Blades sharpen up

Ice cool: Cpl John Maguire (REME) stays strong in a race for the puck against the Royal Navy Destroyers

IN an age of pampered professional sports stars, the Army Blades ice hockey team are cut from a refreshingly different cloth.

Instead of the morning training and afternoon recovery sessions favoured by those at the top, military players are forced to wait until the rinks are free before they can perfect their game, often resulting in 0200 finishes.

Having to burn the midnight oil just to get the chance to train might be enough to drive away the weak-willed, but the dedication of a growing army of hockey aficionados is helping to sharpen the skills of the Blades.

“The team this year is very good indeed,” the Army Ice Hockey Association’s Maj Tim Gillies (REME) told SoldierSport. “Ice hockey brings out all of the characteristics we want from our soldiers – controlled aggression, courage, teamwork and dedication.

“The UK doesn’t have a massive amount of skating rinks and that means we always have to fit our practises around the public.

“Our guys often aren’t able to get onto the ice until midnight, but they keep doing it because they are so focused on improving.”

The progress was evident last month as the Blades finished runners-up on goal difference to the Royal Navy in the Inter-Services tournament at the state-of-the-art Ice Sheffield facility.

Lining up alongside experienced Service players were OCdt Nathan Chronik, a Canadian who played at university level in his home country, and OCdt Daniel Flett, a former Great Britain youth international.

The pair, who are in their second term as part of Burma Company at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, were given special dispensation to travel north for the competition.

Flett (25) is a skilful winger who made a telling impact on the side despite not having picked up a stick in anger since going to university.

“It’s nice to get back into it,” said the cadet. “The skating part has not been too bad, but my handling has dropped.

“It’s good to see ice hockey growing in the Army because it’s an exciting, fast and furious sport.”

Hailing from South Alberta, goalkeeper Chronik played as many as six times a week as a youngster.

The opportunities to hit the rink diminished when he moved to England to commence officer training, so the 25-year-old welcomed the chance to lace up his skates for the Blades.

Despite his hockey pedigree, Chronik said he has had to readjust to the British game because of its subtle differences to its Canadian counterpart.

“I noticed straight away that the game here is much less aggressive than it is back home,” he said. “That’s not a bad thing and it’s good that the sport is getting more popular because it is forcing the standard up.”

Running alongside the main Inter-Services matches at Ice Sheffield was an inter-corps face-off featuring 11 teams from the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, making it the biggest ice hockey tournament in Britain.

The inter-corps games served as a perfect proving ground for up-and-coming players and, unlike the Inter-Services competition, the matches were non-contact to allow the teams more time on the puck.

But even with the slower pace, in a sport that requires excellent handling, a keen positional sense and, of course, the ability to skate, surely it takes months of practice to provide even a passable impression of a hockey player?

“Not at all,” said Gillies. “Within one session the guys we get are on the ice and chasing the puck around. Things develop very quickly from there and it only takes three or four sessions for them to really get the hang of it.

“Skating is a bit like skiing in that it’s really quite straightforward once you get the balance.

“Some field hockey players find it easy to transfer their skills across onto the ice, but we also get guys still in training who find out about ice hockey and want to give it a go.

“We get people from all kinds of backgrounds and physically they are of different builds, but the key to success is having the dedication to training.”

Those looking for proof that newcomers can make quick progress need look no further than Blades player Pte Chris Pfleiderer (RLC).

The loggie had a brief flirtation with ice hockey when he was 12, but only took up the sport in earnest after returning from operations in Afghanistan last year and teaching
himself how to skate.

In the six months that have followed, Pfleiderer has developed rapidly and made his Blades debut against the Royal Navy at Sheffield, scoring one goal in an exciting 3-3 draw.

“I thought I played well in that game and it was good to score,” he said. “I was pleased to get into the team because I basically had to build my skills up from scratch, but it was definitely worth it to get to play.”

To find out more about Army ice hockey, email tim.gillies@rwsg.mod.uk