Aviemore ice hockey senior side makes triumphant return to rink after 25 years
Players donning the Aviemore jersey have contested their first senior ice hockey game in 25 years and emerged with a 4-0 triumph away to Inverness.
Darren McConnell, Kevin Bremner, Stuart Gray and ex-Blackhawks great Kenny MacDonald at the tender age of 70 were the scorers in the historic match for Aviemore Avalanche against the Hurricanes at the Highland capital’s rink on Friday evening.
David Hodge, the club’s chairman, said afterwards: “Credit to Inverness for setting up the game and making us work really hard for the win.
“The Aviemore players were so buzzed up and desperate to prove a point. On another day the result could have been completely different.”
The Aviemore side will this season be playing Scottish recreational hockey in challenge and knockout cup games against teams also including Highland Capitals, Lossiemouth Jets, Glasgow Mustangs, Coatbridge Redwings, Irvine Flyers, Aberdeen Northstars, Paisley Buccaneers, Dundee Pirates and Caledonian Thunder.
Their next fixture is a knockout cup game away to the Highlanders in Kirkcaldy.
The village’s last official game involving Aviemore Blues was in June 1999 just before the village lost its rink at short notice.
The Blues team was preceded by Aviemore Blackhawks who were a dominant team in Scottish ice hockey throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Members of the new Aviemore team range in age 18 to 70.