Holy mackinaw, we’re so back.
While the return of competitive Elite League action remains a few painful weeks away, preseason is finally in full swing, with inductions complete and skates sharpened.
There has been no shortage of offseason action.
The Fife Flyers are in the midst of a full rebuild, while Paul Thompson has re-shaped the Cardiff Devils in his image.
Adam Keefe and the Belfast Giants have their eyes on Champions Hockey League glory — and the Nottingham Panthers are hellbent on winning the Continental Cup on home ice.
In any case, welcome to Elite League Tea: a weekly column in which we’ll comb over the biggest storylines in British Ice Hockey.
Kevin Moore on Mat Robson: ‘I think he’s the best in the league’
Kevin Moore remains one of the Elite League’s most interesting figures.
Elevated to a dual role as Coventry Blaze head coach and director of hockey operations, the American’s story is one of pure graft.
Moore didn’t play at a high level: he made two NCAA appearances in four seasons at UMass, before playing just one professional game.
From there, he turned his attention to coaching and quietly built his career, starting out with the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs before taking a voluntary goaltender coaching role at Princeton University.
Moore spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Adrian College, which he followed up with season-long stints with the College of St. Scholastica (head coach) and Nottingham Panthers (assistant coach).
That’s to say: the New Jersey native has built his career brick-by-brick.
And his intense loyalty has played a major role in his ascent: he loves his guys — and they leave it all on the ice in return.
With that in mind, here is an exclusive, unpublished excerpt from my recent interview with Moore.
‘I never felt comfortable with the options on the goalie market’
I wanted to ask about one or two of your players: Mat Robson played all but thirteen minutes of last season. Does the Dershahn Stewart signing mark a change of direction in terms of how you utilise your netmidners?
In terms of the minutes they play, yes.
I think people forget that we signed Cam Gray last year and he left during training camp. So, honestly, the plan last year wasn’t to have Mat play all of those minutes.
But I never felt comfortable with what was out there on the goalie market and I wasn’t going to overspend for that spot.
Will Bray’s development was also really good and I felt pretty confident in him that he could be a steady back up for us if we really needed it. He was — and he might’ve played a little bit more down the stretch if he hadn’t got hurt.
The plan hasn’t really changed, but having Dersh just gives us the depth that we wanted last year. He’s a really talented goalie and a really great team guy who wants to learn from me and Mat.
Obviously, we have that Adrian [College] connection: I recruited him there even though I never coached him. He’ll be able to give Matt rests when we feel it’s appropriate for his development and the team.
On the flip side — Mat Robson: wow. I think he showed everyone the guts and character that he has. We had talks last season where I would say ‘I’d like to bring in this guy, what do you think?’ and he’s just like ‘no, I can do this, I want the net.’
And, as far as I’m concerned, he was the best goalie in the league and he proved that he could [play every game]. There are special goalies who can play all the time and I’m proud of him for that.
At the same time, though, we had that scary situation where it looked like he might be hurt — so, it’s better to have that insurance in Dersh.
Mat Robson, Coventry Blaze (Image: James Assinder)
‘Every guy in the room knew that we had the chance to win with Mat Robson in goal’
Robson won one of the Blaze’s internal awards last year. To the rest of the team, how meaningful was it that he was literally always there?
It’s really, really impressive.
Having been a goalie, we all want to be that rock number one. And there’s just not many of them out there in the world. Most of the time, there’s just not much of a difference between the pair.
When you’re lucky enough to have a guy like that, you can read the room and know that everyone felt that we could win with Mat in goal.
Mat works so hard in practice and he just doesn’t quit on pucks. He’s competitive and maybe the most impressive thing to me and the team was that I gave him the option to miss practices towards the end of the year and he said ‘no: I want to be out there with the guys.’
I think that says a lot to the group and that’s a throwback mentality in sport, where people are just doing rest days for rest days at times. He’s just not wired like that and I love it.
Elsewhere in the Elite League —
Throughout the season, I’ll be using Elite League Tea to share exclusive interview insights (like the piece above) and provide analysis on recent events.
I have a series of season preview pieces in the works.
But, in the meantime, here’s one note on each Elite League team.
1. Belfast Giants: Adam Keefe’s side took a strong KalPa squad to overtime in their season-opening Champions Hockey League fixture. Amongst the players who impressed? Kell Beattie and Rhodes Mitchell-King: two-way players who combined for almost 14 minutes of ice time.
Ryan Smith, Belfast Giants (Image: William Cherry)
2. Sheffield Steelers: Eamon McAdam is Aaron Fox’s most important signing of the summer. The Steelers have been overly reliant on Matt Greenfield in recent years — but he now has a legitimate back-up (if not challenger) in former Guildford Flame McAdam.
3. Nottingham Panthers: There’s a lot to like about Danny Stewart’s offseason recruitment. After a 57-point season in the ECHL last term, I’m watching Bryan Lemos with heightened interest — he’s a real talent.
4. Cardiff Devils: Paul Thompson has built a very Paul Thompson team. Connor Caponi, signed from the University of Denver, looks like a real heart and soul guy — and has already dropped the gloves twice in preseason.
5. Coventry Blaze: If you haven’t already, read my full-length feature on Kevin Moore.
‘Not least the peculiar absence of Chris Martenet’
6. Guildford Flames: I spoke with returning defenceman Jamal Watson on Thursday. The 30-year-old says he has “unfinished business” in the Elite League. And that’s a scary proposition for the league’s nine other teams.
7. Glasgow Clan: You shouldn’t overreact to a couple of preseason results… but there are reasons to be concerned about the Clan. Not least the peculiar absence of Chris Martenet.
8. Dundee Stars: Chris Olsson became Marc LeFebvre’s final summer signing earlier today — the 6-foot-6 winger will be a force to reckon with this season.
9. Manchester Storm: Brendon Clavelle is an interesting signing for Manchester. The 25-year-old defenceman enjoyed a solid USports career and looks set for a top-four role with the Storm.
10. Fife Flyers: If you haven’t already… read my interview with Flyers GM and President Max Birbraer.
** please don’t come for me, the above is based on last season’s regular-season standings; not my predictions for 2025-26.