Hawks To Soar Again?

Blackburn Hawks are one of UK ice hockey’s greatest under-achievers.

A club with an Olympic sized ice pad, high quality facilities and room for over 3000 fans - currently languishing in the third tier of UK ice hockey. Think of Leeds United’s fall from grace in football and you won’t be far away.

Formed in 1990 the Hawks’ glory days came before the new millennium arrived. Their first season saw former Toronto Maple Leafs’ forward Fred Perlini grace Blackburn Arena to spark an explosion of enthusiasm in the town for a sport previously overlooked.

Former AHL forward Steve Moria arrived as player-coach in 1992 and produced a team still talked about today, before departing for Swindon Wildcats in 1994.

By 1995/1996 the Hawks were challenging the might of Manchester Storm at Nynex Arena watched by millions on Sky TV. Played in front of a then record-breaking crowd of 9500 the Hawks triumphed 12-9 to take top spot in the league. Storm took their revenge in February 1996 with an 11-3 win in front of a new record attendance of 16280. Former Maple Leaf Steve Chartrand, Russian Oleg Sinkov and Fife Flyers' legend John Haig grabbed nearly 700 points between them during a memorable season.

1997 saw the creation of the Ice Hockey Superleague but financial problems forced the Hawks into the Northern section of the British National League – with a limit on the number of expensive imported players. The team struggled.

Bobby Haig took over in 1998 as a new English Premier League was formed but more money issues forced the Hawks to drop into the English National League after just one season. Haig remained in charge until 2007 as the club attempted to climb back up the ladder without success.

Former player Neil Abel took over, having led Sheffield Scimitars into the EPL, but was a spectacular failure. The Hawks lost a relegation play-off to Manchester Phoenix only to be saved at the eleventh hour by Billingham Bombers’ withdrawal from the league.

2009/2010 brought some improvement as the Hawks finished fifth to give some hope the corner had been turned. Former EPL forward Jared Owen joined the club from Telford and was promptly appointed player-coach. The club remained in ENL Division 1 North and also entered a newly structured Northern League alongside Scottish giants Fife Flyers.

Owen (right) appears to be a man on a mission. Some might say the mission he’s taken on is impossible but Owen begs to differ.

He started skating at eight years old and, such was his talent, was signed by Telford Tigers Juniors U14 team. He went on to represent the club through all age groups before stepping up to play for the senior team in the English Premier League. A regular points scorer in the EPL, Owen was grateful for the opportunity Telford gave him.

“I enjoyed being part of Telford’s teams. We were never supposed to do well but always ended up creating a few surprises each season. Telford was a great place for young players to develop as they got good ice time.”

In 2008 Owen stepped down to English National League Division 2 North to join Telford Titans. As assistant to Jason Parry he enjoyed his best ever points total with 45 goals and 41 assists in just 24 games. The experience whetted his appetite for a full coaching job.

“The coaching side has always interested me. I've always been a vocal player who was happy to put my ideas forward to a Coach or say where things could be improved. The Hawks job is a natural progression for me following on from my experience with the Titans.”

Owen had been taking a break from the game when former teammate Daniel Brittle called to ask if he fancied joining the Hawks.

“We decided to give it a go and really enjoyed ourselves. The team had a great bunch of lads in the dressing room, the management looked after us really well and we started to pick up some great results and eventually finished fifth.”

In the summer Hawks General Manager Gary Rogers (who recently resigned his post) asked if he'd be interested in coaching the team.

“I wasn't too sure to begin with due to my wife giving birth to our first child in June, but she insisted it was too good an opportunity to turn down so I accepted and immediately asked Danny to assist me,” said Owen.

Rogers is sure Owen will be successful saying, “I believe Jared will be a very good Coach. His enthusiasm for the role, together with his commitment and determination to succeed are very evident qualities.”

Owen and Brittle worked hard over the summer to build a roster which would challenge for honours. They retained the services of last season’s top scorer David Meikle (left) along with captain Rick Hughes and former GB junior defenseman Chris Arnone. Tom King and Sean Day were persuaded to switch from local rivals Trafford Metros leaving Owen confident of success.

“Finishing in the top four and qualifying for the play-offs is the minimum expectation this year. There seems to have been a culture of saying finishing fifth is acceptable; it’s not what I’m here for. I want to finish as high as possible this season and have a good run at the play-offs but next season we have to challenge for title.”

The Hawks currently sit in fourth place in ENL Division 1 North but Owen admits things could have been better.

“We had a great start but things slipped after we drew away to Whitley Warriors. They have the strongest squad in our league and I think the guys got a bit complacent. We’ve addressed that and I’m sure we’ll finish the season strongly.”

He confessed the team still needed some fresh faces, particularly in defence, but he’d been frustrated in his efforts to bring players in. The loss of star forward Richard Bentham to Wightlink Raiders could have been particularly damaging but Owen thinks it may benefit the team long term.

“Rick’s a great player but he hadn’t been focussed on the job for quite a while. I told him in the summer he’d be better off trying the EPL and he got picked up by Sheffield Steeldogs. That didn’t work out and he’s now back in the ENL with Wightlink. Their coach Jeremy Cornish is a tough cookie and might just be the making of Rick. If it doesn’t work out for him there I’ve told him he’s welcome to return – providing he toes the line.”

While the Hawks’ main focus is the ENL, Owen is keen to see the Northern League flourish. Manchester Phoenix are the EPL’s most northerly team and Owen stresses something similar is needed for the north.

“The power in the EPL is definitely southern based. Even at Telford we struggled to compete with the finances some of the teams had available. It’s rumoured the likes of Guildford Flames are paying around £8000 per week for their imported players, but they have a business model that’s been built up over 10-15 years so they can sustain it.”

The Hawks have found the going tough so far, but Owen suggested his team may one day be able to fight on an equal footing.

“At the moment we’re some way off being able to compete consistently. If we can improve the infrastructure of the club – especially progression from the junior Hawks – there’s no reason we can’t get where we want to be. A few years of success in the ENL would improve crowds and create extra finances so we could look at bringing in the imports you need to play at that level.”

Owen admits the club have previously fallen short when it comes to off-ice marketing but was full of praise for the job done by Gary Rogers.

“Gary did a fantastic job for the Hawks – raising sponsorship, ideas to increase attendances – that sort of thing. The Arena are totally supportive too and I firmly believe that if everyone keeps pulling in the right direction we could restore this club to something like its former glories. In the short term the ENL is our bread and butter but who knows what the future holds?”

Whether Owen’s ambitions are mission impossible remain to be seen but if belief and confidence are any guide, Blackburn Hawks could be on the brink of something special.

(Images reproduced by kind permission of Kieanna Jade Photography)