One to Watch: Chris Jones V Jonathan Weaver

Wildcats One to Watch – Chris Jones

The player to keep an eye on for home fans tonight is a British forward that has been a consistent member of the Wildcats since the 2017-18 season, having previously played for Swindon during the 2012-13 season. Chris Jones has been an ever present in the Wildcats top 6 since he arrived, a player responsible at both ends of the ice and sure to be a key player once again this season.

Born in Cardiff Jones began his playing days in the Cardiff Devils junior system, he made his senior hockey debut with the Cardiff Dragons in the ENL when he was just 16 years old. For the next 4 years Jones played in the ENL with Cardiff and he scored 172 points in 130 games, including 60 goals.

These performances did enough to earn him a call up to the Elite league Devils team, Jones spent 4 years playing in the Elite with Cardiff and during his time there he played in 205 games, scoring 17 points along the way. While this was an achievement to play in the Elite consistently for Brit in an import dominated league, when Swindon came calling with an opportunity to have more responsibility on a team at a lower level he jumped at the chance and Jones has more than repaid the faith shown in him by the Wildcats.

This upcoming season will be the 5th consecutive that Jones will have suited up for the Wildcats and during that time he has played 165 games, scoring 219 points including 80 goals. These consistent performance levels have made Jones a reliable player that can always be counted on and I’m sure he will deliver once more tonight and in the upcoming season.

Tigers One to Watch – Jonathan Weaver

The One to Watch for tonight’s opponents, is a 45 year-old veteran who has been playing senior hockey in the UK since the 1992-93 season. Weaver was born in Sunderland and came up through the junior system with his local team, the Crowtree Chiefs.

Weaver began his senior career with the Durham Wasps in the top league of the UK, after the Wasps team folded in the 96-97 season the Superleague was formed and Weaver joined the Newcastle Cobras. The Superleague ran from 1996 to 2003 and Weaver played in every single season of it, this is an incredible feat due to their being no limits on imports so British born players were a rarity.

After this time up north Weaver moved down south to the midlands where he joined the Coventry Blaze and tasted immediate success with trophies in his first few seasons with the club. The final stop in the Elite League for Weaver was in Nottingham with the Panthers and he spent two years there where he was part of the clubs only ever league title and a historic League, Playoff and Cup treble.

Throughout his career playing at the very top of British hockey Weaver has also been a consistent face for the national team, he has played for his country 108 times which is an incredible achievement and during this time he scored 78 points which included 24 goals.

For the past 8 seasons he has been with the Telford Tigers, through the RED hockey days in the EPL all the way through the collapse of that league, into NIHL1 and then now in the NIHL National. Although age is catching up with Weaver, he still remains a superb player in this league and his veteran presence will be invaluable for those young players on the Tigers roster just starting out in their playing careers.