Goodman is new Captain Sting!

James Goodman is returning to Sutton Sting’s EN2 team for the 2011/12 season and has been given the job of team captain and he is relishing the opportunity to lead the Sting all the way to the top of the English National League.  Speaking today Goodman said, “I had a fantastic return to ice hockey with Sutton Sting last season and I found that I really do enjoy my hockey again.  It was a strange feeling at first but this team has grown and grown on me and now I just love it”.

Goodman joined the Sting back in January and followed former Sheffield Scimitars player’s Simon Butterworth and Arran Strawson to the Ashfield club where they formed the backbone of the team alongside Simon Offord who himself has taken up a new role in the Club as player/coach for the English National League team.  Offord is delighted that Goodman has chosen to stick with the Sting and said, “Goody is a top professional who brings experience and capability to the Sting.  I have know him for many years and it is brilliant news for me and the rest of the boys that Goody can commit to help us where we all want to get to.”

Goodman was the longest serving Sheffield Scimitars player in the Club’s history having been with the EPL outfit for 14 seasons where he started as a junior and played at every age group in winning numerous League and National titles and gaining an enviable reputation as one of the best players to have graduated from the Sheffield junior system.

Although Goodman has a wealth of quality experience, he has made more than 200 appearances in the Premier league and he has even managed to chip in with a few goals too, it is in the ENL D2 North where he will be plying his trade with the Sting and Head Coach Ian Johnson knows that players like Goodman will make all the difference to the Club’s title ambitions.  Johnson said, “James stands at 6’ 1” and weighs in at 190 lbs.  For a big man, he skates well and has great awareness using his size and speed to great effect.  He came in last season and made a massive impression on our Club.  He is a leader on and off the ice and I know he will continue to provide the inspiration to our team.  I am delighted he’s with us again!”

Goodman and Johnson share the same aims for the Sting and both men know that Sutton Sting 2011 will be a much stronger proposition in EN2.  Goodman said “Coming in to the team with no expectation was great and we soon found some team spirit.  Within no time at all I loved hockey again and it was like it was when I played juniors.  My mum and dad came to games and we’d talk about how I played and all that stuff.  It created a real buzz and I was glad to be part of it”.

Johnson is not surprised by Goodman’s experiences at the Sting, “I know a lot of the guys are having a fantastic time playing hockey with us.  We do things a little bit differently at Sutton and there’s a lot of people who just don’t understand what we are about.  I don’t mind that because I know the boys like what we do and enjoy their time with us.”

Sutton Sting has taken on a Sheffield look about the team for this coming season and a number of commentators have already begun to dub the Ashfield club “Sheffield Sting” which is a source of amusement for Sting co-founder Gary Apsley, “It’s true that quite a few people have crossed-over to Sutton from Sheffield which is something that concerns me on one hand but gives me confidence on the other.  We have even had players returning to Sutton having moved to Sheffield and had some success but they miss the ‘feel’ of the Sting.  With recent big name moves to the Sting I suppose we can expect more interest in what we do and how we do it?  But that’s all in the future, for now we have to concentrate on completing our preparations for the start of the season.”