The YKK sponsored Widnes Wild are delighted to announce the return of German born forward Daniel “Dani” Haid for the forthcoming 2022/23 NIHL season.
He was a key part of the team that finished 3rd in the Moralee Division and won the Moralee Cup last season. In 29 games across all competitions for the Wild, he scored 10 goals, 7 assists and only picked up 2 penalty minutes.
He played in all but one of the 2021 lockdown series games and was part of the Wild squad that won the Division 1 National Championship, NIHL North Cup and came runners up in the Three Rivers Cup.
Haid originally joined the Wild in January 2020 as cover for import Michal Novak who was getting over a long term injury and also to allow Widnes the option to rotate their overseas players in the run up to what had been expected to be a thrilling title battle.
Unfortunately, things did not work out as planned as the league season was cancelled with several crunch games left to play – but not before Daniel had made an impact on the Laidler Division, scoring 7 goals and 6 assists in his first 11 league games.
Haid hails from Bietigheim-Bissingen just north of Stuttgart in Germany and played junior hockey there before spending 4 seasons playing for the Chemnitz Crashers in the minor German leagues, scoring 24+37 in 55 league games.
Haid has BSc and MSc in Sports Engineering from Chemnitz University of Technology and he is now a PHD student at Sheffield Hallam University where he is working on the development and validation of a test method for assessing the impact properties of ice hockey helmets.
He played for the Sheffield Bears student ice hockey team for two seasons, scoring 23 points in 12 games over two seasons.
Speaking about his return for the Wild, Dani said:
“I am excited to re-sign with the Wild and looking forward to the season, especially playing in front of our home crowd. I might even smash out a whole season for the first time in the UK!”
Widnes Wild Player Coach Richard Haggar said of Haid:
“Dani is a very intelligent player with a lot of speed to his game. He has an eye for a pass and knows where the goal is. He scored some big goals towards the end of last season. Dani is also excellent on the penalty kill with his high intensity and willingness to chase every puck.”
“This is a big season for Dani where I want to see him take his game to a new level and I expect to see more of what he is capable of this year.”
Dani Haid will once again wear the number 44 shirt and his home, away and warm up shirts are available to “own and loan” at a cost of £80.00 per shirt for the season.
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