Your competitive Ice Hockey team in Manchester is the Altrincham Aces!
The Aces could best be described as a semi-professional/high-level amateur team. The Aces plays in the North Ice Hockey League (NIHL) 2 (so that’s three leagues below the professional Manchester Storm). They offer super exciting Ice Hockey for very reasonable prices, compared to the fully-professional teams!
The league structure in the UK can be a little complicated. The below link will take you straight to the English Ice Hockey Association’s (“EIHA”) league page if you want to learn more.
Altrincham Aces – Watch a game!
The Aces are Manchester Ice Hockey’s top tip for a great Ice Hockey experience at a fraction of the price of watching a professional game. You are still going to see a good standard of hockey with the Aces. On top of that the games are usually a little more rough around the edges, which can make it even more exciting!
Tickets currently (2020) cost £8 for adults and £6 for concessions. Concessions even include Storm season ticket holders, with cheaper prices for kids and family tickets also being available.
The team plays out of Planet Ice Altrincham, in Greater Manchester.
Check out their website for more details.
History
The Aces are possibly one of the oldest Ice Hockey teams in the UK, having started early in 1960s playing exhibition games and tournaments. Since then they have been at the forefront of British Ice Hockey ever since. The Aces have outlasted a whole lot of Ice Hockey drama in the region and continue to go strong to this day.
The Aces are about to celebrate their 60th year and you can check out their celebrations on the below links (they even have a book published!). It’s set to be an exciting year for the Aces.
Remember all. Grow the game.
#GTG #growthegame
Season updates
The Aces have been confirmed for another campaign in NIHL (the 2022/2023 season, which starts in September 2022). Check out our social media pages for more updates! If you’re looking to join the Aces, keep an eye on their website and social media channels around July to September each year, when they hold their annual trials.
The Aces are confirmed for a 2021/2022 season, check out our below blog post, previewing their 2021/2022 season.