Galbraith takes blame for coach’s dismissal

FORMER Braehead Clan star Jade Galbraith believes he was one of the reasons why former coach Jordan Krestanovich was sacked from his role in 2013.

The former Elite League Player of the Year spent two years at Glasgow after arriving in 2011, lighting up his first season and claiming more than 100 points.

However, it did not go so well in his second campaign, and looking back at his time with the Clan, now takes a share of the blame for seeing his friend Krestanovich dismissed from the player-coach role and replaced by Paul Gardner as Clan stuttered to a play-off place in a season that was one to forget.

“I felt it was partly my fault Jordan was replaced by Paul as the coach,” Galbraith said.

“At the start, we were doing well and we’d been lighting it up. As soon as I had surgery on my back, things started to go downhill and it wasn’t the same.

“A player like me has to perform. It’s my job. When

I’m expected to put up points, that’s what I had to do.

“I was brutal and I wasn’t a good person to be around at the time. I’ve apologised to Jordan so many times about the way I acted. I wasn’t professional and it wasn’t good enough from me. I was in a bad place and couldn’t get out of it.

“He was always professional with me, but I let him down. To me, he should never have been demoted and I didn’t like who they brought in. We didn’t get along from the start and he wasn’t the right fit for me and the team.”

Galbraith’s signing in

2011 was seen as something of a coup for the Clan, who had picked up one of the best offensive players in the Elite League after three high-scoring seasons with Nottingham Panthers.

He did not disappoint, picking up an impressive 116 points in 66 games in that first campaign, earning him the league’s Player of the Year award and being only the second man in EIHL history to reach and breach the 100-point mark in a season.

“Everything about my first season in Glasgow was amazing, but my success and my points tally wasn’t all down to me,” Galbraith said.

“A lot of that was to do with Jordan and without him, I wouldn’t have got near that amount. We worked so well together and hung out a lot away from the ice.

“Drew Bannister was the best player-coach I ever had. He trusted us and everything clicked for me in that season. I wish we could have done better in the league, but there were so many high points in that year.”

Galbraith, who now coaches children in Alberta in Canada, retired in 2015 having seen a move to Dundee Stars cancelled following visa issues that prevented him from obtaining the paperwork necessary for him to live and work in the UK.

But he still keeps up to date with everything that is going on and felt Glasgow Clan were starting to turn the corner before the last campaign was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic in March.

“I still keep in touch with the teams I played for and still seeing names like Haywood makes me feel old, now seeing he’s married with a family and having testimonials and what not,” he said.

“Clan hadn’t been doing so well, but got two big wins before lockdown and were starting to head towards the play-offs with some momentum.

“We’ll never know now, but I hope they come back stronger next year, whenever that’s going to be.”