As we come up to the closing stages of 2024, we can look back and be proud of what we have achieved as individuals, a team and as a club. We have broken many a record, had a lot of firsts and brought a culture to the NIHL Blaze that is to win.

2024 started out with our first win in six years against the Sting. It took us sixty-five minutes and all five penalty shots but we got there thanks to five saves from Laverick and the winner from Sean O'Neill.

The month then brought a brand new first to the team, a cup semi-final and we again face the Sutton Sting. We would lose out on this tie on aggregate and the Sting would advance but it was the first time the team had ever gotten that far in that competition.

February would bring our second 9-0 win of the season against the Lions and our second shutout of the calendar year. And we would follow that up with a further four wins in the next six games an set ourselves up for a top three finish and a high seed going into the playoffs.

We would finish the regular season off with an emphatic 5-1 win over the Aces who then turned out to be our Playoff Quarter-Final opponent - which would be played over two legs. We would pretty much close the tie out in the first game (the away game) by beating the Aces again but this time by a scoreline of 0-8. And the return leg would finish in a 3-3 tie for us to go through 11-3 on aggregate and for the first time in 10 years, we were playoff semi-finalists.

Who else would we play in our second semi-final of the season but the Sutton Sting. This time, it would be a one game shootout - winner takes all at iceSheffield.

Billingham would beat the Tigers in the first Semi-Final to cause an upset and knock out the league and cup champions.

We would again lose out in another semi-final. After being 0-4 down, we would fight back to be only 4-5 down with a minute to go but an empty netter sealed it for the Sting and they would head to the final, which they would lose.

The 2024-25 season was soon around the corner and would start with a three game pre-season with a home fixture against the Rising Stars and a home and away set of fixtures against the Mustangs.

Emphatic 13-1 and 7-3 victories on opening night would start the season off perfectly before a narrow 0-1 defeat to the Sting.

Three losses in a row over October and November would set up a tricky set of fixtures to finish the year, looking to turn things around.

We would finish with four victories in the last five, with the one loss being a narrow 2-3 defeat to the Telford Tigers. However, it would not be enough to again be in the semi-finals of the cup as the Aces score twenty-two goals over two games to beat us on goal difference to qualify ahead of us in the round robin.

A tough and tricky January and 2025 is upon us, but we are ready for it.

Thank you so much for your support in 2024, it has been a huge season off and on the ice for the club and everybody here at the NIHL Blaze thanks you so much - for everything.

We wish you all a happy and healthy 2025.