Well, here we are. Thirty-seven games later and it is the off-season once again but what a season it has been. It has been full of joyful ups and also the usual downs that comes with playing ice hockey, but you wouldn’t change any of it. Season 23/24 was unlike any other and it’s time to go back and reminisce about what can only be described as ‘a record-breaking season’.

The Coventry NIHL Blaze has just come back off of their highest league finish in nine years, finishing fifth – just one spot off of making the Laidler Playoffs and the Cup Semi-Finals. During the off-season, we got the news that the Hull Jets would accept their offer to move up to the NIHL1 Moralee division but would be starting a new team, the Kingston Sharks, to fill that position. We would also have the addition of another brand-new team, the Billingham Buccaneers. The league would remain the same everywhere else just with slight format changes. It was sure to be a good one.

The league regular season extended to a 32-game season, with cup games being played right at the start and then the playoffs, as always, to finish. The league would be made up of nine teams: Altrincham Aces, Billingham Buccaneers, Bradford Bulldogs, Coventry NIHL Blaze, Kingston Sharks, Nottingham Lions 2, Sheffield Titans, Sutton Sting and finally Telford Tigers 2.

Soon enough, the beginning of September came round and with that, our Pre-Season. It would be made up of one home and one away game, the week before the start of the new season. We faced the Oxford Rising Stars at home on the Saturday, riding out 4-2 winners. We then travelled to Basingstoke on the Sunday but with late heartbreak, lose 5-4 with a goal conceded in the last thirty seconds.

The games would then come thick and fast with a further five games in September, kickstarting our 23/24 campaign both in the league and the cup. Sheffield, Sutton, Billingham, Altrincham and Bradford were our first five opponents. We collected four wins out of the five, only losing to the Sting which saw us go 4-0 down during the game and the fightback not being enough to claw all the way back, finishing 6-4 to the Sting.

Another five games in October starting with an early 12:00 faceoff against the new Kingston side. We ran our 7-1 winners including six powerplay goals. We would then face Telford, Nottingham, Bradford and Altrincham to finish the month. Three wins and one loss in those four, means we started with eight wins and two losses. We were sat in Second Place.

November certainly finished better than it started as for the first time this season, we lost two games in a row and lost at home. A close 2-1 loss up in Billingham was followed the next day by a 5-3 home loss to the Sting. The response however, superb. We would finish the month with another three wins, all one goal games. 3-2 against the Lions, 5-4 against the Titans and 4-3 against the Sharks. We would sit with eleven wins and four losses through the first three months.

December would also be another good month. Seven out of the ten points available came back to the Skydome with the NIHL Blaze. The first game, a barn burner. We would give the Telford Tigers their first loss of the regular season, riding out 5-4 winners at home. This would turn out to be their only league loss of the whole season. We then had a long travel day to follow that win up as we headed to Billingham on the Sunday. The game would be mutually called off at the start of the third period due to unsafe ice conditions and after confirmation from league officials, the game would end in a 1-1 tie. The rest of the month would see two more wins and another loss. We would be fourteen, five and one through the first half of the year, good enough for Third Place. We would also qualify for the Cup Semi-Final, to be played at the end of January.

January would see four games come our way, three against the Sutton Sting. We would start out with our first win against the Sting for six years, Sean O’Neill with the winning penalty shot in round five, along with five saves from Laverick earned us a 2-1 win. We would follow that up the next day with a 3-0 shutout win away from home, in Bradford. We would then turn out attentions back to the Cup.

The Cup Semi-Final would round out January with a two-leg, aggregate scoring game against the Sting. We would fall at home 3-1 in Leg One and travel to Sheffield for Leg Two, where we would fall 3-2 despite a late rally and lose the tie 6-3. This would be the first time ever the club has made the Cup Sem-Final and certainly an achievement to be proud of. The Sting and Tigers would battle this one out in the Final, with the Tigers prevailing in overtime.

February would see a return to league action and the start of the business end of the season. A six game February would await a team looking to better their highest finish and points total ever. It would start perfectly with a 9-0 win over the Lions for the second time this season. But we would fall 4-0 away from home, yet again to the Sting, the following day. We would then pick up three wins from the last four games, with the only loss coming from the Tigers. Twenty, Seven and One would be where we finished February, we had already bettered this teams ever finish as we still sat firmly in third place.

March saw us play our last league action with a final four games to round out the thirty-two. Three wins and one loss, again to the Tigers after they score with 30 seconds left to win the game, would be good enough for a third place finish. Tied with the highest this team has ever finished, which was back in 2013-24. We would finish the season on 45 points, which bettered our previous best of 34, again in the 13/14 season. 22 wins would be good enough to break another team record, beating our previous best of 16 in the 13/14 season.

Our attentions would turn to the Playoffs.

