Sekonda 'Face To Watch' for March: Jimmy Hibbert

JIMMY HELPED FIX IT FOR RIVERKINGS Newcastle Riverkings' goaltender Jimmy Hibbert has been named as the Sekonda 'Face to Watch' for the month of March. The 25-year old keeper had a terrific month, topping the netminding averages for the Sekonda Superleague play-offs and, as the last line of defence, giving Riverkings a helping hand into the Sekonda Superleague play-off semi-finals. Jimmy was on top form in the play-offs and indeed Riverkings were not beaten in regulation time in their six group games. He posted the top goals against average (1.70) in the group round and was fourth overall in the standings for the month of March with a 92.2 save percentage and 2.01 goals against average from seven games played. Riverkings were the fourth top team in March, with four wins from eight games. Taking 68.8% of available points, they also had the third best goals against record. Born in Etobicoke, Toronto, Jim iced for St Francis Xavier University and OHL club, Niagara Falls Thunder, before coming to Britain in 1996 to join the Sheffield Steelers. His last outing to the Manchester Evening News Arena for a play-off Championship was in 1998 when he was between the pipes for Steelers in their 5-2 third/fourth place play-off victory against Manchester Storm. Jimmy, who was very pleased to hear of his selection for the award, is looking forward to the coming weekend. "To receive this award is quite an honour and I am very surprised. We have had a tough year so far but things have come together at the end. We just need two more big wins! We're up against Sheffield and they're a great team. They won the Challenge Cup a couple of days ago so we will have to be on top of our game to beat them." Jimmy will now have a huge role to play at the Sekonda Superleague Finals, to assist Riverkings with the task of obtaining what would be their first ever Superleague honour. However, Riverkings General Manager, Mike O'Connor, is confident that Jimmy will turn up trumps. "I'm sure that Jimmy will do a great job for us in Manchester. We've had a tremendous play-off, and a lot of players have certainly performed very well. However, Jimmy Hibbert comes to the forefront of those performances earning him the top spot on goaltending averages for both groups. He has been invaluable to the Riverkings this past month and this underlines his selection to the Great Britain programme." Jim will be rewarded for his efforts with the March Face to Watch title, alongside a gift from Sekonda, and he takes one of the six places available in the running for the Sekonda Player of the Season Award. The Sekonda Player of the Season will be announced at a special media luncheon being held on Sunday 2nd April. This seasons monthly winners were: Ed Courtenay (October), Mark Cavallin (November), Tony Hand (December), Steve Thornton (January), Rob Stewart (February). 28th March 2000 For further information contact the Sekonda Superleague Media Office on 01530 838899, e-mail apollard@btconnect.com or visit our website at www.iceweb.co.uk