After a great start to their season in Dunedin, Queenstown’s SkyCity Stampede ice hockey team play Auckland development team, Mako, on home ice this weekend.
Defending champs Stampede beat Phoenix Thunder 8-2 and 6-2 last weekend.
‘‘They’ve been a bit of trouble for us over the last couple of years, over there, so it was good to get off to a good start,’’ coach Cam Frear says.
‘‘On paper, a team can look good and then maybe it just doesn’t work together, so it was encouraging for the boys to kind of click together
quite well.’’
American imports Brendan Walkom and Jeff Solow enjoyed good debuts, the former scoring four goals in the first game and adding two assists.
‘‘They fit into the culture really well, so, so far, so good,’’ Frear says.
Former Thunder veteran, Ice Black Dylan Devlin, also had a good debut for Stampede.
‘‘‘I think he was a little bit nervous going back there, but he had a really good weekend.’’
This weekend’s Mako games don’t count on the league table, so Frear says ‘‘there’s a good opportunity for the young players to get some more exposure’’.
That includes three players who’ve come back from playing hockey in North America — CJ Kemp, 19, Jack Robbie, 21, and Axel Ruski-Jones, 18.
‘‘Obviously, every week we need to work on a few things, so we’ll have different combinations, and just try to figure out what’s going to be the best moving forward for the rest of the season.’’
Frear notes ‘‘the draw’s good for us in terms of just having a bit of time to build into the season’’.
Puck drop’s 7pm at the Queenstown Ice Arena for tomorrow’s and Saturday’s games.
Stampede’s next home games will be against Auckland’s Botany Swarm on June 9 and 10.
Wakatipu Wild rearing to go
Ready to rumble: Last year’s New Zealand women’s ice hockey champions, the Wakatipu Wild
Wakatipu Wild women’s ice hockey coach Colin McIntosh says the fire’s in his players’ bellies to make it two from two.
The team, which won the New Zealand Women’s Ice Hockey League for the first time last year, will play its first games against Auckland at the Queenstown Ice Arena on June 23 and 24.
McIntosh says the recent team trials point to a promising result, saying the players — from beginners through to seniors — are ‘‘light years ahead’’ of where they were this time last year.
Part of that progression, particularly for six under-18 players, is due to their first international ice hockey experience.
Aoife Orr, Inge Kemp, Polly Bennetts, Manuella Pedrosa, Lucy Boniface and Jessie Strain were all selected to represent New Zealand at the U18 group B division 3 world champs in Bulgaria earlier this year.
McIntosh: ‘‘Last year was the first time they dipped their toes in the water of serious senior hockey and obviously had a successful year, and then … they represented their country, and now they’re all super-hungry to try to dominate the country’s national stage again.’’
Go Wild, get inked
For the second year, Queenstown tattoo parlour Ōtautahi Tattoo’s running a fundraiser to support the Wakatipu Wild women’s ice hockey team, which they sponsor.
McIntosh says last year’s ‘‘flash tattoo’’ fundraiser was a huge success, and enabled the women to have a ‘‘true senior experience’’ in the
sport.
For example, it meant all players could travel with the team, when required, and the women didn’t have to fork out their own cash for meals, etc, when they were on the road.
‘‘As a team sponsor, it was huge, and then they turned up again for it this year, so we’re hoping people turn up to get inked,’’ McIntosh says.
The fundraiser’s running from 10am till 6pm this Saturday at Ōtautahi’s Camp Street parlour, where three artists will be on hand all day for those wanting to get a tat to help the team.
McIntosh says there’ll be about seven pages of tattoos for people to choose from, priced between $50 and $200.
‘‘It’s little, tiny tattoos, nothing too extravagant … and every single dime gets donated to the Wild.’’
The fundraiser’s working on a first-come, first-served basis, he says.
