Whitley Warriors
The Whitley Warriors are an ice hockey team based in Whitley Bay in the north east of England. Founded in 1957 as the Bees, they changed their name to the Whitley Warriors in 1964. The Warriors played at the highest level of British ice hockey for much of their history but currently play in the third tier, National Ice Hockey League North Division 1.
| Whitley Warriors | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Whitley Bay, United Kingdom |
| League | NIHL |
| Division | Division One North |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Home arena | Whitley Bay Ice Rink |
| Colours | Maroon, gold, white |
| General manager | Willie Dunn |
| Head coach | Tony Hand |
| Website | whitleywarriors |
Their home arena is The Whitley Bay Ice Rink.
Club roster 2022-23
(*) Denotes a Non-British Trained player (Import)
| Netminders | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Player | Catches | Date of birth | Place of birth | Acquired | Contract | ||
| 30 |  |
Mark Turnbull | L | 15 May 1995 | Northumberland, England | 2021 from Billingham Stars | 22/23 | ||
| 32 | |
Joshua Crane | L | 29 October 1998 | Coventry, England | 2021 from Nottingham Lions | 22/23 | ||
|
Jack Wakefield | L | 29 December 2002 | Durham, England | 2022 from Åmåls SK J20 | 22/23 | |||
| Defencemen | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Player | Shoots | Date of birth | Place of birth | Acquired | Contract | |||
| 5 | |
Matthew McDonald | 2000 (age 22) | England | 2021 from Whitley U20 | 22/23 | ||||
| 13 | |
Kyle Ross | R | 28 July 1997 | Whitley Bay, England | 2017 from Essa Stallions | 22/23 | |||
| 22 | |
Adam Wood | R | 4 July 1990 | Somerset, England | 2021 from Streatham IHC | 22/23 | |||
| 24 | |
Harry Harley 'A' | L | 15 May 1995 | Whitley Bay, England | 2018 from Hull Pirates | 22/23 | |||
| 78 |  |
Rihards Grigors* | L | 20 January 1992 | Dobele, Latvia | 2021 from Fife Flyers | 22/23 | |||
| Forwards | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Player | Shoots | Date of birth | Place of birth | Acquired | Contract | |||
| 7 | |
Thomas Fraser | R | 2003 (age 19) | England | 2019 from Whitley U20 | 22/23 | |||
| 11 | |
Shaun Kippin 'A' | L | 15 April 1987 | England | 2015 from Deeside Dragons | 22/23 | |||
| 14 | |
Dean Holland 'C' | R | 22 September 1988 | Newcastle, England | 2014 from Guildford Flames | 22/23 | |||
| 15 | |
Anthony Wetherell | 1999 (age 23) | England | 2016 from Whitley U18 | 22/23 | ||||
| 16 | |
Lewis Crisp | 1999 (age 23) | England | 2022 from Billingham Stars | 22/23 | ||||
| 18 |  |
Matěj Valiček* | L | 30 January 1998 | Czechia | 2021 from HC Baník Sokolov B | 22/23 | |||
| 20 |  .svg.png.webp){kind=small} |
Philip Edgar | L | 6 October 1993 | Kitchener, ON, Canada | 2017 from University of Waterloo | 22/23 | |||
| 27 | |
Jamie Ord | 4 March 2001 | England | 2016 from Whitley U18 | 22/23 | ||||
| 31 | |
Adam Finlinson | L | 17 April 1998 | Whitley Bay, England | 2017 from Swindon Wildcats | 22/23 | |||
| 37 | |
Matthew Betham | 2004 (age 18) | England | 2021 from Whitley U20 | 22/23 | ||||
| 51 | |
Connor Lewis | 2005 (age 17) | England | 2021 from Billingham Stars | 22/23 | ||||
| 57 | |
Callum Queenan | R | 3 October 1996 | Whitley Bay, England | 2019 from Meaford Knights | 22/23 | |||
| Team Staff | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Name | Position | Acquired | Place of birth | Joined From | |||
|
Willie Dunn | General Manager | 2023 | ||||||
|
Tony Hand MBE | Head Coach | 2023 | ||||||
|
Peter Scorer | Team Medic | |||||||
|
Equipment Manager | ||||||||
|
Adam Mackman | Programme Editor/Radio Commentary | |||||||
|
Andy McGregor | Online/Match Night Announcer | |||||||
|
Videography | ||||||||
|
Photography | ||||||||
|
Rob Greener | Graphics | |||||||
2021/22 Outgoing
| Outgoing | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Player | Shoots | Date of birth | Place of birth | Leaving For |
| 12 | |
Dylan Hehir | R | 2002 (age 20) | Billingham, England | Leeds Knights, NIHL |
| 26 | |
Rolands Gritans | L | 19 January 1991 | Daugavpils, Latvia | Billingham Stars, NIHL 1 |
Honours
British Championship: Winners – 1972/73, 1973/74
English National League Championship: Winners – 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2001/02, 2007/08
English National League: Runners-up – 1997/98
Northern League: Winners – 1973/74, 1974/75 Runners-up – 1976/77, 1977/78, 2006/07, 2010/11
Northern League Play-offs: Winners: 2006/07 Runners-up – 1967/68, 1976/77
English National League North: Winners – 2001/02, 2009/10, 2010/11 Runners-up – 1997/98, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2006/07, 2007/08
English Cup: Winners – 2001/02 Runners-up – 2000/01
Anglo Scottish Cup: Winners – 2000/01
Scottish Cup: Winners – 1991/92, Runners-up – 1992/93
Heineken British Premier League: Runners-up – 1987/88
Benson & Hedges Cup: Runners-up – 1992/93
Autumn Cup: Winners – 1971/72 Runners-up – 1972/73, 1974/75, 1976/77
BIHA Cup: Winners – 1957/58, 1958/59 (as Whitley Bees)
NIHL North Cup: Runners-up – 2019/20 Runners-up – 2021/22
NIHL North Division 1 Moralee: Winners - 2019/20 Runners-up – 2021/22
Ice Hockey Journalists UK Hall of Fame: Terry Matthews (1987), Alfie Miller (1988), J.J. 'Icy' Smith (1988), Hilton Ruggles (2009), David Longstaff (2022)
Junior teams
The Warriors have numerous junior teams, with most bearing names that are considered derogatory and racist, especially when used contemporarily by non-indigenous people.[1] The teams are:
- Under 9 - Mischiefs
- Under 11 - Arrows
- Under 13 - Mohawks
- Under 15 - Tomahawks
- Under 18 - Braves
- Under 20 - Renegades
- Ladies - Beacons
Imports
- 1969-70 Dave Marsden
- 1975–1976 Don McAdams
- 1977–1978 Jan Pettersson & Harri Semi.
