Coaches in place for the Wild Women
● THE Widnes Wild Women’s Team have confirmed their coaching line-up for the forthcoming 2019/2020 WNIHL season, during which they hope to be challenging for the National League Division One (North) title.
The coaching for the season will be overseen by Jon Little, who will be assisted by Andrew MacKinnon, Michael Parkin and Philip Pearson.
Little played his competitive ice hockey as a netminder for the Trafford Metros team during the Heineken League period and since then has gained a considerable reputation as a coach, working with juniors and net minders.
He was involved with the women’s team as a bench coach during their home matches last season and took on a more formal coaching role towards the end of the campaign.
Andrew MacKinnon started off playing roller hockey and was introduced to ice hockey when he started university in Manchester. ●
MacKinnon has played 110 games for the Manchester Metros university team, scoring 102 goals and 164 assists and has also enjoyed a successful period of coaching with the team.
He had a spell as club president and coached the Metros A Team to Conference, National, Play Off and
THE YKK-sponsored Widnes Wild have announced the signing of 20-year old Peter Toth, who spent last season playing in the higher Moralee Division with Sutton Sting.
The six-foot left-handed defenceman was born in Hungary but as he played his junior hockey in Sheffield, he qualifies as a British player. In fact, he was selected for the long list squad for the Great Britain Under 20s World Championship Team last year but narrowly failed to make the final cut.
Toth spent last season playing for Sutton Sting, where he appeared in all 36 of their League and Play Off games and he also played for the Sheffield Bears university team.
Despite being only 20 years old, Toth already has a huge amount of experience, having played for three seasons in North America.
For the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 seasons, he played over 100 games for the Ontario Hockey Academy Under 18 Team in Canada and he spent the 2017/2018 season in the USA, where he played 50 games for the Southern Oregon Spartans in the WSHL (Western States Tier Two Hockey League), based in Medford, Oregon.
Talking about signing for the Widnes, Toth said: “I heard great things about the organisation and I can’t wait to get the season started.
“The team is looking really strong and will be competitive both in the league and the cup.”
Wild head coach Mike Clancy said of Toth: “Peter is a great signing for the Wild, he’s a strong heads up youngster that moves the puck well and is prepared to compete, bringing good balance to our D-Core.”
“At only 20 years old Peter has experienced three years abroad playing in Canada and the States before spending last season representing the NIHL One side Sutton Sting. We look forward to seeing him ice with the Wild this season.”
Varsity titles.
Michael Parkin has most recently been playing recreational ice hockey for the Widnes-based Halton Huskies and Riverside Raiders teams.
He also assisted the Wild Women’s team last season and bench-coached the Raiders team during this year’s Summer Classic Cup Competition.
Philip Pearson is a current NIHL Net Minder and has just signed for the YKK-sponsored Widnes Wild men’s team, having played the previous three seasons for their Laidler Division rivals the Bradford Bulldogs.
Pearson is the Wild Women’s netminding coach and it is thought that they are the only team in all of the women’s leagues to have a dedicated net-minding coach.
The Widnes Wild NIHL team head coach Mike Clancy is also supporting the women’s team this season, which all adds up to a very impressive coaching line-up for the new campaign.
The Wild Women are always happy to hear from prospective new players – especially anybody with prior league experience – and interested parties can get in touch via social media – @ widneswildwomen – in the first instance.