Ashley Tait (born 9 August 1975) is a British

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who is currently player/coach for the

Basingstoke Bison The Basingstoke Bison are an English Ice Hockey club from Basingstoke. They currently compete in the NIHL National League and have previously been members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and its successor the Elite Ice Hockey League. History ...

of the

National Ice Hockey League The National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) is a set of professional ice hockey leagues administered by the English Ice Hockey Association. It is currently the second tier of British ice hockey, below the Elite Ice Hockey League. Formerly called the ...

. During Tait's career he has also played for

Coventry Blaze Coventry Blaze are an ice hockey team based in Coventry, England. They currently compete in the British Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and play their home games at SkyDome Arena. The club was founded in 1965 as the ''Solihull Barons'' and rena ...

Nottingham Panthers The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. Their main team sponsor is the Nottingham Building Society. The Nottingham Panthers have won four ...

(

EIHL The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey ...

), Kingston Hawks ( BNL),

Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 (see 1991 in sport) and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. ...

(EIHL),

Milton Keynes Lightning The Milton Keynes Lightning are an ice hockey team founded in 2002 in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The Lightning currently play in Britain's second-tier professional league, the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL), since the 2019–20 season. ...

(EIHL),

Belfast Giants The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and are the current cham ...

(EIHL) and Ritten Renon (LIHG). Tait held the record for most senior Great Britain appearances with 110, until surpassed by Jonathan Phillips in May 2022.

Playing career

Tait played

junior hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

for

and progressed through the ranks playing in their ISL team in the 1999–2000 season. After a move to Kingston Hawks, where he played two seasons in the BNL, Tait then moved back to the

for three full seasons in the Super League. Tait moved to

in 2002, a year in which the BNL saw Coventry Blaze win the League and Play-off Championship. Coventry Blaze then made their move into the Elite League in 2003. In 2004–2005 Tait was a member of the Blaze Grand Slam team and scored the Grand Slam winning goal against Nottingham in the play-off finals at the NIC, one of Tait's 29 goals that season. Tait took over as Blaze Team Captain in 2007 and the team secured the League Championship and Play-off title before his move to

in 2007. Tait scored 32 goals for the

in 2008. Tait then moved back to the Blaze in 2013. Tait departed the Blaze in May 2017.https://eliteleague.co.uk/veteran-brit-tait-leaves-blaze/ In September 2017, Tait signed for the

as injury cover. After his short-term deal with MK Lightning expired, Tait moved to fellow Elite League side

as injury cover in December 2017.

Career highlights

Powerplay Player of the month (Feb 2004)
Best Forward (03-04 Coventry Blaze)
Elite League All Star Team (04-05)
Elite League Champion (04-05 Coventry Blaze)
Elite Challenge Cup Winner (04-05 Coventry Blaze)
Elite Playoff Champion (04-05 Coventry Blaze)
Elite League Champion (06-07 Coventry Blaze)
Elite Challenge Cup Winner (06-07 Coventry Blaze)

References

External links

* 1975 births British expatriate ice hockey people Coventry Blaze players English ice hockey forwards Ice hockey people from Ontario Living people Milton Keynes Lightning players Sheffield Steelers players Belfast Giants players Basingstoke Bison players Sportspeople from Toronto {{England-icehockey-bio-stub