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Hand happy with Euro trip

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Phoenix head coach Tony Hand returned from his European weekend mission and declared himself happy with the events of the weekend.

“The trip was to Sweden for a short coaching seminar and included watching games involving the national teams from the host country along with Finland, the Czech Republic and Russia, and the quality of the hockey was outstanding,” reported the Phoenix coach.

But, the main business was meeting some player agents and sounding them out about potential signing targets for the Phoenix. Hand added, “That part of the trip went very well. At these kinds of events, you get the chance to talk with coaches and agents, and it’s quite possible to pick up a vital lead or two for players who might be available and interested in a change of scenery for next season.”

Smiling as he continued Hand went on, “It’s tricky sometimes because there are always people from other (British) clubs present, and this trip was no exception, so you have to play a little cloak and dagger stuff so as not to give anything away. All in all, I think things went well and the new contacts we made will surely help us in our recruiting throughout the summer.”

With a couple of early summer contract offers out already, Phoenix are hopeful of making their first signing announcement soon. Hand closed saying, “Initial talks have gone well and I’ll be following up on them later this week to hopefully finalise the offers and conclude the paperwork.”

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