The Coventry Blaze Ice Hickey club are delighted to confirm that they will be holding a Meet the Players night in Crosby’s Bar on Tuesday 24th August from 7pm. The whole team will be there and will be introduced to supporters before circulating to sign autographs and chat with the fans.
“The recent Meet Jeff Smith night was a huge success,” said Blaze General Manager, James Pease, “so we wanted to give our supporters a similar opportunity to meet and get to know the rest of the guys ahead of them taking to the ice. We’ve quite a few new guys this season and I’m sure they will be looking forward to meeting the fans as much as the fans are looking forward to meeting them.”
Doors will open at 6pm and the players will be introduced shortly after 7pm. Under 18’s are welcome in the bar until 9.30pm.
The Coventry Plumbing and Heating sponsored Coventry Blaze will take to home ice for the first time this season when they entertain great rivals, Belfast Giants in a fiercely competitive Charity Shield at the Skydome on Wednesday 25th August at 7.30pm. Tickets for the game are now on sale from the box office on 02476 630693 or by booking online via the buy tickets link on the Blaze website.
20/20 HOCKEYFEST POSTPONED
The Elite League regret to announce the postponement of this season’s 20/20 Hockeyfest.
The tournament was due to take place in the Motorpoint Arena Sheffield on Monday 30th August, but following the withdrawal of Hull Stingrays from the Elite League, it will now take place at a later date.
Elite League chairman, Eamon Convery, said: “I apologise to supporters who have already purchased tickets. Once the new date is settled the box office will be in direct contact with all current ticket holders which we hope will be in the next few weeks.
“We are of course very disappointed to lose Hull however accept that with a very significant last minute loss of sponsorship it left the owners Mike and Sue Pack, despite tremendous effort being put in to find funding to replace the lost sponsorship, with no alternative but to decide the club was unable to continue.
“We are progressing forward with nine teams and an announcement on the amended league, cup and play-off fixtures will be made very shortly.
“It’s sad that our friends in Hull won’t be with us, but the anticipation across the league is building ahead of the first weekend of the season in September.”
Blaze main sponsor back on board as Coventry Plumbing & Heating Supplies sign contract extension
The Elite League Championship winning combination of Coventry Blaze and Coventry Plumbing & Heating Supplies will be in partnership for a further season after the two parties signed a one year contract extension ahead of the 2010/11 ice hockey season.
The extension will see Coventry Plumbing and Heating Supplies continue their highly successful partnership as the club’s main sponsor, a partnership that sees them take advantage of the team’s extensive branding and advertising opportunities and benefitting from the team’s corporate hospitality facilities
The Coventry based company are the city’s largest independent plumbers merchants and bathroom suppliers and through their three major outlets, have been trading in the region for over twenty years. They are a family run business specialising in providing a high quality service at competitive prices.
“We enjoyed every minute of our partnership with Coventry Plumbing and Heating last season,” said Blaze Chairman, Andy Buxton. “They were a real pleasure to work with and all season, it felt like a genuine partnership with a superb local company. It was fantastic that we were able to reward their commitment to us with the Elite League title and we’ll be going all out to repay their continued investment in us in a similar way when the new season gets underway.
“For us to compete at the level we do, against clubs with significantly greater resources at their disposal than we have, the support of our commercial base is imperative. It still remains a tough climate for attracting commercial income which means companies have to be fully confident about where they make their investments. We’re naturally delighted that Coventry Plumbing and Heating felt that by supporting the Blaze for a further season, that their investment will be in safe hands and that the partnership will continue to be a good one for both of us.”
“Last season was great,” added Coventry Plumbing and Heating Supplies owner, Geoff Harris. “It was great for the Blaze, great for the City of Coventry and great for our business. The impact that the Blaze have on the local area can’t be underestimated and that’s something that we want to be part of. Something we want to support and encourage. Something we are proud to put our name to.
“There was no hesitation about us extending our contract with the Blaze. We’ve benefitted greatly from the partnership and hopefully our contribution played a part in helping the club to the great success it had last season. We’re looking forward to helping them to defend their title once the new season gets underway.”