- 1978–1979 Brian Labatte
- 1979–1980 Lars Opsahl
- 1980–1981 Lars Opsahl
- 1981–1982 Buzz Brown
- 1982–1983 Tim Whitehead
- 1983–1984 Ron Butler, Al Kent & Kel Land
- 1984–1985 Pete Fitzpatrick, Hugh Alcorn & Roy Wallace
- 1985–1986 Peter Dunkley, Brian Mason, Steve Attwell & Bill Audycki
- 1986–1987 Jim Earle, Tom Earle & Bruce Stanley
- 1987–1988 Scott Morrison, Luc Chabot & Mike Babcock
- 1988–1989 Scott Morrison, Hilton Ruggles & Mike Rowe
- 1989–1990 Hilton Ruggles, Marc Damphousse, Claude Lefebvre, Wayne Crawford, Chris Duperron, Marco Ronkko, Mike Vellucci & James Gasseau
- 1990–1991 Hilton Ruggles, Claude Dumas, Brad Hyatt, Daryl Evans, Steve Chartrand & Blaine Peerless
- 1991–1992 Hilton Ruggles, Claude Dumas, Mike Rowe, Rob Abel & Bobby Brown
- 1992–1993 Claude Dumas, Scott Morrison, Mike Rowe, Mike Mowbray & Steve Brown
- 1993–1994 Scott Morrison, Steve Brown, Tyler Larter, Mike Rowe, Eric LeGros
- 1994–1995 Steve Brown, Dean Richards, Brian Verbeek, Mike Rowe, Martin St. Amour
- 1995–1996 (as Newcastle Warriors) Steve Brown, Chris Norton, Richard Laplante, Jason Smart, Dean Richards, Scott Morrison, Rick Fera, Scott Campbell, Lars Thunnell, Niklas Gullikson, Risto Halenius, Tim Salmon
- 1996–1997 Matthew Beveridge, Stefan Simoes, Mark Stokes, Matt McGuffin, Grant Morrow
- 1997–1998 Timo Loucasvuori, Kimmo Saarinen, Seppo Rajpar, Sami Rajpar
- 1998–1999 Trond Gundersen
- 1999–2000 Trond Gundersen
- 2000–2001 Fredrik Jonsson, Lauri Oksanen
- 2005–2006 Hakan Andersson
- 2008–2009 Peter Tomek
- 2015–2016 Andre Payette
- 2016–2017 Andre Payette
- 2017–2018 Philip Edgar
- 2018–2019 Rolands Gritāns, Philip Edgar
- 2019–2020 Rolands Gritāns, Philip Edgar
- 2021-2022 Rolands Gritāns, Rihards Grigors, Matěj Valíček
- 2022-2023 Rihards Grigors, Philip Edgar, Matěj Valíček
Retired jerseys
Alfie Miller (#10) is the only jersey that has been retired for the Warriors.
Logo
Despite the Warriors' logo depicting a Native American (the logo and colours being "inspired" by the Washington Redskins) and the associated controversy which resulted in the Redskins removing their logo on the grounds that it was considered racist,[2] there has been no similar discussion around the Warriors'. Teams like Frölunda Indians HC and Chicago Blackhawks which have similar logos have come under significant pressure to change their logos on similar grounds. Frolunda announced that they would no longer be called the Indians and would be changing their logo.[3]
References
- Vowel, Chelsea (2016). "Just Don't Call Us Late for Supper - Names for Indigenous Peoples". Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: Highwater Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-1553796800.
Let's just agree the following words are never okay to call Indigenous peoples: savage, red Indian, redskin, primitive, half-breed, squaw/brave/papoose.
- "The Washington Redskins Are Changing Team Name and Logo—Who's Next?". Vogue. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
- "Swedish ice hockey club to drop Native American logo". Reuters. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2021.