With the Whitley Warriors home league campaign now complete for this season many fans in the area will be suffering hockey withdrawal over the next five months. However, there is a remedy in the form of being able to watch any one of the numerous Rec teams based at Hillheads.
The most famous of which, the Whitley Bay Islanders, are set to start their campaign this coming Sunday against the Newcastle Predators in a challenge game that gives both teams some much needed practice before their respective cup schedules get underway.
The Islanders were founded in 1985, but in recent years have become very successful in the Summer Cup, one of the Rec league’s flagship competitions, and have finished as regular season champions for each of the last two years. They were also crowned playoff champions in 2015 but narrowly missed out on repeating the trick last August after a lack of match practice cost them due to having a number of games called off during the run up to the tournament.
‘We were caught a bit cold going into the weekend at Sheffield to be honest,’ said former Warriors and current Islanders goaltender Calvin Khass. ‘There were a couple of games at the end of the regular season that didn’t go ahead and that meant we lacked some match sharpness against some top quality opposition.’
Having finished top of the regular season standings with 33 points and losing just the once, in Billingham, the Islanders ended up facing a strong Kingston Cobras side and were on the wrong side of a 5-0 scoreline. That meant they had to face the other beaten semi-finalists, Durham Dragons, for the right to claim the Summer Plate, a game the Dragons won 5-4, to complete a disappointing finish to what was a very good season.
‘We faced an experienced team in Kingston,’ added Khass. ‘They were champions a couple of seasons ago and have always proved to be difficult opponents whenever we play them. Then we had to play Durham, who always seem to rise to the occasion in the big games.’
If last season perhaps didn’t end the way the Islanders would have liked, they have certainly set about building a strong side once again ahead of this season’s Summer Cup. And it’s a roster many Warriors fans will be familiar with. Most of last season’s side remain and once again, much will be expected of the top line of Liam Telfer, Bobby Bradley and James Waller who combined for 29 goals and 67 points.
Bradley was a feisty winger in his Warriors days [1998-03] and could wrack up both points and penalty minutes. He was named alternate captain during the 2000-01 season but a serious knee injury ended his Warriors career in 2003. Bradley has since switched to centre for the Islanders, where he is now captain and led the team last season in goals [11], assists [15] and points [26].
Waller made his Warriors debut in 1996, the year the team spent in the Northern Premier League against the likes of the Fife Flyers and Murrayfield Royals. The following season he hit 30 points for the Warriors before a broken ankle suffered against Billingham around Christmas time 1997 stopped him in his tracks. He made 10 league appearances during 1998-99 before signing with the Sunderland Chiefs, where he remained for the next few years.
Waller and Bradley know each other well, having come through the same Whitley junior teams together and form a potent partnership for the Islanders and they will need to be at their best this season with their main rivals all strengthening since last year.
‘I know the Cleveland Comets will be very strong this season,’ said Khass. ‘They have signed Paul Windridge for this year, and I think he even made a couple of appearances for the Billingham Stars earlier in the campaign.’
‘If you look at the Comets roster, it’s pretty much the same as the Stars line up from about five seasons ago,’ He added. ‘So they will take some stopping. But it’s not just them we have to look out for. This is going to be the strongest competition yet, as everyone has strengthened, including ourselves.’
‘Kingston won the playoff weekend last year and traditionally are always strong, while you can never rule Durham out, and we now have Grimsby back in the competition for the first time in six years too, so it’s going to be very interesting this year.’ He said.
Widnes, Solihull and Blackburn are the other teams in the competition making it an eight team, 14 game format with the top four meeting in a playoff weekend at iceSheffield in August.
Whitley Warriors team photo 2001. Kevin Bucas pictured middle row second left Bobby Bradley front row far left.
Aside from Khass, who made close to 50 appearances in the Maroon and Gold between 2003 and 2012, the Islanders can also call upon Anthony Markham between the pipes. ‘Ginge’ made his Warriors debut in 1993 and despite having a series of unfortunate injuries, was still able to play for the side up to 2007.
