Northern Tournament
The Northern Tournament was a British home tournament. It was played both in Durham and Whitley Bay over the years.
History
Hosted at the Durham Ice Rink, teams traveled there twice, and later three to four times, to play the home side Durham Wasps. Those with the best goal average returned for the playoffs. The Dunfermline Royals won the inaugural tournament staged in 1949, defeating the Wasps 6-5 in the semifinals and Kirkcaldy 3-2 in the finals.
The Durham Wasps disbanded after the 1954-55 season, and many former players went on to form the Whitley Bay Wasps, who played their first game, a Northern Tournament match, at the new Whitley Bay Rink on December 1, 1956. The Wasps won 13 of their 17 tournament games, and defeated Glasgow, tied Perth, and lost to the Wembley Terriers in the playoffs. Wembley returned to play the Wasps in the final on April 27, and the latter team won 8-2.
The Durham Wasps were revived for 1957-58, and the Whitley Bay side became the Bees. For the next four seasons, the Northern Tournament was held both at Whitley Bay and Durham. The visiting teams played at Durham on Saturday and Whitley on Sunday. Durham was first and Whitley Bay second in 1958. Wasps won the final, 4-3.
In 1959, the Bees progressed to the final where they defeated the Edinburgh Royals 12-5 at Durham and 9-4 at Whitley. They topped the table in 1960, winning 26 out of 32 matches, and defeated the Paisley Mohawks 8-6 and 10-1 in the final to retain the title. In 1960-61, the Bees won the regular schedule but the Edinburgh Royals defeated the Durham Wasps 8-5 in the final. Later, there was a falling out between the Wasps and the Durham rink management, so the tournament was revived at Whitley. The Wasps won the 1964 Northern Tournament by defeating Perth 7-0 in the final.
Results
- 1948-49: Dunfermline Royals
- 1949-50: Durham Wasps
- 1950-51: Wembley Terriers
- 1951-52: Earls Court Marlboroughs
- 1952-53: Durham Wasps
- 1953-54: Wembley Terriers
- 1954-55: Wembley Terriers
- 1956-57: Whitley Bay Wasps
- 1957-58: Durham Wasps
- 1958-59: Whitley Bees
- 1959-60: Whitley Bees
- 1960-61: Edinburgh Royals
- 1963-64: The Wasps
Credits
Special thanks to Martin Harris for supplying some of the info found on this page.
References
- Homes of British Ice Hockey
- Ice Hockey World Annual