“We decide who we are… the fierce, the fast, the calm, the storm. We are Haringey.”

The promo video the club put out for 2025/26 is fantastic, if you haven’t seen it already. Really high quality, and it speaks to the new player-led setup and a fresh start all round. New season, new faces, new approach.

One of the first things I saw on Saturday at the Palace was Josh Ealey-Newman come off the ice after warmup, go back on to retrieve a puck and give it to a young fan standing along the boards. Brilliant. It’s a classy touch and exactly who I want my club to be.

Walking up for the game, it felt great to be heading back to hockey after the summer and there’s a real sense of excitement around this season. A real sense of opportunity and anticipation.

It’s a fierce introduction though, with games against Oxford, Invicta, Peterborough, Slough, and Guildford all within the first six fixtures. There’s nowhere to hide amongst those.

Oxford did well last year; playoff semi-finalists and a fifth-place finish in the league. We’ve scored five or more goals in our last five games against them, including Saturday’s 7-3 result. It was a very different game to the same fixture last year which ended 9-7; 4-4 at the end of the first period, 7-7 at the end of the second. There was little in the way of control from the Huskies that day, but they did a good job of keeping the Rising Stars at arm’s length on Saturday.

Rather than putting out four lines, Haringey opted for three and a bit with some healthy scratches (fit or uninjured players who aren’t selected, often for tactical reasons or to give them a rest). This meant that Luke Martin and Leo De Souza Saoncella could travel to Sunday’s game against Invicta fresh, having not played the day before. A very sensible move.

It’s a cagey start, but in a little over 10 minutes Haringey are already 4-1 up. Casey Wilson gets the first Haringey goal in 2025/26, and of course I missed it. Will Nowik then does all the work, gains the zone, shoots from the right, but the save’s made and the puck flies over to find Stuart Appleby who cleans up at the back post for 2-0.

It’s a similar story for the third, with a shot from Casey blocked and spilled nearside finding Marton Szasz who lifts it home from close.

So intense was the start from Haringey that Oxford call a timeout after eight minutes, which immediately pays off. The puck comes down the left wing and isn’t dealt with, it’s put across the slot and it’s a simple finish from the crease to get Oxford a foothold in the game at 3-1.

There’s a big miss 1-on-1 from an Oxford forward which is then punished at the other end. Casey Wilson’s second of the night goes down as technically unassisted… you can’t assist yourself! He puts it on net from the blue line; it’s a blocker save but he’s too quick to react and charges on the rebound to finish low beyond the netminder.

Haringey have a lot of zone time towards the end of the period. The control they have in the game means Oxford are limited in the chances they can create and possession they can gain and forced to play on the counter.

Dylan Philips makes a good double-save as he kicks out then gloves the puck after Oxford had bundled down the slot. Pete Toth made a good intervention at the crease to deny a goal-scoring opportunity as well.

Johan Persson I thought was bright all game and brought energy to all his shifts, and on another day might have got himself a goal. There was some great movement and understanding on that second line of Courtney Grant, Conner Smith, and Josh Ealey-Newman too.

The second starts with more Haringey ascendancy. Josh finds Courtney across ice who forces a leg save after a great move. Ruskin Springer Hughes races off the bench and slams a shot off the netminder’s shoulder. But Oxford strike again.

Dylan makes a leg save with the follow-up from the hashmarks finding twine. 4-2 and five gone in the second. Oxford get another soon after on the powerplay, working it around the goal a few times, back to the high slot, then the goal line for a one-timer blammed in from the left. At 4-3, this was the only time in the game where Oxford forced the issue, and you felt they could swing things if they played it right.

But Haringey are by far the more ruthless. Will Nowik makes it 5-3 with a brilliant individual effort, cutting in from the left and sending a laser into the net. Conner scores a textbook Conner Smith goal, ripping one from the right, giving the goalie no chance.

The pick of the goals for me was Haringey’s seventh. The setup and execution, the passing, the speed, it had it all. Courtney and Carl Etuazim link up across centre ice and feed Will who scores from the left, capping a brilliant team move.

Josh rings the iron late on, and Haringey have a goal washed right at the death but by then it doesn’t matter. 7-3 the result.

I was extremely impressed with all of the junior players. Will Nowik, Carl Etuazim, and Cameron Pow were sensational. We know how good Oli Cooper is from last season (no one around me had an answer for why they call him Moose. Perhaps it’s best we don’t know…).

I said in my season preview the new signings would hit the ground running, and Josh, Ruskin, and Johan look the real deal. Casey was immense all evening and bagged himself three points on his debut. Sensational. What a start to the season.

On Sunday they travelled to Gillingham to face the Invicta Mustangs in the first game of the 2025/26 Eddie Joseph Memorial Cup.

It ends 5-6 and it’s an impressive win on the road, in a competition and fixture that we faltered in last season. Invicta away is always difficult, and to come through that in the manner they did, coming from behind to hold onto the lead, bodes very well for the rest of the EJMC.

That competition’s a tough gig. Six games to get yourself to the final and no second chances, with each team in the competition going head-to-head only once. You’ve got to make them all count.

It’s Slough next and Peterborough the following day, for already the second back-to-back weekend of the season. It will be Slough’s first game and I’m intrigued to see what they’re going to bring. With a rested Peterborough on the Sunday, don’t be surprised to see more bodies rested on the Saturday.

This is who we are. The two from two Haringey, the winning on all fronts Haringey.

We are Haringey.

Photos by Phil Hutchinson