A new organisation aiming to reunite and celebrate the British ice hockey stars of yesteryear is delighted to announce its launch.
Legends Ice Hockey is the brainchild of former Durham Wasps, Nottingham Panthers and Humberside Seahawks netminder Frank Killen, independent player-agent Gareth Chalmers, and marketing professional and ice hockey fan Rich Endean.
The organisation will be built around a membership association for veteran players, which aims to provide a host of benefits for former stars as well as stage ‘Legends’ games at venues around the UK to showcase the stars of yesteryear and provide British ice hockey fans with the chance to see their former heroes take to the ice once again.
Killen explains: “Nearly every other sport has an association which caters for ex-players, but currently, ice hockey doesn’t. And having spoken to a number of players who were around the 80s and 90s, it became clear that there was definitely a demand for something like this to bring players back together and more importantly back to the sport as well as provide fans with the chance to meet with and see these hockey players back on the ice again.”
At local rinks, on internet forums, and on social media websites, many fans – and players continue to reminisce about classic encounters, characters from the game, and famous teams that are sadly now consigned to history such as Durham Wasps, Ayr Bruins, Dundee Rockets and Murrayfield Racers – all big names in the heyday of the Heineken League era. Legends Ice Hockey aims to resurrect these as well as bring back to the ice, squads from existing clubs to roll back the years and provide unique one-off games at a host of British rinks for fans of all generations.
These showpiece games however are just one part of Legends Ice Hockey’s plans, which include the hosting of golf days and sportsmens’ dinners for retired players designed to raise much-needed money for local charities and junior development programmes who are producing the British legends of the future. Ultimately, the organisation also hopes to bring together an exclusive UK tournament involving teams and players of years gone by which it hopes will become a key fixture in the sport’s calendar for players and fans alike.
Legends Ice Hockey will be contacting former players over the coming weeks to invite them to become member of the organisation, and hope to announce details of their first ‘Legends’ fixture very soon.
For further information on Legends Ice Hockey, visit our website: www.legendsicehockey.co.uk.
View our viral Youtube video to help promote the launch of Legends Ice Hockey here.
EDITORS NOTES / ABOUT THE LIH TEAM:
Frank Killen is a former Durham Wasps, Humberside Seahawks and Nottingham Panthers netminder and since retiring as a professional player has gone on to work in marketing with Hull KR Rugby League Club, Hull City Football Club, The Press Association and more recently with Newcastle United Football Club.
Gareth Chalmers has been heavily involved in the sport for fifteen years now through his involvement with the various professional teams in the North East of England. Today his company owns one of Europe’s biggest minor pro Hockey Agencies, one of the UK’s leading online websites for the sport as well as acting as a business development advisor to a number of European based clubs.
Rich Endean has led the fight to bring an ice rink back to the city of Durham through the County Durham Ice Foundation. His tireless efforts saw his involvement in 2010 in bringing temporary ice back to the city for the first time in fifteen years with the ultimate aim of finalising investment for a sustainable facility in the County Durham region. Rich also runs his own marketing and design consultancy based in Newcastle.
