History of MKL

Mike Walls for recounting the History of the Club for MK Lightning.

Sarah Royal and Tony Sargent for some great photos.

Milton Keynes Lightning were formed in the summer of 2002 replacing the MK Kings as the senior ice hockey side in Milton Keynes after a dispute between the Kings ownership and rink operators, Planet Ice – the Kings relocating to Solihull.

The Lightning took to the ice in the EPIHL with their first competitive game being a 7-7 tie with Romford Raiders, the game-tying goal coming from player-coach, Nick Poole, in the last minute of the game. The first ever MK Lightning goal is credited to Greg Randall. Their inaugural season saw the Lightning, with a mix of local British players along with Canadians Poole, Dwayne Newman and Claude Dumas plus Finnish forward Mikko Skinnari, finish second in the league. MK would miss out on both the league and cup to rivals Peterborough Phantoms; however, they would finish their debut season with silverware defeating the Phantoms 16-4 on aggregate in the play-off final.

Fans memories:

Not got any pictures but the play off final against Peterbourgh always remember with great fondness. Witness a 10-0 first leg win which is unheard off. Then winning the 2nd leg as well but the best part was the players past up the trophy on the double decker coach and the fans got to hold the trophy and drink a bit of bubbly out off it. Good times. – Chris Kelly

Here is the roster for that inaugural season from Mike Walls:

#1 Allen Sutton (NM)
#31 Barry Hollyhead (NM)

#3 Chris McEwen (D)
#4 Michael Knights (D)
#5 Leigh Jamieson (D)
#7 Phil Wooderson (F)
#9 Greg Owen (F)
#11 Mark Krater (F)
#14 Gary Clarke (F)
#16 Claude Dumas (F)
#17 Dean Campbell (F)
#18 Kieron Goody (F)
#20 Geoff O’Hara (D)
#22 Dwayne Newman (D) – Captain
#24 Mark Conway (F)
#27 Mikko Skinnari (F)
#28 Mark Hazlehurst (D/F)
#50 Greg Randall (F)
#55 Simon Howard (D) – Assistant Coach
#91 Nick Poole – Player-coach

Will never forget that first game. What an atmosphere – Chris Dickens

And that was my first ever match…. hooked from the get go…. cracking match v Romford totally exhilarating – DJ Bertie

MKL made the most of their Olympic sized ice pad in their first season, playing a system with fast wingers led by British forward Gary Clarke. This tactic did see the Lightning struggle on smaller ice pads at rinks such as Romford, Peterborough and the Isle of Wight with not being able to compete with the physical play in smaller rinks. This was addressed ahead of their second season with the signings of Michael “Muzzy” Wales from Invicta Dynamos and Kurt Irvine from Coventry Blaze. This added toughness to the team. A young forward from Durham signed from the Isle of Wight as well, with Adam Carr joining the Lightning attack from the Raiders.

The 2003-04 campaign saw Lightning win their first of three EPIHL league championships, MK losing just four of their 32 league matches, despite only having three non-EIHL trained players instead of the allowed four. The summer of 2003 also saw the formation of the Elite League, with MK becoming founder members despite not entering a side in the top tier league – the move meant that Lightning would hold the rights to any Elite side playing in Milton Keynes. MKL would retain their play-off title, winning the final over two legs against Slough Jets.

Photo credit George Garret

2004-05, saw Lightning take part in the cross-over Winter Cup with MK and Peterborough taking on the teams in the then second tier BNL. Lightning would give account of themselves in several games, despite not winning against the 8-import BNL sides. They retained most of their double-winning side and strengthening in defence with the signings of Greg Randall’s brother Jamie and Canadian Steve Carpenter. MK would retain the league and would win a third play-off championship, the finals taking place at the Coventry Skydome for the first time – it would again be Peterborough losing to MKL in the final.

Off ice caused concern for the long-term future of the team and ice sports in Milton Keynes. Due to the aging facilities at the rink and reduced footfall to the leisure plaza, the rink operators warned that unless the security and investment of the rink could be guaranteed it could face closure. A group of users banded together to form Keep Our Ice and a march of 100s of skaters, hockey players and fans took place going from the rink to the council offices, via the MK shopping centre to raise awareness and support. With support from councillor Euan Henderson and former MP, Brian White, the rink’s future was discussed and secured at a council meeting – the rink discussion having been moved to the top of the agenda due to the number of rink users being in attendance in the public gallery.

