MILTON KEYNES, UK – British hockey usually grabs the headlines when a player throws a helmet at an opponent or starts fighting the crowd, but scratch below the surface of the sport and real positive stories can be found.
Line of best direction (Kev Slyfield)
Ever heard the one about the homeless hockey team and a bunch of dedicated volunteers converting a disused supermarket into an ice rink to continue playing?
Or the one about the team that played most of last season on the road and finished bottom of the table yet kept their enthusiasm for the game? Or the team that went through all of those challenges and then came back stronger and better than ever before the following season?
That team is the Milton Keynes Thunder and after a turbulent 2013/14 campaign they are entering the business end of the current season full of confidence and looking forward to the Play-Offs.
“We are quite disciplined with our systems” said Captain Jamie Line.
“Gorsey (Coach Paul Gore) has done a great job of setting up systems that fit our team. Also Damo (Damien King) is helping a lot as it give the guys more confidence knowing he’s in the net”
“We didn’t really know what to expect at the beginning of the year, but as the season has gone on our expectations have grown and hopefully we can achieve a top five finish”
“We have seven league games left so we need to maintain our form and take that confidence into the play offs”
Systems all good (Claire Stanton Photography)
The Thunder spent last season in their temporary home of MK Ice, a volunteer built facility that showed just how much can be achieved with committed and talented people inside the MK hockey community.
They started this season on the road before finally skating out into their newly refurbished Planet Ice home with it’s Olympic sized pad and numerous improvements.
The improvements to the original structure are notable and have been well received not only by fans but also by the players.
“The rink is great” admitted Line.
“It’s definitely better that I thought it would be. The changing rooms are much improved, as is the bar and in general the overall appearance is really good, it all looks clean and fresh”
The upbeat feeling in Milton Keynes is in stark contrast to Line’s experiences last season, when he played out the season with Slough Jets in their ill-fated campaign that eventually saw them drop out of the English Premier League.
Line made 25 appearances for the Jets and marked the end of an EPL journey that has seen him ice for Bracknell Bees, Peterborough Phantoms and Milton Keynes Lightning in that competition since bursting onto the scene as a 15 year old with the Bees.
“I was really privileged to be given the chance by Mike Ellis and Ryan Aldridge back in 2005 with the Bees” said Line on his senior hockey just under a decade ago.
“That first season flew by in the blink of an eye. We won the cup but lost to MK in the Play Offs, the experience was amazing both winning the cup and being part of the Play Off final”
Damo (Rick Webb)
“With the work commitments I had last year, I didn’t think I would be able to fit in playing hockey, but I was contacted by Craig Moran just before Christmas” added Line when asked about his Slough experience.
“The decision to join them was a really easy one as I was missing playing. It’s never nice to see a team drop out of a league, especially when they have had so much success previously”
Line has smashed all of his personal points records this season with 23 goals and 19 assists in his 26 appearances so far for the Thunder. The skipper has led by example using his speed and agility to good effect alongside fellow regular scorer Piotr Poziomkowski.
Youngsters Ed Knaggs, Ryan Coffey, Alex Whyte and Josh Nicklin have impressed, whilst Dane Mathias Rugholm and former Chelmsford man Tom Castle have offered extra depth and quality to a side that have always had a strong local connection with the city.
“I’m friends with the guys in the team and know them really well” Line explained
“It is a great team to be part of, it’s local and training is just once a week so it is manageable with work”
But what of that speed that is causing NIHL defences so many problems this season?
“I was always on my skates when I was young” laughed the 25 year old.
“That must have helped, along with being small and having a low centre of gravity. So maybe being small does have its advantages”
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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