 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JACKSON MCBRIDE has become the newest member of British ice hockey royalty, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008.
Jackson
was one of ice hockey's finest British-developed players, skating
for various Scottish clubs during his 26-year career and appearing
in three World Championships for Great Britain. Born in Paisley, Scotland
on 28 August 1946, Jackson was brought up on the town’s Seedhill
Road and educated at the John Neilson Institute. On leaving school
he served an apprenticeship as a fitter with Thomas Lamont’s
in Paisley.
He
learned to skate as an eight year-old at the old Paisley Ice Rink
and started his ice hockey career aged 16 with Paisley Vikings in
1962. Moving on to the Paisley Mohawks, where he benefited enormously
from experienced team-mates like Billy Brennan, Bill Crawford, Dave
Ferguson and Joe Brown, he developed into an outstanding left winger
on Paisley’s all-conquering squad of the mid 1960s, earning
an All-Star ‘B’ Team honour in 1968-69.
Jackson’s
father was based in the fire service at Ayr, and the family moved
to the west coast town in 1968. The following year Jackson, just turned
23, was invited to take over as Player-Coach of Ayr Bruins. A First
team All-Star in each of the three seasons from 1969-72, he was the
Northern League’s Player of the Year in 1974-75 (when playing
for a struggling Ayr team, reformed after a two-year hiatus following
the closure of the Beresford Terrace rink in 1972, who had to play
all games away from home) and was the driving force in Ayr’s
British Championship win in 1976.
Jackson
was good enough to still play Heineken Premier Division hockey in
1987-88 for Ayr, when aged 41, having been Coach of the Bruins at
the start of that season. He had been Player-Coach of Irvine Wings
in the Scottish League during 1984-85 and subsequently coached Irvine
in their only season of British League hockey (1986-87). In addition,
he had spells as coach to Glasgow Saints in the British League Division
One, and the newly-formed Kilmarnock team in the Scottish League from
1989.
This was followed by a quick breather and a five minute period of sudden
death overtime. Jets first line stayed on the ice for the whole time
fighting against fatigue as well as Dumfries and held it tight until
the end. With no score and no end to the game the scene was set for
every hockey fans favourite show, the penalty shot shootout. Ayr won
the coin toss and decided to shoot first sending this years newest
signing Gary Morris to centre ice. A few intense seconds later, Morris
deked the goalie perfectly and sent the puck home. Then Jets NM Bernie
McCrone blocked a weak effort by Dumfries' first shooter.
Jackson
was still player-coach of the recreational Ayr Jets team up to his
untimely death, aged 56, on 10 July 2003. (Jackson, a manager with
British Aerospace in Ayrshire, had been on a business trip to one
of the company’s factories near Blackburn, Lancashire, when
he died suddenly in his Clayton-le-Moors hotel room. Fittingly, he
had taken part in a recreational hockey practice at Blackburn Ice
Arena on the evening of his tragic death.)
On the international front, he represented Great Britain in three World
Championships (1971, 1973 and 1976); he also played for Great Britain
in Denmark’s Pondus Cup tournament in 1975 and appeared for
Scotland against England on a number of occasions.
As well as coaching at senior level, Jackson had also coached various
junior teams at Ayr over many years, most recently at the Centrum
and he was an inspirational figure to the many junior players he helped
develop.
Jackson’s elevation to the Hall of Fame is fully endorsed by former goaltender
Tommy Newall, who played with him for Paisley Mohawks and both the
Ayr Bruins and Ayr Rangers: “It’s about time that he was
recognised because Jackson was a hell of a player and a real good
guy. He was one of the best stickhandlers I’d seen and he could
pick up bad passes behind him and make them look good. His attitude
was just right; he’d train every day if he had to.
“All the old players had respect for him, even as a youngster – it
was obvious he was going to be a star.”
Canadian goaltender Jim Graves, his former Bruins’ team-mate on the Championship-winning
squad of ‘76, always maintained that Jackson was the one British
player most likely to have succeeded in North America, had such opportunities
been available for British players in the late 1960s. He was the prototype
‘power forward’ before such a phrase had been coined,
being a superbly fast skater, skilled stickhandler, hard shooter…and
someone who also relished the physical aspect of the sport.
This is a view also shared by Tommy Newall: “Jackson, with his size,
skating and stickhandling, could’ve made it in North America.”
Jackson is survived by his widow Ayleen, sons Ryan and Blair and daughter
Krista. (Both Ryan and Blair followed their father into the sport
through Ayr’s junior development programme; latterly, Ryan played
with Solway Sharks while Blair assisted Paisley Pirates.)
Jackson McBride's career stats in senior hockey while playing for Paisley
Vikings;Paisley Mohawks; Ayr Rangers; Ayr Bruins; Glasgow Dynamos
and Irvine Wings are as follows:
Seasons 1962-1988* 294 Games, 260 Goals, 303 Assists, 563 Points, 464 PIMS
*Records incomplete for seasons 1962-66; Did not play senior hockey
during 1979-83 and 1984-85.
GB Stats
Year |
GP |
Goals |
Assists |
Points |
PIMS |
Venue |
Competition |
1971 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
Holland
World Championships |
Pool
C |
1973 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
Holland
World Championships |
Pool
C |
1976 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
Poland
World Championships |
Pool
C |
75/76 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
Denmark
Pondus Cup |
|
Total |
18 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
20 |
Profile by David Gordon, 2008, member of IHJUK