2005 saw the demise of the BNL, with Newcastle Vipers and Edinburgh Capitals joining the Elite League and leaving only 5 teams in the old second tier. Bracknell Bees, Hull Stingrays and Guildford Flames would enter the EPIHL making the four-import league the default second tier in UK ice hockey. Also joining the EPIHL were the Sheffield Scimitars, who previously played in the National Ice Hockey League. Canadian veteran Steve Moria would join the Lightning, but would leave midway through the season for Slough, his replacement being former Manchester Storm forward Stefan Ketola – the first Swede to put on a MKL jersey. Despite the new teams, Lightning would finish 3rd in the league helped by netminder Lee Lansdowne and Lithuanian international defenceman Mindy Kieras, who left the Solihull Kings in favour of MK. The Lightning would qualify for the Coventry finals weekend by winning their last play-off group game on Maundy Thursday, just 48 hours later a Ketola hat-trick would help see off the much-favoured Flames and Lightning would win their fourth consecutive play-off championship at the expense of the Bees.

The 2006/07 season saw the Lightning unable to retain the services of Ketola, who joined Romford Raiders but did see a 19-year-old Scottish forward join from Edinburgh Capitals who went by the name of Grant McPherson. This season saw MK struggle to find consistency and, despite signing Michael Wales back from the Elite League mid-season along with Czech forward, Lukas Dora, they finished 5th in the league and weren’t able to qualify for Coventry – losing in the group stage to eventual winners, Bracknell.

The summer of 2007 saw Lightning lose the services of both Mindy Kieras and their captain, Dwayne Newman – “Dog” would join rivals Peterborough Phantoms. Newman remains Lightning’s most successful captain in terms of silverware, and a piece of his equipment was burned, and the ashes of this equipment were competed for in pre-season matches for many years between the two sides. Replacing the import defencemen were two forwards, Finnish sniper Toni Alasaarela – long serving fans of the Lightning will still remember the Rihanna song – and Czech forward Ales Parez. Gary Clarke would become only the second captain for the side, having the unenviable task of taking over the “C” from Newman. MKL would finish the season in 6th place and again fail to make the play-off weekend in Coventry, resulting in several changes to playing personnel ahead of the 2008/09 season.

2008 saw a fresh look to MK, with Skinnari not returning and fellow Finn Alasaarela being replaced by Andre Smulter and a Czech defender named Lukas Zatopek, making their debuts for Lightning that year was a 19-year-old Lewis Christie and a defender from MK Storm named Ross Green. A slow start and an horrific injury to Parez threatened to derail the season, however the Czech’s replacement would galvanise the team helping them to second place. Swede Joakim Wiklander would average two points a game as he helped MK finish the season strongly and qualify for the play-off finals. Lightning would defeat Guildford in penalty shots to get to the final where they would narrowly lose out to treble winners, Peterborough.

Photo credit Amy Leggett

Photo credit Sarah royal, Nick Poole’s Testimonial

2009-2010 would see two new teams join the EPIHL after withdrawing from the Elite League, Basingstoke Bison and Manchester Phoenix – coached by GB legend, Tony Hand. Lightning were unable to retain the services of Wiklander who would return to Sweden – he’d return later in the season as injury cover for Andre Smulter. Replacing Wiklander was fellow Swede, and older brother of current New York Ranger Mika Zibanejad, Monir Kalgoum. Also leaving MKL was top point scorer, Gary Clarke – the captaincy would pass on to Adam Carr. Leigh Jamieson would return to Milton Keynes, after several seasons in the Elite League with Belfast and Coventry and having represented Great Britain. MK would defy the odds to win their third league title, they would miss out on a treble by losing the cup final to Guildford and being knocked out of the play-offs in a heart-breaking defeat to Swindon.

Photo credit Sarah Royal: Winning the league against Swindon & Slough March 2010

Lightning would retain most of their squad for the 2010-11 season, but they would not be able to repeat their league success eventually finishing in fifth place. Mid-way through the season they pulled off a major signing after acquiring Slovenian Blaz Emersic after his release from Slough. The signing of Emersic saw MK have five imports, resulting in Nick Poole taking on the role of bench coach. The Lightning would again qualify for the play-off finals and, after upsetting league champions Manchester in the semi-final, would face Guildford in the final. Despite taking an early lead through Kalgoum, MK would eventually fall to a defeat for the Flames first play-off success in the EPIHL.

