Welcome to the first of a fortnightly column as The Observer bring you all the latest news and views from ‘Inside the Locker Room’ of the Coventry Blaze.
This week, Blaze media manager Rob Plaister talks about the season so far and the recruitment of 23-year-old, Brenden Walker.
Welcome to the first Blaze column, it’s been a tough season thus far – at times it has felt as though we have been taking two steps back for every one step forward, coach Chuck Weber has admitted the same.
Weber’s boys are still fighting though – as we all know, anything can happen in the playoffs.
The signing of Brenden Walker sends a clear signal out, not only from Chuck as to what sort of player he was looking for, but also the owners who took their time and found their man.
Bringing over a 23-year-old East Coast all star is something of a coup for the Blaze – to do it in mid-January, well it’s very close to a miracle.
The deal took a while to sort out and at times we thought it was a dead duck.
However director of hockey, James Pease, recognised Brenden was the guy who could give us the kick start we need and it’s great the deal has now been done.
All the scouting reports and homework on Walker has been positive – Chuck even had phone calls after the deal was announced from North America complimenting him on his new addition.
Time will tell if it all works out, but the initial signs are positive.
We have used the word “all star” a lot in our media releases regarding Brenden and why wouldn’t we?
A quick look up of EIHL players who have been ECHL all-stars leads to some impressive names – Derrick Walser, Mike Forney, Tyler Mosienko, and, closer to home, Ryan Ginand, Josh Godfrey and Brian Stewart.
That’s an impressive list and certainly gives us food for thought that Brenden Walker could be the spark we need to ignite our season.
