UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH.

DANNY MARSHALL The Raiders Facebook page is delighted to bring to you the first of a series of articles getting you up close and personal with the team. To get the ball (puck) rolling we have Mr Romford, holder of just about every playing record, Mr Danny Marshall. Hockey clearly takes up a lot of your spare time, but what is it that puts the food on the Marshall table? I have been glazing for over 10 years. And what drew you into that trade? A hockey connection here as well? Not a passion to make windows thats for sure. Like many people a job is a job and this one came up so I went for it. Does that make you practical around the home? Or does your time commitment to hockey mean you havent found out yet? My wife will agree with the latter. Does hockey leave you time for any other sports? Absolutely not, when I am not training or playing I am training with Billy (son) on and off the ice. Then when I am not doing anything I previously said I am in the gym or outdoor running. I would like to play golf but as yet I have not had any time to do so. Is that your dream job? If not, what would it be? Secret agent 006 Many of us saw you on ice with your son a few weeks back. Does he look like he is destined for a Hockey career too? He certainly knows how to handle a stick! Billy is very confident on the ice for his age. We do not pressure him in anyway if he does not want to train he does not have to. As yet this has never happened, he loves being on the ice and he loves playing with his hockey stick at home. In fact, his shots have become so powerful he is no longer allowed to play in the house we have built him a cabin in the garden and put a competition size goal in there so he can play as much as he likes and nothing will get broken. At one point Billy was afraid of the referees, this is the reason he did not come on the ice when he was mascot, he only came on during the warmup because the referees were not there. With the help of his mum Billy is getting used to referee's and is no longer afraid of them, she tries to get them to wave at him so he can see that they are not all bad lol.

What will be your advice to him? Enjoy the game as much as he can. Danny, remind us all, how many seasons is it now since you first set foot on the ice at RVW, and how many years since you first played for the Raiders? 23 years ago and I have been playing for the Raiders since I was 15. Did you play the game as a junior anywhere before Romford? I went to Lea Valley when I was 10. Played there for 2 seasons then I went to Romford. What lead you to start playing? Any relatives playing? Any family interest in the game that dragged you along as a spectator? I started playing street hockey when I was 8. I saw ice hockey on the television and decided to give it a go. I went to Streatham and they said that I needed to get more on-ice experience so I went to Lea Valley. My first game with Lea Valley was against Streatham and I scored a hat-tick. Who was your biggest influence in those early days I will have to say my parents they supported my choices and drove me all round the country. Did ice hockey have any competition for your time? We hear you were pretty handy at Martial arts when you started playing? I started Karate when I was 5, I got to the second dan black belt level. Between the both of them I was training 7 days a week so I had to make a decision, I decided to dedicate my time to ice-hockey. Twenty odd years playing the game must have flown by. What are the memories that flood back as you look back over those years? Junior success in the early years and national finals, League titles in the years of the Finns, Playoff success on the ice at Chelmsford, Playoff appearances at Coventry, Seeing GB duty under Chris McSorely, Being the worst team in the league 2009-2010, Last years league title and scoring game winning goals. All the friends I have gained over the years, meeting my wife, and my two beautiful children, these are some of the most memorable times of my life that have happened during my hockey life and the ones can come free.

