The Ones to Watch – 9th December VS Bristol Pitbulls

Wildcats One to Watch – Dean Skinns

The Wildcat to watch this evening is a veteran goalie who is in his second stint with the Wildcats and has been a superb back-up to our starter Renny Marr pushing him and taking his own share of starts.

Skinns was born in Basingstoke and came up through their junior system, he made his senior debut with the Bison in 2001 while they were playing in the British National League and he stayed with the team for the following 3 years as the teams backup goalie as the Bison moved into the Elite League following the collapse of the BNL.

In 2005 Skinns dropped down into the EPL to take up a starter job in Bracknell and he has remained in the second tier of British ice hockey ever since. Up until the past 2 seasons he has been his team’s starter as well.

Over the years Skinns has played for most EPL teams in the South of the UK, including the Slough Jets, Basingstoke Bison, Guildford Flames, Milton Keynes Lightning and our own Swindon Wildcats. He has also won several trophies; in 2008 he won the playoffs with the Slough Jets, in 2010 he won the EPL Cup with the Guildford Flames and in 2014 he won a Cup and Playoff double with his hometown Basingstoke Bison.

With the collapse of the EPL Skinns re-joined Basingstoke as they joined NIHL1 and he had a superb year with the Bison as the team won a League and Playoff double. Over the next few years Skinns made his way through Bracknell and Milton Keynes before he joined the Wildcats for the post pandemic season.

Skinns was part of the Wildcats side who won the Autumn Cup last Christmas and his solid play along with Renny Marr gives the Wildcats one of the strongest netminding tandems in the league.

Pitbulls One to Watch – Owen Sobchak

The One to Watch this evening is a forward new to the league but he has taken it by storm so far, he has scored 33 points in 23 games including 17 goals, which on a Bristol side that has had a tough start to the season is very impressive.

Sobchak was born in Niagara Falls and began playing in the Ontario junior leagues and from an early age he was a scorer. He spent 4 years in the GOJHL and the majority of his time was spent with the Thorold Blackhawks, in total he played in 159 games and scored 176 points.

Following his junior career Sobchak moved into the university system, initially playing two years at Keyano College and then latterly 3 years at the University of Alberta-Augustana. While in the ACAC system he played in 107 games and scored 116 points which included 39 goals.

After his time in junior and college hockey in Canada Sobchak made the move over to Europe for the first time, he signed with Alfta GIF who play in the 4^th tier of Swedish ice hockey. Sobchak had a superb season with a scoring return of 58 points in only 29 games, 2 points per game. He stepped up to the 3^rd tier in Sweden during the pandemic hit season and while he didn’t replicate the scoring effort of the previous year, he still returned a respectable total given the standard he was now playing at.

One more year in Sweden beckoned for him, once more in the 4^th tier and his scoring touch returned as he scored over a point per game again. He then took a move that was out of left field, Sobchak spent the summer playing in Australia and now he’s in the UK with the Bristol Pitbulls as they embark upon their debut season in the UK’s second tier.