For MKL’s 10th anniversary season, expectations were high – despite both Kalgoum and Smulter leaving the Lightning. Nick Poole would return to player-coaching and he, Emersic and Zatopek were joined by Atlanta Thrashers draft pick, Juraj Gracik. Despite scoring over a point a game, the Slovakian never settled to life in Milton Keynes and left mid-way through the season eventually being replaced by Tuomas Tikkanen. Lightning would make the semi-final of the cup, losing to Ben Bowns and the Sheffield Steeldogs and finish 5th in the league. In the play-offs, MK lost in overtime in their quarter final against eventual winners, Slough Jets.

Team Roster:

#28 Alex Mettam (NM)
#31 Barry Hollyhead (NM)

#2 Tom Norton (D)
#5 Jamie Line (F)
#6 Michael Wales (F)
#8 Blaz Emersic (F)
#9 Grant McPherson (F)
#12 Connor Goode (F)
#14 Tuomas Tikkanen (F)
#18 Adam Carr (F) – Captain
#19 Leigh Jamieson (D) Alt Captain
#21 Ross Green (D)
#25 Juraj Gracik (F)
#26 Adam Brittle (F)
#41 Matt Towalski (F) – Alt Captain
#55 Michael Farn (D)
#61 Ross Bowers (F)
#66 Lewis Christie (D)
#78 Lukas Zatopek (D)
#91 Nick Poole (F) – player-coach

Fans Memories:

Sarah Axtell Royal shared some things with us:

I don’t have many photos from 2011/12 season – pre DSLR camera! But here are a few from the play-offs 2012 – Pirates!

2012-13 would prove to be the last season in the old Planet Ice arena, with the rink closing for refurbishment shortly after the end of the season – the refurbishment made possible by the actions of Keep Our Ice eight years prior.

A number of signings showed Lightning’s intent including netminder Steven Wall, power forwards Chris Wiggins and Nicky Chinn and Canadian forward Adam Calder. Early season didn’t start well as Calder would suffer a career-ending injury in a match in Telford, Lightning would act fast to sign a replacement and again would look to Europe. Czech forward Kamil Tvrdek would join in November, making his debut just a few hours after landing at Luton Airport – he would make an instant impact scoring the game winning goal in his first appearance in a Lightning shirt. The campaign also Nick Poole hang up the skates midway through the season, becoming bench coach full time, he was replaced by Finnish forward Janne Jokila – a draft pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Lightning would finish in fourth place and would again meet Slough in the quarter final. Taking a two-goal lead from the first leg, Lightning would play the last game in the “old” rink with a place at the Coventry finals at stake. The Jets would win the game in regulation with a 2-0 win, taking the tie into overtime.  The extra period would begin with a face-off win for MK and Adam Carr skating into the zone to fire the puck home giving Lightning the win and the home fans a perfect last memory of the rink. MKL wouldn’t end the season on the high, narrowly losing 3-2 in the semi-final to Guildford.

Photo credit Sarah Royal

Original Pucky : Photo credit Sarah Royal

With the refurbishment of the rink taking place for the 2013-14 season, Lightning would play their home games at Coventry Skydome. Due to the extra travel a few players would depart, including Chinn, Wiggins and Tvrdek. Nick Poole would still recruit a competitive team including Tom Carlon, Jordan Cownie and former AHLer and Tampa Bay draft pick, Stanislav Lascek. Despite playing every game on the road and training at the temporary MK Ice facility at the old Waitrose site in Central Milton Keynes’ food court, Lightning had a solid season finishing fifth and reaching the final of the cup – thanks to a heroic semi-final performance against Manchester Phoenix. In the final they would lose to Basingstoke and would suffer a play-off quarter-final defeat against Swindon Wildcats.

