Academy sides take to the ice

THE spotlight will be on Widnes Wild’s younger teams at Planet Ice Widnes this weekend with matches scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday evening, the Widnes Wild Academy U15 team take on their Blackburn counterparts in an EIHA North U15 League Division Three game with a 6.50pm face-off time.

The U15 team are playing league ice hockey for the first time this season and are, for the most part, coming up against sides who have played together for seven or eight years already and taking on players with a huge amount of league experience.

Their first game was an 11-2 defeat away to Blackburn back in September and they also lost to them at home 11-4 at the beginning of last month.

As with the new-look Widnes Wild Women’s team, this is very much a season of development for the fledgling Academy outfits and, while they will not be battling for any honours this time around, firm foundations are being put down for benefits to be reaped in future years.

Admission to the game is free of charge.

Then on Sunday afternoon, the Widnes Wild Academy U9 team are hosting a ‘Cross Ice’ tournament featuring sides from Deeside, Telford, Blackburn and Manchester Storm.

Cross Ice hockey sees games being played across the width of the ice pad, rather than along the length of it.

The aim is to help younger players concentrate on developing important skills such as puckhandling, shooting, skating, coordination and decision-making without wearing themselves out skating the whole length of the ice to reach the goals.

The games are played for fun with no scores or player statistics being recorded and the youngsters get lots of ice time participating against different teams to help build their skills and confidence playing the sport.

The U9s Cross Ice tournament commences at 4.20pm on Sunday afternoon and admission to Planet Ice Widnes for the event is also free of charge.