Marc Lovell (born 2 June 1982 in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

professional

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 ...

player, currently playing for the

Flintshire Freeze Flintshire Freeze were a Welsh ice hockey team that play in the English National Ice Hockey League, north division. They played their games at Deeside Leisure Centre, Flintshire. They won the North League championship in the 2003/2004 season. A ...

in 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 ...

. Lovell began his career in 2002 after having been encouraged by watching the Deeside Dragons. After teaching himself to skate, and then play to a reasonable standard, he began to play for the Telford Wild Foxes in the English Premier Ice Hockey League. His first season was an excellent one, and in 33 games scored 14 goals and 12 assists as well as totalling 34 penalty minutes. He would start the following 2003/04 season as a WildFox, but was quickly signed up by the

Manchester Phoenix Manchester Phoenix was a semi professional ice hockey team from Greater Manchester, England. The club was formed in 2003 as a result of the efforts of supporters group ''Friends of Manchester Ice Hockey'' to bring top-level ice hockey back to Ma ...

, a newly established team icing in the

Elite Ice Hockey League 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 ...

, the highest standard of club hockey in the United Kingdom. Lovell would be a regular player for the Phoenix, playing 54 regular season and 6 post-season games, although only managing 7 points in that time. Despite making the post-season the Manchester organisation would encounter financial difficulties stemming from their use of the

Manchester Evening News Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. The arena has the ...

and its significant rental costs. This meant that the Phoenix would be temporarily suspended in the summer of 2004, leaving Lovell without a club. He would return to the Telford Wildfoxes for the 2004/05 season and played in 22 games, although again struggled to find his scoring touch managing just three points all season. He stayed in Telford though and would ice as a Telford Tiger the year after as the organisation underwent a name change. A second opportunity to play in the

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 ...

arose and in the summer of 2006, Lovell signed for the

Edinburgh Capitals The Edinburgh Capitals are a Scottish ice hockey club, playing in the Scottish National League (SNL). They are based in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. The team play at the Murrayfield Ice Rink, close to Murrayfield Rugby stadium. In Apri ...

. Opportunities were hard to come by though and after just two games and one point, Lovell was released by the Capitals and would play out the rest of the season with Telford, although would be released in the summer of 2007. After his release, Lovell would move to join the

. During the 2008/09 campaign, he would manage to score 29 points in 23 games and was announced as club captain.

External links

*
Marc Lovell Personal Profile
Manchester Phoenix Official Website.
"Local Look For Telford Tigers"
BBC.co.uk, 18/09/07
Marc Lovell Player Stats
Flintshire Freeze Official Website 1982 births Edinburgh Capitals players English ice hockey left wingers Living people Manchester Phoenix players Sportspeople from Chester Flintshire Freeze players {{England-icehockey-bio-stub