Former Great Britain netminder and coach Geoff Woolhouse is launching a new ice hockey magazine.

Woolhouse, who represented GB at World Championship and Olympic Qualifying tournaments, also played for his country as a junior.

He spent two years as part of the Great Britain Women’s coaching staff from 2015 to 2017, winning two bronze medals in the process.

Woolhouse said: “The idea came during lockdown. When I wasn’t doing any overdue house jobs or midday beverage sampling, I did some reading and wanted to touch base with hockey.

“It dawned on me there was no actual print platform left for UK hockey. I had been reading about a couple of other sports and they kept referring to the lifestyle and culture of their sport.

“It doesn’t matter if you watch, play or run the sport, hockey takes up a huge chunk of your life. I never heard my mates’ parents getting home from Whitley at 1am on a Monday morning then go and do a full week at work.

“I’ve yet to meet any maniac who goes for a game of five-a-side at 11:30pm. New imports are always amazed by the number of travelling fans that journey to away games in this country.

“Yet, we just accept all of the above as a given. It’s the norm for UK hockey but it isn’t normal for other sports. That’s the lifestyle, the culture of UK hockey.”

Domestically, Woolhouse played in the top flight of British ice hockey in the Elite League for Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers.

“All sports have their stories but hockey has an abundance of special stories from across the spectrum,” Woolhouse continued. “We want to tell stories and write articles of interest that come from every avenue of British ice hockey.

“The idea behind the magazine is to showcase the UK hockey lifestyle and culture – whatever you want to term it – from right across the entire spectrum. Pro, amateur, men’s, women’s and disability.

“I was fortunate to be involved right across this spectrum and there are similarities no matter the level and differences. We want to show these aspects and stories.

“It is not here to give regular updates. Teams, leagues and a few other online outlets do this exceptionally well and a print magazine with the resources at hand would struggle to keep up with the internet.

“It’s about entertaining and helping scratch, a little, the hockey itch that we all get…especially at the moment.”

Fresh Cut Magazine launches on Wednesday 7th October.

Website: www.freshcutmag.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/freshcutmag

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Freshcutmagazine

Twitter: www.twitter.com/FreshCutMags

Photo credit: Dean Woolley.