London Racers

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London Racers
London Racers
Club information
history London Racers (2003-2006)
Club colors Red White
league Elite Ice Hockey League
Venue Lee Valley Ice Center
capacity 1,250 seats (including 746 seats)

The London Racers are a former English ice hockey club from London . The club was launched in 2003 as the successor to the Harringay Racers founded in 1936 . Due to an inadequate ice facility, the club postponed its further ice hockey activities until further notice.

history

2003/04 season

Founded and organized in just a few weeks, the Racers played their home games at Alexandra Palace . The first season turned out to be very difficult, whereby the team remained winless in 40 games until they finally achieved a 3-0 victory over the Cardiff Devils . Another win followed with a 4-0 win over Basingstoke Bison , where cult player Mojmir Musil scored twice. Captain Erik Zachrisson and goalkeeper Evan Lindsay earned excellent reviews this season. Jason Robinson quickly achieved hero status among Racers fans, due to his commitment on the ice and taking over the management of the Swedish trainer Peter Ekroth . Towards the end of the season, club owner Roger Black promised that this season would be the first of a three-year plan to reach the EIHL play-offs and ultimately pursue the title.

2004/05 season

The London Racers moved to the 1,200-seat Lee Valley Ice Center in Leyton , East London for the new season . Although the arena was considered by some to be too small for Elite League ice hockey, it became the home of Racers fans. Management raised fan hopes during the pre-season when it was announced that British ice hockey icon and former NHL draft Dennis Maxwell would become coach. Maxwell and his assistant coach Robinson relied on strong and talented players who showed the will to win in their squad composition. Seasoned players like Ian MacIntyre and Steve Moria should lead the young British talents Mark Thomas , Adam Dobson , Richard Hargreaves and Jason Hewitt . The resulting hard play of the Racers was often criticized in the league. In contrast, the games were often entertaining for their own fans. The Canadian Jeremy Cornish in particular covered up his lack of ice hockey talent with his hard body game, with which he taught fear to many so-called rough legs in the league. As a result, the young man from Ontario quickly became a crowd-pleaser in London.

The lockout in the National Hockey League also made it possible to sign two players from the world's best ice hockey league. The tough defender Eric Cairns and the nimble center Scott Nichol completed the team and strengthened the racers with their experience and talent. After a successful preliminary round, the Racers were able to qualify for the playoffs for the first time. However, they were eliminated in the first round against the Cardiff Devils . Nevertheless, this season provided a lot of optimism among Racers fans for the following season.

2005/06 season

The constant development of the Racers came to a quick end on November 21, 2005. On November 5, during a game against the Nottingham Panthers , Slovenian defender Blaz Emersic sustained severe facial injuries after colliding with an object protruding from the gang. Eight days later, on November 13th, a piece broke from the Plexiglas pane. Although no one was injured, safety concerns arose. The same spot on the disc broke out again during the following training session. As a result, the Lee Valley Ice Center was closed due to the lack of security for players and spectators .

For the club, however, there was no new venue for their home games to be found, so that the club decided on November 21 to withdraw the team from league operations.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Guardian : Rink safety worries force London Racers off the ice , accessed June 4, 2010