Weekend Preview: Match Week 12
BILLINGHAM STARS have to get their National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 groove back on again this weekend after another weekend off, the pre-Christmas schedule perhaps crucial to shaping the Stars season with six games to play before the end of the calendar year.
Billingham last faced today’s opponents Nottingham Lions in their last game, a seesaw encounter that saw the Stars struggle to get past a stubborn Lions outfit until three unanswered goals in the final period clinched the points at the National Ice Centre. Today’s fixture is the rearranged game from the end of October, and the legacy of that dreadful weekend has so far been largely positive with the Love for Hibbing and Hockey Memorial Fund raising over £90,000 so far and our own sponsors Clifton Lodge Veterinary Group collecting over £1,800 to contribute to safety equipment for the players.
Widnes Wild are tomorrow night’s visitors to the Forum, a side struggling to find the right team combination to make the impact they feel they are capable of, a problem that Player Coach Joey Coulter sought to solve with some personnel changes a few weeks ago. A problem with their home rink kept the Wild off the ice last weekend, but even with a game in hand over sixth-placed Hull Jets, Widnes are still seven points off midtable and need to start picking up some results soon if they are to challenge further up the League table.
Yet again the Stars find themselves having to skate off a weekend break, and with Whitley Warriors now just a point behind them at the top of the table, it is vital that Billingham aim for a four-point weekend to take them into a challenging set of fixtures to start December. The weekend off has not healed all of the knocks and bruises, so the Teessiders will not be at full strength this weekend. One player certain to be missing is James Moss whose lower body injury picked up in the last game against the Lions will keep him sidelined although it is unclear for how long. Patriks Grigors is coming to the end of his suspension and should be available for selection for the Warriors away fixture next Sunday but remains banned this weekend.
Billingham face Nottingham Lions in National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 this evening, face off 6pm, then welcome Widnes Wild to the Forum tomorrow, face off 5.30pm. Tickets for both games are priced at £12.50 adults, £8 concessions, £38 family [2+2].
Weekend Fixtures:
NIHL(N)1:
Sheffield Scimitars v Deeside Dragons, Saturday 4.10pm
Hull Jets v Solihull Barons, Saturday 5.30pm
Billingham Stars v Nottingham Lions, Saturday 6pm
Blackburn Hawks v Whitley Warriors, Saturday 6pm
Whitley Warriors v Nottingham Lions, Sunday 5pm
Deeside Dragons v Blackburn Hawks, Sunday 5.15pm
Billingham Stars v Widnes Wild, Sunday 5.30pm
Solihull Barons v Sheffield Scimitars, Sunday 5.30pm