HAWKS EYE UPCOMING SEASON
The countdown to the 2024/25 season is almost over. Tomorrow, the Blackburn Hawks return to league action in Billingham with a much-anticipated away opener against the Stars. After a short but successful pre-season saw the Hawks smash the Sutton Sting in a 17-0 victory at The Nest, the team looks forward to building upon their triumphant 2023/24 campaign.
‘It was a phenomenal year, not many teams get to win three cups in one season’. This was how defenceman Ethan Mayoh reminisced about the Hawks’ treble-winning campaign, with this sentiment being echoed by fellow defender Sam Warnock, stating that the season was an ‘outstanding journey from the start of the year till the end’.
There were several stand-out games along the way to clinching the Moralee Cup, M56 Cup and Play-Off title, however the fondest memory for Devids Jurinenoks came when ‘the guys showed up in the Play-Offs, nobody was ready for us in that Billingham game, being 3 goals down and winning it in the 3rd period, I think the fans know how special that was’. Sharing these emotions with the fans was Hawks Owner Graham Lomax, who described last season as ‘another level’. ‘We went into the season knowing we had a good side with expectations to finish in the top 4, but we really smashed those expectations out of the park’.
When looking at the expectations for the club, these are very much a part of senior management’s multi-year project for the team. Hawks legend turned Assistant Coach Ollie Lomax explains how ‘the club is on a gradual slope at the moment and from that plan, I would say we overachieved last season, but that’s all credit to the lads’. Head Coach Dominic Osman shares this perspective on the team’s overall development, noting that with last season being ‘very successful, we’re very much ahead of schedule in our building process, and we are going to try and replicate everything we did last year’.
Regarding the upcoming season, Ollie Lomax promises supporters will see ‘a brand of hockey that’s fast, entertaining and clean, with this play style being aided by improvements made in the off-season. Coach Osman illustrates how ‘we’ve got some very exciting young players coming in, with our older guys having a greater feel for the league this year’. This optimism for the coming season is shared by the players, with Ethan Mayoh highlighting how ‘we’ve strengthened as a team, so the only way up from 3 cups is winning all 4’. Talking from his incredible experience with the Hawks, team captain Aaron Davies has a more measured approach. ‘The expectations this year are keep rolling on from what we did last year. Nothing changes. We have to focus on our own game. We can look ahead to the end of the season, but we’ve got to worry about training on Thursday, then worry about the game at the weekend, then worry about training again and so on. We have to take every day as it comes’.
This focused game-by-game mindset originates from management. Coach Osman explains how ‘we’ve got to come out and compete in every game, obviously we’ve got our rivalries and those games against certain teams may cut a little bit deeper, but to be honest we’re not going to worry about who’s coming here or where we are going, we’re going to focus on our own game’. Whilst fans may look forward to the re-ignitions of rivalries against specific teams, the biggest draw for both coaches and players is performing in front of the Hawks faithful on home ice. Ollie Lomax demonstrates this point by stating how ‘I love those home games, it’s great being here on a Saturday night in a packed-out building. Playing in front of our home fans is special and nothing replicates that for me’.
For those Hawks fans who are in attendance, anticipation is brewing as they look forward to seeing faces, both old and new, take to the ice. Amongst the team, there is particular excitement about the group of young prospects in the squad this season. Both Sam Warnock and Ronnie Grimes highlight how forward Josh Crawley ‘is going to step-up another level from last season’, whereas Coach Lomax heaped praise upon the 16-year-old Liam Hine, stating that ‘I’ve seen Liam grow from being a little lad, right through to breaking into the first team. The Hawks mean a lot to him so it’s going to be really nice seeing someone come right through our academy and grabbing his chance at this level’. Away from this new youth contingent, Aaron Davies highlights the ability of established fan favourites, asserting that ‘we’ve got players who have cemented themselves here over the years like James Riddoch, Adam Barnes and James Royds. Then you’ve got Jacob Lutwyche who shouldn’t really be playing in our league, his talent is just unbelievable’.
Whilst there is no shortage of individual talent within the ranks of the squad, it’s clear that the team as a whole is central to everything. Coach Osman explains that ‘everybody has got a role to play. Players who need to go out and score goals will go out and score goals, players who need to make plays will go out and make plays, players who need to shut down will go out and shut down. I don’t look at stand-out stats, I look at stand-out roles and we need to focus on having a stand-out season as a team’. This ‘team first’ outlook exudes from every player when they speak about their game. Both Ronnie Grimes and Sam Warnock highlighted how they’ll ‘do whatever is needed for the team’, with this attitude being exemplified by the team’s captain. Whilst acknowledging he’ll be taking ‘a small step back in how [he’s] used this year’, Aaron Davies insists ‘all I want is the best for the team, the name on the front of the jersey is bigger than the one on the back, so whatever coach asks, that’s what I’m going to do’.
It’s clear that a strong sense of togetherness has been fostered within the team, and this mindset appears to be the driving force behind Blackburn’s recent success. All signs point to this success continuing into the upcoming season, though only time will tell…
The Blackburn Hawks will play their first game of the season against the Billingham Stars @ Billingham Ice Forum, Face-Off: 5:30pm.