Christmas Wish: why we are desperate for British ice hockey to return

My Boar Sport Christmas wish is for British ice hockey to make a strong return in 2021. I arrived at Warwick almost three years ago and the thing I have come to love the most about my time at university is the number of sport teams on our doorstep.

On a personal level, in my capacity as The Boar’s sport editor, I will forever be grateful to the local clubs that gave me an introduction to journalism.

My first outing as a “journalist” was a European Champions Cup fixture between Wasps and Toulouse. In all honesty, I have no love for rugby. Nonetheless my Ricoh Arena debut was a goal-shifting experience for me, one which has led me to where I find myself today: typing into the abyss on my ropey laptop.

That aside, my two main sporting passions are football (boring, I know) and ice hockey (which seems comparatively hipster). Warwick’s local ice hockey team, the Coventry Blaze, have done more than most to help me as a sports writer.

In exchange for giving The Boar press access to Blaze games at the Skydome, Coventry gained a life-long fan from Outer London. As a result, I am desperate to see UK ice hockey recover from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.

The sport ground to a halt in March, with the final action in Elite Ice Hockey League coming in dramatic fashion at the Skydome Arena. With six seconds left on the clock, Blaze forward Luke Ferrara drove a low slap shot beyond the reach of the Dundee Stars’ goalie. Coventry won the game, pushing Danny Stewart’s side to third in the standings, but it would come to mean little following the EIHL’s eventual suspension.

In the months since, lots of EIHL players have found jobs elsewhere. Ferrara, for example, spent a month in Bordeaux before joining Polish side Cracovia. The Englishman’s time in Poland is going well and he has already proven popular with the locals due to his lethal instincts in front of goal.

The Series proved to be a hit but the sport’s return to play has been sluggish

Back in Blighty, the sport has crawled towards a resumption. As I reported last month, three second-tier clubs joined forces to put on the NIHL Streaming Series. The games took place behind closed-doors and were streamed online. The Series proved to be a hit but the sport’s return to play has been sluggish.

The EIHL is targeting a return in January – aided by the government’s decision to award it £4 million as part of the Winter Survival Package. However, it remains to be seen what kind of product clubs will be able to put on the ice. Even then, we are assuming that clubs are willing (and able) to put a 2021 season together.

Ice hockey is the third largest winter sport in the UK, behind football and rugby, and it has been on the rise in recent years. The national team secured back-to-back promotions to the top pool of the IIHF World Championships and then staved-off relegation with a shock win over France.

In that context, my Christmas wish is simple. I would love to see British ice hockey come back.

Whether the sport returns in January or September, teams and players across the country will face serious challenges. Years of progress could be wiped out as a result of the pandemic; however, that doesn’t mean the sport is destined to fail.

Incredibly, Team GB won the gold medal for ice hockey at the 1936 Winter Olympic Games. I’m under no illusions about the prospect of success of that kind returning to British shores. My wish is for the EIHL to return and for the sport to continue to grow. I live in hope, infused with some optimism.