Well, in news that certainly pleased me, the Phoenix today announced the return of Andy McKinney and big Robert Schnabel. McKinney quickly established himslef last season at the Phoenix, winning the support over with his tireless displays on the ice. A fine young Brit, it is the hope if the Pyre that he will continue his development this coming season, and will hopefully improve upon his return of 28 points and 105 pims from last season.
Schnabel returns to complete the 2nd year of his 2 year contract (something that happens all too rarely in British ice hockey sadly). Impressive during the early part of last season, Schnabel suffered an injury, and whilst impressive on his return, did not quite seem 100%. despite this, he rarely let the team down, and substituted impressively behind the bench as coach during Coach Hands absebces due to his Team GB duties. With an impressive 127 pims during the regualr season, big Rob provided the muscle that allowed the more creative players the confidence to flourish. It is my sincere hope that Coach Hand allows Schnabel more room to work with the defensive players in training, as his influence on Ben Wood especially last season was noticeable.
There won’t be any updates next week, as I’m off on a well earned holiday, so I shall hopefully see you all at the shirt launch.
Oh, and keep your eyes peeled on here for something very interesting in the next couple of weeks…