Milton Keynes Lightning
| Milton Keynes Lightning | |
|---|---|
 |
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| City | Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire |
| League | English Premier Ice Hockey League |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Home arena | The Thunderdome |
| Colors | White, Black & Gold |
| Owner(s) | Fountaintree Ltd |
| Head coach |  Nick Poole |
| Captain |  Adam Carr |
| Affiliates | Milton Keynes Thunder |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 3 (03/04, 04/05 & 09/10) |
| Playoff championships | 4 (02/03, 03/04, 04/05 & 05/06) |
The Milton Keynes Lightning is an ice hockey team from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, currently (2011/2012) playing in the semi-professional English Premier Ice Hockey League (EPL).
They are also a founding member of The Elite Ice Hockey League, although they have not yet entered a team in that league despite the fact that they (along with the London Racers) are able to enter the league at any time without having to apply.
The team's Player-Coach is Canadian Nick Poole, who joined the team when it was established in 2002. He is also the coach for the u10's, u12's, u14's, developers, u16's and u18's and is the longest serving player in the teams history.
Their home arena is 'Planet Ice' (also known as The Thunderdome), an ice rink to the south of Milton Keynes Central railway station in Central Milton Keynes. It has a capacity of around 2'200.
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[edit] Club History
Founded in 2002, MK Lightning moved into the empty space left by the departure of Milton Keynes Kings. The MK Kings were involved in a dispute with rink owners Planet Ice, which led to the Kings re-locating to Solihull in May 2002.[1] There they became the Solihull MK Kings for just one season before winding up in April 2003.[2]
[edit] 2002-2006: Early Years
The demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague and the British National League in 2002/03 led to major restructuring of the Ice Hockey leagues in the United Kingdom. The new Milton Keynes Lightning became a founding member of the new Elite Ice Hockey League but instead chose to compete in the English Premier Ice Hockey League. The first Lightning squad was made up mainly of local players but with 3 Canadian imports; Nick Poole(Head Coach), Claude Dumas & Dwayne Newman. Lightning finished their maiden season in 2nd place just behind the Peterborough Phantoms. The 2 teams met again in the playoff final, this time Lightning came out winners. A rivalry quickly grew between the Phantoms and Lightning as the two continued to dominate EPL Ice Hockey, MK gained the edge and were crowned league champions in the 03/04 & 04/05 seasons as well as continuing to dominate the Playoffs until 2006.
[edit] 2006-2008: League Struggle
The 2006/07 season saw Lightning struggle in the league for the first time. A lack of investment in new players made MK's tactics & style become predictable and the rest of the EPL caught up. Lightning ended the season in 5th place and were eliminated from the Playoffs in the first round. The 07/08 season saw Lightning sink further to their lowest league finish of 6th, the management announced a major roster overhaul would take place over the summer.
[edit] 2008-2010: Return to Success
As promised, Nick Poole and the team owners built a new-look Lightning squad for the 08/09 season. They were quick to add several experienced ex-Elite League players, young British talent & exciting European imports in Lukas Zatopek, Andre Smulter & Joakim Wiklander. After a slow start MK dominated the 2nd half of the season and finished runners-up behind rivals Peterborough. They then met again in the playoff final at the SkyDome Arena but once again lost to the Phantoms.
Lightning became the team to beat in 2009/10 despite Basingstoke Bison & Manchester Phoenix joining the EPL with large budgets to spend. More exciting signings in local star Leigh Jamieson & Swedish U20 international Monir Kalgoum helped MK to dominate the league from start to finish. A home win against the Swindon Wildcats in March 2010 saw the EPL league trophy return to Planet Ice.
[edit] Club honours
EPIHL League Champions: 2003/2004, 2004/2005, 2009/2010
EPIHL Playoff Winners: 2002/2003, 2003/2004, 2004/2005, 2005/2006
EPIHL Playoff Runner-Up: 2008/2009 ,2010/2011
EPIHL Cup Runner-Up: 2006/2007 ,2007/2008
[edit] Arena redevelopment
In November 2006, Milton Keynes Council approved plans to redevelop the arena, recognizing that it was contrary to the Structure Plan but that doing so would secure the long term future of the arena.[3] In January 2007, the Government accepted the Council recommendation to vary the Structure Plan without an enquiry and the developers (Abbeygate) confirmed that the development will begin imminently.[4] The development would have included a new store for Danish furniture company ILVA as well as other leisure units.
Subsequently, ILVA UK went into administration and the plans have been shelved sine die.
[edit] Club roster 2011/2012
| Netminders | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Player | Catches | Date of birth | Place of birth | Acquired | ||||
| 28 | |
Alex Mettam | R | 1 February 1988 | Sheffield, England | 2009 | ||||
| 31 | |
Barry Hollyhead | L | 4 June 1975 | Shrewsbury, England | 2008 | ||||
| Defencemen | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Player | Shoots | Date of birth | Place of birth | Acquired | ||||
| 2 | |
Tom Norton | R | 16 June 1990 | Nottingham, England | 2011 | ||||
| 26 | |
Adam Brittle | L | 20 November 1985 | Telford, England | 2009 | ||||
| 21 | |
Ross Green | R | 19 February 1992 | Chelmsford, England | 2008 | ||||
| 55 | |
Michael Farn | L | 23 June 1988 | Durham, England | 2009 | ||||
| 66 | |
Lewis Christie | R | 30 August 1989 | Edinburgh, Scotland | 2008 | ||||
| 78 |  |
Lukas Zatopek | L | 2 February 1978 | Havirov, Czech Rep | 2008 | ||||
| Forwards | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Player | Shoots | Date of birth | Place of birth | Acquired | ||||
| 5 | |
Jamie Line | L | 23 January 1990 | Luton, England | 2011 | ||||
| 6 | |
Michael Wales | R | 26 August 1982 | Gillingham[disambiguation needed  ], England |
2003 | ||||
| 8 |  |
Blaz Emersic | L | 10 October 1980 | Ljubljana, Slovenia | 2010 | ||||
| 9 | |
Grant McPherson | R | 3 March 1987 | Stirling, Scotland | 2006 | ||||
| 14 |  |
Tuomas Tikkanen | L | 29 August 1980 | Finland | 2003 | ||||
| 18 | |
Adam Carr | R | 15 June 1984 | Durham, England | 2003 | ||||
| 19 | |
Leigh Jamieson | R | 30 July 1985 | Milton Keynes, England | 2009 | ||||
| 41 | |
Matt Towalski | L | 6 March 1984 | Stafford, England | 2009 | ||||
| 61 | |
Ross Bowers | R | 30 July 1985 | Luton, England | 2009 | ||||
| 91 | |
Nick Poole | R | 11 July 1973 | Calgary, Canada | 2002 | ||||
[edit] Season-by-season record
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[edit] Associated teams
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ "MK Kings live on in Solihull", Milton Keynes Citizen, May 2002
- ^ "Solihull MK Kings finally call it a day", Milton Keynes Citizen, April 2003]
- ^ "Plans approved for new ice rink", Milton Keynes Citizen, 7 November 2006
- ^ "Plans are not on ice!", Milton Keynes Citizen, 18 January 2007
| Preceded by Invicta Dynamos |
EPIHL Playoff Champions 2002 - 2006 |
Succeeded by Bracknell Bees |
| Preceded by Peterborough Phantoms |
EPIHL Champions 2003 - 2005 |
Succeeded by Guildford Flames |
