PREVIEW: MATCH WEEK 17
BILLINGHAM STARS are back on the road in National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 on Sunday, a pre-Christmas trip to Deeside Dragons a tough assignment with both League and Cup points on the line.
It will be a very different Dragons that the Stars face on Sunday from the side that capitulated at the Forum back in September. Since then their marquee signing Jake Witkowski has done more than just bolster the squad, he has consistently put up the points to ensure Deeside are getting the results they need to make a challenge at the top end of the table. 54 points in just 14 games is testament to his undoubted class, the 28-year-old American proving that he is perhaps the standout talent at this level. The Dragons sit in third place and are still in the running to qualify for the semi finals of the Moralee Cup, so it is very much all to play for. A result on Sunday will go some way towards the Dragons fulfilling their ambitions to nail some silverware, as well as exact a little revenge for the 11-1 humiliation they suffered on Teesside in the early weeks of the season.
🔗 Deeside Dragons on Elite Prospects: https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/5129/deeside-dragons
It’s been a hard few weeks for Billingham as the squad has battled with illness, a virus sweeping through the on and off-ice teams with the inevitable impact on the lineup. A short bench carrying a significant number of players ‘under the weather’ battled through adversity to get a narrow result in Nottingham last Saturday, a character win that showed how hard the team is prepared to work in pursuit of their goals. The virus has not quite finished doing its worst, which means the Stars expect to be without some players on Sunday. One player definitely not icing will be Iain Brown, the forward having returned home to his family for Christmas.
Billingham are in North Wales for a National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 clash with Deeside Dragons on Sunday afternoon, face off 5.15pm.
Weekend Fixtures:
NIHL N1 Saturday:
✈️ Hull Jets 🆚 Blackburn Hawks 🦅
🐾 Widnes Wild 🆚 Deeside Dragons 🐉
NIHL N1 Sunday:
🐉 Deeside Dragons 🆚 Billingham Stars 💫
⚜️ Solihull Barons 🆚 Nottingham Lions 🦁
🐾 Widnes Wild 🆚 Sheffield Scimitars 🗡️