A delay to the completion of the refurbished MK Arena, meant that the Lightning had to play the first couple of games of the new 2014-15 season in Coventry. On 18th October 2014, Lightning would come home to Milton Keynes with the first game being a sell-out against Sheffield Steeldogs. Lascek would score the first ever goal at the new arena, but it would be Sheffield that would ruin the homecoming winning 2-1 after overtime. Lightning would struggle for consistency, resulting in player turnover (Lascek leaving and his replacement, Marek Curilla also being replaced by Canadian, Curtis Huppe) and would eventually finish the season in seventh place. They would shock second placed Guildford in the quarter finals of the play-offs but the season would end in disappointment, losing to Manchester in the semi-finals in Coventry. The end of season awards would also see the announcement that GM, Vito Rausa, would be leaving and Nick Poole would no longer be the coach.

Photo credit Sarah Royal

Photo credit Sarah Royal

Photo credit Sarah Royal

Photo credit Sarah Royal

Ahead of the 2015-16 season it was announced that Planet Ice were the new owners of the Lightning and appointed Poole as GM and Pete Russell would coach the side. A new head sponsor was also announced in Smith Recycling, with the club colours changing from the traditional black and gold to blue and white. The new look Lightning also made a big statement of intent with the signings of Finnish duo Markku Tahtinen and Marko Luomala. Joining them was seasoned forward René Jarolin, formerly of the Edinburgh Capitals, and defenceman James Griffin from the Coventry Blaze, further solidifying the team’s strength for the season. A mixed start to the season saw Luomala and Jarolin depart and replaced by Frantisek Bakrlik and former Montreal Canadians defenceman, Martti Jarventie. Lightning would finish the season in fifth but would find success in the play-offs, qualifying for the finals weekend and defeating league champions, Basingstoke Bison, in penalty shots in the semi-final. They would lose the final to Guildford Flames, but were welcomed back to MK arena by a loud and proud set of fans. It was also announced prior to the play-off weekend that the following season would be MKL’s last in the EPIHL as they had been accepted into the Elite League for the 2017-18 season.

Photo credit Sarah Royal

Photo credit Sarah Royal

Photo credit Sarah Royal

Photo credit Sarah Royal

The 2016-17, MK’s last in the EPIHL, saw the side go all out to end their EPIHL tenure on a high, signing Polish forward Mikolaj Luposki and Milan Baranyk from Peterborough, along with Craig Scott – the son of MK Kings legend Paddy Scott. In a new rule change, a fifth import could dress for EPIHL teams, so Pete Russell signed Poland international, Prezemyslaw Odrobny. In November, Poole announced he would be stepping down as GM to focus on challenges away from hockey, his #91 jersey still hangs proudly from the rafters of the MK Arena. An injury to Luposki early in the season, would see Finnish forward, Antti Holli join as injury cover and form a formidable line with Jordan Cownie and Lewis Hook. Lightning were pipped to the league title by Telford but would finally win the EPL cup, with captain Adam Carr scoring the winning penalty in a shootout at a sold out final second leg in MK. The Lightning would also win the final ever EPIHL game as they lifted the play-off championship for the fifth time after beating Telford in the final 7-2.

Photo Credit Kat Territt

2017 saw Lightning be sold by Planet Ice to Graham & Monica Moody as they entered the Elite League. For their debut season, Pete Russell signed a number of established names from the EIHL, including Guillaume Doucet, Paul Phillips, Denny Kearney and Matt Nickerson. Adam Carr was announced as not moving up to the Elite League, meaning a new captain was announced for only the fourth time – Canadian Kevin King becoming the new MKL captain. Lightning would begin life in the Elite with a two-month unbeaten home run, which included wins over established UK top tier sides such as Cardiff Devils, Sheffield Steelers and Belfast Giants – this run would help them qualify for the quarterfinals of the cup. Injuries and a lengthy suspension to Nickerson would see the MK slip from a play-off spot and eventually finish second from bottom in their debut season and end with the shock announcement that Russell (who had led Great Britain to consecutive promotions in IIHF world championships) would leave for Glasgow Clan.

