HAWKWARD START FOR BLACKBURN AS STARS ALIGN FOR BILLINGHAM
It was defeat on the road for the Hawks at their season opener in Billingham last weekend. After the almost 100-mile trip to Teeside, a hard-fought contest saw Blackburn fall 3-1 to the reigning league champion Billingham Stars. Whilst the result may not have been exactly what Hawks fans were hoping for, we caught up with Hawks Talk presenter Graham Hamilton to get the perspective from the stands.
‘Summer felt too long! It was great to be back sat in a rink watching the Hawks in a competitive game’. After a short pre-season, Hamilton echoes the sentiments of many Hawks fans who were just as excited to see Blackburn’s return to league hockey after last season’s spectacular accomplishments. Speaking of these accomplishments, last Sunday’s game was Blackburn’s first visit back to Billingham since last year’s League Cup win. Hamilton highlights how ‘the League Cup was the second major trophy we’ve won in that barn, so it’s not a bad place to visit. The Hawks fans always travel well to games against the Stars, and we got behind the lads with chants and drumming, only adding to the lively atmosphere from both sets of fans’. This lively atmosphere in the stands was matched by the performances out on the ice.
A goalless opening period of the season for both teams was followed up by consecutive Stars goals in the second period. Blackburn’s first goal of the season came in the third period, with Hamilton describing how ‘James Riddoch was there to take his opportunity off a rebounded James Royds shot, demonstrating the old hockey cliché of “go to the net and good things will happen”’. A final goal from the Stars meant that the Hawks left the Billingham Ice Forum with a 3-1 loss. Despite the loss, Hamilton speaks for the fans in looking at the positives of the game: ‘We had a great game, but we just couldn’t find a way past [Stars Netminder Jacob] Hammond. It says a lot about a game when both MVPs are the netminders’. From a player point-of-view, Hawks forward Jacob Lutwyche noted how both teams ‘were fairly evenly matched. I think they had a few more pre-season games, making them seem a bit more game ready than us, but we kept up with them physically. It was a back-and-forth game, and I don’t think anyone dominated – they just managed to score more’.
In looking forward to this Sunday’s grudge match against local rivals in Deeside, Lutwyche characterises the Dragons as ‘always being physical, that’s their strength and they play up to that – so we know its going to be a physical game, but we definitely have the depth to match them’. Whilst this attitude from the team projects a sense of steely-eyed professionalism from the players, fans such as Hamilton highlight the inherent emotion involved in a derby day. ‘There is of course familiarity with some ex-Hawks players on the Dragons and there clearly is a rivalry between the teams, so what more could you want from a fixture?’. Whilst there is the palpable possibility of tempers flaring up, Hamilton believes ‘fans should be confident going into this game, we’ve got all areas covered with a lot of firepower, depth in defence and solid goaltending’, however, with new changes in the league’s points system, Hamilton is also of the opinion that ‘we need a win in regulation – it’s not going to be an easy task but I think we will come away with the win’.
Can the Hawks follow-up opening night defeat with a win in Wales? All will be revealed down in Deeside…
The Blackburn Hawks will play against the Deeside Dragons @ Deeside Ice Arena, Face-Off: 5:15pm
ARTICLE COURTESY OF NATHAN DOVE.