I'm here to blog the happenings in the world of ice hockey and most likely my team the Hull Stingrays.
Hull Stingrays logo 2003-2007
Why? Well I have several passions in life some of which don't involve this blog. Like family, friends, sport, music and other things people my age (19) enjoy, so I won't be blogging about any of those things. Thankfully for you I will be combining two other things I enjoy in life, ice hockey and writing.
Writing is something I'm constantly being told I should be interested in, and rightly so since I'm studying Media and Sports Journalism at the University of Huddersfield, so that’s the main reason for this blog. I've recently found that I find the Radio module on my course less enjoyable than writing and so if I'm going to make it in the "cut throat" world of journalism, and more specifically sports journalism, then I had better focus my efforts on something I enjoy more. I currently write the Hull Stingrays write ups for Pro Hockey News which is one form of experience that I am grateful for so far.
Why Ice Hockey? I was first given free tickets to visit my local team, at the time the Kingston Hawks, when I was in Year 5 or about 9/10 years old. Some of the team and one of the coaches had recently come into assembly and proceeded to show us the large amounts of equipment which hockey players need for protection. And I think from that moment on I was hooked. It’s strange because I remember very little but it worked and it’s something professional clubs should use to their advantage much more than they currently do.
With it came free tickets and, despite not knowing if my parents would care enough to take me to watch, I went along to the school reception to pick up my free tickets. Of course my parents took me, so on the 18th of October 1996 and a 21-0 thrashing of Peterborough Pirates later I was hooked for life. I sat in F block, the very same seat I occupy to this day, and although it’s not one of the best seats in the house, much of the far corner of the ice is obscured by the away team bench, its stuck with me, mainly thanks to the atmosphere and banter which F block occupants conjure up with away team bench.
That game was followed by yet more free tickets, albeit not as frequent as I possibly remember, and that was it. There were the foundations of me becoming hooked.
In the next few seasons I was often forced to ring up the arena box office to find if there was a fixture on, usually on a Sunday night, and I dragged my dad along each time with just one factor remaining the same. The team was playing from the Hull Arena.
People unfamiliar with Hull and its hockey history, or British hockey history for that matter, may be unaware that the team has undergone several periods of financial difficulties, ownership changes and therefore name changes. In short these have been
- Humberside Seahawks- Funded by the council until they pulled out.
- Humberside Hawks- First sponsorship by British Aerospace and their development of the new Hawk jet.
- Kingston Hawks- A change of name to associate the team with Hull more. BAE's sponsorship eventually ran out.
- Hull Thunder- Owners suffered financial difficulties.
- Hull Stingrays- New, and current, owners Mike and Sue Pack from Milton Keynes
Since my initial experience from watching the Kingston Hawks in 1996 I continued to visit for the first years of Hull Thunder until the 02/03 season when my parents bought me my first Hull season ticket. Along with two friends I enjoyed my first full season of ice hockey and enjoyed it enough to come back for more in, what turned out to be, Hull Thunders final season of existence.
It was at this point I hit my first personal sporting crisis. Hull Thunders owners had left, and gone bankrupt at the same time, and there was no sign of a savour on the horizon, leaving me with no team and facing possibly the end of, my very short, ice hockey spectating days.
Then came Mike and Sue Pack with a plan. After naming the team the Stingrays, to tie in with the new Deep Submarium in Hull which contains Stingrays, and signing a five figure sponsorship deal with Excel Laminating, I put my support down on the table and signed up to a full season ticket for the upcoming BNL season.
After a rough first season in 03/04, 04/05 came with promise and left with disappointment. The Stingrays were then forced to limbo between leagues, first having a single year stint in the EPL, before moving to the EIHL, where they remain now with nearly two seasons complete.
It’s never been easy for whichever Hull team occupies the Hull Arena and yet for the first time in at least 12 years a Hull team sits in the top league of Great Britain. But thankfully I've been right there, in Block F, the whole time.
Hull Stingrays new logo for 07/08 onwards
