Streatham Ice Hockey Club have started their NIHL South 1 campaign and are looking to reclaim the league title.
The London-based club previously won the league in four consecutive seasons, but finished in second last year, one point behind Slough Jets.
In addition to the league, the Redhawks participate in the League Cup and Challenge Cup, with opportunities to qualify for the South Playoffs and the National Championship later in the season.
Head coach Ben Paynter, 30, has started his fourth season with the club as player-manager and gave his thoughts on the new season.
He said: “We’ve got a good feeling around the group. Everyone’s here to buy in and do the little things right to start the year.”
Paynter pointed to long commutes and limited practice time as the main obstacles to weekend preparation.
“A lot of us travel. We’ve got guys dotted all over the south. I’m down in Southampton, a two-hour drive away,” he said.
“We have one practice a week. We are pretty dialed in for an hour and a half, but expect the guys to do a little bit of conditioning away from the rink.”
Due to the semi-professional nature of Streatham Ice Hockey, players often combine full-time work with their hockey commitments.
The coach said: “All the guys work, we’re all getting up on a Monday morning going to work. We’re here because we love it. We love the sport. We love playing for this club.”
Despite winning the league numerous times, the club currently remains in the third tier of British Ice Hockey.
Paynter identified costs and difficulties with commitment as the key challenge to promotion.
He said: “UK ice hockey is a small community and in the league above the commitment is a lot higher.
“A lot of the guys that we have in this roster just can’t commit to that schedule. It just doesn’t work with them, with their lives. A lot of them have got kids.
“Where the club is now, we’re comfortable financially, we’re stable, and it’s the right spot for the club at the moment.
“We’ve been in this division for a long time now and we’ve had a lot of success over the last five to six years.”
After narrowly missing out on the league and losing 6-0 in the NIHL 1 South playoff final, Paynter is eager to get back to winning ways this year.
“Our goal is to win every single trophy on the table.”
The coach also underlined the importance of volunteers to the club’s community-focused approach and the pride of being London’s oldest ice hockey club.
He said: “There isn’t a club like this without the volunteers, the boys know that, and we really appreciate it.
“London’s a busy city with not many ice rinks, so to be London’s oldest team is a nice thing to say.
“We pride ourselves on being a really good family club, open to everyone coming to watch and be involved.”
New signing Dylan Dix, 27, also expressed his excitement for the new season and his ambitions with the Redhawks.
The American defender was signed from Chelmsford Chieftains over the summer and previously played at the University of Utah for five years.
Despite an early injury setback at the start of the season, Dylan aims to beat last year’s numbers of 29 points in 29 games.
Like Paynter, the defender praised the club’s community spirit and gave his appreciation to the fans.
He said: “We get treated so well here as players and it is a really tight-knit community.
“You can tell there’s something special here on the off-the-ice side of it.
“Our fans are great, and not only at the home games.
“We have fans that travel and that’s a pretty unique thing for me, people don’t really do that in North America.”
Dylan highlighted the challenge with back-to-back weekend fixtures and the importance of recovery.
“The two are great, but it’s definitely a challenge and a quick turnaround.
“It’s about treating the body right, getting food in you as soon as you can, hydrating, getting sleep and getting right back after the next day.
“I’m not a big runner, I get most of my conditioning on the bikes and with the weights.
“A lot of guys work a labour job, so they move anyways.”
Furthermore, the 27-year-old has been impressed by the standard of ice hockey in the UK, despite growing up in America, and spoke positively about the growth of the sport.
“There’s tons of skilled guys over here, It’s a growing sport.
“The country hasn’t had a long history of ice hockey, like Canada or the US, it’s a newer system, but I think it’s been great.
“You see at the international level GB is competing again and putting forward a competitive team, so it’s just one of those early stages.”
Streatham Ice Hockey has started the season well with five victories and one defeat across all competitions.
Featured image: Rights held by Streatham IHC
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