Phoenix announce three new players

Wednesday, 8th June 2016

Manchester Phoenix Ice Hockey Club is proud to announce the first three of its players for season 2016-17 in the English Premier Ice Hockey League.

First up, and a popular choice with the Phoenix Faithful, is the news that Captain Fantastic Luke Boothroyd has put pen to paper for his ninth season in Phoenix colours.

The Huddersfield-born 29 year-old defenceman joined the Club in the 2008-09 season after five seasons in Hull playing for the Stingrays and Predators. He was already an established Great Britain U18 and U20 player by the time he joined Phoenix for what was to be our final year in the Elite League and was given the captain’s armband by Coach Hand the following season when we started our journey in the EPIHL. Now, having nearly 450 appearances to his name, Luke is considered one of the best British defencemen in the league.

A delighted Luke spoke to Phoenix Media and said “There was always only one team for me and, when Tony asked, it took very little time to commit to another year playing in front of the best fans in the league”.

Coach Hand then swooped on Peterborough for two exciting players he felt would not only replace those who had moved on but enhance parts of the squad make-up.

23 year-old Greg Pick, a Nottingham-born defender joins the club after three and a half years as Peterborough’s go-to man when things got a little tough. His formative years were spent in Nottingham and across the pond in West Michigan and Philadelphia before joining Slough Jets in 2012. Five games later, he moved across the Fens to Peterborough for three and a half successful seasons with the Phantoms; the highlight of which was winning the Play Offs in 2014-15. In total, he patrolled the blue line 180 times, scoring 2 goals and picking up 302 penalty minutes.

Greg is never slow in coming to the aid of team mates when required and Phoenix fans will be well pleased with this side of his game.

Coach Hand said,” I have been looking to add to the physical side of the team and Greg fits the bill. He has a good amount of experience for a 23 year-old and is well capable of reaching another level.”

Number three is Edgars Bebris, 24 year-old Latvian-born forward who trained as a junior in Sheffield. Edgars has over 300 EPIHL games to his name with the Sheffield Steeldogs and Peterborough Phantoms. He is a strong player at 6ft 4 and 200lbs with a 0.81 point per game average. Edgars was instrumental in Phantom’s play off final victory in 2014-15 against Phoenix. He has always played well and scored against us. It will be good to see him do the same to others when he is in Phoenix colours.

In other news, despite a malicious Twitter hijacking on Sunday, Phoenix can confirm that it is absolutely committed to bringing the EPIHL back to the city of Manchester this season.

We are very nearly at the stage when we can announce our new home's location and share some more details of the future of the Club and its partners.

Phoenix has been working hard with its new ownership team and with Manchester City Council to identify a new home that will bring hockey back to the city for the 2016/17 season. We have now identified an existing building which is located close to the city centre and has good public transport links. We are now moving forward with the Council to undertake all of the necessary steps needed to conclude the transaction and occupy the building. The terms we are negotiating will mean that we will only be based in the building for the next few years. However, our view is that this city based location will act as a great springboard for a brand new facility that we will develop as the permanent home of The Ice Dome for the next 25 years and beyond.

Season Tickets are being readied for sale now. All those of you who have reserved your seats already will obviously get first pick of your new seat. If you have not reserved your seat yet then hurry!

When the news starts to flow, it’ll be coming fast so brace yourselves for a busy few months ahead!

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Phoenix announce three new players

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