NOTTINGHAM, UK. A busy summer for the Nottingham Panthers head coach Corey Neislon has yielded a roster brimming with potential talent modestly coated with toughness ensuring one of the most well rounded Panthers rosters we have seen in recent years.
Neilson started the summer strong bringing the majority of last year’s British players back into fold. The loss of British forward Jonathan Boxhill was quickly balanced out with the addition of Paul Swindlehurst and Mathew Myers. Swindlehurt a young blue liner who last season made it to the Chicago Blackhawks training camp and Myers a veteran forward familiar to Nottingham having played a large chunk of his career with the club whilst at University. Both players add depth and talent to the roster giving Neilson room to manoeuvre both ends of the ice.
It was not an easy road to opening night for Neilson. The veteran coach responding to an apparent lack of toughness in recent years acquiring hard hitting former NHL defenceman Theo Peckham and veteran enforcer Erik Lizon. These two players would have made the Panthers a force to be reckoned with any of the EIHL’s myriad of agitators.
Alas it wasn’t to be, both reneged on their deals leaving Nottingham with a head ache to solve with September quickly approaching. Enter Cam Janssen! The former NHL enforcer with eight seasons experience in the show with a few intermissions in the AHL. On paper he is the guy the fans have been calling for and with the passion Janssen brings to the ice it may have been a blessing in disguise that Lizon backed out of the deal. In his early showing he looks to playing the enforcer role to perfection with the right amount of intimidation and hitting to keep the opposition in check without spending half of game night in the box.
Visa issues aside the rest of the squad has fallen together nicely. The forward core is one of the most skilled we have seen at the Capital FM arena with Juraj Kolnik and Stephen Schultz looking very good early on. The core of the defence remains similar to the last season boosted by the addition of Jeff Dimmen and Geoff Waugh who each look more than capable of holding the blue line steady. Mika Wiikman has been chosen to replace Craig Kowalski between the pipes, a netminder who attained legendary status in Nottingham. Those are big skates for Wiikman to fill but early on he looks unfazed by the challenge and has been warmly welcomed by the fan base.
There are still holes in the line-up and Neilson is looking to bring in at least one more forward as well as a defenceman to replace Peckham. The temporary addition of Andreas Wiedergut to the D-core has relieved some pressure for Neilson, especially with the Austrian international having a strong showing during his debut weekend. The Panthers have confirmed he could become a permanent addition but I speculate Wiedergut will wait and see what the lie of the land is like at the end of his contract in fashion similar to Nathan Robinson last year.
The pre-season was marred by the lack of visas for several key players meant the Panthers have started the season on the back foot. In the opening three games the Panthers fought into overtime taking one shootout win against the Dundee Stars and losses against both the Belfast Giants and the Cardiff Devils. Despite these mediocre results there has been a lot of promise and with every game the players gel together more and with more signings to be made the clouds still carry a silver lining for Neilson’s band of merry men.
I am sure there is lot more I could put in this off season review, I regret not being able to write more over the summer as it has honestly been an nail biting affair watching the various dramas evolve into what took to the ice just over a week ago. My situation has now changed and I will now be writing once a week at least to keep you up to date on all things Panthers. The season holds plenty of promise and I look forward to reporting on the highs and the lows and with a bit of luck I may be able to write about some silver wear before the seasons end.
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