ICE HOCKEY - Dunchurch hockey player becomes National Ice Hockey League champion - The Rugby Observer

ICE HOCKEY - Dunchurch hockey player becomes National Ice Hockey League champion

Rugby Editorial 7th Apr, 2022   0

AUSTIN Mitchell-King from Dunchurch is now a National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) champion following his team’s success in the UK’s second tier of ice hockey.

Mitchell-King plays for Telford Tigers, who featured on BBC Midlands Today programme last week, who ended the regular season with two wins to finish with a 10-point margin over the second-placed team Swindon Wildcats.

The team were presented with their medals and the NIHL trophy in front of a packed stadium, after the final league game the previous weekend.

Mitchell-King contributed significantly to the Tigers’ cause with 14 goals and 21 assists (35 points) in 47 league games, only missing one match due to sickness.




After the pandemic disruption of the last two years, Mitchell-King gained a roster spot for the Tigers last February, playing in a behind-closed-doors streaming series as the sport started to reopen.

He was then drafted at elite level to Coventry Blaze (UK tier 1) for another series in a ‘bubble’ for a month at Nottingham.


His performances in these competitions led to him gaining a professional contract with Telford Tigers for this season (2021/22) plus a two-way arrangement with Coventry Blaze as a young British prospect.

With the end of the regular season the focus now turns to play off qualification for the final’s weekend in Coventry on April 30/May 1.

Mitchell-King started his ice hockey journey at under-10 level in Coventry and reached under-20 level before moving to The Hill Academy in Toronto for two years to play at under-18 Prep level before the pandemic intervened.

During the past few years he has represented Great Britain at under-18 and under-20 levels.

He has combined his first pro season with the first year of an Automotive Engineering degree at Loughborough University.

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