Yes we Clan says boss Finnerty ahead of title tilt
ALWAYS the bridesmaid, never the bride has been the Braehead Clan lament in recent years.
Not anymore, according to head coach Ryan Finnerty.
The Glasgow club are just days away from embarking on yet another quest to finally be crowned EIHL champions for the first time in their history after a hand- ful of seasons that promised so much but failed to deliver the silverware their bumper fanbase craves.
Outdone two campaigns ago by just one point, Finnerty has expressed the view that nothing short of first will do this season to both his new recruits and those returning to play in purple.
The Clan head coach was in the Herald & Evening Times head office yesterday for a live Facebook show and said: “I think we want to win the league this year.
“We have been knocking on the door now for two years. We have been there or thereabouts, we’re just tired of being bridesmaids now.
“Our motto will be, ‘We are here to win’, we want to win. In our induction we told our guys that and in recruitment we told the new guys that it’s a big deal in October on a Wednesday night we don’t accept losing.
“To win the league you need to be consistent over 52 games. That can be tough on guys from North America who play all season then the play-offs start and they think that’s when the real season begins.
“Here, the real season starts from that first puck drop.”
Braehead have already got off to a winning start after retaining the Aladdin Cup in Nottingham at the weekend, and Finnerty iss encouraged by what he has seen so far.
He added: “Both teams were missing some players but it was a good exercise.
“I saw a lot of good things.”