Guildford Flames
| Guildford Flames | |
|---|---|
 2015–16 Guildford Flames season |
|
| City | Guildford, Surrey |
| League | English Premier Ice Hockey League |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Home arena | Guildford Spectrum |
| Colors | Maroon Blue |
| Owner(s) |  Sportfact Ltd. |
| Head coach | Paul Dixon |
| Captain | Jez Lundin |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 6 (97/98, 00/01, 05/06, 07/08, 11/12 & 12/13) |
| Challenge Cups | 4 (06/07, 09/10, 11/12 & 12/13) |
| Playoff championships | 4 (97/98, 00/01, 03/04 & 10/11) |
The Guildford Flames are an ice hockey team based in Guildford, Surrey and their home ice is the Guildford Spectrum.
Founded in October 1992, from the following season, the Flames have been in the British National League or its former rival league (and main successor since 2004/5 season), the English Premier Ice Hockey League clinching their first season there by defeating reigning champions Milton Keynes Lightning away. The team's Head Coach is Paul Dixon who took over after Stan Marple retired at end of the 06/07 Season. Canadian stars David Oliver and Jamie McLennan transferred to Guildford during the 04/05 Canadian NHL lockout.
Contents
Formation
Barry Dow, an American who sponsored and owned the basketball team Guildford Kings and Bill Hurley established and owned the team as management – the two were new to the sport of ice hockey, and brought in Mike Urquhart as coach and Darrin Zinger as captain.
Key players signed for the first season included Canadians Sean Murphy and Dave McGahan due to their high scoring at Solent Vikings. In addition a number of British players including goaltender, Mike Kellond; forward, Danny O'Hanlon and defender, Gary Shearer.
The Flames' inaugural season began in October 1992; they began, unseeded, in the English League Division One. With the Guildford Spectrum not yet completed, the team had to train at Slough with kind permission of Gary Stefan. The Flames played their "home" games at Alexandra Palace until their new home ice was ready and played their for the first time on 23 January 1993.
When 23 January 1993 finally arrived and the Guildford Spectrum opened, the event was a big one. The area's paid-for newspaper The Surrey Advertiser described the local council's £28 million arena as "awesome".[citation needed] Guildford's first game at their new home showed a convincing win with Andy Sparks scoring the first goal at the Spectrum. The team went to the top of the Conference due to that game, a position they held onto for the whole season.
Many of the defence men and Kellond suffered injury problems, just before the start of the play-offs; however, despite this, Guildford managed to gain a promotion for their second season.
The team was very popular with crowds, with the average attendance being over 2000 (capacity was 2200) so attracted local insurance company Cornhill as a sponsor along with Pepsi Cola as the shirt sponsor; the latter prompting a temporary name change to the Pepsi Guildford Flames between February and November 1993.
Club honours
- Season 2012/13
- English Premier League Champions
- English Premier Cup
- Season 2011/12
- English Premier League Champions
- English Premier Cup
- Season 2010/11
- English Premier League Playoff Winners
- Season 2009/10
- English Premier Cup
- Season 2007/08
- English Premier League Champions
- Season 2006/07
- English Premier Cup
- Season 2005/06
- English Premier League Champions
- Season 2003/04
- British National League Play-off Winners
- Season 2000/01
- Christmas Cup Winners
- British National League Champions
- British National League Play-off Winners
- Season 1998/99
- Benson & Hedges Plate Winners
- Season 1997/98
- British National League Southern Conference Winners
- British National League Winners
- British National League Play-off Winners
- Season 1996/97
- Benson & Hedges Plate Winners
Team Logo and Jersey
The team logo is very similar to that of the Calgary Flames of the NHL. The team jerseys mirror those used by a former NHL team, Atlanta Thrashers from 1999 to 2006 (with logos replaced and advertisements added).
Management
- CEO
Rob Hepburn - Commercial Manager/Senior Advisor Kirk Humphreys
- Scout Art Parke
Coaching staff
- Head Coach Paul Dixon
- Assistant Coach/Bench Coach
Milos Melicherik
Players
Goaltenders
- 45 Greg Rockman
- 93 Stephen wall
Defencemen
- 22 Paul Dixon
- 82
Jez Lundin
Forwards
- 16 Andrew Hemmings
- 19 Thomas Duggan
- 28
Marcus Kristoffersson - 48 Ben Campbell
- 74 Matt Towe
Retired numbers
The retired numbers at the Guildford Flames are:
- 3 Stan Marple
- 10 Ryan Campbell
- 11 Fred Perlini
- 9 Terry Kurtenbach
- 15 Andy Sparks
Team Captains
- 1992-94 - / Darren Zinger
- 1994-99 - Paul Thompson
- 1999-00 - Karry Biette
- 2000-01 - Wayne Crawford
- 2001-07 - Paul Dixon
- 2007-09 - Ricky Plant
- 2009-10 - Rob Lamey
- 2010-15 - David Longstaff
References
External links
- Official Guildford Flames website
- Flames Backburner Site (supporters club)
- Unofficial Game photos by David Steadman
- Guildford Flames Too Hot To Handle! - Supports Blog
| Preceded by | EPIHL Champions 2007-08 |
Succeeded by Peterborough Phantoms |
| Preceded by | EPIHL Premier Cup Champions 2009-10 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
