The Lancashire Raptors were 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 ...
team based in
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
. They were members of the
English 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 ...
, and have played in the North 2 division. Their home ice was the 3,200-seat Blackburn Arena.
History
In April 2007, the
English Ice Hockey Association
The English Ice Hockey Association (EIHA) is the governing body of ice hockey in England and Wales. It was formed in 1982 and featured around 60 teams. EIHA is one of several bodies regulating ice hockey in the United Kingdom, along with Scott ...
restructured the age limits for competing players, reclassifying the under 19 age limit as under 18. This left many 19-year-old players in the country without a team to play for regularly. One such team affected was the Blackburn Ice Hockey Development Association (BIHDA), the junior development programme for the
Blackburn Hawks
The Blackburn Hawks (formerly known as the Blackhawks and the Lancashire Hawks) are a British ice hockey team based in Blackburn, Lancashire. They are currently members of the EIHA Moralee Conference (NIHL N1), and have previously played in the ...
; those that were deemed not good enough to play for the Hawks were left with the choice of either recreational hockey or giving up on the sport. This is where the Blackburn Junior Hawks committee stepped in with the decision to set up a second senior team playing at the Arena alongside the Hawks.
This team, unlike the Hawks, would get no funding from the Arena: the players would primarily fund the team through monthly subs on the same basis as the junior teams.
Mark Ward was selected to be the Raptors coach after expressing his interest in running the team, which, alongside his wealth of knowledge of the sport, having been a previous coach of the Hawks and many years of playing, made him the ideal man for the job.
The Raptors completed four seasons in the
ENIHL
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 ...
North Division 2, following the split in the league for 2008–09. The start of the 2011–12 campaign saw a mass exodus of players to the new Subzero Ice Rink in nearby Cleveleys to play as part of the newly formed Fylde Flyers club. Following the departure of long-standing coach Mark Ward, new coach Gary Buckman, also formerly a coach for the Blackburn Hawks, joined the Raptors setup. The Spirit of the Raptors was to bring through young players from the Blackburn Junior Hawks program into fully fledged senior league players with the assistance of experienced veteran senior league players in their ranks. Offering experience and guidance with the aim of these junior players playing at a senior level with the Raptors first and then becoming future Blackburn Hawks.
Season-by-season Record
''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes.''
Current squad 2011-12
*1 Matt Milhench (N/M)
*1 Matt Phair (N/M)
*2 Patrick Thomson
*3 Wesley Nixon
*4 Ryan Hindle
*5 Paul Burns
*6 Nick Saxton (N/M)
*7 Darren Shaw
*8 Christian Wareing
*9 Ken Armstrong
*10 Michael Vigelskas
*11 Steven Hetherington
*12 Ben Abbott
*13 Jack Skipp
*14 Josh Lee
*15 Paul Mercer
*16 Tom Helm
*17 Christopher Preston
*18 Craig Summerill
*19 Anthony Kinder
*20 Curtis Elliott
*21 Troy Evans
*22 Michael Alexander
External links
Lancashire Raptors Official Website
References
{{Blackburn with Darwen culture
Ice hockey teams in England
Sport in Blackburn