Nathan Craze (born 26 November 1986 in

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after T ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

) is a Welsh former 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 ...

netminder. He played 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 Hocke ...

for the

Cardiff Devils The Cardiff Devils are a Welsh ice hockey team who play in the British Elite Ice Hockey League. The team play at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay. Cardiff are the reigning EIHL play-off champions, winning their third title in a row after beati ...

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 cha ...

and 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 ...

. He also played for the Great Britain Under-18 and Under-20 national team as well as one game for the main national team.

Playing career

Craze began his career with the

before joining the Belfast Giants in 2005. He had an impressive start with the Belfast Giants in the 2005–06 season, originally called up when both Belfast's goalies became injured. As a replacement

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near ...

he proved himself as one of the most promising young

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

goaltenders. On his debut for Giants in October 2005, shortly before his 19th birthday, he faced 132 shots in three games but conceded only eleven goals as Giants earned two wins and a draw. Craze played in only 12 games for the Giants in regular season chalking up a save percentage of 92.8. In the same year he won a gold medal with the Great Britain U-20's in the World Championships Div II Group A in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, and was also named Netminder of the Tournament. He received the International Ice Hockey Federation Directorate's Award of the tournament's Best Netminder when GB won the gold medal in the 2004 World under-18 Championships (Div II) in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, and he equalled the feat by being voted the IIHF's tournament Best Netminder when GB won the gold medal in the 2006 World under-20 Championships (Div II) in Romania. In 2006, Craze signed with the

Bracknell Bees The Bees Ice Hockey Club are an ice hockey team from Slough, Berkshire, UK. They compete in the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) National League, the second tier of English Ice Hockey. History Early years The Bracknell Bees were formed in 1 ...

as their starting goalie, winning the double-

English Premier Ice Hockey League The English Premier Ice Hockey League (EPIHL) was an ice hockey league of 10 teams, all of which were based in England. Headquartered in Blackpool, the EPIHL was one of two professional ice hockey leagues in the United Kingdom (the other being th ...

and Playoff title in his first season. The 2007–2008 season saw Craze signed with the

Swindon Wildcats The Swindon Wildcats are a professional ice hockey team based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. They play in the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL). Since their inception, the Wildcats have played their home games at the 1600-capacity Link Centre ...

of the same league, again serving as their starting goalie. From 2008 to 2011, Craze continued to re-sign for the Belfast Giants, backing up fellow Welshman Stevie Lyle, and

Scot The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...

Stephen Murphy. Craze was selected as backup goalie for the 2011 Div 1 World Championships in Kiev, coming on in the Estonia game and maintaining a 7-0 shut-out with Stephen Murphy. In the pre championships Craze played in his first full international against the Netherlands winning with a score of 5–2. In 2011, Craze signed for the

, earning himself his first starting role in the Elite Ice Hockey League. It would turn out to be his last season as an active player as he returned to the Belfast Giants the next season to take up a role as goaltending coach for their Scottish National League development team as well as their Under-18 team. He would then become goaltending coach for Great Britain,

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. ...

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 ren ...

and the

Hull Pirates The Hull Seahawks are an ice hockey team based in Kingston upon Hull and their home ice is the Hull Arena. They compete in the NIHL National Division. Formation The Hull Pirates were formed when the Hull Stingrays went into liquidation in J ...

where he was an assistant coach also.

Awards

*2003–2004 U18 WJC (D2, B) Gold Medal *2005–2006 – Vic Batchelder Memorial Trophy *2005–2006 EIHL Champion *U20 WJC (D2, A) Gold Medal *2006–2007 EIHA League Champions *2006–2007 EIHA Play-off Champions *2008–2009 EIHL Challenge Cup Champion *2009–2010 EIHL Playoff Champion *2010–2011 World Championship (D1, B) Silver Medal

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Craze, Nathan 1986 births Living people Belfast Giants players Bracknell Bees players Cardiff Devils players People educated at Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun Sportspeople from Merthyr Tydfil Swindon Wildcats players Welsh ice hockey goaltenders