We are saddened to hear that former Lee Valley Czech netminder, Bob Mitura, passed away on 10 January, having lost his battle against prostate cancer. Bob played for the Lions in the late 80s alongside the likes of fellow Czech Jaroslav Lycka and the legendary Doug McEwen. The club sends its condolences to Bob’s friends and family for their loss.
Category: Nostalgia
Lee Valley Ice Centre closes its doors
Lee Valley Ice Centre © Time Out
After the best part of 40 years, Lee Valley Ice Centre closes its doors for the final time this weekend. The rink will be demolished and rebuilt into a much larger venue, featuring two ice pads, cafe, gym, exercise studios and community spaces. It is anticipated that the new centre will be completed by October 2022. You can find out more about the plans here and you can keep updated with news on their Twitter page.
The Lions are currently looking at options for continuing with a team while that happens and any updates on this will be posted here.
In the meantime, we say a very fond farewell to the Den and the countless amazing memories it has created for so many people.
Interview with ex-Lion Marko Pieniniemi
Fans of the original Lions from the 80s/90s will be very familiar with the Finns we had on the team. One of the last was Marko Pieniniemi and you can read all about his hockey career in this article published by Mark Easton.
Footage from Radegast Trophy from 1988
Dundee Stars have uploaded to YouTube footage from a match they played against the Lions back on 5 February 1988. It was played in honour of Jaroslav Lycka, a Czech defenceman who was with the Stars before joining us to play alongside other fan favourites, such as Doug McEwen and Tari Suwari.
Death of Darrin Zinger
We are sad to discover that Darrin Zinger, one of the Lions’ defenceman from the 90s team, passed away yesterday after a long illness at the age of 53. Darrin spent 10 years playing more than 500 games of hockey in the UK, including 5 seasons with Guildford Flames. He iced for the Lions in the 1989/90 season, when his day job was at Body Shop in Covent Garden. Our thoughts go out to Darrin’s family and friends.