‘The only thing this group can’t do’, mused Oxford winger Dmitri Akatov, ‘is collect a bloody minibus on time’. This could perhaps be the sub-epitaph of an otherwise successful season for the team, for whom the actual epitaph will, after their 7-0 victory over the Newcastle Wildcats on 17 April, be ‘National Champions 2009-10’.

It was another dominant season for the Dark Blues, with an 8-1-1 record, and a league-leading 100 goals on the ten game season. (The one that got away, an 6-8 away loss to London in November, can to some extent be attributed not so much to a breakdown in team defence, but rather a breakdown of a defenceman’s vehicle en route to the game.)

Arranging transport to away games ultimately proved itself a persistent challenge for this team made up predominantly of Oxford postgraduates. ‘We had the theory part down’ explained starting goaltender and back-up driver Calum Nicholson, ‘but the practice proved rather problematic.’ On three occasions, the Blues were close to being unable to make league games due to logistical implosions. Said player/ coach Landis Stankievech, ‘When I told the team to work on cycling, I meant the puck. I didn’t mean to Cardiff.’

The Blues’ fortunes were saved, however, by “Felicity”, a temperamental 1990 Ford Transit campervan, who proved herself a startlingly capacious host in times of need for an otherwise stranded squad. Her owner, winger Julian de Hoog, was able to stow hockey bags in places he didn’t even know she had, allowing the Blues to field a full team in almost all away games.

However, with the change of the seasons came a reworked club transport strategy, and an actual minibus was booked in time - this time - for the National Championship in Sheffield. This chief obstacle overcome, the team had only the Newcastle Wildcats between them and bragging rights as the best university team in the United Kingdom for the second straight year.

In the end, the game was a one-sided affair. The Blues took the lead after four minutes, with league-leading scorer William Bruce netting his first of six goals on the game. Newcastle managed only a handful of forays into the Blues’ defensive zone, with their best opportunity being a rebound that eluded the Oxford goaltender, only to be batted to safety from the goal line by a back-checking de Hoog. By the end of the first period, in which Oxford had almost exclusive possession, the score was 3-0.

The second period saw the Blues jump out to a 6-0 lead, with the Oxford netminder facing long periods of inactivity. ‘The team played brilliantly up front, and the defence was solid’, he said. ‘I hardly saw any action, but I’m not complaining’.

By the third period, even the hard core of forty Newcastle fans up in Sheffield's ice rink equivalent of the ‘nose-bleeds’ had lost some of their enthusiasm as the outcome became increasingly obvious, the single chorus of cheers coming when the Newcastle goalkeeper turned away Stankievech with a brilliant kick save late in the game. They fell silent for good, however, when Bruce added a goal at the ten minute mark to make it 7-0.

Assessing the Blues’ performance after the match, Captain Ruben Leavitt was ebullient: ‘the defence played exceptionally well, and a clean sheet in the final is a pretty cool accomplishment for the team.’ Reflecting on another successful year for the team, he added ‘we had such a rough start to this season, but everyone contributed hugely toward turning it around. This (was) an amazing note on which to end.’

Calum TM Nicholson