Latest Clan Signing is Steve Birnstill

Steve Birnstill is the latest signing for Braehead Clan in an off-season containing a lot of top quality signings!
 
Birnstill had been long rumoured to be joining the Clan but the timing of today's announcement, around lunchtime, surprised and delighted everyone.
Read the Official Announcement Here

The clan Roster now looks like this;

Player/Coach: Jordan Krestanovich

Player/Asst Coach: Jade Galbraith

BenchCoach: Frank Morris

Goalies:

Mike Will

Garret Zemlack

Defenders:

Sam Zajac

Kevin Phillips

Mitch Maunu

Steve Birnstill

Forwards:

Brock McPherson

Adam Walker

Matt Haywood

Ryan Watt

Jordan Krestanovich

Jade Galbraith

Ryan Campbell

Ash Goldie

Bobby Chaumont

That roster looks pretty darned good to me!

4 point weekend for Braehead Clan!

Woooo didn't really see that coming despite my optimism! A four point weekend for the Braehead Clan, home v Fife Flyers and away to Cardiff Devils!!

Saturday night saw the Clan host Fife Flyers in front of almost 1900 fans (about 300 more than my estimations it has to be said) and the Clan obliged said fans with a most comprehensive 10-1 victory over the visitors.

The extent of the victory was less important for me than the actual performances on the ice. Four goals for Mike Bayrack being the most notable achievement in an individual basis but overall, the team played with much confidence throughout. Slicker and more complex passing moves were evidence of intense training sessions and team building exercises coming to fruition.

Tonight saw the Clan visit Cardiff devils where I had previously seen Clan get dismantled. Tonight was a different story as Clan won 4-3 in OT to stop the devil's 2 year unbeaten streak at home. (Does an OT loss count as a loss in that streak? Hmm dunno lol)

Drew Bannister received a terrible hit but managed to regain things and return in the 3rd period and even floor that giant man called Voth!!

Downside is that Mike Will is currently in hospital after being hit with the stick of............Brad Voth. Yep even on the bench you're not safe against that man but most reports suggest it was unintentional. Get Well Soon Mike!!

Anyway, the last couple of weeks will have sent out a message to the rest of the EIHL, Braehead Clan are improving with every match and are a force to be reckoned with even more than last year!!

Let's Go Braehead!!!

Al

Challenge Cup Semis Beckon!!

Shoulda been here before but a virus..............aye I know excuses............
Saturday night saw the Braehead Clan play v Belfast Giants like we know they can. Passionately, together and with aggression!
An amazing transformation considering several members of the team supposedly had flu like symptoms.
This time, Kyle Bruce (previously notable for a lack of his usual aggression) looked like the shackles had been removed by coach Bannister and was ably assisted by Jim Jorgenson in intimidating and challenging the Giants at every level. The result being a 4-1 home victory despite being outshot by their opponents over each period of the match.
In the process, the Clan also qualified for the semi finals of the Challenge Cup having played only 6 of 8 matches!!
I liked the way Clan played v Giants. I know this is only season 2 but, it appears to be the way that gets success and probably echos the crowd mentality. At Braehead we are very vocal and try to raise the energy on the ice accordingly. Looks like it worked on Saturday!!

Sunday, apparently was a somewhat different affair away to Dundee Stars.

I missed this due to said virus but the text updates which included "booooorrriinngg" made me glad I missed this Challenge Cup only 2-2 draw which consolidated our position at the top of Group A.

So, this weekend sees the Clan host the Fife Flyers. This for the Clan is a must win match and if they play like last Saturday then 2 points will be in the bag. On Sunday its away to Cardiff. Not sure how I see this one going. I'm going to be positive and say it's a 4 point weekend as Clan will hopefully be up to avenge their previous defeat to the Devils last month.

So what will this weekend bring? Time will tell!

GO CLAAAANN!!!

Al

Sublime to Ridiculous

Well, OK, not sublime but the 7-2 win against Edinburgh Capitals was reassuring at the time. Not a fantastic performance as the Caps appeared to play with not the greatest of urgency.
The win was all the more rewarding due to 7 different players scoring!

