ICE HOCKEY: TEENAGE netminder Brythin Preece has joined Coventry Blaze for the upcoming 2017/18 Elite League campaign.
The 6’5″ right catcher will spend his first professional season as back-up to Canadian Kevin Nastiuk.
Preece’s
Preece’s young career began with the Cardiff Devils academy whom he represented over 30 times at under-16s and 18s level.
In 2014, he then made the bold move to North America in order to aid his hockey development whilst still being able to continue with his studies.
Signing up for the Ontario Hockey Academy at the age of 16, Preece was to ice on 44 occasions over two years at the high performance academic-athletic accredited private preparatory school in Cornwall, Canada.
The past season was spent in the Western States Hockey League, with Utah Outliers where he was to make seven appearances.
Preece said: “Ontario Hockey Academy was a great setup.
“It provided me with the opportunity to play prep hockey and gain my high school diploma.
“Utah then offered me the chance to play junior, whilst allowing me one-to-one time with Steve Switzer – a goalie development coach.
“It was a great experience travelling to different parts of the US and Canada to play the game I love.
“But now I’m looking to step-up to a higher level and Coventry offered the best programme for me to develop.”
Preece described himself as a hybrid style goalie.
He added: “I use my size to my advantage while also being quick and agile enough to play aggressively or in close around the net.”
Head coach Danny Stewart said: “Brython is an up and coming British goalie that has spent some time overseas improving his game.
“We brought him in this summer to have a look at him and he impressed us very quickly.
“He has great size at 6’5”, and moves a lot better than we had expected.
“This is a great opportunity for him to learn the daily routines as a pro, taking shots daily from guys at this level and continuing to develop his game.
“His coach last season spoke very highly of him and we believe he has a lot of upside going forward.”
