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Showing posts from June, 2022

New Signing: J.J. Pitchley

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From Blue to Black and White, J.J. Pitchley joins the Bees. J.J. Pitchley brings a wealth of experience to the Bees with a hockey career spanning 20 years from junior club level, Junior A in the USA with the Dallas Snipers, NIHL, EPL through to International level with caps for the under 18 and under 20 teams at the World Championships. He is no stranger to the Bees camp icing with the Hornets, Stingers, Drones and the Bees.  Finishing 7th in the Raiders scoring last regular season didn't do him justice as he is a much better player than the stats show. Hopefully, returning to the Bees will enable JJ to start enjoying his hockey again and the fans are sure to make him very welcome. J.J. Pitchley's Statistics during his latest spell with the Raiders, from 2016 to 2022 His motto is "There is only one real choice in life. Be ordinary, or be extraodinary - I choose the latter". This spirit will definitely help the Bees improve their league placing and is exactly what Coac...

Returning: Josh Smith

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  The team is growing, the latest of the signings being Josh Smith. Josh Smith has put pen to paper to remain with the Bees for another season. This forward is a Bee through and through, starting with the club in the 2011/2012 season icing for the Stingers he has only strayed once from the colony spending the 2017/2018 season with Bison (for which we have forgiven him) under Doug Sheppard’s leadership. Smithy has many attributes that make him a key player for the Bees, not only is he a good points scorer but he works hard on the ice too. He doesn’t keep the penalty box bench warm too often and certainly knows where the back of the net is. Finishing 6 th in Bees scorers last season whilst only playing ¾ of the season shows that when he is fit and on form, he is a force to be reckoned with. In the 2021/2022 playoffs he was the Bees top goal scorer, and it is this form that gives him the potential to finish higher up the teams points scorers in the forthcoming season. Once he gets go...

Returning: Luke Jackson

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  Luke Jackson returns for another season, but what does this mean? Announced this week returning in the black, white and gold for 22/23 is our very own number 4, Luke Jackson. This man has serious Bees history coming up through the ranks since joining with the Stingers in the 2013/2014 season, only leaving the club for a two year spell at the Ontario Hockey Academy. Jacko is a defensive defenceman, keeping the opposition at bay whilst incurring minimal penalty minutes. An injury cut his last season short just as the team were becoming a formidable opponent. With Jacko guarding the blue line, and the comradery within the team, a top four finish is a serious possibility this season.   The correct mix of defence and attack One thing the Bees did brilliantly last season was combining the mix of strong defensive defenders and more attacking defencemen. The departure of Ed Bradley does leave a huge gap on the Bees blue line, one that Doug would be hopefully looking to fill in the c...

New Signing: Dan Rose

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We take a look into Dan Rose, the Bees first fresh signing ahead of next season. After signing the foundations of the team, Doug Sheppard has announced the newest player to skate for the Bees next season. At the age of 30 and entering his 15th season, forward Dan Rose isn't new to the game and brings plenty of experience  to the Bees having spent the last 3 seasons as Captain for the Slough Jets. What does he bring to this Bees side? A major issue for the Bees early on in last season was finding consistent goal scorers across all the lines resulting in an increased work load on the Bees top scorers including Dominik Gabaj and Juha Lindgren. A big benefit to the Bees is that Dan Rose can find the back of the net, averaging 1.4 points per game across the regular season with the Slough Jets in the last 3 seasons. The possibility of him fitting in lower down the order on line 2 or 3 would allow more scoring opportunities across the team and take pressure off the top line who scored the...