Richard Little – The Durham Wasps Scoring Machine Who Made Britain Home

Some imports arrived in British hockey with impressive résumés and needed time to adjust.

Richard Little didn't.

When the big Canadian centre joined the Durham Wasps in 1993, he immediately became one of the most productive forwards in British hockey.

During just two league seasons at the Riverside, Little scored 99 goals in 81 games, accumulating 175 points. Across the competitions recorded for those two seasons, his Durham totals reached 109 goals and 195 points in 93 appearances.

Those numbers alone would make him memorable to Wasps supporters.

But Richard Little's story goes much further than two prolific seasons in Durham.

Before arriving in Britain he had established himself as an outstanding university player in Canada. After leaving the Wasps he went on to spend five seasons with Basingstoke Bison, played a season for the Slough Jets, and represented Great Britain internationally.

It was a British career that stretched across several very different eras of the domestic game.

From British Columbia to Major Junior Hockey

Richard Little was born in Hazelton, British Columbia, on 16 September 1966.

At 6'2", Little had the physical presence to play through the middle, but his subsequent career demonstrated that there was considerably more to his game than size.

His development took him into the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he played major junior hockey including time with the Verdun Junior Canadiens.

But rather than following the professional route immediately after junior hockey, Little's career took another direction.

He headed to the University of Prince Edward Island.

And it was there that he developed into one of the outstanding players in Panthers hockey history.

A UPEI Panthers Hall of Fame Career

Long before Durham Wasps supporters became accustomed to seeing Richard Little's name on the scoresheet, fans of the UPEI Panthers had experienced much the same thing.

Little played five seasons of university hockey with UPEI between 1986 and 1991.

The numbers were remarkable.

In 117 regular-season games, he recorded:

84 goals
98 assists
182 points

That works out at more than 1.5 points per game over his university career.

But the statistics tell only part of the story.

Little became one of the Panthers' leading players during an important period for the UPEI hockey programme, earning individual recognition at both conference and national level.

He received AUAA All-Star honours and was recognised as an All-Canadian, placing him among the leading university hockey players in the country.

In his final UPEI season, 1990–91, Little was named the Panthers' Most Valuable Player.

His contribution to UPEI hockey was ultimately recognised with one of the university's highest sporting honours — induction into the UPEI Sports Hall of Fame.

That recognition puts his later British career into greater perspective.

Richard Little didn't arrive in Durham in 1993 as an unknown Canadian hoping to make his mark overseas.

He arrived with a substantial hockey pedigree behind him.

And once he reached the Riverside, he wasted very little time demonstrating it.

Durham Wasps – 1993

By the time Little joined Durham Wasps for the 1993–94 season, British hockey was well into one of its most memorable periods.

The Riverside was already home to a club with a formidable reputation, passionate support and a history of attracting outstanding overseas players.

Little immediately looked at home.

His first British League season produced extraordinary numbers:

42 games
62 goals
43 assists
105 points

Exactly 2.5 points per game.

Scoring more than 60 league goals in your first season in a new country is some introduction.

And Little continued producing when the postseason arrived.

In six playoff appearances he added another seven goals and seven assists.

For Wasps supporters watching from the Riverside terraces, Little provided a formidable combination.

He was big enough to compete physically, difficult to knock off the puck and, most importantly, had the ability to finish.

Again and again.

No Second-Season Slump

After such an explosive first year, matching those numbers was always going to be difficult.

But Little remained one of Durham's principal offensive weapons during 1994–95.

His second league campaign produced:

39 games
37 goals
33 assists
70 points

Little finished as Durham's leading points scorer in the league that season.

His production wasn't confined to league games either.

During the Benson & Hedges Cup, he recorded another 14 goals and nine assists in nine appearances.

Put his two Durham league seasons together and the figures are striking:

81 games
99 goals
76 assists
175 points

Just one goal short of a century of league goals — in only 81 games.

Across the competitions recorded by Elite Prospects during his Durham career, Little accumulated 109 goals and 86 assists for 195 points in 93 appearances.

For a player who spent only two seasons wearing a Wasps jersey, that represents a considerable impact.

Goodbye Durham – Hello Basingstoke

Little left Durham in the summer of 1995, but he wasn't leaving British hockey.

Instead, he headed south.

The Basingstoke Bison were preparing for a new chapter themselves. The club adopted the Bison name for 1995–96, and coach Peter Woods recruited a number of reclassified imports and Great Britain-eligible players.

