With the season now less than two months away head coach Nick Poole is more excited than ever at the prospects for the upcoming year. The ten team English Premier League looks to be more competitive than ever.
'With Chelmsford dropping out and some of the teams really working hard to improve their rosters over the summer I believe we are in for the closest and most exciting season yet. I thought last year was a very wide open league and it showed with four teams winning the four different trophies that were on offer. However, with the signings that teams like Telford, Swindon and Wightlink have made I can't see there being an easy night in the schedule. This is great for all concerned as it will bring out the best in the players and also lead to some great hockey for all the fans across the league.
When quizzed on which teams he sees looking he strongest he had this to say, 'It is always tough to say at this juncture as we are still not clear on all the teams signings. I think Guildford will always be the team that all others are striving to emulate both on and off the ice. They have made a very good pick up in Steve Lee and it will be interesting to see if they bring in a spare import. Slough and Bracknell will always be battling at the top and anyone wanting to win a trophy will have to have success against them. The Phantoms look to have made the least changes to their roster which should help them get out of the blocks quickly and it will be interesting to see if the new coach brings in a new style of play. I really like the moves that Telford have made in the summer and I can see them making a significant move up the table. Swindon have completely changed the way their team will play by bringing in a top quality import n/m and I am guessing their final import will be a D'Man which will make the games against Swindon a real challenge. Romford and Wightlink have yet to announce their final imports which will be significant and both teams look to have strengthened their British core. At the moment the real unknowns are Sheffield who have some great British talent signed but no imports announced to date. I have little doubt they will be in the mix come the end of the year with the experienced and respected Ron Shudra at the helm'.
On new players that he is looking forward to seeing, 'Every year it is the same for us players, coaches and fans. We are eagerly looking forward to our team's new signings and hoping that they will meet our expectations. One can only do so much homework on a player that you have not seen play live. I am certainly excited about our new signings and believe we have made some important corrections to a roster that I feel was already very solid. I believe Pease and Zatopek (new import defender) add size and presence to our defence that was sorely lacking last season. Our two new forward signings (James Archer and import yet to be announced) will give us added skill and balance accross our forward lines. We also have one new young British player to announce that I feel is massive bonus to our team.
On the teams prospects for the coming year, 'Every year we put a team together it is with the goal of competing for silverware. Our management team has worked very hard over the off-season securing our budget for this season and we feel we are putting a team together that will meet this goal. We have not made the Coventry finals for the last two years and we will do everything in our power to get back there. I am more excited for this season to start than any I can remember. I am very happy with the work that we have done to date in putting the team together and I know our fans will not be disappointed. One thing I know for sure is that the 2008/09 season will be the most exciting and closest yet!. |
