BLOG: Talking Clan Towers 3 – with Gareth Chalmers

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Hi everyone,

I don’t know what it is like for you at this time of the year, but the summer is already starting to go by far too quickly for us. We’re now only eleven weeks away before the players start arriving back for training camp. It’s not far away now at all. The plan is for all the players to arrive into Glasgow the weekend of 13th/14th August, with training camp starting on Monday 15th August. We held an extended training camp last season as we were playing in our inaugural Champions Hockey League campaign. This season, the ownership has invested further to allow us to have a three week training camp so we’ll be ready for the start of our Challenge Cup games on the weekend of 3rd/4th September. Right now, we’re planning to have three or four pre-season games. We had hoped to have them announced by now but the whole process is taking a little longer than I’d hoped. It’s very much a game of chess as everyone wants specific dates and oppositions.

We’ve now added Scott Pitt and Daniel Åhsberg to the roster since I wrote my previous blog. Scott is one of the core players that we want to continue building the club around and we know exactly what we’re getting with him. He is a proven performer in the EIHL now and towards the end of last season, I thought he was one of our best players. Negotiations went very smoothly and quickly so we were delighted when he put pen to paper. I read in numerous places that he was being linked with a move away from the club, most notably to Nottingham. Scott made it clear to us that he only wanted to play in Braehead if he returned to the UK, so it was an easy decision for both parties. Daniel comes to us after a season with Lillehammer in Norway. Everything we have heard about him has been positive. Ryan spoke to Gunnar Svensson and Jerry Anderson about him, and I spoke to some of my contacts in France, Norway and Sweden. We liked all the feedback we received, Ryan is looking forward to seeing what he can bring to us.

Recruitment is progressing faster than we expected which is good. We’re finding a lot of good names are coming our way, whether that’s players approaching us direct or via the network of agents we deal with. We’ve got some offers out to a number of last season’s players and we hope to have some final answers this week. As we do every summer, we’re being very meticulous with how we build the team around how Ryan wants it setup. We’ve got a very competitive budget again this season and if we are to progress again next season, this period is where all the hard work is done. Unfortunately we’ve already had to make some very difficult decisions with a number of players unlikely to return, however we strongly believe they’re the right decisions as it will make the team stronger from top to bottom. It’s always a difficult time as we’ve had some excellent players with the organisation over recent seasons. However, we have to do what we think is best and spend our budget ultimately to bring the success that we all want.

As many of you will have seen over the weekend, we’ve welcomed Jordan Buesa to the club under an apprenticeship scheme. It’s a major step forward for the organisation and one we’re very excited about. The plan is for Jordan to train with the team on a daily basis, but where possible he will get valuable ice time in the EPL or NIHL. As an organisation, we feel that the future of the club should include players from the West of Scotland. We’ve gradually started to add players like Bari McKenzie to the roster and should have one or two additions this season too. We don’t currently have an affiliated junior development setup at Braehead, however this is a big step towards investing in local talent and providing them with a pathway in to the EIHL. When I was with the Newcastle Vipers, they finished second and won the playoffs in 2005/06, and all seven of their British players were from the North East. I strongly believe that was a major contributor in the success and it’s something we’d like to replicate here.

Thanks for your continued support,

Gareth Chalmers (@garethchalmers)

Hockey & Operations Director