Men’s Blues
The Men’s Blues started pre-season preparations in September with a three-week strength and conditioning programme and by onboarding new coach Greg Babbitt, an experienced defenseman from Vermont, US. Following a week of try-outs at the beginning of October, our team emerged with an exceptionally strong and deep squad (3 goalies, 6 defensemen and 10 forwards). ‘Power-week’ with Franz culminated in a training match in which the Men’s Blues defeated the Cambridge Narwhals 5-4. The team was ready for the first league game of the season against Oxford on the 29th of October. The game was intense from puck drop. After being down 0-2 and then 1-3, the Light Blues developed momentum and managed to tie the game at 3-3. The second game of the season was against UCL, in which the Men’s Blues recorded a decisive victory 23-4. In the coming Lent term, the Men’s Blues will play 4 home games and 2 away games, with a much-anticipated climactic 105th Varsity Match in Oxford on March 4th.
By: Ivan Grega and Matthew Neville, Men’s Blues Captains
Photographer: Dik Ng
Women’s Blues
The Women’s Blues had a challenging but exciting first term of the season! We have a strong core of returning and experienced players, and after open tryouts at the beginning of October, some very promising new rookies. The season started with the hugely beneficial “Power-week” which helped us start the season on the right foot! We are also lucky to have two excellent coaches leading us this season, Joe Allison and Dan McConnell. This term saw us have some tough losses against the Cambridge Huskies and Oxford Women’s team who are both looking very strong this year, and a couple of players lost to injury. However, the team is now back to full strength, and we are improving quickly and closing the gap with every game! We had a positive end to the season with our first win of the season (5-0) before Christmas against the UCL Dragon’s B team. This term, we are looking forward to some friendly matches against other women’s teams to continue to prepare us for our varsity match against Oxford.
By: Saashi Bedford, Women’s Blues Captain
Photographer: Dik Ng
Huskies
The beginning of the 2022/23 season marked the return to the University League following a break due to the pandemic. During this time, the Huskies became a stronger team and were allowed to move up a division to non-checking tier 2. Furthermore, the recruitment this year carried on being very productive and significantly bolstered our defence. As a result of this, as well as the kind help and coaching from a Narhwals’ player, Michal, we have had a successful start to the year. The Huskies have won their first two league games (29-4 and 22-0), and are currently sitting at the top of their table. We are looking to carry this form forwards and win our division this year, as well as our Varsity challenge game against the Oxford Vikings B!
By: Petr Dostal, Huskies Captain
Photographer: Dik Ng