Perhaps the biggest news though is the signing of Kevin Bucas, a name all Warriors fans will know very well. The big defenseman first played for the Warriors in 1997 and made close to 200 appearances. He was named captain during the 2000-01 season and was one of the most imposing players in the league on the blue line. Perhaps his most famous moment came at a playoff semi-final game in Haringey during the 1999-00 season. He was under strict orders from then coach Peter Winn not to earn a suspension through fighting, but when one of the opposing players tried to force Bucas to drop the gloves late in the game, he gave his aggressor a reaction he wasn’t expecting. Bucas floored him with a WWE body slam that has gained legendary status amongst Warriors fans and is still talked about to this day. He went on to form a fearsome blueline partnership with Darren Taylor as the club won a series of trophies but then had to give up the sport following the birth of his children. After some time away from the game he made a comeback [2010-12] where he played another 54 games before retiring once again, but with his kids now much older, Bucas has been a welcome arrival for the Islanders.
‘Kevin brings vast experience to the team for a start,’ Khass said. ‘He knows a few of the lads really well such as Bobby [Bradley], James [Waller] and Ginge [Anthony Markham]. They all grew up together in the Warriors system and it’s great to have someone here you are so familiar with.’
‘I think the fact his kids are a bit older now, means he has a bit more time to be out on the ice than he did before.’ He added. ‘It’s a familiar story with a lot of the lads on the team. They are really quality players and are good enough to be playing at a higher level such as the Warriors, but maybe are unable to commit the amount of time the Warriors would expect. Playing for the Islanders means they have that bit more flexibility. We have a large roster and everyone will have their share of games.’
James Ramsey is another player returning from last year and first played for the Warriors during the 1993-94 campaign, but it was between 1996-98 when he became a team regular. In total he made 78 appearances scoring 43 goals and 85 points.
Mark Brown only made a handful of appearances for the Warriors during the 2000-01 season after a broken eye socket forced him to call time on his career. Mark is one of four players named Brown on the team along with Stephen, Chris and Liam. The latter having played 13 times for the Warriors this season.
Other former Warriors players include Forwards Ben Buckley [47 appearances between 2004-06] and Phil Atherton, Utility player Raymond Haslam [1999-06] and Paul Willis [1998-02]. Willis proved to be a very accomplished defenseman and formed a strong partnership with former Durham Wasps youngster Andrew Clish during the Warriors championship campaign of 1999-00.
Andrew Tindale also turned out for the Islanders last season, but as yet has not committed to playing this year. However, it would be great to see 'Tinners' out on the Hillheads ice again.
The Islanders’ opposition on Sunday [Face off 9pm], will be fellow Tyneside based team, Newcastle Predators who are busy preparing for their own Cup competition this summer. The predators play in the Northern Rec Cup which begins in early April and so it’s mutually beneficial for both sides to match up.
‘The idea was that we face a strong opponent who we are not going to play in the Summer Cup,’ said Khass. ‘There was no point in us playing someone like the Cleveland Comets as it would be too cagey, with both sides trying not to give too much away ahead of us meeting in the Cup, so teams from outside that competition were deliberately chosen.’
‘We face the Predators this Sunday and then the Kingston City Knights the following week and we expect to be given a tough workout by both sides.’ He added.
With the Warriors away to the Solihull Barons on both days, and not many people expected to travel South to watch either of those games, there will be a lot of hockey fans in the Whitley Bay area with nothing to do with their Sunday evening. Both the Islanders and Predators would love to see people head down to the rink to watch the lads in action.
Admission to all Rec games are free, and the game between the Islanders and the Predators gets underway at 9pm. The following week the Islanders game with the Kingston City Knights starts at 4pm.
So while the hockey fans of Tyneside won’t see the Warriors on home ice until September, there are many good reasons to watch a game at Hillheads this Summer.
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