| Braehead Clan | |
|---|---|
| City | Renfrew, Scotland |
| League | Elite Ice Hockey League |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Home arena | Braehead Arena |
| Colours |
Purple and Silver |
| Owner(s) | Clan Entertainment Limited |
| General manager | Kirsty Longmuir |
| Head coach | Drew Bannister |
| Captain | Jordan Krestanovich |
Braehead Clan are a Scottish professional ice hockey team. They were formed in 2010 as the UK Elite Ice Hockey League expanded into the Glasgow and West of Scotland market, and are based at the 4,000 capacity Braehead Arena in Renfrewshire, around two miles outside the Glasgow City limits. They are currently one of four Scottish clubs playing in the top British league, alongside the Edinburgh Capitals, the Dundee Stars and the Fife Flyers[1].
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Braehead Arena previously hosted the Scottish Eagles ice hockey team for a brief period at beginning of the 2002–2003 ISL season following their relocation from Ayr.[2] The Eagles disbanded in November 2002 due to financial troubles.[3] When the Superleague’s successor, the Elite Ice Hockey League was formed, initial plans included a new Glasgow-based team as being amongst the founding clubs, but this never materialised.[4]
Following the 2008–09 season, the Elite League lost two teams with the resignations of the Basingstoke Bison and Manchester Phoenix, leaving the league with eight participating teams for the 2009–10 season. The Elite League subsequently announced the formation of the Braehead Clan as a ninth team for beginning with the 2010-11 season. The team’s ownership was announced as consisting of several of the Elite League's existing team owners, including Nottingham’s Neil Black.[5]
The club began marketing the team through the creation of the 'Braehearts', these were female supporters who would promote the team at events and in the community, they wore specially created 'Braehearts' jerseys, similar to those of the teams home jerseys. The club also held open days which were to attract new potential support. With the arena being based next to the Braehead Shopping Mall, this gave the club good opportunity to further attract new supporters.
After being formed early in 2010 the club announced that Adam Calder would become the first coach of the Braehead Clan taking up a player/coach role for the upcoming season.[6] The club also announced that Kirsty Longmuir would be the General Manager tasked with the job of marketing the new club to potential supporters.
Rumours began circulating in late April that Calder has resigned from the Clan only two weeks after being announced as the player/coach for the new Elite league side. On 4 May, the Braehead Clan announced official confirmation of Calder's departure on their website.[7]
On 5 May, it was announced that Canadian forward Bruce Richardson would replace Adam Calder as player/coach of the Braehead Clan.[8] Bruce Richardson had spent the past two seasons as player/assistant coach for Elite League rivals, Nottingham Panthers.
Richardson moved quickly to announce his first signings, three young British players who had previously played in the English Premier League: Sam Bullas, 19, who was trained in Nottingham and previously played for Swindon Wildcats; Matt Haywood, 19, from Sheffield, who was the leading goalscorer for Sheffield Scimitars during the 09/10 season; and Adam Walker, 23, who spent the previous four seasons with Manchester Phoenix.
Richardson's fourth signing would be another key British player, Kevin Phillips, 24, who spent the previous season with the play-off winning Belfast Giants.
On 19 May, the Clan announced Derek Patrosso as their first import signing. He spent the previous two seasons with Port Huron Icehawks in the International Hockey League. The following day it was announced that the Clan had signed two more British players: defenceman John Connolly, 19, from Scottish rivals Edinburgh Capitals; and forward Shaun Thompson, 22, who split the previous season with Elite League side Hull Stingrays and English Premier League's Basingstoke Bison.
Mathieu Wathier was the Clans next signing, a 6 ft 1 tall defenceman from, Les Coteaux, Quebec, who had spent the last two years playing in the French Ligue Magnus. Player/Coach Bruce Richardson described the signing saying Wathier would be "solid defensively, a leader, and strong on the penalty kill".
Richardson's next signing was ex-team mate Tim Wedderburn, a 28 year old defenseman who played the previous season in both the ECHL with the Victoria Salmon Kings, and in the AHL with Lake Erie Monsters. Bobby Chaumont was Richardson's next signing. The Canadian forward spent the previous two seasons in the CHL with the Mississippi RiverKings, scoring 48 points in 64 games in his last season with the club.
After a dry spell in recent signings, Richardson announced his enforcer for the season, 25 year old Cedrick Bernier. Bernier has racked up 548 penalty minutes in the previous 4 seasons, playing in various leagues such as the SPHL, CHL, and ECHL. Richardson stated Bernier wanted to prove that he was "the toughest guy in the Elite League". He did not, breaking his hand in a fight early in the season, returning for a few games before going out with an injury again. The mutual decision reached that he was to be let go from the club.
On 1 July, the Clan announced that Derek Patrosso would not be joining Braehead team for their first season, and instead would stay in his native America for the upcoming season. Positive news followed, with the club announcing they had agreed terms with Brendan Cook, 27, a teammate of Bruce Richardson at the Nottingham Panthers during the 2008/09 season, where he scored 70 points in 54 games (30 goals and 40 assists).
Cody Bostock, 26, was the next import announced by the club. The Canadian defenseman previously played for Odense Bulldogs in the Danish Oddset Ligaen, and was brought in by Richardson to "solidify" the club's defensive core.
In June 2011 Bruce Richardson unexpectedly resigned from the club, after being offered a coaching post near his family home in Canada. Since joining the Clan Richardson had always made clear his intention to progress his coaching as far as possible, and had received advice that to become an established coach in North American leagues would mean building experience there. He also stated a wish to settle his family, who had moved around the world over the course of his playing career.
On 29 July the club announced former NHL player Drew Bannister as the new Head Coach for the 2011/12 season.
| Goaltenders | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Catches | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
| 33 | Michael Will | R | 2010 | Lewes, England | |
| 1 | Jaakko Suomalainen | R | 2011 | Helsinki, Finland | |
| Defencemen | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Shoots | Acquired | Place of Birth | ||
| 4 | Sam Zajac | R | 2011 | Whitley Bay, England | ||
| 7 | Drew Bannister | R | 2011 | Belleville, Ontario, Canada | ||
| 15 | James Jorgensen | L | 2011 | Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, U.S.A. | ||
| 25 | Aidan Fulton | R | 2011 | Great Britain | ||
| 28 | Tim Wedderburn - A | L | 2010 | Okotoks, Alberta, Canada | ||
| 45 | Michael McKay | R | 2011 | Great Britain | ||
| 62 | Kevin Phillips | R | 2010 | Beverley, England | ||
| Forwards | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Shoots | Position | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
| 5 | Vince Connon | L | RW | 2010 | Douglas, Isle Of Man | |
| 9 | Mike Bayrack | L | C | 2011 | Edmonton, Canada | |
| 10 | Jordan Krestanovich - C | L | C | 2010 | Langley, British Columbia, Canada | |
| 11 | Matthew Haywood | L | LW | 2010 | Sheffield, England | |
| 13 | Jade Galbraith | R | RW | 2011 | Hinton, Alberta, Canada | |
| 17 | Callum Adamson | L | C | 2011 | Cowdenbeath, Scotland | |
| 27 | Brock McPherson | R | C | 2011 | Toronto, Canada | |
| 37 | Ryan Campbell | R | C | 2010 | England | |
| 54 | Kyle Bruce - A | R | RW | 2010 | Garden Bay, British Columbia, Canada | |
| 92 | Adam Walker | R | RW | 2010 | Kirkcaldy, Scotland | |