Telford Tigers hungry ahead of return

Tigers return to the rink after 11 long months away from competitive action as their Spring Cup campaign gets under way at home to Raiders this evening.

The match will be played behind closed doors but streamed live to fans. The Spring Cup was designed as a stepping stone in the return to competitive ice hockey and will feature five teams from the National League.

And, while things may look different at Telford Ice Rink with Covid-19 protocols in place and an updated roster, Watkins is hopeful of continuing last season’s double success as ice hockey begins its return.

“Absolutely (we want to give them something to cheer), given the situation, everybody can’t get back to the rink, it’s the next best thing,” Watkins said.

“It’s essentially all we can offer, it’s great that every team is streaming games so that fans can watch.

“We don’t know how we’re going to sit in this group but once we get out there I’m sure the winning mentality of every player in this group will shine through.”

Tigers’ last game last March, before the pandemic prematurely curtailed the season, was against Romford side Raiders, who host Telford tomorrow.

Watkins’ men just had time to secure a memorable double of the National League and NIHL National Cup. But their play-offs hopes were put paid to do by the coronavirus. The head coach said: “We want to win, we want to be successful and carry on the success we had from last season, we enjoyed that.

“We’ve got the experience to do that and I think we’ve got the talent.

“But this is a very different competition, you might lose players to injury but also to quarantine situation or positive Covid tests, there’s no way of knowing how that might impact your line-ups.”