PANTHERS GET THEIR MAN
The GMB Nottingham Panthers and DAN TESSIER have agreed terms for the upcoming season in the bmibaby Elite League.
Coach Corey Neilson and the club have been negotiating with the player after the coach had a sudden vacancy on his hands when much fancied centreman Chris Richards reneged on his commitment to join the club.
Tessier has played for the Panthers before. In season 2005-6 he had 11 goals and 26 points in 19 games before landing a big contract in Switzerland.
He then joined arch-rivals Sheffield Steelers for a year before moving to the top flight in Germany last year, returning to North America with Kalamazoo and then returning to Sheffield. With the Steelers last year he had an impressive 16 goals and 36 points in 24 games.
His signing for Nottingham is sure to spark debate but the club never closed the door on a possible return but his availability has not coincided with a vacancy. He is a proven winner and an excellent hockey player. He is exciting to watch and (tongue in cheek) we thought if we signed him it might help our arch-rivals to sell a few more tickets when we play there! He’s not the first player to play for us, move on to Sheffield and then come back.
Dan Tessier said today : “I’m pleased to be back and I can promise the fans I will be doing the best that I can for the Panthers.”
The 29-year-old has put his plans to join the police force in Canada to join the club and coach Corey Neilson says he’s very pleased that we got our man: “He’s a good fit for us, he’s great at winning the draw, we needed to find another good centreman, Tess has proven himself to be one of the best centremen ever to play in Britain, so I’m excited. I think the fans will be in for a treat. We certainly won’t have to wind him up or motivate him when we play against the Steelers that’s for sure!”
A work permit application has been filed today, immediately after the club received the signed contract from the player and we will do everything we can to get Dan Tessier into the line-up as soon as possible.
The first league games are on the weekend of September 6th/7th including the home game against Hull on Sunday September 7th(4pm).