Whitley Warriors take on the Widnes Wild over 2 legs in the relegation/promotion play offs this weekend with the winning side taking their place in NIHL North Division 1 and the losing side playing their hockey in the 2nd division of NIHL North hockey for the 2015/16 campaign.
Whitley are virtually at full strength as only netminder Richie Lawson is unable to play due to injury which will see up and coming goaltenders Mark Turnbull and Joe Harley compete to start this weekend’s match ups. The hugely influential Dean Holland is back on the Warriors match day roster now that the former Guildford Flame has fully recovered from a hand injury he suffered against the Manchester Minotaurs towards the end of the regular season. GB under 18 international Callum Queenan will also be in Whitley’s squad after missing Warriors last league game of the season as the teenage winger was in Estonia taking part in the World Championships for Britain.
Warriors play offs opponents the Widnes Wild finished 4th in NIHL North Division 2 picking up 20 victories and 2 draws in the 36 league games they participated in. Wild have assembled a sizeable roster of talented players from the north west and also have 2 imports on their books in Slovakian forward Filip Supa and Czech blue liner Pavel Vales.
Former Warrior Shaun Kippin who played against the Wild in the 2013/14 campaign when he was icing for the Deeside Dragons shared his opinions on Widnes.
“The Wild are a hard working team that will work tirelessly all night long and try to get under your skin. Their import Flip Supa had 80 points in 34 games to his name so he definitely is their danger man.
“Their skipper Matt Wainwright is a former team mate of mine, a very good offensive defenceman and someone who should be playing in NIHL North 1.
“Their strengths are that they will never ever give up and they have a very well organised power play unit. They are hard to play against in their own rink, they have lots of fans and it’s a small rink so it makes for a fantastic atmosphere and normally a physical game.”
The 1st leg of this weekend’s play off is at Widnes on Saturday evening at 5.30pm with the 2nd leg at Hillheads Ice Rink in Whitley Bay on Sunday night with face off at 5pm. Warriors are hopeful of attracting a large crowd to Sunday evening’s game as Simon Leach and his side look to come out on top against the Wild and secure NIHL North Division 1 hockey for the 2015/16 season.
Chris Mackenzie