The 2022/2023 NIHL season was jam packed full of fast electrifying hockey so let’s look back at the best moments of the year.
The Wildcats brought in some new faces this season with Canadian Colby Tower icing his first hockey season outside Canada. The Cats also picked up 39 year old veteran Russell Cowley who has had an excellent career for Great Britain and the Coventry Blaze in the EIHL.
Both players had fantastic seasons with Tower picking up 35 goals and 34 assists – causing havoc to opposition defences throughout the season. Cowley also picked up 70 points on the season including 48 assists.
The season started with two challenge games against our new fierce rivals the Bristol Pitbulls, with the Cats taking the victory in both games winning 5-3.
The Cats started the season with a bang securing a four point weekend beating the Hull Seahawks 12-0 and shutting out the Steeldogs in Sheffield to win 3-0. Youngster Jamie Smith bagged his first goal for the Cats and it was a massive achievement for our player coach Aaron Nell who scored his 1000th point for the club.
The Cats then picked up another big four point weekend against the Raiders beating them back to back with Cowley getting a massive goal and assist to help the Cats come from behind to beat the Romford side 3-2.
Milton Keynes then faced the Wildcats for the first time in the season but an excellent display from the Cats saw them win 4-2 with Chris Jones netting two big goals.
Then came the greatest comeback of the season! The Lightning were beating the Cats 3-0 but a fantastic fight back saw the cats take the game to overtime at 4-4. The Polish wizard Tomasz Malasinski then picked up a huge overtime winner to secure the Cats 4/4 points against the Lightning.
With the Leeds Knights unbeaten heading into December the Cats travelled down to Yorkshire for the first time of the season. However despite going a goal behind within 40 seconds the Wiltshire side battled hard and became the first team to beat the Knights in regulation coming out 4-1 winners!
Renny Marr made history by becoming the first goalkeeper in the new NIHL league to score a goal, after being credited with a goal against the Bees. This would be the first ever goal Renny has scored!!!
The Cats then faced a tricky three game weekend and after falling short against the Pitbulls and the Lightning it was going to be a tough third game in Peterborough against the Phantoms. But with two big goals from Captain Sam Bullas sending the game to overtime, up stepped Aaron Nell who netted the overtime winner ending a busy weekend with a massive victory.
The Christmas period then approached packed with loads of games including double headers against the Pitbulls and the Bison. After falling short to a 6-3 defeat in Basingstoke the Cats responded with a breathtaking 10-2 victory against the Bison with Tower picking up 6 points in the game.
The Cats then played a classic against the Pitbulls winning 7-6 in front of a packed out Link Centre as they skated into 2023.
Just a week later saw the Cats come out victorious in another 7-6 battle this time against the Steeldogs. Malasinski, Tower and Jones oozed class as they scored in the penalty shootout. The team then travelled back up to Sheffield the next day and a Malasinski masterclass saw the Cats win 7-2.
With the games coming thick and fast the Cats suffered a couple of injuries seeing Tower and Cowley ruled out for the weekend, however the team produced a spectacular performance to beat the Phantoms 4-1 in Peterborough.
With a positive record over the Steeldogs across the season already, they travelled up to Sheffield for the third time in the season and secured another massive victory winning 5-1 with Pakozdi adding to his excellent points record away from home.
It was a season to remember for Tomasz Malasinski who notched up his 100th point of the season against the Steeldogs becoming the first player to hit the 100 mark in the league.
With the play offs looming the Cats had a great end to the season with a huge win against the league champions the Leeds Knights winning on penalty shots in front of our biggest crowd of the season!
Aaron Nell also broke the record for the most ever points as a Wildcat with an Unbelievable 1046 points for the club!
Despite it being a frustrating end to the season in the play offs, there was some memorable moments and cracking games, thank you so much for all your support this past season and Coach Nell is positive the team can improve ready for next season!
Join us at the Link Centre all season long in 23-24, with your very own season ticket! Early Bird ends this Sunday, grab yours here.