Sunday night in Murrayfield Ice Rink was a different story, Caps came out firing on all cylinders and completely dominated the match from start to finish, ending up 5-3 winners over Clan.

it was like a mirror image of the previous match. On Saturday, Clan were fired up and out to avenge the defeat to Stingrays against a confident Capitals, Sunday, Caps were the fired up side out avenge the defeat the previous night to a confident Clan side on the back of their win.

Clan could not be faulted for their level of effort, indeed, they put in 110% effort but a high level of sloppy play (due to over ambitious passes and poor defence) resulted in their downfall with Caps packing their goal mouth and taking advantage of Clan errors.

Whilst there is no lack of commitment from the team, there is a distinct lack of aggression over passion. Last year we were able to bully teams through aggression. This season we seem to be relying on fast play which is obviously not working. Add to that the fact the team has yet to gel properly to take advantage of the ambitious long passes due to unfamiliarity, and we have pretty much disjointed and inconsistent plays and results. I'm not advocating Clan drop the gloves at every opportunity every game and take unnecessary penalties, just make it look like they will! ;)

I am far from being highly knowledgable never mind an expert but even to my untrained eye, the solution appears to be back to basics on ice for a few more matches before rolling out the training moves.

Saturday sees us host the Belfast Giants and then visit CCS Dundee Stars. Not an easy weekend ahead and for both matches I feel we have to get back to basics, get more than one player in front of goal in defence and keep the breaks simple and direct and find someone not scared to play the one time slapshot.

See you all Saturday at Braehead!!

Al

Stingrays 9-4 Clan, Weekend Preview

The aftermath of Hull Stingrays 9-4 victory over Braehead Clan has passed and time to look forward.

Don't get me wrong, I am still in shock at the record loss to a side we should be beating but I feel I need to concentrate on the future rather than the past. The performance on Wednesday must surely have rocked every player to the core leaving them with much resolve never to repeat it.

Sooo, onto the weekend double header against the improving Edinburgh Capitals. two games we really must win and I have a feeling the players will come out fighting hard in both matches and deliver. This is a bunch of professionals that includes NHL/AHL players, they have pride and that pride will be hurting right now. Perhaps the hurt will be a better motivator than the confidence of a win v Stingrays would have been?

There is a very small group of so-called *fans* out there who have voiced the view they will not be going to the weekend matches due to the level of the defeat. Complete and utter lunacy! These kind of knee-jerk individuals are not *fans*, simple.

All teams have bad days, remember last season we lost 10 in a row? Did we stop going to matches? Of course not! We continued to go out and promote the Clan to all who would listen and now we have 2000 at home games! Let's keep getting the message out there and give the team our 100% backing!

Let's goooooooooooo Claaaaaannnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!

Al

Clan v Blaze

Last Saturday's match v Fife Flyers was a demonstration of how to play almost an entire game like it was a powerplay and still manage to lose four goals and only score seven. Of course, the two points still count but the lack of ability to score and the apparent lackadaisical defending raise concerns about future perfomances against the current top teams in the league.

This in mind tonights game against Hull Stingrays in Hull is by no means a pushover and neother are the weekend matches v Edinburgh Capitals. Time will tell but I am positive that the team will gel as they get to know each other over time.

Al

Weekend/Midweek round up

So busy these days am having trouble keeping up with this blog..........

Saturdays less than convincing win v Blaze gave me hope for last night's match v Panthers at home.

According to the stats we were out shot 21-7 v Blaze but still won 4-2. Galbraith and Bannister getting their first goals for the club and Suomalainen being the virtual match winner. What a goalie that man is!!

Last night's match I didn't get to but, from the text reports I got from the match as it happened, we got well and truly gubbed by a team that played several levels above us in the Nottingham Panthers.
"Worst I've ever seen them play" being the most telling text.
Leaving it at that methinks.

This saturday sees the Clan play the Fife Flyers for the first time. This is a must win encounter. Clan cannot lose points to our fellow Scots and hope to make a good showing in the league so I have 6-2 Clan in my mind for this one.

Fingers crossed..........

Al