Wild’s watching brief in the Moralee Cup
THE Widnes Wild NIHL team were without a game last weekend after failing to qualify for the semi finals of the Moralee Cup – the first time in three years.
The Wild had actually won the trophy in 2022 and then lost out in a two– legged semi final to Solway Sharks last season but their lowly position of seventh in the standings after the qualifying games this season means that they missed out this time around.
Following difficulties in previous seasons with ice time availability and fixture backlogs affecting the scheduling of the semi final matches between the qualifying teams, the league organisers – rather sensibly – left a free weekend in the schedules across the country this week with no games arranged for any team to have to work around.
This year’s Moralee Cup semi finals saw Billingham beat Hull and Blackburn beat Solihull to set up a two-legged final between the Stars and the Hawks.
But there is another cup competition where Widnes remain very much in the running, and that is the triangular M56 Cup that is being played between themselves, Deeside Dragons and Blackburn.
The M56 Cup was supposed to have been played last season as well but the Dragons had scheduling issues and only one game was ever played. Instead, the competition was renamed the “North West Challenge Cup” and was played over two legs between Widnes and Blackburn with the Wild winning 7-4 on aggregate.
Widnes have played two games so far in this season’s M56 cup – beating Deeside 10-8 and losing 5-7 to Blackburn - and they still have the return games to play in the “round robin” group.
There is a bit of a question mark over the Blackburn v Deeside cup ties at present to complete the set of fixtures after the Dragons visit to East Lancashire on 13th January was postponed in the aftermath of an unsavoury incident that occurred in the league game between the two teams the previous weekend.
That matter is the subject of an investigation by the police and the English Ice Hockey Association and it is unclear as to whether the outstanding game will be played. If it is not rescheduled, the EIHA will have to make a decision as to who is at fault and how to complete the Cup competition table.
They have the option to award the win and two points to the non-offending team, or to record the match as a draw with 1 point each or 0 points each, depending on the findings of the investigation.
Obviously this will have a huge bearing on the destination of the trophy so, in the meantime, the Wild have the opportunity to place themselves in the best possible position by gaining positive results in their own two remaining cup away games away at Deeside this Saturday 3rd February, 5.15pm face off, and away to Blackburn on 17th February.
Aside from the first cup encounter, which was won by the Wild, Widnes and Deeside have each won one of the league meetings this season so far – with both winning at the other’s home rink – so Saturday’s game is too close to call and could go either way.
The Wild have another tough away trip when they make the long journey to the North East to face league leaders Billingham Stars on Sunday. They are next at home on Sunday 11th February when they take on Sheffield Scimitars at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off.
● The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team face a tough challenge this Sunday 4th February when they take on the Caledonia Steel Queens at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.
The Edinburgh based Steel Queens, who are in their first season of league competition, currently lead the WNIHL Div2 North league table with a 100% record of five wins from their five games to date – the most recent being a highly impressive 2-4 win away to regular title challengers Telford.
The Wild women lost 10-1 to the Steel Queens in the first meeting between the two teams – the first WNIHL match ever to be played at the Murrayfield Ice Rink - back in October at the, admittedly, rather unsociable face off time of 10.15pm on a Saturday.
However, they are unbeaten in all three of their home games so far this season – with a mean defensive record of having conceded just two goals in a total 180 minutes playing time – and it is hoped Sunday will provide a close–fought and entertaining game.
● Widnes Wild Academy player Caleb Eddleston has been on England duty with an Under 12 select team, on a week’s trip to Slovakia.
Caleb was put forward for the PO12 (Power Of 12) England National Team Program (ENTP) by the Widnes Wild Academy head coach Mike Gilbert after a very successful 2022/23 season with the Under 12 and Under 14 teams where he put up a combined 85 points for the Academy and finished fifth in the overall points standings for U14’s Division 2 at the age of 10/11.
He was successful with the PO12 AAA team after a four-stage trial and flew out with the squad, taking part in multiple games and training sessions whilst in Trencin, Slovakia.
Staying in the Marian Gaborik Hotel which has its own fitness centre and ice rink attached gave the young squad their first taste of a professional set-up and the physical demands needed to represent their country at the highest level possible for U12s.
The England squad played local teams and won all of their games against Slovakian competition. Caleb provided a number of points (goals and assists) over the course of the week and scored a hat trick in one of the games. The opposition was provided by Dukla Trencin 12 & 13, HK 95 Panthers Povazska Bystrica, and K&B Stars who are a select team based in Slovakia.
An optional skate with coach Peter Bohunicky from the NHL Florida Panthers to focus on skating, was also taken up by many of the players who attended the PO12 showing their commitment to their passion for the game.
When asked about his week away with the PO12, Caleb commented: “It was fun and I enjoyed it. The opposition teams were strong, but we passed the puck around well and scored on our opportunities. I enjoyed every second of the trip and want to do more.”
Caleb next flies out to Riga, Latvia in April to represent the Elite British Selects (2012 AAA) in the 2024 Riga Hockey Cup.
● The Widnes Wild Academy junior teams had a mostly positive weekend with wins for the Under 14s against Sutton and Under 18Bs away at Solihull and a narrow defeat for the Under 18As away to Bradford.
The Wild Academy U18B team came away from Solihull on Saturday with a 2-5 victory courtesy of goals by Jared Knowles (2), Harry Kay, Alex Reid and Charlie Scott. Netminder Harry Bird turned away 40 of the 42 shots that he faced.
The Wild Academy Under 14 team recorded an emphatic 13-1 victory over Sutton Under 14s at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday. The final score was actually 16-1 to Widnes but due to a well meaning - but ultimately unfair mercy/slaughter rule introduced by the EIHA, heavily one-sided scorelines are discouraged and counting stops once the deficit gets to a certain level.
The idea behind this rule is to avoid young players getting too discouraged when they are at this early stage of their development but it also has the negative effect of not recognising any of the players’ achievements that happen after the cutoff point in the game – even if the losing team scores any more goals themselves.
Caleb Eddleston led the scoring for Widnes with 4 goals and three assists with Evan Walker scoring 3+3 and Ollie Cliffe 4+1. Oliver Kitchen chipped in with 2-2, Ben Roberts 2+1 and Daniel Teinert 1+1 but not all of these goals get credited to the players’ records as three of the goals came after the mercy cut off.
The Wild Under 18 A team lost 9-5 away to Bradford on Sunday. The Widnes youngsters actually matched their hosts for much of the game and narrowly outshot them by 69 to 62 over the 60 minutes.
The Widnes goals were scored by Gregor Donaldson (2), Aidan Lamb, Mack Harris and Cian Shorrock.
The Wild Academy Under 10 team hosted a 4 team “cross-ice” tournament at Widnes on Sunday where they took on Deeside, Manchester and Blackburn. Cross ice games are played purely for fun and no match scores or player stats are recorded.
This weekend sees the Wild Academy Under 14 team away to Sutton on Saturday - 4.45pm face off - and the Under 18B team at home to Whitley – also on Saturday - at Planet Ice Widnes, 6pm start.
Admission is free for all spectators to Wild Academy home games at Planet Ice Widnes and fans are encouraged to go along and support the stars of the future.