The latest inductee to the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame is Jimmy Pennycook who will be presented with his accolade ahead of the Fife Flyers and Dundee Stars match on Sunday 9th February 2025.
Jimmy Pennycook started playing hockey in his hometown of Dundee progressing from the junior Meteors to the Rockets in 1973/74 where he won the Montford Trophy which was awarded to the Rookie of the Year in the Northern League. When the Rockets paused playing in 1977 he signed for Murrayfield Racers until returning to Rockets for the 1982/83 season.
Jimmy joined the Flyers for the 1984/85 season and during his time with the club he played on what could be called a part-time basis due to his “day job” in the offshore oil industry. His debut for the Flyers was against the Murrayfield Racers in an Autumn Cup game at Kirkcaldy on 27th October. The Flyers beat their old rivals 9-6 with the debutant netting a hattrick. It was one of four trebles he scored in competitive games that campaign including a season high four goals against the Cleveland Bombers on 24th November in a Premier League match at Kirkcaldy. Jimmy played in the Flyers Bluecol Cup Final defeat against the Durham Wasps at Streatham in December. He played in all of the Flyers post season games on their way to a British Championship win at Wembley against one of his former teams the Murrayfield Racers. Jimmy scored the final goal in the 9-4 win and in his 24 competitive games that season he tallied 29+21 as well as a 1+4 in two Scottish Cup games.
The following season Jimmy’s work commitments meant that he missed more than 50% of the Flyers regular season games but from his 18 appearances in the Autumn Cup, League and Scottish Cup he registered 15+25. He appeared in all five of the Flyers playoff games, recording 4 assists, which culminated in the Wembley semifinal loss as the Murrayfield Racers exacted revenge for the previous season.
Early on in season 1986/87 Jimmy bagged four goals in a 22-2 drubbing of the Glasgow Eagles in the Norwich Union Cup as the Flyers won the Scottish section to progress to play the Nottingham Panthers in the Final at the NEC in Birmingham. It would be heartbreak in another big match for Jimmy and the Fifers as they lost 5-4 in overtime to the Panthers who had tied the game late to force the extra session. Jimmy got another treble against the Eagles in February in a road Scottish Cup game. The Flyers made it all the way back to Wembley but once again were the bridesmaids as the Durham Wasps eliminated them 7-5 with Pennycook grabbing one of the Flyers goals to finish the season with 33 goals and 32 assists from his 33 games played.
As an Assistant Captain Jimmy once again played on a when available basis during season 1987/88 which included him missing a month when he was working in South Africa. His season ended when he played his final game at Murrayfield on March 20th before heading back off to the oil riggs in Nigeria which also saw him miss out on the Flyers return to Wembley where they were once again disappointed as they went down to the Durham Wasps in the British Championship Final. His points total in 28 games that season was 15+17 total for the season.
Jimmy then returned to his hometown to play for the now Tayside Tigers before heading south of the border for a three seasons before he made a somewhat unexpected to return to the Flyers in season 1992/93 after the Flyers returned to the top flight after their disastrous 1990/91relegation campaign. The now 35 year old Jimmy had been with Murrayfield to start the season but early in December he had been left out of the Racers line up and he decided to make the switch back to Fife. Once again it was the Racers he was up against in his second “debut” with his former team however running out 9-4 winners this time. His first Flyers goal on his return was a consolation in a 9-2 defeat in Nottingham with his last ever competitive goal also against the Panthers in the Lace City in a playoff game. In total he played 23 games that season and added 4 assists to the goals above with his final game being at home against the Panthers on 18th April ending in a 10-3 loss.
Jimmy’s Flyers competitive career statistics total reads: P132 G94 A105 for a total of 199 points and 126 penalty minutes.
He went on to finish his career at Dumfries then five seasons in the North West of England and he played his last competitive game at Fife for the Lancashire Hawks on 3rd March 1998 in a play-off game as his side went down 14-7 with Jimmy on target with a consolation goal. Later that season he also appeared on Fife ice as part of the Latto’s Legends Team as his great friend Gordon Latto was honoured with a Testimonial game.
His full British Hall of Fame Induction Bio can be read here: https://icehockeyuk.co.uk/hall-of-fames/jimmy-pennycook/
Pic Credits – Trish Dingwall
