Ice Hockey by Matt

Since as far back as I can remember there has been something in my life. It is impossible to explain but it has always stood by me. Like some people cannot live without drugs, I can not live without ice hockey. For me it started back in 1991. In the previous Season the Seahawks managed to win the division one championship and how I wish I had seen that!

To be honest I do not remember much of my first season or two as I was only nine at the time but what I do remember is the stamping of the feet on the wooden steps and the sound of the trumpeter playing his tunes. When I started doing this article I went through all my old programs - the oldest one that I could find was from Saturday 14th September 1991. I even had a short spell at playing myself but sat warming the bench up was no good for me, so I opted for sitting in the stands and shouting my mouth off.

In the 12 seasons that Hull has had a hockey team they have had more fortune on the ice than off it. There have been times when people have been left wondering if there will even be a team next season, wondering if they will have to go to Sheffield to get their weekly fix of hockey. Over the years the Seahawks lost their name. They first went to Humberside Hawks, then to Hull hawks, Kingston Hawks then in 1999 they became Hull Thunder and we started to look as if we were going somewhere.

For the 2002-2003 season Mike Bishop had put together what looked like a really strong team to compete with the likes of Coventry Blaze, Dundee Stars and the Guildford Flames, but after half a season of under-par performances, Martin Jenkinson sacked the majority of the imports on the team and decided he was not willing to fund the team anymore, which meant we had another season of worrying about the future of hockey in Hull.

That leads us to this season 2003-2004. Mike and Sue Pack have come from running the Solihull/Milton Keynes Kings to the newly named Hull Stingrays on a tight budget. The team Rick Strachan has put together looks good enough to compete with the big teams and pull of a few shock wins. Hulls junior development is one of the best in the country and with Rick playing three line hockey he will hopefully give a chance to some of the players that helped us finish last season.

Hopefully Mike and Sue can bring some glory to Hull but I think most fans would be happy to see out a few seasons with out going bust at Christmas.

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