Altrincham Aces, who we faced in the final game of the regular season, would be our quarter-final opponent for the 23/24 Playoffs. This would be similar as the Cup Semi-Final as it would be a two-leg, one home one away, aggregate scoring tie. We would travel north to Altrincham on Saturday for Leg One. One of the performances of the season would put us in great position to advance. An 8-0 win away from home would give us a huge lead headed back to the Skydome. We would follow Saturday up with a 3-3 tie on Sunday to advance to the Playoff Semi-Final for the first time in Ten Years! Our opponents, who else, the Sutton Sting.

iceSheffield would play host to the NIHL1 and NIHL2 North Playoff Final Weekend with the Top 4 teams remaining battling it out for both trophies. Telford, Sutton, Coventry and Billingham all won their ties and would make up the two Saturday semi-finals. Telford would take on Billingham whilst we would face the Sting in the later game. Billingham would stun crowd in Sheffield, beating the League and Cup Champions 2-1 in the first Semi-Final of the day, advancing to the Final.

A Saturday afternoon showdown to determine who would play the Buccaneers in the Final would go right down to the wire. We would come out of Period One down 2-0 and then come out of Period Two down 4-0. At this point, the team could have given up. But as it said on the walls of our dressing room, ‘Never Give Up, Never Give In’. We would come out in the third period fighting.

An early goal would cut the deficit to three and all of a sudden there was a bit of life. We would then take a penalty that served costly as the Sting capitalised on a loose puck in the crease and restored their four goal lead. But again, we would not give up there. A further three goals to get to within one from Harris, Kent and James would set up a nervy final two minutes. The Sting would get a break, on a empty net and seal the game late on and would advance to the final, meaning we would bow out at the Semi-Final stage, once again.

Sutton and Billingham would go all the way to penalty shots, with the Buccaneers coming out on top and winning the Playoff Championship in their first ever season. And after all that, we find ourselves back here, the off-season again.

Thank Yous

The Coventry NIHL Blaze would like to thank each and every person who came to watch, who sponsored the team and players, who supported our Christmas Jersey Charity drive, who supported our Movember collection, who helped during match nights, who helped organise the fixtures and every single person in between. Without you, nothing is possible and we appreciate everything you do, to make playing this sport possible.

We hope you enjoy the break and the off-season, we will see you in September.

Milestones

Daniel Kent named Captain of the NIHL Blaze.

Sean O’Neill appointed Assistant Captain of the NIHL Blaze.

Charles Coney scores his first Senior Goal against the Oxford Rising Stars.

Max Parham scores his first Senior Point against the Oxford Rising Stars.

Will Kibkalo scores his first Senior Point against the Sheffield Titans.

Ollie Dixon scores his first Senior Goal against the Nottingham Lions.

Ashton Rudkin scores his first Senior Point against the Nottingham Lions.

Ashton Rudkin scores his first Senior Goal against the Nottingham Lions.

Max Parham scores his first Senior Goal against the Altrincham Aces.

Reuben Sweenie-Fuller scores his first Senior Point against the Bradford Bulldogs.

Jodie Alderson-Smith is selected for GB Womens.

Jodie Alderson-Smith is appointed Captain of GB Womens.

Sean Alderson appointed Assistant Coach of GB Womens.

Sean Alderson appointed Head Coach of GB Womens U18’s.

Sean O’Neill is selected for the Irish Mens National Team.

The NIHL Blaze qualify for their first ever Cup Semi-Final.

The NIHL Blaze qualify for the Playoff Semi-Final for the first time in ten years.

The NIHL Blaze would finish in Third Place and tie their highest finish ever.

The NIHL Blaze would finish on 45 points and break their previous high of 34.

The NIHL Blaze would finish on 22 wins and break their previous high of 16.

The NIHL Blaze would finish on a 0.703 win percentage and break their previous high of 0.607.

The NIHL Blaze would finish on a 2.69 GAA and break their previous best of 3.64 GAA.

The Team

HC Sean Alderson

Team Manager Steve Brookes

Assistant Manager Paul Parham

Assistant Manager Shaun Coney

Team Photography Paul & Abi King

33 Ben Lee

34 Hayden Laverick

39 Joel Bearman

8 Ryan James (A)

9 Jamie Lewis

10 Jodie Alderson-Smith

11 Scott Venus

12 Harrison Sumner

13 Lewis Smith

17 Sean O'Neill (A)

18 Max Parham

19 Tom Brooke-Smith

20 Oliver Harris

21 Connor Wheeldon

23 Ashton Rudkin

24 Ethan Wheeldon

25 Daniel Kent (C)

37 Connor Mellett

40 Niall Simpson

42 Gregor Park

49 Will Kibkalo

50 Reuben Sweenie-Fuller

57 Daniel Upton

60 Morgan Wickens

70 Ollie Dixon

76 Harry Sherlock

87 Arthur Brookes (A)

88 Charles Coney

93 Sam Prosser

95 Joel Gavigan

97 Max Soden