Bracknell Bees

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Bracknell Bees

League:

EPIHL

Founded:

1987

Home Ice:

John Nike Leisuresport Complex

Capacity:

3100

Ice Size:

197ft x 98ft

City:

Bracknell, Berkshire, England

Colours:

Black, Yellow, and White

Head Coach:

Ryan Aldridge

Ownership:

David Taylor

Bracknell Bees is an ice hockey team from Bracknell, Berkshire, UK.

1 History
2 Standout players
3 See also
- 3.1 Teams
4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

The Bracknell Bees were formed in 1987, under the ownership of John Nike OBE. Bees began life in the Heineken League Division Two, under the leadership of former Durham Wasps and Nottingham Panthers forward, Jamie Crapper, where they finished 6th. The following season, Heineken withdrew their sponsorship of the second division, which was re-named the English League Division 1. Bees narrowly missed out on the championship to the Humberside Seahawks, but then won the league the following season, gaining promotion to the Heineken League Division 1. Having finished third, behind Humberside and the Slough Jets, Bees progressed to the top tier of British hockey, the Heineken Premier Division, via the play-offs, alongside the Seahawks.

Once at the top, it was a struggle and Bees were regularly mid-table or below, before eventually being relegated in 1995, under the leadership of Mike Urquhart

[edit] New beginning

That sparked a new beginning for the club. Urquhart left and was replaced by Jim Fuyarchuck, who re-installed the feel-good factor at the Hive (Nick-name of the Bees home, the John Nike Leisuresport Complex) Bees again finished third in the first division (No longer sponsored by Heineken) but this time, they missed out to Milton Keynes Kings in the promotion play-offs.

However, this did not matter, as the following season saw the formation of a new league - The Ice Hockey Superleague (ISL) which was the countries first fully professional league since the 1950's.

Bees were expected to be one of the smaller teams in this big league, playing against teams with big arenas. However, a creditable 6th of 8 was followed by a 3rd place finish and then a fourth, before Bees did the unthinkable and took the Superleague title. Coach Dave Whistle, in only his second season as a coach, took the little club to the very top

[edit] Slippery slope

Unfortunately, things went downhill from there. New club, Belfast Giants tempted Whistle away with a lucrative package and he was closely followed by seven of the championship winning squad. Whistle repeated the feat, winning the ISL in his second season. Meanwhile, Whistle was replaced by Enio Saccillotto, who never managed to recover from only having 3 players return.

Bees did finish a creditable 3rd in his first season, but never really looked like one of the better teams in the league. From there, it all went pear shaped!

Bees eventually announced that they were to leave the ISL at the end of the 2002-2003 season. With Manchester and Ayr having left the league during the season, Bees announcement finally spelt the end of the ISL.

Bees joined the British National League and were instantly tipped as big boys for that league. However, they finished just 3rd in their first season, before wining the league and cup double in the second season. Ironically, as with the ISL winning team, the Bees were coached by an ex Bees player, Mike Ellis, again coaching in his second season.

[edit] Another new beginning

After the double winning season, Mr Nike announced that he was to sell the operating licence for the Bees, which he did. The British National League folded and the Bees joined the English Premier League.

The Bees enjoyed a fairly successful first season under the ownership of David and Sharon Taylor. Coach Mike Ellis has put together a mix of youth and experience. They have finished a respectable 5th position in the league, qualifying them for the EPL playoffs. After defeating the Sheffield Scimitars, Bracknell advanced to the final but unfortunately came up short against the Milton Keynes Lightning. So the Bees were unable to add the Playoffs trophy to the EPL Cup they won against the Hull Stingrays in March.

Mike Ellis departed to become head coach of the Nottingham Panthers in May 2006.

On 25th May 2006, Ryan Aldridge was announced as the new Player/Head Coach for the 2006-2007 season, Jason Wild (who was with the Bees during their double-winning season in 2004/05) returns as bench coach and Lee Ealey-Newman is back as assistant coach.

[edit] Standout players

Bees have had several stand-out players, for one reason or another. A few of which are listed below...

Jamie Crapper was the Bees first coach. The high scoring winger set the club up from scratch and was a favourite with the fans in the early years
Darin Fridgen was probably the biggest impact player the Bees ever had. In the days when it hockey was dominated by Brits, Fridgen could turn almost any game. He had speed, skill, power and the ability to score for fun
Matt Coté stuck with the Bees through some pretty lean times and was nothing short of brilliant! Regarded by many as the most consistent defenceman to play in the UK, Matt was famed for diving in front of shots. Matt has recently retired and will most likely have his #8 shirt retired by the Bees very soon
Chris Brant came to the Bees from local rivals, Basingstoke Beavers. Originally signed as a defenceman, he switched to forward in his second season and racked up 101 goals and 102 assists in 51 league games. This native north American became known at the Hive for his war-dance, performed at centre-ice after every hat-trick that season
Dave Whistle was a quality player for the Bees, but will be remembered for being the coach who, in his second season as a coach, made Bees one of the best team's in the land