Glasgow Clan forward Robert Lachowicz wrote himself into Elite League history on Sunday afternoon, playing in his 1,000th game in EIHL competitions.
The Nottingham-born forward joins an exclusive group of players to have reached the milestone – Jonathan Phillips, Matthew Myers, and Mark Richardson are the only others to have played over 1,000 games in the league.
Prior to Clan’s game in Sheffield on Sunday, Lachowicz was presented with a special award by the EIHL’s Head of Hockey Operations, Liam Sewell, joined on the ice by his mum Kath, dad Jan, and aunt Jayne.
“Honestly, I tried to just approach Sunday as another game. It was a big night for the team to have a bounce-back, and the game is never a personal one,” began Lachowicz after the win in Sheffield, where his Clan side came away 3-2 victors.
The GB international forward spent the majority of his career with Nottingham Panthers, before moving to Guildford Flames for two seasons following the pandemic. He is now in his third year with Glasgow Clan.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play in some really big games over my career,” he continued. “Earlier in my career in Nottingham, we reached a lot of Playoff and Challenge Cup Finals, which were special. We got to the last 16 in the Champions Hockey League, which had never been done before, and I’ve also had a lot of big moments with the Great Britain national team that I’ve been fortunate to be part of.
“Sunday was a big moment, and it will definitely be up there among my favourite games.”
Clan Head Coach Corey Neilson, who both played with and coached Lachowicz in Nottingham before being reunited with him in Glasgow, paid tribute to the veteran forward:
“It’s very special for me. Robert was one of a group of players who came to Canada at a really young age when I was running hockey schools in the summer,” explained Neilson. “He would come across and spend 10 weeks in Canada learning the fundamentals of hockey. To see his progression from the EPL to the EIHL, and to Team GB, it’s been a remarkable journey.
“He has a great network of family, support and love behind him, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Photo: Dean Woolley
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