We are thrilled to reveal that the Frank Bruno Foundation is the new sponsor of Smith Recycling Milton Keynes Lightning #71 Rio Grinell-Parke.  We will be joined at this weekend's game vs. Swindon Wildcats by Frank Bruno MBE, who will perform a ceremonial puck-drop before the game, as well as drawing the 50/50 ticket during the second period interval. The Frank Bruno Foundation is a direct result of Frank wanting to give something back to the community. Frank has faced challenges both in and out of the ring and has always done so with determination, dignity, humour and humility. The Frank Bruno Foundation is currently fundraising to open a centre that will provide a base for structured non-contact boxing sessions and well-being programmes for any one over the age of 10 years old; who are experiencing problems with mental ill health, The Round by Round programme will consist of 12 weekly sessions of wellbeing and non-contact boxing. The centre will be open 5 days [...]

Following on from the postponement of the Hull away game earlier this year due to rink issues, we have rescheduled the fixture.  This has unfortunately required us to make a couple of changes - apologies for any inconvenience.  The changes are as follows: Hull Pirates vs. MK Lightning (previously postponed) will now take place on Saturday 8th February in Hull MK Lightning vs. Basingstoke (previously scheduled for Saturday 8th February) will now take place on Sunday 23rd February, face-off 17:15 This means there will be no home MK Lightning game on 8th/9th February (we will be away at Hull and Telford), and a double home fixture on 22nd/23rd February (we will be home to Hull and Basingstoke). General admission tickets are not yet on sale.  If you've booked in VIP or Bench with the Lightning we will be in touch to discuss with you. Hopefully this is all clear!  The fixture list at mk-lightning.co.uk/fixtures has been updated (please note the downloadable calendar will not [...]

We are delighted that 501st Legion UK Garrison will be in attendance at tomorrow’s Air the Bear night in support of the Children’s Ward at Milton Keynes University Hospital. The 501st Legion UK Garrison is a not-for-profit organisation made up entirely of volunteers. Formed in 2000, they have gone on to become one of the foremost Star Wars costuming groups in the UK, earning a reputation for movie-accurate costumes and the highest levels of professionalism and dedication to fundraising for their chosen charities. You can find out more about the group and all the good work they do here. Having finalised details in the last couple of days, we are pleased to confirm we will be joined tomorrow evening by Darth Maul, Kylo Ren, Boba Fett and four Stormtroopers. They will be mingling with fans all evening and will be delighted to pose for selfies and group photos so make sure to get your tickets and join us for a great night to benefit [...]

Smith Recycling Milton Keynes Lightning Head Coach Lewis Clifford met with Ari Närhi and it has been agreed that Ari will leave the club with immediate effect. Ari scored 7 goals in 18 appearances for MKL this year.  We’d like to thank him for his contribution, and wish him all the best for the future. Joining us is Robin Kovar, who brings a wealth of British hockey experience from stints with Manchester, Swindon, Blackburn and most recently Bracknell where he was a thorn in MK’s side in this season’s meetings between the teams.  Czech born Robin was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers and has played in the UK, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Hungary, Kazakhstan, and Canada. Robin will be joining us for a trial period until Christmas. Speaking about Robin, Clifford had this to say: “We’ve seen what Robin can do across many seasons of strong performances in UK hockey, most recently when he played for Bracknell and scored an annoying number of goals [...]

Smith Recycling Milton Keynes Lightning Head Coach Lewis Clifford met with Caly Robertson yesterday and gave Caly notice that he will be released by the club.  Under the terms of his contract, we were able to agree with Caly that he will be free to look for another club with immediate effect. Caly joined us in the summer aged just 18 years old as an exciting prospect, making the move to live away from home and play for a team outside Scotland for the first time in his career.  Whilst he has picked up 5 points in his MKL career so far, Cliff felt that with the current squad depth and personnel that Caly’s development both on and off the ice should be elsewhere. Squad composition is a key part of what we are looking at to improve our on ice results, and this is one of those decisions as Cliff explains: “I know it will be a surprise to some that we have [...]

A few weeks ago we let you know about two players who joined us as short term injury cover whilst we were going through a particularly tough patch of being short-benched.  We were so grateful that Lewy and TC stepped up for us, and we’re even more grateful that we’ve now secured both of them for the rest of the season. Cliff had this to say: “I'm obviously really happy to be able to keep both Lewy and TC for the rest of the season.  Since they have come in, they have both contributed in a big way to the team effort.  TC is playing the way we know he can, using his size taking the puck to the net and being rewarded for his hard work with some points to show for it. Lewy is doing everything anyone who knows him has come to expect, being solid in our end, killing penalties smartly and maintaining the high level of grit and defensive [...]

Smith Recycling Milton Keynes Lightning, together with the Milton Keynes Lightning Supporters Club have raised £5,347 for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. On Saturday evening for the 7-2 victory over Bracknell Bees, the arena was awash with special, limited edition jerseys which were worn for the weekend only, and had been produced with a unique poppy design to reflect the British Legion’s well known appeal.  Game worn jerseys were purchased by fans as ‘Own and Loan’ items, and a run of replica jerseys was also produced and sold online.  The Supporters Club also ran fundraising activities at the game to further build support for the charity’s activities.  Overall, all profits from the jersey sales and fundraising were passed over to the Royal British Legion with a cheque presentation at the end of the night. Earlier in the evening, there had been an impeccably observed 2 minutes silence following the playing of the Last Post by Kevin Dare, Bandmaster of the Milton Keynes Corps [...]

Hot on the heels of a fantastic weekend of Ice Hockey for Smith Recycling Milton Keynes Lightning with wins over Bracknell and Sheffield, we have some more fantastic news.  MKL number 39 Sam Russell has been selected to represent Great Britain under 20s at the forthcoming IIHF World U20s Division 2A Championships in Lithuania from the 6th to 13th January 2020. A delighted MK Head Coach Lewis Clifford had this to say: “Being selected to represent your country is the ultimate honour in any sport and I’m delighted for Sam to be in the squad.  I have coached Sam on and off since he was a young lad and I’m extremely proud of him and the player he has become and continues to develop into.” This season is Sam’s first as a senior hockey player following his junior development in the UK and in North America.  He’s demonstrated huge versatility by stepping into forward roles when asked, as well as his usual defensive duties.  [...]

As we look to further drive the quality and depth of our squad, we are formalising something that has been working well for us across a number of games this season.  We’re therefore chuffed that Logan Prince has agreed to join us as a permanent member of the Smith Recycling Milton Keynes Lightning team.  We’re particularly pleased after the fantastic shift that Logan put in during our roadtrip win at Raiders. 22 year old Swindon born Logan has had stints with Swindon, Bristol and MK teams in the past and if you’ve seen him play you’ll already know that he’s a hard working two way forward who puts in the energy in the neutral zone to support our attack. MK Lightning Head Coach Lewis Clifford had this to say: “Having had Logan play for me for the past 2 years I know what he is able to bring to the team, he has as high a work rate as you will find and he [...]