Thankfully for the Stingrays and coach Rick Strachan that number will remain at one (Dave Phillips to Belfast) after Fife born forward Lee Mitchell agreed terms with the Stingrays for the upcoming 08-09 season.
With 10 goals and 10 assists in 46 games for the Stingrays this past season, at the age of just 21, Mitchell was a must return if the team had playoff aspirations for next season.I can't stress enough how big a blow losing your two best Brits would have been, there are other Brits out there but which British player of a similar standard to Phillips and Mitchell is going to come to the lowest spending and worst team in the league (10th in the EIHL in 07/08). It would have been a tough ask.
As it is Strachan, so far, only has to replace Phillips from the British corps, although in some ways he already has a ready made 17 year old replacement waiting in the wings in Stevie Lee. The question is will he be able to step up straight away? I think probably not straight away, although I believe he has the potential to be a better player than Phillips, it will almost certainly mean adjusting the plan for signings this pre-season with Phillips being worth an import slot himself.
Mitchell suffered a season ending knee injury in February which cut short his season. A season where he better last season's points total in the EIHL by 7 points, despite playing 10 less games.
Strachan said this of his re-signing:
"We are delighted to have Lee back. He is very professional on and off the ice and we hope he will continue to progress and have a big year for us. We believe his injury cost him a probable place in the GB squad for the World Championships but he will be fully fit for the start of next season and we expect Lee to go from strength to strength"
Pre-season is now underway. 1 down 17 to go.
