Solihull Barons

Solihull Barons
City Solihull, England
League English National Ice Hockey League
Division North - Moralee Conference
Founded 2005
Home arena Blue Ice Plaza
Capacity: 800
Colours White and Red
Owner(s) John Butler
Head coach Perry Doyle
Farm club(s) Solihull Junior Barons
Website http://www.solihull-barons.net/

Solihull Barons are an English ice hockey team from the town of Solihull who play at Solihull Ice Rink on Hobs Moat Road. They current team, which is the third incarnation of the Barons, was formed in 2005; they are named after the original team of the same name who were formed in 1965, and played at the same ice rink between 1972 until 2000; when they moved to Coventry and became Coventry Blaze.[1]

History

Previous incarnations

Canadian Rick Fera played for the original Solihull Barons in the 1987-88 season.[2] They won the Southern League in 1977-78 and the English league in 1992-93. In 1996 the team rebranded themselves as "Solihull Blaze"; and in 2000 they moved from Solihull's Blue Ice Plaza to Coventry's SkyDome Arena; rebranding themselves again as "Coventry Blaze". As this left Solihull without an ice hockey team for the first time since 1965, the Barons were reformed and returned to their original arena; which had benefited from a much needed overhaul. Unfortunately, the £1.8m refurbishment delayed by vandals; leaving the venue operators' with a £75,000 damage repair bill, and the grand re-opening was put back until mid-October 2000. Despite the newly-improved playing facility the club struggled to survive in the English Premier Ice Hockey League and ultimately dissolved again just two years later in 2002. They were initially replaced by the Milton Keynes Kings; who moved to Solihull from their home town due to a dispute with the owners' of their own arena, and who re-branded themselves the "Solihull MK Kings" to demonstrate the fact that they were now representing both Solihull and Milton Keynes in ice hockey. Once again however, the team dissolved; having played for just a single season of hockey in the British National League before folding.[3] Following the closure of the Solihull MK Kings, a new "Solihull Kings" team was created and placed back in the EPIHL; but once again this team folded; collapsing after two seasons in 2007.

Current team

The current Solihull Barons team was formed in 2005, and played their first two seasons in the EPIHL. At the end of the 2006-07 season they dropped down to the English National Ice Hockey League (ENIHL). The Barons currently compete in Northern Division One; known as the "Moralee Conference". The team hold charity games for Birmingham Children's Hospital. The club has a youth system, which starts at Under.

Squad

Goaltenders
Number Player Catches Born
1 England Steven Lickman Left England
28 England Josh Nicholls Left England
31 England Sam Hewitt Left England
Defencemen
Number Player Shoots Born
4 England David Rogers Left England
6 England Richard Crowe Right England
8 England Ryan Selwood Right England
13 England Conor Gordon Right England
22 England Phil Knight Right England
24 England Perry Doyle Left England
81 England James Moeller Right England
? England Tom Pease Right England
Forwards
Number Player Shoots Born
7 England Joe Henry Right England
10 England Lewis Smith Right England
11 England Eddy Eaton Left England
14 Slovakia Thomas Janak Left Slovakia
16 England Andrew Whitehouse Right England
19 England Rob Eley Right England
20 Slovakia Erik Bakalar Left Slovakia
40 Scotland Josh Bruce Right Scotland
79 England Thomas Soar Right England
83 England Brandon Anderton Right England
91 Sweden Niklas Ottoson Left Sweden
93 England Charles Hammerton Right England
98 England Jack McKay Left England

Solihull Junior Barons

Teams representing Solihull

Honours

References

  1. ↑ "A-Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey". azhockey.com. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
  2. ↑ http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=32546
  3. ↑ "A-Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey". azhockey.com. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
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