What would be the least favourite moment, worst defeat, biggest disappointment that comes to mind. The end of the Romford Ice Rink. There will never be a place like it. A huge number of talented players have appeared alongside you in that time. We can all recall the great understanding you had with Timo (Kavhanen) and Jakko (Komulainen) but who would you say (current squad excluded to save you from embarrassment or getting lynched) would have been your favourite import linemate? Apart from the Finns Dave Bankoske, Henrik Olsen, Freddy Ytfelt, Jason Ruston, Kyle Amyotte and Andrew Power all spring to mind but from a players perspective who was best to play alongside and why. Definitely Timo and Jakko because we played the same type of hockey. We were good friends on and off the ice. I still keep in contact with them today. Our time together was very successful we had great respect for each other. And what about the brits over those years? Any particular favourites? I would not like to single any one, and my choices are not based on who was the best player but just my favourites; Richard Tomalin, Glen Moorhouse, John Beckett, Phil Donovan, the Cast Brother's, Andy Gillon, Billy Rawles, Wonnacot, Bishop, Stuart Low, Shaun Wallis, Mark Williams, Tyrone Miller and last but not least all the current players in the team. There have been some characters over those years as well? Any particular favourites such as the jokers Moorhouse, Donovan, Oliver etc? Glen Moorhouse, Stuart Low and Phil Donovan. Any particular antics that are clean enough to tell us about? As you know players have their own superstitions. One of Glen Moorhouse's was to not wash his hockey socks for the entire season. When we won the league he filled the sock with beer and drank the whole lot through the sock. Any embarrassing moments that are again clean enough to tell us about? Hockey has been pretty kind to me so no embarrassing moments as yet.

The present Raiders team has a reputation of having a good room. How essential is that to success on the ice and doesnt success on the ice naturally lead to a good room? Success on the ice does not lead naturally to a "a good room". You can be winning games but someone will still be negative, couple of examples being, not enough ice time or lack of passing. The last thing you want when you have won is a player being negative, although I cannot eliminate this behaviour altogether I do try in vain to keep it to a minimum. This season has been a great season in the dressing room all players get on really well, there is the obvious banter that you get with all teams, but there is also respect for each other. So just a handful of appearances out of a Romford Jersey, most notable being a few games in a Chelmsford shirt. How did that feel? Have all your friends forgiven you yet? I would say "Yes" they have forgiven me but you will have to ask them that. I think I have made up for my mini break away from the Raiders. My heart lies with Romford, I have tried to be true to the name on the shirt. What rink do you dread playing in and why? At first it was the IoW because the size of the ice pad was very challenging. However over the years I have adapted to the size of the rink and I am now ashamed to say that I actually enjoy going over there. Apart from RVW, what is your favourite rink to play in? I always look forward to games at Invicta, the atmosphere is guaranteed and they have cheer leaders LOL. Another rink I enjoy playing at based on atmosphere is Chelmsford you can't beat a local derby.

You have presumably seen the plans of the new Romford rink. Does it give you any excitement having the prospect of a shiny new home or is it just a pain that the current one is going? I have seen the plans for the new rink and I am afraid to say that at present this is all they are "plans". Nothing has actually been agreed yet and I fear that a new rink will not be built, which is a devastating thought, not just for myself but for everyone that uses Rom Valley Way at the moment. The reality that there is no longer going to be a rink in Romford (short term I hope) is just starting to sink in. I must be honest I was secretly hoping for a miracle but with only a few weeks left until the lights go out, a miracle there will not be. I am gutted that the rink is going. This has been my second home for many of years and although it needs some TLC I do not believe that it is in a state of disrepair as the council claim. I am extremely disappointed that Havering Council could not do a deal with Morrisons similar to the Streatham/Tesco deal. The council have made a lot of enemies with the Morrison's deal due to failing to negotiate a temporary rink or simply because they cannot be bothered to consider a temporary rink. I hope they win some of these enemies back and build the new rink. I think I should stop here because I could honestly go on forever about this disastrous situation, especially when it comes to my son losing his icetime. A few have wondered whether you may be getting close to the end of your playing career. Your return from a brief injury for the Cup games was pretty sensational and must have silenced those doubters. Do you think that rest did you some good? I will not lie, the rest was well needed when hockey life, home life and work life appear to integrate into one, you do feel like you simply have no time to breathe. Although the rest was because of an eye infection it also gave my back time to heal. I felt very good stepping out onto the ice against Chelmsford and I am glad you noticed it as well - lol The loss of the league title must have hurt, especially when it was results against the lower teams that did the damage. Any thoughts as to where it went wrong? Too short a bench when injuries kicked in? Too many suspensions to key players? Too many penalty minutes? We were not the only ones to lose against the lower placed teams this season. Complacency when playing these teams can get you into a lot of trouble as we have seen this year.

