Cardiff Fire Centre Jackson Ready To Burn Buffalo

Jackson Price is back in South Wales intent on adding aggression and skill to Cardiff Fire’s National Ice Hockey League team.

Swindon-born Great Britain international Price is a tenacious centre who is in the Fire team for their opening League fixture of the season, against Basingstoke Buffalo at Ice Arena Wales on Sunday (6pm).

Head coach Chris Douglas and his team have high hopes for their Division Two South season and start 2018-19 with consecutive home matches against Basingstoke and Slough Jets (Sunday, October 7).

Price came to Wales when he became a student at Cardiff Metropolitan University, studying a degree in sports performance analysis.

http://https://youtu.be/dOBIyO82CLw

He is player/video coach for Cardiff Fire and involved in coaching at Okanagan Hockey Academy UK, while he was selected for the GB team competing at the 2017 winter Universiade in Kazakhstan.

“That was an unbelievable experience,” said Price. “I went from playing NIHL Two in Cardiff in front of what was at the time, the biggest crowds I played in front of, to walking out in front of 14,000 people in a packed arena for the opening ceremony. 

“I’ve played against the likes of Canada, Slovakia and the USA and had two weeks solely focussed on hockey, which was just so much fun.

“My favourite hockey moment was beating South Korea at the Universiade. It was the first win GB had ever recorded a win in men’s Ice Hockey at the competition. It was a proud moment to be involved.”

Price joined Fire from Swindon Wildcats two years ago, scoring a point a game as the Cardiff team won the League title.

https://twitter.com/CardiffFireIHC/status/1041734918215278603

He is a centre man who works hard for his team was among the leading scorer for Fire’s NIHL One team. 

In addition, Price played 10 games for Fire in Division Two, scoring six goals with nine points in those fixtures.

“I try to finish a lot of hits,” he says. “It’s always been what I love about hockey, a highly skilful game which has a lot of aggression within it. I’ve always enjoyed that side of it.”

Price wears 82 and admits there is no specific reason for selecting that number, saying: “When I was in juniors Swindon Wildcats Academy revamped their image and with that came the ability to purchase new shirts with any number from 22-98 (the lower numbers were the team-owned shirts). 

“I just picked a random number and have stuck with it ever since.”

Price, nicknamed Jax in the locker room, is a fan of Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL and Cardiff Devils at Elite League level. His football favourite is home town team Swindon.

Canadian Mark Smith, who is Cardiff Fire director of development, pictured during his playing days with Cardiff Devils.

Cardiff Fire club officials:

Director of hockey: Mark Cuddihy.

Head coach: Chris Douglas.

Director of player development: Mark Smith.

Cardiff Fire team, signings so far: 

Goalies: Chris Douglas, James Whiting, Lewis Davies.

Defencemen: Ellis Sheppard, Phil Manny, Joe Morris, Tom Smith, Iwan Davies, Ross Wilkinson, 

Forwards: Sam Bryant, Tamas Elias, Alan Armour, Elliott Murdoch, Lewis Stevens, Ricky Deacon, Jackson Price, Josh Haslam, Jordan Powell.

Cardiff Fire players celebrate a goal during a home win against Swindon Wildcats at Ice Arena Wales.

Cardiff Fire fixtures 2018-19 (all fixtures at Ice Arena Wales):

September

Sunday 23 v Basingstoke Buffalo (home, 6pm)

October

Sunday 7 v Slough Jets (home, 6pm)

Saturday 13 v Invicta (away, 5.15pm)

Sunday 14 v Bracknell Hornets (home, 6pm)

Saturday 20 Bristol Pitbulls (away, 5pm)

Saturday 27 v Slough Jets (away, 5.45pm)

Sunday 28 v Lee Valley Lions (home, 6pm)

November

Saturday 3 v Bracknell Hornets (away, 6pm)

Saturday 10 v Solent Devils (away, 5pm)

Saturday 17 v Basingstoke Buffalo (away, 6.15pm)

Sunday 18 v Swindon Wildcats (home, 6pm)

December

Saturday 1 v Romford Raiders (home, 6.30pm)

2019

January 

Saturday 5 v Lee Valley Lions (away, 5.30pm)

Sunday 6 v Chelmsford Chieftains (home, 6pm)

Saturday 12 v Swindon Wildcats (away, 6.15pm)

Saturday 19 v Peterborough Phantoms (away, 6.15pm)

Saturday 26 v Guildford (home, 6.30pm)

Sunday 27 v Oxford City Stars (home, 6pm)

February

Saturday 16 v Raiders (away,  5.15pm)

Sunday 17 v Bristol Pitbulls (home, 6pm)

Sunday 24 v Solent Devils (home, 6pm)

March

Saturday 2 v Peterborough Phantoms (home, 6.30pm)

Sunday 10 v Guildford (away, 5.30pm)

Sunday 17 v Haringey Huskies (away, 5.30pm)

Sunday 24 v Haringey Huskies (home, 6pm)

Sunday 31 v Invicta (home, 6pm)

April

Sunday 7 v Oxford City Stars (away, 6.15pm)

TBA: Chelmsford Chieftains (away)