Telford Tigers's netminder Brad Day eager to prove he is best of British

The NIHL National League is introducing a rule for next season that will allow clubs to import their goaltenders.

Day believes that could hurt the league – and has vowed to show that he is among those who do not deserve to be replaced.

"I don’t think it’s great for British hockey at all," he said. "Potentially you could have the top two levels of British hockey with zero British goalies, which would not be a good thing at all.

"However, I don’t think many teams will go with import goalies as the standard we have in the National League has been so high over the last few seasons – I don’t believe taking an import roster place with an import goalie is worth it."

The Tigers had a poor campaign last year by their very high standards – but Day believes they can get back to the level that saw them crowned back-to-back NIHL National League champions in 2019/20 and 2021/22.

"I think next season will be a much more competitive season from our side and hopefully we can get back to being competitive in all competitions," he said. "Last year was disappointing for many reasons, but we must focus on the season ahead and get back to competing for the trophies."

But can they bring more trophies back to the region?

"Yes of course," he said. "This club over the past three seasons has been the most successful club in the league, so the culture around the room is a winning one and I think that will continue to happen."

He added: "I just want to say a big thank you for all the fantastic continued support over the last three seasons and I am looking forward to seeing you all in September.

"I'm sure we will have a strong roster and will give the fans plenty to cheer about so it would be great to see them turn out in even bigger numbers than last year."

Tigers' head coach and general manager Tom Watkins is delighted to have secured the services of Day for two more years, having sorted out his own future last week.

Watkins said: “In my mind Brad is the most complete goalie in the league and his performances over a number of seasons have shown that.

"He is very knowledgeable about the game, reads the in game situations well and can read the puck coming off players sticks very well.

"He knows a lot about the majority of shooters in the league and their preferences.

"He plays a lot of minutes each season and excels on that responsibility.

"This will be his fourth season with us and I'm delighted to get him tied down for the next two seasons.

"He is 28 now and I'm sure he has his best years still ahead of him."