Cameron: We needed more speed, and more scoring

Photo: Scott Wiggins

Glasgow Clan had a lot of things stacked against them in 2021/22. The team from Braehead Arena started the season some six weeks after other teams, weren’t able to play or train in their own building until mid-November, and came late into recruitment.

Now with a season behind him, Head Coach Malcolm Cameron spoke about building for what is scheduled to be a more ‘normal’ season.

“It’s been a totally different off-season compared to last summer. We had a lot of hurdles to overcome to start the season last year, and when we came to recruit only about 30% of the market was left which was a challenge,” began Cameron. “This summer we’ve obviously come into recruited in a much more usual situation.”

Despite starting late, Clan ended the season sixth and were up in their playoff Quarter-Final from the first leg in Cardiff before being eliminated. “Last season we were in a lot of games as we were very structured, but what we lacked was secondary scoring. We ended up losing many games we hung around in by the odd goal, so that was definitely one of the biggest things we wanted to address in our recruitment this off-season,” explained the Clan coach.

“Ultimately we lost out in the playoffs because we couldn’t find a way to score in that home game against Cardiff. Rather than relying on 5-6 guys to score, we wanted to make sure we have at least three lines that are going to contribute and I think we’ve got that. We have good players up top and at the same time have signed defensemen who are good at both ends of the ice.”

He continued: “Looking back on last season, I felt we also needed to get faster. We lacked team speed, so against some of the top teams we needed to play much more structured. This season I want us to be able to use speed to our advantage - that doesn’t mean we won’t be structured in what we do, but we’ll be able to play in different ways to allow us to be more competitive. We also need to take less penalties. It’s hard to generate offensive pressure when you’re killing those off multiple times each game.”

Clan relied heavily on Shane Starrett in net last season, but for 2022/23 have signed Zach Driscoll and Ty Taylor - both non-homegown players - alongside Euan Simpson. “In terms of goaltending, I wanted to find someone who could be with us for the next 2-3 seasons. When I signed Shane last summer, I knew he ultimately wanted to be back to North America and that it would be a one-year thing,” explained Cameron. 

“So our approach this season was to look at goalies who could be with us for 2-3 seasons. If it works out well we hope they might want to stay, or will have raised their own profile sufficiently to go on to a better league.”

Cameron’s recruitment led him to signing 12 players who have previously played in the EIHL. Was that by design? “Hockey is hockey, but where we are in Glasgow the travelling is something that can take guys a bit of getting used to. Aside from our two Scottish neighbours, the rest of our road games involve long bus trips and some players might not be used to that at first,” he said. 

“Being on the bus, playing the game, getting back on the bus, and then playing the next day can take a bit of getting used to, so having guys who’ve been through that is certainly not a disadvantage.”

While the Elite League finished long before the Stanley Cup Finals, Cameron was keeping a keen eye out for a former teammate of his, Colorado Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar, who ultimately won the biggest prize in hockey. “I text Jared after Colorado won the cup to tell him how proud I was of him… and to enjoy his vacation!” he laughed. “Jared is the type of guy who always responds as quickly as he can, I think he wrote back to me 15 minutes or so later while they were still celebrating after Game 6. He’s a great person and I was incredibly happy for him.”

With Clan’s recruitment now complete, what’s ahead before the new season? “Camp this year will be a lot easier as we’ll be in Glasgow and in our own building!” joked Cameron. We’re starting on 29 August with two or so weeks of camp and then a couple of preseason games before we play the seasoner opener.

“Looking ahead, what we want to be this season is more consistent. We don’t want to be a team that goes 5 & 1 but then 1 & 5 straight after, for example. We’re aiming to be a team that might go 3-2-1. Then 5-1, and maybe 4-2 after that.”