The 2011-2012 RN Ice Hockey season is well underway with the Kings taking on the Southampton University Spitfires in a friendly in-house scrimmage this week-end.  As per every year, the drive to register players has been an onearous task, made even more difficult by the significant number of sailors and marines away on operations across the Globe.

In order to enable the sport to continue to grow, the RNIHA leadership have put forward a few new proposals to help those located outside the Portsmouth area access RNIHA activities.  Among these are discussions to start a RNIHA 'pond hockey' session in Plymouth and investigations into the feasibility of running a RN hockey camp at a venue yet to be determined.

Finally, the RNIHA has encouraged some its top-end players to try-out for League teams across the UK.  Five RN players managed to make the Bristol ENL2 squad, 2 of which were in the line-up for a recent 7-5 loss to the Gosport Devils.  The ENL2 Division 2 South fixture highlighted the contribution made by Navy players to the Bristol squad; the Devils are arguably the best team in the League but Bristol gave them their closest game of the year.  The Navy players provide depth to a squad who finished one from the bottom last year with only 2 wins all season.  The addition of Navy IS players has helped the Pitbulls to a significantly better start with 3 wins in 6 games.  It is hoped that the increased playing time at a high level will translate into a stronger IS team who can reclaim the HM Forces Title.

For more information on RN Ice Hockey, visit the Physical Development (PDev) site of the RN website and follow the RNIHA on Facebook.

After the success of 2010 despite only having 7 players, the Kings had hoped to improve on last year's placement with a full squad participating in the 2011 event.

However, despite a strong defensive performance, the Kings struggled to find the back of the net, much as they had in the Tri-service Command and Inter-Service Championships.  They finished the group stages with a record of 1W, 2L and 1T (drawing 1-1 with Don Valley, Winning 2-0 against Norwich but losing 2-0 to Whitley Bay and 2-1 to Blackburn) but the 3 points and good defensive record were enough to see the Kings squeeze through into the Plate. Don Valley and Withley Bay would advance to the Championship while Blackburn would join the Kings in the Plate, attesting to the relatively strength of the group.  The Kings Portsmouth neighbours, Solent Scorpions, managed to advance to the Championship round and finished a well-deserved 3rd overall with a gutsy performance and short bench.

The Kings continued to play well defensively in the Plate but the lack of offence would cost them dearly; although the Senior Service did not allow a goal to the opposition, neither could they get one past the opposition keepers, drawing all their matches 0-0 despite often outplaying the opposition.  The 4 points during the second round would only get them 4th place in the Plate group and 9th overall.

One positive highlight was the opportunity to play the Navy's arch-rivals Army Blades during the second round.  The crowd looked forward to the game which benefitted from the traditional hype which surrounds the famous annual rugby fixture at Twickenham.  The game did not disappoint with some excellent end to end action and physical play which saw the Senior Service narrowly get the edge in play.  However, despite Bernard hitting the post with 5 minutes to play, the Blue and Gold could not get the puck past the Army's Steve Gilmartin and the game ended in a scoreless draw.  This was the 3rd draw between the two service teams since 2006, the most recent at the 2011 Championships where the Blades and Destroyers (the Inter-Service squad) played to a 2-2 draw.

The Army finished top of the Plate Group and finished 6th overall.  The 2 service teams will also be participating in the non-checking version of the competition in Swindon 20-21 August, potentially setting the scene for another exciting match-up. the Whitley Bay Islanders were the Rec Fest overall winners with the Medway Madness claiming the consolation cup.