Ice Hockey: Widnes Wild return to the ice in style

Wild battle it out. Photo: Steve Pollitt.

Written by Paul Breeze

The YKK sponsored Widnes Wild made a winning return to the ice in the new NIHL North Cup competition with a superb 3-9 win away at Blackburn Hawks on Saturday.

This was the first time that these two teams had played a match of any sort for over 11 months due to the coronavirus lockdown and, with both sides icing a host of new players, it was always going to be a rather strange occasion all round.

The atmosphere was made all the eerier by the absence of spectators in the arena as these cup games are being played behind closed doors as part of the English Ice Hockey Association’s post-Covid “Return To Play” strategy under very strict conditions but, luckily, supporters are able to watch live- streams of these games over the internet.

The Wild have effectively had to move up a level and qualify for “Elite” status to take part in this competition but you would be hard pushed to tell this on the evidence of this first game back.

After a balanced opening phase, Widnes took the lead after just 4 minutes with a superb finish from new signing Adam Barnes, who played for Leeds Chiefs in the National Division last season.

Two powerplay goals from the Hawks put them briefly ahead but a second strike from Barnes left the score tied at 2-2 at the first period break. Barnes scored his third goal of the game on 24 minutes to put Widnes back into the lead but that only lasted 24 seconds as they were pegged back again by the hosts.  However, any hopes that Blackburn might have harboured of taking control of the game were dashed as goals from former Hull hitman Richard Haggar, newly returned player coach Ollie Barron and then Barnes again with his fourth of the game edged the Wild into an unassailable 3-6 lead by the end of the second period.

Widnes continued to stick to their successful game plan in the third period and it paid dividends with three more unanswered goals – from more new signings Joe Coulter and Jordan Griffin and then Daniel Haid with just 5 minutes left in the game.

This was a very solid all-round performance from a team that included eight players who hadn’t played for the Wild last season - 5 of whom, including former Hawks player Lewis Baldwin, were making their Wild debuts.

It was a great boost to the team to see Ollie Barron, netminder Matt Croyle and playmaker Stuart Brittle back in the side after a season away and Tom Barry - who played briefly for Widnes in the 2014/15 season and has spent most of the intervening period playing higher league hockey with the Sheffield Steeldogs – also looks to be a useful addition to the returning squad of players.

This was the first time that the Wild had ever beaten the Hawks first team in a competitive fixture. They did beat them in a pre-season challenge game last season and also took them to overtime in the cup but to come away from East Lancashire with such an emphatic victory certainly bodes well for the rest of the competition.

The YKK sponsored Widnes Wild are at home this Saturday March 6 in their second game in the four team cup competition when they take on the Nottingham Lions at Planet Ice Widnes – 4pm face off.

No spectators are allowed into the venue to watch the game but it will be live- streamed over the internet by Wirral based BASN who produce the successful long running “Drop The Puck” programme. The game will also be covered on the Wild’s official Twitter feed.