The recent cup victory will have altered the odds on a Romford playoff success. You obviously think Romford can pull it off, so we wont even ask that question. What we will ask is what will be key to Romford lifting the final trophy of the season and how do you as player coach ensure that happens? We can absolutely "pull it off". Staying focused and not taking penalties. Discipline has appeared to be an issue for the Raiders. For a player that has relatively few penalty minutes personally that must be very frustrating, or is it an unavoidable aspect of a passionate player? Discipline has been a major factor this year, and trust me we are working on it. There are three reasons penalties are given; Unjustified calls from a whistle happy referee. Players own fault and lack of composure and Passion to stick up for your team. The first I can do nothing about, the second I can definitely do something about, I am not going to tell you how, it is between me, the culprit and the dressing room, and the third has to be dealt with delicately because any player will automatically try and stick up for another player if they feel they have been treated unfairly by the other team. This is all down to passion and protection, which is something I expect from the players but you have to know where to draw the line and you need to think before you act. So how much longer on ice for DM6? Do you have ambitions to be playing in the new rink in 2015 and would scoring the first competitive goal there be a realistic target? At this moment in time I cannot answer that question. I do intend to play a game in the new stadium and I intend to score. It just all depends on how long it takes the council to build it. In any event I hope to be a big influence in respect of ice hockey in the new rink whether that is on or off the ice. I am hoping to hold my testimonial there for over 20 years service to the Raiders Your transition to player coach seems to have gone reasonably well. Do you see it as the success you had hoped for? With the likes of Birrell, Clarke and Cornish to compete against it could have been easier! I am very happy coaching, it is something I always wanted to do but was never going to rush myself into. I think I have enough experience behind me to justify coaching now. Success wise I am proud of the achievements me and the team have had. It is not easy being player/coach because obviously you have to think about your own game as well as the teams. There are a lot of player/coaches in this league which is good, I feel like I am on a level playing field with the other top teams.

So does the player coach role lead to a natural progression to bench based coach? Do you see yourself coaching only or will that be difficult for a player who has lit the lamp so often? Will you be able to resist the temptation to jump on ice and show how it should be done? With a nickname like Superdan surely I could wear my hockey kit under my suit and if need be spin around 3 times and Marshall the player will appear lol. On a serious note at the moment I prefer to be on the ice and not bench based, because I feel like I still have a lot to give as a player. But I am no fool, when the time comes to hang up my skates I will do just that and will continue to coach from the bench. So is your coaching taken straight from the words and drills of the coaches you have played under, or is it something you have improved by studying and reading? I do not get much time to read coaching books, I coach based on my experiences. So the NIHL is supposed to be a development league. Do you agree with that situation and if so do you feel there should be some form of agreement for a minimum number of junior places on each team? Yes I do and I intend to draft in Juniors for next season. The top four placed teams do not have enough juniors, because they all want to win the league and have three solid lines. Youth development in this country is so important and we need to do all we can to keep it going. The best of the best juniors should be given the opportunity to play with us. Just one junior on a team is not enough I think there should be at least 3 juniors on each team (junior being under the age of 20). Is your love of the game limited to the UK scene? Do you follow the NHL and if so which team do you follow in particular? I follow the NHL when I can. If I had to choose my favourite teams at the moment they would be Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins. Recently married to the lovely Anita, how will she feel if just as she is about to get you to herself that you take up coaching instead? Anita has always assumed that I will move on to bench based coaching once my on ice career has ended and she will support any decision I make as she has done for the years we have been together. The good thing is that Anita enjoys hockey just as much as me which definitely helps.

Any weird and wonderful talents we should know of? I can play "Stand By Me" on the keyboard, it keeps the children quite for about 30 seconds. So finally, Anita and the kids have been out for the day and you a lumbered with the cooking. What are they likely to end up with when they get in? A gourmet meal, beans on toast or the menu from the Chinese take away? The Marshall speciality of Spaghetti Bolognese.

Many thanks to Danny and Anita for their time in compiling this interview. Watch out for future editions so you can get up close and personal with the rest of the team.

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