Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2004 21:48:29 GMT
The recent postings about a return of Durham Wasps has got me thinking……
In the early 1980s, when we were establishing ourselves, we had to deal with what Mick Holland, with good reason, called ‘the mighty Durham Wasps’. They were enough of a handful at home, but going to play them in their place was an experience.
Their rink was old. When it was built the roof was supported by posts set into the ice (I know this is true because I have seen a photo of a game where players not only had to negotiate each other, but also what looked like telegraph poles in a line down the middle of the ice). By the time I went the posts had gone, but the girders holding up the roof had dusty cobwebs hanging off them. The ice wasn’t great and it was very cold. They got good crowds, but like Whitley they only had seats on the home side of the rink. On the away side you sat directly on the terraces, which was a bit scary given that they were allegedly constructed from a job lot of old coffin lids picked up just after the war. On the up side they had a fantastic announcer called Tom Shingler.
I went to Durham loads of times and there are three evenings that I remember well.
24 October 1982. We went up there and lost 8-3, but the manner of the defeat has never left my memory. There was history between the teams in that Durham had probably the best goalie in the country in Frankie Killen. Until, that is, the first time he came to play in Nottingham and we won 4-3 in a real humdinger. He liked the atmosphere so much he signed for us, which added an extra edge to our matches from then on. This particular night the Wasps gave us a real battering. There was lots of off the puck stuff and we had blokes bleeding on the bench. We weren’t happy about the reffing and the crux came when we got penalized for not very much and then got a delay of game to boot. Our then manager Gary Keward ordered the team back to the dressing room and that was that. There were still 10 minutes to go and the Wasps fans gave us a real hard time as their team held a mock handshake at centre ice. I wish I had a video of that game to show that a) you do not refuse to continue no matter what you think of the refereeing, and b) whatever you may think about Barry Nieckar, and he has taken a lot of flak on this forum, I have seen what can happen to your team when you don’t have someone like him on your team to make the nutters on the other team think twice about taking liberties.
15 March 1984. We went up there and lost 20-1. It is impossible to describe what it is like to see your team concede goals at 2.30, 3.26, 4.02, 5.10, 6.23 and 7.29, know you have still got 52 minutes to go, and watch your team let in another 14 as the opposition fans chant, ‘we want twenty’. Absolute nightmare.
I don’t remember the date of the other night, but I do recall that one of the Nottingham contingent was accompanied by his heavily pregnant wife. She was taken ill during the game, but the rink owner Tom Smith and his family put both of them up overnight in their living quarters in the rink, before sending them on their way the next morning with a large bunch of flowers. Mr Smith used to infuriate me with his many pronouncements about how superior hockey in the north east was (mainly because it was true), but that night taught me a lot about what makes hockey the sport it is.
Talking of which, I'm off for another look at The Crew.
In the early 1980s, when we were establishing ourselves, we had to deal with what Mick Holland, with good reason, called ‘the mighty Durham Wasps’. They were enough of a handful at home, but going to play them in their place was an experience.
Their rink was old. When it was built the roof was supported by posts set into the ice (I know this is true because I have seen a photo of a game where players not only had to negotiate each other, but also what looked like telegraph poles in a line down the middle of the ice). By the time I went the posts had gone, but the girders holding up the roof had dusty cobwebs hanging off them. The ice wasn’t great and it was very cold. They got good crowds, but like Whitley they only had seats on the home side of the rink. On the away side you sat directly on the terraces, which was a bit scary given that they were allegedly constructed from a job lot of old coffin lids picked up just after the war. On the up side they had a fantastic announcer called Tom Shingler.
I went to Durham loads of times and there are three evenings that I remember well.
24 October 1982. We went up there and lost 8-3, but the manner of the defeat has never left my memory. There was history between the teams in that Durham had probably the best goalie in the country in Frankie Killen. Until, that is, the first time he came to play in Nottingham and we won 4-3 in a real humdinger. He liked the atmosphere so much he signed for us, which added an extra edge to our matches from then on. This particular night the Wasps gave us a real battering. There was lots of off the puck stuff and we had blokes bleeding on the bench. We weren’t happy about the reffing and the crux came when we got penalized for not very much and then got a delay of game to boot. Our then manager Gary Keward ordered the team back to the dressing room and that was that. There were still 10 minutes to go and the Wasps fans gave us a real hard time as their team held a mock handshake at centre ice. I wish I had a video of that game to show that a) you do not refuse to continue no matter what you think of the refereeing, and b) whatever you may think about Barry Nieckar, and he has taken a lot of flak on this forum, I have seen what can happen to your team when you don’t have someone like him on your team to make the nutters on the other team think twice about taking liberties.
15 March 1984. We went up there and lost 20-1. It is impossible to describe what it is like to see your team concede goals at 2.30, 3.26, 4.02, 5.10, 6.23 and 7.29, know you have still got 52 minutes to go, and watch your team let in another 14 as the opposition fans chant, ‘we want twenty’. Absolute nightmare.
I don’t remember the date of the other night, but I do recall that one of the Nottingham contingent was accompanied by his heavily pregnant wife. She was taken ill during the game, but the rink owner Tom Smith and his family put both of them up overnight in their living quarters in the rink, before sending them on their way the next morning with a large bunch of flowers. Mr Smith used to infuriate me with his many pronouncements about how superior hockey in the north east was (mainly because it was true), but that night taught me a lot about what makes hockey the sport it is.
Talking of which, I'm off for another look at The Crew.
)
