Still on a high from the previous season Kings players and supporters entered the 1994/5 season with high hopes. However, as Rick says in his interview, this was a huge step up and with a tight budget the team struggled to compete. The basis of the team from the previous year remained, with defenceman Dale Lambert and British forward Anthony Payne joining the squad. Payne was later to leave on the eve of the transfer deadline in acrimonious circumstances.
The season started with mixed results in the B&H competition. The first match saw a 11-8 win against local rivals Peterborough Pirates and then a closely fought match against Sheffield Steelers losing by only one goal. These were followed by three losses and then two wins against Romford Raiders to finish off.
Kings historic Premier Division debut was a gruelling 420 mile road trip to play experienced team Fife Flyers. Although Kings had plenty of scoring chances and could have won the match, they eventually lost 7-5, in front of 30 hardy supporters.
In between the B&H matches Kings gained their first ever Premier point in only their second league game, a 7-7 draw at Basingstoke. Kings had been 7-5 down before Paddy scored twice to tie the game. A loss against Beavers was followed by their first Premier win against Bracknell Bees. Kings then had a six game losing streak before their next League win against Humberside Hawks.
When Kings hit another losing streak Rick criticised the fitness levels of some of his players who were told "to fight the flab". In November Rick decided he needed to make changes to the squad and released two players, Andy Allan and Trent Kaese, thinking that he had two imports lined up to replace them. However, without informing the club, neither import - Barry McKinley or Louis Dumont showed up. The first the team knew of it was their no show at the airport of the day of their supposed arrival. This left Kings with a short bench throughout November and December. Rick, who had been planning to hang up his skates and concentrate on coaching, was forced to delay his retirement. Off the ice the supporters were unhappy, with petitions and letters firing back and forth.
When Canadian forward Trevor Ellerman and then defenceman Cory Keenan arrived January it seemed that finally things were starting to come together for the team. However, fate had other ideas and within minutes of each other British players Simon Howard and Lee Pow suffered serious injury at a match at Cardiff. Then Mark Hazlehurst was banned for the rest of the season after an incident in Bracknell with Mark Slater.
There were some highlights to the year. Beating local rivals Peterborough Pirates six times in League and Cup competitions helped the spirits of team and supporters alike. Also the 6-5 win against Basingstoke at the end November, just after the non-arrival of the imports, showed the character of the team. But as Strac said at the end of the year "Last year, when winning promotion, Walt Disney wrote my scripts. This year it's Stephen King". And let's not forget that they retained the New Towns Trophy after a 15-10 aggregate win over Telford Tigers. Rick and Mike Kindred also won call-ups to the GB squad and played in the Pool B World Championship that year.
Kings' top League scorer was Paddy Scott with 69+71 who despite Kings' tough season managed to finish 9th highest scorer in the League. He was closely followed by Doug with 62+70. Simon Perkins finished with 50 points despite rarely playing on a settled line. Mike Kindred also won praise for his adaptability as he played in defence for much of the season still netting 16 goals.
A little light relief was provided for the fans when Rick and Doug added their unique blend of glamour and sex appeal to a BH Christmas TV advert.
