Ashley Tait (born 9 August 1975) is a British

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

who is currently player/coach for the

Basingstoke Bison The Basingstoke Bison are an English Ice Hockey club from Basingstoke. They currently compete in the National Ice Hockey League , NIHL National League and have previously been members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and its successor the Elite I ...

of the

National Ice Hockey League The National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) is a set of semi-professional ice hockey leagues administered by the English Ice Hockey Association. It is currently the second tier of British ice hockey, below the Elite Ice Hockey League. Formerly calle ...

. During Tait's career he has also played for

Coventry Blaze The Coventry Blaze are a British professional ice hockey team based in Coventry, England. They currently compete in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and play their home games at SkyDome Arena. The club was founded in 1965 as the original '' ...

Nottingham Panthers The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. RHPS are the Panthers' major sponsor for 2024–25. The Nottingham Panthers have won four league ...

(

EIHL The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to internationally as the British Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level ...

Kingston Hawks Humberside Seahawks later known as Humberside Hawks and then Kingston Hawks, were an English ice hockey club from Kingston upon Hull. Founded in 1988, the club played their home games at Hull Arena. The club went through several name changes d ...

( BNL),

Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The club's main (tit ...

(EIHL),

Milton Keynes Lightning The Milton Keynes Lightning are an ice hockey team founded in 2002 and then again in 2019 in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The Lightning (2nd franchise) currently play in Britain's second-tier professional league, the National Ice Hockey Leag ...

(EIHL),

Belfast Giants The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League, Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). T ...

(EIHL) and Ritten Renon (LIHG). Tait held the record for most senior Great Britain appearances with 110, until surpassed by Jonathan Phillips in May 2022.

Playing career

Tait played

junior hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from t ...

for

and progressed through the ranks playing in their ISL team in the 1999–2000 season. After a move to

, where he played two seasons in the BNL, Tait then moved back to the

for three full seasons in the Super League. Tait moved to

in 2002, a year in which the BNL saw Coventry Blaze win the League and Play-off Championship. Coventry Blaze then made their move into the Elite League in 2003. In 2004–2005 Tait was a member of the Blaze Grand Slam team and scored the Grand Slam winning goal against Nottingham in the play-off finals at the

NIC Nic is a gender-neutral given name, often short for Nicole, Nicholas, Nicola, or Dominic. It is also a component of Irish-language female surnames. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Nic Dalton (born 1964), Australian musician * Nic En ...

, one of Tait's 29 goals that season. Tait took over as Blaze Team Captain in 2007 and the team secured the League Championship and Play-off title before his move to

in 2007. Tait scored 32 goals for the

in 2008. Tait then moved back to the Blaze in 2013. Tait departed the Blaze in May 2017.https://eliteleague.co.uk/veteran-brit-tait-leaves-blaze/ In September 2017, Tait signed for the

as injury cover. After his short-term deal with MK Lightning expired, Tait moved to fellow Elite League side

as injury cover in December 2017.

Career highlights

Powerplay Player of the month (Feb 2004)
Best Forward (03-04 Coventry Blaze)
Elite League All Star Team (04–05)
Elite League Champion (04-05 Coventry Blaze)
Elite Challenge Cup Winner (04-05 Coventry Blaze)
Elite Playoff Champion (04-05 Coventry Blaze)
Elite League Champion (06-07 Coventry Blaze)
Elite Challenge Cup Winner (06-07 Coventry Blaze)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tait, Ashley 1975 births British expatriate ice hockey people Coventry Blaze players English ice hockey forwards Living people Milton Keynes Lightning players Sheffield Steelers players Belfast Giants players Basingstoke Bison players Ice hockey people from Toronto Sportspeople from Nottinghamshire English expatriate sportspeople in Italy Canadian emigrants to England Expatriate ice hockey players in Italy