Edinburgh Beagles


The Edinburgh Beagles was a British ice hockey team that played in the Northern Conference of Division 2 in the British Universities Ice Hockey Association. They played their home games at Murrayfield Ice Rink in Edinburgh, Scotland and are associated with the Edinburgh Eagles.

History

The Beagles were formed in 2008 by Richard 'Rambo' Gray; they are an affiliate of the Edinburgh Eagles who were formed in 2003 by Amy Slater. They are an Ice hockey club that caters primarily to university players. They accept players from any higher education institution in Scotland.
The Beagles were formed as an expansion due to the increasing numbers of less experienced players joining the Eagles. In the first season they played only one game against the Newcastle Wildcats C team as a warm up for the Tier 3 National Championships in April. They were first coached by their founder with the assistance of Matt Dible. Dible is now coaching the Eagles.

2010-2011

The Beagles played their first season of BUIHA Division 3 in 2010, with a strong season, coming second. The only team able to beat them were the Nottingham Mavericks, an experienced side finished the season as Division 3 champions.
When it came to the National Championships, the success was not quite with the Beagles. Having been abandoned by their coach Edward Baker, it was left to Matt Dible, the assistant coach for the Eagles, and Donald McCabe, who at the time was not playing for the Beagles. Despite their best efforts to organise and inspire the players, they were unable to progress beyond the group stages, achieving just two wins, two draws and a loss. All games were noted for a lack of scoring which was uncharacteristic of the Beagles' season.
A notable event of the National Championships occurred during the final game for the Beagles, against friendly rivals the Northumbria Flames. With neither side playing for a spot in the semi-finals, it was decided that a 'fly-away' football would be put on the ice, with each team kicking it round the ice for a laugh. Meanwhile, rookie goalie Christopher Gray had a dance-off with the Flames' goalie at centre ice. After numerous video reviews and judges' meetings, it was decided Gray had won the dance-off. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.

2011-2012

In the Beagles' second season, they were far more successful than the previous year, winning every game and dominating most games. The offence got a boost with the arrival of Adam Shepherd, who racked up 20 points in 8 games, and Julian Meurer and Dan Fisher who were both point-per-game players. The defence was equally as solid, with new additions Donald McCabe and Andrew Sills providing excellent offensive options on the blue-line and Kris Madden, Francis Anderson and Courtney Andrews supplementing with great back-checking. Behind this solid defense, Christopher Gray was able to rack up three shutouts, the first time in Eagles or Beagles history that a goalie managed to achieve a shutout in a league game.

Celtic Plate 2012

The Celtic Plate was the only slight hiccup in the up-until-then perfect season which the Beagles had been enjoying. The Beagles lost 4-3 in a tight game that went down to the wire. However, the game was clean and both sides were as amicable after the game as they had been the night before.

National Championships 2012

With such a dominating season completed, the Beagles were highly touted to do well and progress to at least the semi-finals. However, despite a strong start which saw them pull a win over a controversial Warwick side, the lack of scoring threats such as Michael Mackenzie and Barbora Kohoutova meant that the games were lacking a lot of scoring. This cost them in a 2-1 loss to the Sheffield Bears, who then went on to play in the semi-finals before losing to Cardiff.

Playoffs 2012

Two weeks after the National Championships, a game was organised against the Nottingham Mavericks, who had won Division 3 South. Many within the team viewed it as a rematch and a chance to get revenge, especially those who had played in the 10-4 and 4-0 defeats to Nottingham the previous year. Both sides started strong, however it was Nottingham who managed to draw first blood, getting a 2-0 lead within the first ten minutes. The grit and determination of the team, in particular Adam Shepherd, came through, and after the first it was 2-2. It was a toughly fought contest throughout, with Nottingham making a late comeback in the game to pull it back to 5-4 with minutes remaining. However, that was as close as the Mavericks were going to get to the Beagles, who held off after a great display of defence and goaltending, before Shepherd sealed the Beagles' victory with his third goal, making it 6-4 with less than a minute to go.

2012–2013

It was decided that after such a successful season, Division 2 was the only way to go. Despite this, there were concerns as to how the Beagles would fare going from a non-checking league to a checking one, especially when the more physical players of Donald McCabe, Craig MacMorland and Julian Meurer had left after last season. However, the influx of new players meant that the physicality of the Beagles was actually increased, due to some Eagles and new players being assigned to the team and the remaining players managing to learn how to check well. The Beagles have been coping with the jump in play rather well, still scoring goals aplenty and managing to get wins over the Newcastle Wildcats.

2013–2014

The second season in Division 2 saw the Beagles finishing in third place, after Bradford Sabres and Newcastle Kings A. In the National Championship the Beagles missed out on the playoffs, after close defeats in key matches to both Sheffield Bears B and Newcastle Kings A.

2014 – present

After the 2013-14 season the decision was made not to field a team in the BUIHA Cup Competition due to a number of factors which adversely affected the organization.

Uniforms

Colors, name and logo

Home - Red, Previously Blue
Away - White, Previously Blue

Jerseys

The jerseys, since the 2013-14 season has been red and white.

The Celtic Plate

The Beagles participate in the Celtic Plate Varsity; an annual one off challenge game against the Cardiff Redhawks B team who are the only other non-English team in the BUIHA.
The competition has been running for 3 years, the location alternating between Murrayfield and Cardiff Bay, Cardiff. Edinburgh won the plate for the first time in 2013, beating Cardiff 4-2 to take home the Plate

Current Roster

Statistics

Beagles Record
As of April 2013
SeasonDivisionWinsLossesDraws
2010-113 North 620
2011-123 North 800
2012-132 North 242
Total1662

Player Records
As of April 2013
HonourTotalNameYears Active
Most Goals Scored30Adam Shepherd2011 – present
Most Assists15Adam Shepherd2010 – present
Most Points45Adam Shepherd2011 – present
Most Games Played34Shaun Masson2010 – present
Most PIM's46Adam Shepherd2011 – present
Most GWG's2Daniel Fisher, Julian Meurer, Arran Russel, Adam Shepherd, Barbora Kohoutova2011 – present, 2011 – present, 2011 – present, 2011 – present, 2011 – present, 2010 - 2012
Most Shutouts6Christopher Gray2010 – present
Highest Save Percentage0.91Ewan Bachell2012 – present
Lowest GAA3.00Ewan Bachell2012 – present
Most Minutes Played1,033Christopher Gray2010 – present

Honored members

Retired Numbers

Team captains

Blues and Half Blues are awarded by the Edinburgh University Sports Union to the University's top sportsmen and women and those who have performed to a consistently high level for their University Club. They are notoriously difficult to acquire and are only available to those at the very top of their sport. These awards are the most prestigious that can be received by an Edinburgh University athlete. To date, no member of the Edinburgh Beagles has been honored with an award of Blues or Half Blues.