- Milton Keynes Lightning
-
Milton Keynes Lightning 
City Milton Keynes, England League EPIHL Founded 2002 Home arena Planet Ice Milton Keynes Colors Black, Gold & Silver
Owner(s) Fountaintree Ltd Head coach 
Nick PooleCaptain 
Adam CarrFranchise history 1990-2002 Milton Keynes Kings 2002-Present Milton Keynes Lightning Championships Regular season titles 3 (03/04, 04/05 & 09/10) Playoff championships 4 (02/03, 03/04, 04/05 & 05/06) The Milton Keynes Lightning is an ice hockey team from Milton Keynes, England, currently (2011/2012) playing in the semi-professional English Premier Ice Hockey League (EPL). They are also a founding member of The Elite Ice Hockey League, although they have not yet entered a team in that league.
Their home arena is 'Planet Ice', an ice rink to the south of Milton Keynes Central railway station in Central Milton Keynes.
Contents
Club History
Founded in 2002, MK Lightning moved into the empty space left by the departure of Milton Keynes Kings. The MK Kings were involved in a dispute with rink owners Planet Ice, which led to the Kings re-locating to Solihull in May 2002.[1] There they became the Solihull MK Kings for just one season before winding up in April 2003.[2]
2002-2006: Early Years
The demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague and the British National League in 2002/03 led to major restructuring of the Ice Hockey leagues in the United Kingdom. The new Milton Keynes Lightning became a founding member of the new Elite Ice Hockey League but instead chose to compete in the English Premier Ice Hockey League. The first Lightning squad was made up mainly of local players but with 3 Canadian imports; Nick Poole(Head Coach), Claude Dumas & Dwayne Newman. Lightning finished their maiden season in 2nd place just behind the Peterborough Phantoms. The 2 teams met again in the playoff final, this time Lightning came out winners. A rivalry quickly grew between the Phantoms and Lightning as the two continued to dominate EPL Ice Hockey, MK gained the edge and were crowned league champions in the 03/04 & 04/05 seasons as well as continuing to dominate the Playoffs until 2006.
2006-2008: League Struggle
The 2006/07 season saw Lightning struggle in the league for the first time. A lack of investment in new players made MK's tactics & style become predictable and the rest of the EPL caught up. Lightning ended the season in 5th place and were eliminated from the Playoffs in the first round. The 07/08 season saw Lightning sink further to their lowest league finish of 6th, the management announced a major roster overhaul would take place over the summer.
2008-2010: Return to Success
As promised, Nick Poole and the team owners built a new-look Lightning squad for the 08/09 season. They were quick to add several experienced ex-Elite League players, young British talent & exciting European imports in Lukas Zatopek, Andre Smulter & Joakim Wiklander. After a slow start MK dominated the 2nd half of the season and finished runners-up behind rivals Peterborough. They then met again in the playoff final at the SkyDome Arena but once again lost to the Phantoms.
Lightning became the team to beat in 2009/10 despite Basingstoke Bison & Manchester Phoenix joining the EPL with large budgets to spend. More exciting signings in local star Leigh Jamieson & Swedish U20 international Monir Kalgoum helped MK to dominate the league from start to finish. A home win against the Swindon Wildcats in March 2010 saw the EPL league trophy return to Planet Ice.
Club honours
2002/2003:
- EPL Playoff Winners
2003/2004:
- EPL League Champions
- EPL Playoff Winners
2004/2005:
- EPL League Champions
- EPL Playoff Winners
2005/2006:
- EPL Playoff Winners
2009/2010:
- EPL League Champions
Arena redevelopment
In November 2006, Milton Keynes Council approved plans to redevelop the arena, recognizing that it was contrary to the Structure Plan but that doing so would secure the long term future of the arena.[3] In January 2007, the Government accepted the Council recommendation to vary the Structure Plan without an enquiry and the developers (Abbeygate) confirmed that the development will begin imminently.[4] The development would have included a new store for Danish furniture company ILVA as well as other leisure units.
Subsequently, ILVA UK went into administration and the plans have been shelved sine die.
Club roster 2011/2012
Netminders No. Nat. Player Catches Date of birth Place of birth Acquired ' 
0 December 0000 - 0 Defencemen No. Nat. Player Shoots Date of birth Place of birth Acquired 00 Tom Norton R 16 June 1990 Nottingham, England 2011 21 Ross Green R 19 February 1992 Chelmsford, England 2008 55 Michael Farn L 23 June 1988 Durham, England 2009 66 Lewis Christie R 30 August 1989 Edinburgh, Scotland 2008 78 
Lukas Zatopek L 2 February 1978 Havirov, Czech Rep 2008 Forwards No. Nat. Player Shoots Date of birth Place of birth Acquired 6 Michael Wales R 26 August 1982 Gillingham, England 2003 8 
Blaz Emersic L 10 October 1980 Ljubljana, Slovenia 2010 9 Grant McPherson R 3 March 1987 Stirling, Scotland 2006 18 Adam Carr R 15 June 1984 Durham, England 2003 19 Leigh Jamieson R 30 July 1985 Milton Keynes, England 2009 91 Nick Poole R 11 July 1973 Calgary, Canada 2002 Season-by-season record
Milton Keynes Lightning season-by-season record Season League GP W T L OTL PTS GF GA League Position 2002-03 English Premier Ice Hockey League 42 34 3 5 - 62 269 113 2nd 2003-04 English Premier Ice Hockey League 32 28 2 5 - 56 175 87 1st 2004-05 English Premier Ice Hockey League 32 23 3 6 - 49 149 75 1st 2005-06 English Premier Ice Hockey League 48 25 10 13 - 60 201 121 3rd 2006-07 English Premier Ice Hockey League 44 28 2 14 - 58 187 132 5th 2007-08 English Premier Ice Hockey League 40 22 - 16 2 46 160 121 6th 2008-09 English Premier Ice Hockey League 54 34 - 14 6 74 221 149 2nd 2009-10 English Premier Ice Hockey League 54 42 - 10 2 86 218 144 1st 2010-11 English Premier Ice Hockey League 54 31 - 21 2 64 219 160 5th Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime Losses; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
Associated teams
External links
References
- ^ "MK Kings live on in Solihull", Milton Keynes Citizen, May 2002
- ^ "Solihull MK Kings finally call it a day", Milton Keynes Citizen, April 2003]
- ^ "Plans approved for new ice rink", Milton Keynes Citizen, 7 November 2006
- ^ "Plans are not on ice!", Milton Keynes Citizen, 18 January 2007
Preceded by
Invicta DynamosEPIHL Playoff Champions
2002 - 2006Succeeded by
Bracknell BeesPreceded by
Peterborough PhantomsEPIHL Champions
2003 - 2005Succeeded by
Guildford FlamesCategories:- Ice hockey teams in England
- Sport in Milton Keynes
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