in between.’
‘It is a developing league and has its own quirks like ten minute warm ups and the unusual officiating can surprise at times with what is deemed legal, especially the checking aspect. However nothing has shocked me more than the price of food shopping and having to pay £2.50 for a loaf of bread.’
Which brings the interview nicely on to his home life and settling into Christchurch. Both King and his partner Jade have missed out on the recent heatwave roasting the UK and the netminder has probably had to keep Jade away from UK weather reports in recent days.
Damien and Jade enjoy the beauty of New Zealand
‘When I spoke with Jade to ask if she wanted to travel to NZ for four months whilst I played ice hockey, she thought she could lay on a beach, relax and catch a tan whilst I was at the rink’ he admits with a wry smile.
‘It took me a couple more days to let her know that it would in fact be New Zealand’s winter and the hottest temperature would be 14 degrees with lows of minus 5.’
‘Jade is very supportive of me playing hockey as it is the way we met, but I am pretty sure she is ready for some sun and heat, as am I. We spend the majority of our spare time during the week travelling all over the country so hopefully that has made up for it a bit.’
‘Hockey was an excuse to come but we are here to travel and that is what we both mainly focus on. We have plenty more trips planned so I think that makes up for dragging her to more cold ice rinks, some of which are unbelievably colder than Silver Blades in Gillingham.’
King’s commitments with the Red Devils will end in time for a return to the UK and the 2017/18 campaign with Invicta Dynamos in the new look NIHL. The Dynamos are expected to ice a much changed roster with a number of players including All-Star Ashley Jackson departing already.
King is however, very excited about competing in the second tier of British hockey and a return to Kent, especially after his 2016/17 season was blighted by injury.
‘My groin feels much better. The medical set up with the Devils is very good’ he explains.
‘A fully qualified physiotherapist travels with the team everywhere. He has the support of a specialist sports doctor that he can refer any player to. Appointments can be set within a days’ notice and you can be having scans and treatment within the week. Something I’d like to see more of back home.’
‘I am looking forward to getting back to home ice in Kent. I do miss the #dynamowallbangers and the rest of the noisy bunch at Invicta. It is amazing the energy a strong network of fans can bring to the team.’
‘We are in for a tough year with all the league changes but I’ve spoken to Kev Parrish (Invicta Coach), a fair bit and he’s building a respectable team within a budget the club can afford. We all like a challenge and as long as the boys on board buy into the same goals we will surprise a few teams.’
You can find out more about hockey in New Zealand by visiting the excellent website HERE
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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