Bradford Sabres

Bradford Sabres
League	British Universities Ice Hockey Association
Division	Division 2 North
Founded	2005
History	2005–Present
Arena	Bradford Ice Arena
City	Bradford, England
Team Colours	Black, Red & White
Coach	Andy Brown
Website	http://www.bradfordsabres.co.uk

Bradford Sabres are an English ice hockey team that play in Division 2 North league of the British Universities Ice Hockey Association. They play their home games at the Bradford Ice Arena, Bradford, West Yorkshire. They were formed in 2005.

Introduction

The Bradford Sabres are the ice hockey team for the University of Bradford and are run and funded by the University of Bradford Union. The club began in 2005 when a number of students decided that there should be an ice hockey club at the university. The early sessions consisted of only a hand-full of players, almost all of which had no previous experience of the sport. With the sessions being ran by captain Mike Currie with the help of experienced netminder Kaz Matsumoto, the players started to gain some experience and it was decided that the club would enter into the BUIHA, Division 2 North cup competition.

Seasons

2005 - 2006

Although the team was gaining more experience, numbers were still very low until the in-take of freshers at the beginning of the 2005-2006 season. Amongst these were not only a large number of beginners, but also several players with previous experience, most notably Jan Kucera and Tim Kelly. The teams very first game was away against the Sheffied Bears where although they were beaten 7-0, there were several outstanding performances. Netminder Kaz Matsumoto was awarded man of the match having faced over 70 shots and there was also a superb performance by defender Tim Kelly who was on the ice for 56 of the 60 minutes played.

The Sabres first home game showed a marked improvement from their loss at Sheffield. Even though they were defeated 6-9 by the Birmingham Eagles proving that the team could score goals was a major boost. Making his debut in this match was Czech Republic born Jan Kucera who introduced himself to university hockey by scoring all six of the Sabres goals and deservedly winning his first Man of the Match award.

The Sabres first win came in their next game against the Newcastle Wildcats. This would be the first of many very close and enjoyable games between the two teams. Fortunately for the Sabres however they came out on top of this one winning 6-5. Once again Jan Kucera scored all six for the Sabres, and after only two matches for the club, he was already being recognised as the best player in the division. Man of the Match in this game was rookie netminder Stephen Wilson, playing the second thirty minutes and helping the team to hold on for their first victory.

Unfortunately that would be the only victory the team would have in their debut season, and they finished bottom of the division of seven teams. Another moment of note that season was away at Newcastle. The team were down 3-0 at the end of the first period, and looked out of the game. In the second period Jan Kucera scored a hat-trick in under one minute, scoring the first from open play, and the next two by winning the face-off and scoring un-assisted. The team would unfortunately lose the match 4-3, but the game still is still much talked about because of the hat-trick. The team were due to compete in their first ever national championships in April, where teams from both the north and south divisions competed over a weekend in a cup competition. However due to administration complications not only were the team not allowed to compete, but they were also disqualified from the league, and their finial position of seventh never counted. Although the games that were played didn't officially count, the experience the team gained would be valuable for next season and for the continued growth of the club.

The end of the Sabres first season saw the departure of some key players. Jan Kucera - who still holds the record for goals scored - took the step up to the English National Ice Hockey League to play for the Bradford Bulldogs. Forward Ben Moss along with defenders Toni Brook and Louisa Bellis also departed the team after completing their final year at the university.

Off the ice there were also changes. President Ben Nunney along with treasurer Ben Neal left the university and their positions were taken over by Hassan Majeed and James Davidson while web officer Mike Currie continued with his role and Stephen Wilson took over the newly created position of fixtures Secretary.

Players of Note

Executive Committee

Season	President	General Sec	Treasurer	Fixtures Sec	Social Sec Bradford	Social Sec Leeds	Media Officer
2004–2005	Ben Nunney	N/A	Ben Neal	N/A	Hassan Majeed/ Louisa Bellis	N/A	Mike Currie
2005–2006	Ben Nunney	N/A	Ben Neal	N/A	Hassan Majeed/ Louisa Bellis	N/A	Mike Currie
2006–2007	Hassan Majeed	N/A	James Davidson	Stephen Wilson	Ian Lambert	N/A	Mike Currie
2007–2008	Hassan Majeed	Jonny Leadbeater	James Davidson	Rick Thomas	Bruno Le Quellec	N/A	Jason James
2008–2009	Stephen Wilson	Jonny Leadbeater	Jack Lingard	Tom Manyard	Sean Holland	N/A	Jason James
2009–2010	Jonny Leadbeater	Tom Manyard	Djevdet Ahmet	Martyn Wilson	Andy Marks	Chris Ward	Jason Simpson

On Ice Officials

Season	Coach	Captain	Alternate (1)	Alternate (2)
2004–2005	Mike Currie	Mike Currie	N/A	N/A
2005–2006	Mike Currie	Mike Currie	Tim Kelly	Jan Kucera
2006–2007	Adam Chamberlain	Robert Harvey	Tim Kelly	Hassan Majeed
2007–2008	Adam Chamberlain	Peter Lee	Tim Kelly	Hassan Majeed
2008–2009	Andy Brown	Rick Thomas	Stephen Alexander	Jonny Leadbeater
2009–2010	Andy Brown	Jason Simpson	Jonny Leadbeater	Jan Kucera

Awards

Season	The Tim Kelly Award	Players Player	Most Improved	Rookie of the Year	Endeavour	Player of the Nationals
2005–2006	N/A	N/A	Ben Moss	N/A	N/A	N/A
2006–2007	Tim Kelly	Kaz Matsumoto	Peter Lee	Stephen Alexander	Paul Hacking	Brian O'Brien
2007–2008	Kaz Matsumoto	Peter Lee	Rick Thomas	Luke Brind	Stephen Alexander	Alison Hover / Bruno Le Quellec

Season Records

Season	Goals	#	Assists	#	PIM	#
07-08	Peter Lee	17	James Davidson	13	Peter Lee	72

All Time Records

Record	Player	Number
Most Points	Louisa Bellis	46
Goals in a Game	Louisa Bellis	7
Games Played	Louisa Bellis	47
Seasons Played	Louisa Bellis	4
Minutes Played in a Match	Louisa Bellis	56
PIM	Louisa Bellis	80

References

• Bradford Sabres website
• Bradford Sabres Mobile website
• British University Ice Hockey Association website
• University of Bradford Union
• jd-media.org