Among the most important arrivals was Richard Little.

Basingstoke's own history describes him as a "big forward at the time for the league" and records his arrival from Durham. (Basingstoke Bison)

And Little quickly made his presence felt.

One game highlighted in the club's history came against Nottingham. Basingstoke found themselves 5–1 down after 27 minutes, but Little scored twice before the end of the second period as the Bison launched a remarkable comeback, eventually winning the game. (Basingstoke Bison)

Into the Superleague Era

The following season brought enormous change to British hockey.

The Ice Hockey Superleague was launched in 1996–97 and Basingstoke became one of its eight inaugural teams.

Little remained with the Bison.

The new competition was increasingly dominated by large imported rosters, but Little provided Basingstoke with continuity from the previous era.

During the Bison's Benson & Hedges Cup campaign that season, the club reached the semi-finals against the Ayr Scottish Eagles.

Basingstoke returned from Scotland with a 2–0 first-leg victory.

Then, in the return match, Little scored after just eight seconds. (Basingstoke Bison)

He remained with the Bison for 1997–98, his third consecutive season in Basingstoke, before the next chapter of his career took him elsewhere.

A Season with the Slough Jets

After three seasons with Basingstoke, Little joined the Slough Jets.

It added another well-known British club to a CV that already included Durham and Basingstoke.

But Little's association with the Bison wasn't finished.

After his season in Slough, he headed back to Hampshire.

Basingstoke's own history records "the return of Rich Little from Slough" as the experienced forward rejoined the Herd. (Basingstoke Bison)

It began a second spell with the club.

Back with the Bison

Little's return meant his Basingstoke career ultimately stretched across five seasons in two separate spells.

And by now British hockey had changed dramatically from the league Little had first encountered when he arrived in Durham in 1993.

He had experienced the final Heineken League seasons, the introduction of the Superleague and subsequently the British National League era.

Yet he continued producing.

The Bison's club history shows Little still contributing in 2001–02, when an experienced Basingstoke attack included the likes of Dru Burgess, Mike Ellis and former Slough marksman Derek Higdon alongside him. (Basingstoke Bison)

Across his five Basingstoke regular seasons, Little recorded:

175 games
71 goals
71 assists
142 points

The scoring rate was naturally different from those extraordinary Durham seasons, but the longevity is significant.

He had gone from being a devastating short-term import at the Riverside to becoming an established figure in British hockey.

Richard Little and Great Britain

There was another important development during Little's years in Britain.

He became a Great Britain international.

Eligible to represent GB, Little appeared during the 1995–96 Olympic qualifying campaign, recording two goals and an assist in three games.

He subsequently represented Britain at the 1997 World Championship B tournament, contributing three goals and an assist in seven appearances.

It completed quite a hockey journey.

From British Columbia and major junior hockey to university success on Prince Edward Island.

From the Riverside in Durham to Basingstoke and Slough.

And eventually to pulling on a Great Britain jersey.

More Than Those Incredible Durham Numbers

Ask a Durham Wasps supporter about Richard Little and one statistic is likely to dominate the conversation.

99 league goals in 81 games.

It should.

It's an extraordinary return from just two seasons.

But concentrating solely on those numbers risks overlooking the wider Richard Little story.

Before Durham, there had been an outstanding five-year university career at UPEI — 182 points in 117 regular-season games, All-Star and All-Canadian recognition, an MVP award and, ultimately, induction into the university's Sports Hall of Fame.

After Durham came five seasons with Basingstoke Bison, another with the Slough Jets, and international appearances for Great Britain.

Few players' British careers provide quite such a neat bridge between different eras.

Little arrived during the latter days of the colourful, high-scoring British League.

He was there as the game moved into the ambitious Superleague era.

And he was still playing as the British National League became an important part of the domestic landscape.

But perhaps the enduring image for Old Time Hockey UK remains the simplest one.

Richard Little.

No. 9.

Purple Durham Wasps jersey.

And another puck heading towards the back of the net.

For two seasons at the Riverside, it happened with remarkable regularity.

🍺 YOU WERE THERE…

Were you watching Richard Little during his two seasons with the Durham Wasps?

Or perhaps you remember him better from Basingstoke, Slough or Great Britain?

What made him such an effective player — and where does he rank among the imports you remember from that era?

Share your Richard Little memories with Old Time Hockey UK.

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