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The Wildcats Column: A rollercoaster season comes to an end
With the 2015-16 EPL finally closing its doors for the final time, Total Sport columnist Ben Callaghan signs off from what has been an action packed season, with twists and turns at every corner.
Well ladies and gentlemen, the 2015-2016 season is over. It’s been a rollercoaster ride for the entire league since last September and it all culminated with Guildford lifting the trophy in front of a packed Coventry Skydome last Sunday.
No-one can argue the Flames didn’t deserve it. In my eyes they were the best side over the weekend and thoroughly deserved to be lifting the trophy. Equally, Basingstoke were deserved winners of the league having been by far the most consistent side over the course of the 54 game season.
For now, we enter the well-known ‘silly season’. The rumour mill is already in full flow with players being said to be a ‘done-deal’ to be moving to other sides in the league. I think it’s going to be a very interesting off season.
Clubs like Telford and Milton Keynes will be really looking to improve their roster. (Especially MK who are entering their final EPL season before moving up to the EIHL). We’ll have a Bracknell and Manchester sides who will be looking to solidify themselves off the ice as well as on it. Hull have got an entire summer to look to recruit rather than just 7 weeks at the end of summer like they had last season.
The moves will happen on a near daily basis over the next couple of months, whilst we’re all predominantly interested in Swindon and seeing what gems Aaron call pull out of the bag, the league will be worth keeping an eye on. Just today James Archer has moved to Peterborough, Craig Scott has left Peterborough and Matt Towe has retired altogether. It’s going to be a fun few months.
Whilst the EPL hockey has stopped, in Swindon there will be Rec hockey games. The standard isn’t as high as the EPL but the games are entertaining, usually full of goals and is a great way of getting that hockey fix on a warm sunny July afternoon. Swindon have the Swindon Rec Wildcats as well as the Swindon Sabretooths playing at the Link so there is plenty of games to watch.
Lastly, I’ll sign off with a couple of thank you messages. Last summer I was asked to provide a weekly column all around the world of ice hockey. Things have changed slightly with Total Sport Swindon but I’ve still be providing the columns, match reports and home analysis.
I have to thank Total Swindon as an organisation for allowing me to have the area to write about what I wanted to write and the support I’ve been given over the winter. It’s been a completely invaluable process for me, and one I have enjoyed every single second of.
Secondly, I’d like to thank each and every one of you who have read what I’ve written. Whilst it may not have turned out to be every week there have been over 25 columns and hopefully you’ve enjoyed and maybe even learnt something along the way.
I wish everyone of you a fantastic summer; I know you’ll all going to be counting down to September on the calendar. I promise, it’s going to come around a lot quicker than you imagine. We’ll be announcing some names soon I’m sure and then before long the fixtures will be out.
Enjoy the free weekends and the summer sun, hockey will be back before we all realise, and then we get to do it all over again. I dare say you’ll see me at a Rec game at some point, if not, certainly at the season launch at the start of the new season!
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