Tim Cranston Interview – The Early Years

Tim Cranston, former Fife Flyers, Cleveland Bombers, Durham Wasps, Sheffield Steelers, Edinburgh Capitals forward is my guest for today’s interview.
Duel national Tim also played 39 times for the Great Britain national team, scoring 11 goals with 13 assists.

In Part 1 of our interview we talk of his early Canadian hockey days. We move on to discuss why he decided to try his luck “over the pond” in Europe. We then talk of how his UK Ice Hockey adventure began, starting from Christmas, in Scotland, in 1988.
Tim’s European adventure began when, as a 21 year old, he signed for GIJS Groningen in Holland. Tim went on to play 5 seasons in Central Europe, playing for teams in Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

Fife Flyers

So, in December of 1988, with his mind set on a return home to Canada, his career took a twist. He agreed a short term contract with the Fife Flyers to cover for one of their injured imports.
He recalls:

I had family coming from Scotland, so I’d be able to meet
my cousins after games.
I’d also played against one of their Czech imports,
Vincent Lukac, he was an unbelievable player.

Tim played just 7 games for the Flyers before their injured import, Czech Jindrich Kokrment returned from a broken ankle. Despite a return of 19 goals and 15 assists, Tim was released, he returned to Canada set on an academic career.
However other UK teams had noticed his Fife performances and not surprisingly placed him on their import “wanted” list.

Cleveland Bombers

What was surprising was his choice of team, he chose to sign for a division one team Cleveland Bombers. The Bombers had narrowly missed out on promotion the previous season. They’d topped the Division One North but fell to the Telford Tigers in the play off semi finals.

Tim explains that his decision wasn’t exactly based on his hockey ambitions:

I did have other offers,
however, as well as playing I was preparing to do my university degree at Durham University,
so Billingham fitted that mould for me.
Plus,
My uncle Tom lived just around the corner from the Billingham Ice Bowl
so I could see family too.

So, in his first the first season in Billingham, the team won promotion to the Premier League. The second season, although the team fought bravely, the Bombers were relegated and were returned to division one.

Durham Wasps

We move on to talk about how and why he signed for the Wasps. Durham seemed the logical fit, he was studying at Durham University and thought, why not live there? Tim approached the Durham Wasps, signed and became an integral part of their 1991 – 92 team.

Tim recalls his very first day as a Wasps player:

I arrived early and went straight to the changing rooms. There was Stephen Cooper,
we’d had some real battles the previous season.
He looked up and said
What are YOU doing here?

Quality
The Wasps were a team stacked with quality, with Hall of Famers, imports Rick Brebant, Mike Blaisdell and Mike O’Connor. Also British Hall of Famers Ian Cooper, Stephen Cooper plus Damian Smith, Ivor Bennett and Michael Tasker. That added up to a team stocked full of talent and quality.

Tim joined a team desperate to emulate the previous season’s Grand Slam winning team.

However, it wasn’t to be and the team didn’t quite make the previous season’s highs .The team only managed to win the League Championship and Wembley Playoffs – only!

Unfortunately Tim’s second season with Durham ended in December 1992 after just 16 games. It was a very heavy academic final year for his university studies, they had to take precedent over playing. Tim couldn’t give the same high commitment to the team and his contract was ended by mutual consent.

GB World Championships

By this time Tim had gained his British passport and was classed as a valuable asset even without a club. More importantly GB coach Alex Dampier wanted him in his squad for the 1993 Pool B World Championships in Holland.

Eindhoven

However Tim had to be signed with a UK team to be eligible to play and he wasn’t. Cue Alex Dampier who somehow managed to get Tim signed to a recreational hockey team. It worked, Tim travelled to Eindhoven and played a significant part in the team’s success.
Great Britain won all 8 of their games, finished top and were promoted to Pool A.
Tim scored the GWG in 3 of those games, including a late winner in a crucial game against hosts Holland with just 2 minutes 46 seconds left.
The Great Britain team would go on to play in Pool A the following season. They would compete in a Group against top teams Team Canada, Russia, Italy, Austria and Germany. However we’ll talk about that in Part 2 of the Tim Cranston interview.