The latest of our season previews continues with a look at my second favourite team, the Edinburgh Capitals, courtesy of Edinburgh Capitals Supporters' Club chairman Steven Salvini.
Edinburgh Capitals started the 13-14 season on a high.
After a poor start the season before, the Caps had made the playoffs, the coach was reigning Coach of the Year, and management seemed to have recruited well. It looked like 13-14 would be another upwards step for the team.
Unfortunately, things did not turn out quite as expected and we finished last - and embarrassingly far off the pack at that. The only silver lining was good news from the Juniors section and the Grand Slam winning SNL team – showing some reason for hope for the future.
At a Fans Forum at the end of the season, owner Scott Neil and player/coach Richard Hartmann were open and honest in their assessment of the situation and promised a change in personnel to allow a move to a grittier style of play.
During the off-season Caps seemed to be building a better balanced squad. They acted quickly to retain charismatic net-minder and crowd-pleaser Tomas Hiadlovsky, then brought in young defence prospect James Wallace from Solway Sharks of the SNL. On their heels came American Greg Collins and Canadian Dennis Rix, both forwards, and then fans favourite Jade Portwood re-signed. Who could forget his penalty shot to beat Panthers after OT – and the resulting celebration?
Next in was Marcel Petran, top scoring Slovak defenceman in the EPIHL with Peterborough Phantoms, quickly followed by Swede Daniel Naslund, an ex-team mate of Portwood’s at University of Anchorage Alaska. Then with previous EIHL top points scorer Rene Jarolin returning, the fans were beginning to get excited!
Now it was the turn of guys from the all-conquering Edinburgh Capitals SNL team to be brought in: Sean Beattie (F), veteran Dave Beatson (D), and Jay King (F/D). There were still worries around defence though until…
The Caps’ very own Canadian “Big Yin” arrived: Riley Emmerson. A guy with an impressive reputation both as a defenceman and for protecting his team mates. He was an instant favourite with the fans and within 24 hours he was simply astounded by the number of new followers he had! Given his skill set, he will make the derbies with Fife even more keenly anticipated – there are even those who think he and Matt Nickerson might form a special relationship: who knows? It is expected that he will be given a roving role up front 5 on 5 but he will move back to D on the special teams.
Caps were then joined by Lukas Buhnicky, a Slovak defenceman again with a bit of a reputation. It’s hoped that this additional beef will allow the likes of Jarolin to play their natural game while also giving the younger guys confidence too. Our latest signing is another young prospect, Callum Boyd, a young defenceman from the SNL Kilmarnock Storm. With still a few places to fill, the squad is shaping up well and there is a renewed enthusiasm and expectancy from the fans.
Speaking of fans, the Edinburgh Capitals Supporters Club had rather gone into hibernation recently. A new group of fans took on the task of rebuilding the Supports Club over the summer. So far, we have begun developing a new website (www.EdCapsSC.co.uk) where we are publishing regular interviews with players old and new, we have run a bus to an away game at Dundee, and hosted a very successful Family Fun Day BBQ and Quiz. We are reaching out to existing fans, auld Racers fans, people who don’t even know hockey is played in the UK, and the various groups in Edinburgh from the likes of the Czech Republic and Poland who may be missing their hockey fix at home. Our aim is to increase the gate and so contribute to the finances of the Caps and to build a feeling of community across supporters, players, owners & management, SNL players, and the Juniors.
Watch out Nottingham, there’ll be a lot more Edinburgh Capitals supporters at the Playoffs Weekend in 2015!
Many thanks to Steven for his time. You can follow him @auld_racer and the ECSC
No comments:
Post a Comment