The Peterborough Pirates were an English

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 h ...

team. It was established in 1982, as the senior adult semi-professional team of the newly formed Peterborough Ice Hockey Club. ''The Pirates'', based at the East of England Ice Rink, Peterborough, played in the British National League. Their logo was a copy of the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL. A notable former player was

Garry Unger Garry Douglas Unger (born December 7, 1947) is a former professional ice hockey centre who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1967 until 1983. Playing career Unger set an NHL record by playing 914 consecutive games in the regu ...

, who previously played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. During the 1986–87 season he played 30 games scoring 95 goals and 143 assists. And in the 1987/88 season he played 32 games scoring 37 goals and 44 assists. Other former players of note to have played for Pirates were former Washington Capitals NHL defenceman Jim McTaggart of Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada; former Montreal Canadiens draftee and NHL St Louis Blues defenceman Michael Dark; former Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, Quebec Nordiques, Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers NHL player

Jere Gillis Jere Alan Gillis (born January 18, 1957) is an American-born Canadian former professional ice hockey player, actor and stuntman. Background Gillis was born in Bend, Oregon and raised in Montreal, the son of skier Gene Gillis (a member of the Ame ...

; Randy Smith, who was a silver medalist with Team Canada at the 1992 Winter Olympics; and former NHL Toronto Maple Leaf draftee Cam Plante. Former coaches of note apart from Garry Unger, Cam Plante and Randy Smith was former NHL player for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins Rocky Saganiuk who took the Pirates to the Heineken British Championships at the

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-s ...

in 1991, where they finished as runners-up to Durham Wasps in the final after beating Cardiff Devils in the semis. In their final season (2001–02) the team was coached by Glenn Mulvenna who had played with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers. The Pirates folded in April 2002, when directors founded a new team

Peterborough Phantoms The Peterborough Phantoms are a British ice hockey team that play at the Planet Ice Peterborough Arena, in Bretton, Peterborough. The Peterborough Phantoms ice hockey club was founded in 2002. It replaced the former city based team, the Pet ...

, who play in the EPIHL.

External links

Pirates Archive Site
{{British ice hockey Sport in Peterborough Ice hockey teams in England Defunct ice hockey teams in the United Kingdom Ice hockey clubs established in 1982 Sports clubs disestablished in 2002 1982 establishments in England 2002 disestablishments in England