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Nell Praises 'League's Best Imports' After Victory Over Bison
WILDCATS coach Aaron Nell was in high spirits following Sunday’s 4-3 overtime victory over Basingstoke Bison.
The win gave the Swindon outfit their first maximum point weekend of the campaign, and cut through the recent adversity the club have been experiencing with changes to system and coaching personnel.
Speaking to Total Sport following the full time buzzer, Nell was eager to congratulate his troops, though acknowledged his side could play much better.
“I didn’t think we played our best game tonight but we pulled through and that’s normally the sign of a good team, not playing your best and still winning.
“Stevie Lyle was unbelievable and our imports really pulled it out of the bag for us,” said Nell.
The end of the second period saw Wildcats placed on the ropes by their opposition.
“It was very scrappy at the second, we were struggling,” Nell said.
“We just wanted to get out of the second period and regroup but in the third we were very good. We switched a few things, we kept them to the outside and we were good in the last 16 seconds we lost the face-off.
“It was tough and they got lucky, but for us to come back like that was great.”
Though the overall victory was a team effort, the Wildcats’ imports were on hand to find the back of the net when it mattered, something Nell was quick to acknowledge.
“Overtime is a lottery, it’s very entertaining for the fans but it’s not the best for your ticker as a coach but we’ve got players like Hoog, Carlo (Finucci), Tomazc (Malasinski) Janny (Kostal) who are like no one else in this league,” said Nell.
“We thought we had the best imports in the league at the start of the season and we didn’t, but we have the best imports now.
“Carlo and Jonas coming in have completely changed the hockey team and they showed that tonight, they were a part of all the goals and they are two very good players,” he added.
As the tie ticked down, Nell revealed his confidence in key men such as new man Jonas Hoog.
“We joked that their goalie is very aggressive and he likes to poach it away – and Jonas jokes that ‘no one poach checks me’ and he tried to poach check but he went top shelf,” said Nell.
“It was a great goal and that’s why we brought him here, he’s a very entertaining player and he’s given the whole club a boost. It’s been a crazy two weeks but we’re back to normal now.
“There was a lot of talk of the four point weekend. We talked about it a little bit also, but we played two very good hockey teams this weekend – so to do it this weekend with all the adversity we’ve had is a great achievement and we just have to kick on now.
“We will enjoy this but we need to be ready to go back at it next Sunday,” he added.
When asked what he had taken from the experience of his first four point weekend as a coach, Nell said: “I’ve got to win a face-off in the last 15 seconds! Tonight shows how much these guys care, with all the things which have happened we could well have lost our last four games, but we’ve won three and Stevie (Lyle) coming back has given the whole club a boost,” he said.
Looking ahead, Nell is not getting overly enthusiastic about what the maximum win could mean, but is instead taking each game as it comes.
“It’s a long season and we’re just going to take every game at a time and try to win every game and get as high up the table as we can,” said Nell.
“We’re going to lose hockey games, that’s the way of the world. But when we do lose we can’t get too down about it and think the world is going to end. But also, when we win we can’t think we’re invincible. It’s going to be a good season and we’ll see where we end up.”
Swindon Wildcats are back in action on Sunday as they welcome MK Lightning to the Swindon Ice Arena – Face-off 6pm.
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