The 2018-19 season would see former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach, Doug McKay, be coach and GM for the side. A number of players with top level experience including former Tampa Bay Lightning forward, Tim Wallace and Wilkes-Barre Penguins players Ryan Lannon and Patrick Killeen sign for the side. The opening game of the season saw Lightning win 3-2 at Sheffield Arena against the Steelers, sadly the team would start short-benched due to Visa issues for players and a suspension carried over from the previous season on Martin Mazanec. McKay was announced as leaving the club on the morning of Lightning’s live TV game against Glasgow, Lannon and Wallace would take over as joint player-coaches. The season would continue to see the side struggle, despite battling performances from the depleted side. Numerous player departures would see the player ranks drop, amidst rumours of financial unrest and a transfer embargo. Lannon would also leave the side, leaving Wallace as head coach for the remainder of the season. Lightning would end the season in last place but took some big scalps with impressive wins against Nottingham, Cardiff and Guildford – the win against the Flames seeing a 10-minute-long let’s go lightning chant at the end of the game to show the players how appreciative the supporters were. At the end of the season the Moody’s would announce their intention to move the team to the newly formed National League.

Photo Credit Em Rabb

Photo credit Joe Raine

Rink operators, Planet Ice, decided to not award the ice contract to the Moody’s, awarding it to the Supporters based consortium, Let’s play hockey. Lightning’s application to the two-import National League was accepted and for the 2019-20 season, the club were coached by MK hockey stalwart Lewis Clifford and assisted by former Lightning forward, Ross Bowers.

Under Lewis Clifford’s leadership, MK Lightning began assembling a strong British core for the team. Clifford retained key defenceman James Griffin, while adding local young talent like Hallden Barnes-Garner and Callum Field. He also secured experienced players such as Russell Cowley and Cale Tanaka. Fan favourites including Leigh Jamieson, Grant McPherson and Ross Green would also return. The two non-EIHA trained players were Finn, Ari Nahri and former Columbus Blue Jacket, Tomas Kana.

A slow start to the season saw several personnel changes including Nahri being replaced by Robin Kovar, the returns of Tom Carlon and Lewis Christie and the acquisition of Liam Stewart. The Lightning went on a winning run after Christmas and were one of the favourites to make the Coventry play-off finals weekend before the season was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Photo credit Tony Sargent

It was announced that the 2021-22 season would go ahead, albeit certain COVID protocols would be in place at the start of the season – including spectators wearing facemasks and no handshakes between teams at the end of the game. Lewis Clifford would again retain the Brit core, including Chamberlain, Griffin, Stewart and the captain, Cowley. The team would also have a new principal sponsor, All in Black.

New signings included the due of Sam Talbot and Sean Norris who were familiar to MK fans having iced for MK Thunder a few years prior. The team started the season with only one non-EIHA trained player, the Canadian Adam Laishram and the netminding duo of Brandon Stones and Matt Smital. Grant McPherson’s number 9 jersey once again returned to the rafters of the Thunderdome next to Adam Carr and Nick Poole’s retired jerseys. The Lightning struggled for consistency in the regular season with COVID absences and injuries playing a part in the league campaign, however Clifford was able to strengthen the side with the two-way signing of Milique Martelly from Streatham, the loan signing of Tyler Nixon and the acquisitions of Tim Wallace from Nottingham Panthers and Mikey Power from the Bees. The Lightning would finish 5^th in the league, reach the semi-finals of the cup and make it to the final of the play-offs, coming from 4-1 down in the first period to defeat local rivals Peterborough 6-5 in an entertaining semi-final in Coventry. At the end of the season, it was confirmed that Lewis Clifford would be departing as Head Coach, with Tim Wallace taking over as player-coach for the 2022-2023 season with Joe Wilson joining the coaching team.

Jamio also celebrated his testimonial in August of this year.

Photo credit: Tony Sargent

The Lightning are now beginning their 20th season, retaining most of last season’s side. Stones, Cowley, Power and Laishram all leaving the side and being replaced with the returning Jordan Headley from Coventry Blaze, Rio-Grinnell Parke from Raiders, Zaine McKenzie from Bees, and new Latvian forward, Deivids Sarkanis also signing on a two-way with Belfast Giants would be young prospect, Mack Stewart. Lewis Christie would be confirmed as the sixth club captain in the Lightning’s history. The league also saw two new teams join the Bristol Pitbulls and Hull Seahawks, leaving a total of 11 teams competing for the NIHL National league, cup, and play-off trophies.

This season saw Ross green make his 500 games in an MKL jersey, Jaimo making 600 games and announcing his retirement from the game,  and Captain Lewis Christie celebrating with a testimonial.

Photo credit: Tony Sargent

Photo credit: Tony Sargent

In 20 years, MK Lightning have won three league, one cup and five play-off championships making Lightning the most successful senior sports team in Milton Keynes.