LONDON, UK – Streatham Redskins have revealed that their first signing of the summer is the return of star forward Joe Johnston. The signing of former captain Johnston from English National League champions’ Invicta Dynamos, will undoubtedly please the South London club’s fans, who reacted with dismay when he sensationally left the club twelve months ago to join their bitter rivals.
Photo by Dave West
Streatham had a somewhat transitional year last season and finished in a respectable mid table position despite pre season fears that they would be relegated. A big part of those fears stemmed from the departure of Johnston who had been the teams’ talisman and top scorer in the 2008/09 season.
With the club preparing to play possibly their last league campaign at the historic High Road rink, the Redskins hierarchy is determined to make sure that the club ice a competitive team in what is a fast improving English National League.
Head Coach Barry Spours is delighted with the return of Johnston and is in no doubt how important his return to the club is:
“Joe is an outstanding playmaker, natural goal scorer and a Streatham legend; this is fantastic news for the team. The league is really heating up right now with another EPL team coming in this season and sides across the league are strengthening on last years roster,
“It’s fast becoming the best of British ice hockey and this guy is right up there with the best of them. We finished strong last season, and the addition of Joe to the squad going into the start of the new season will really ignite the team”
Photo by Dave Trevallion
Prohockeynews.com interviewed Johnston midway through last season and he was seemingly happy in Kent with the Dynamos. By the end of the season he had picked up the silverware he had sought with a league winner’s medal, but then suffered heartache as Invicta lost out to Bracknell Hornets in the play-offs. Johnston has signed with the Redskins hoping to use his experiences to benefit the team:
“I am thrilled to be back home for the forthcoming season and cannot wait to get started. As I’ve said previously it was an extremely tough decision to leave last year so I’m delighted to be back at the High Road. I’ve experienced that winning feeling and learned a lot from last season so will be doing my best to bring some success to Streatham,
“The league is improving year after year but I’m hopeful we will have a competitive team playing with that true Redskins spirit. I can’t pretend that playing against Streatham last year wasn’t both weird and difficult so I’m relieved I won’t have to go through that again. After speaking with Spoursy (Barry Spours) it was clear what his intensions are for the upcoming season and I didn’t really need convincing to sign,
“Being so local and with Streatham being my team it was a real ‘no brainer’. I’d like to thank everyone at Invicta for making me completely welcome during my time there. After winning the league it has just made me even hungrier to experience the same with Streatham. I’ve hardly played for anyone else and did miss the place last year so cannot wait to put that Redskins shirt on again”
Johnston’s enthusiasm to pull on a Streatham jersey again is not lost on his coach, who is equally excited at the prospect of seeing him represent the Redskins in what could be a historic few months. Johnston managed to hit twenty seven goals and forty seven assists for Invicta last season so it is no surprise that Spours is delighted to have him sign on the dotted line for Streatham:
Photo by Dave West
“Personally, I can’t wait for the first puck drop of the new season and I would imagine the atmosphere in the old Streatham Ice Arena will be charged when he steps out on the ice for his first home game of the season,
“This season could well be the end of the road for the old High Road arena but we intend to go out with a bang in honour of the old rink. To mark this we will be returning to a retro 1950’s shirt design, and the return of a fan favourite like Joe should make for one hell of a season”
The sentiment is not lost on Johnston who will be well aware that some fans were less than impressed with his departure last year. He is confident of how the team is shaping up and feels that he can prove a point to the critics:
“I think if we can start the season fairly well and make our home games very difficult for the opposition we’ll surprise a few people. The supporters are, and always have been immense, and I promise to do my best to give them something to shout about next season”
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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