Next up for our player interview is #21 Luc Johnson who has re-signed for his second year with the Wildcats, as announced back in June. The 21-year-old forward contributed 29 points last year and is eager to use his pre-season preparation to build on that  this season.

“I’ve been working out, doing the odd skating session but ice time has been hard to come by in MK. I’ve been working closely off the ice with Aaron and Pierre from Battleground fitness, doing more of a structured programme getting ready for the new season. I’ve probably skated 6 times but slowly it’s getting to that time of year where we ramp it all up in preparation for the new season.”

With pre-season games against Bracknell and Streatham coming up in the weekends after the launch day, the Wildcats pre-season tests are up there with the toughest we’ve had in pre-season. With the summer upheaval in Bracknell will see Swindon jump straight into tough competition, something Luc thinks will benefit the team.

“Bracknell are going to be a tough test, they’re possibly the most improved team of the summer. It’s going to be interesting to see what they’re like and how they match up against us. I’m not sure if they’ve started skating or not yet but you only have to look at Doug’s resume to see what he’s going to bring to Bracknell.”

Although there may not be too many new faces to fans, Tyler Plews and Sam Jones may be the ones who jump off the page when it comes to the ones to watch throughout pre-season. As a former team-mate of Sam Jones, Luc thinks he’s the kind of player who’ll be adored by the Swindon fans.

“I think Aaron has done a superb job, it’s similar to last year but I think the additions will really help us. It can only benefit us going forward. I’ve played with Sam in MK before, he’s a really good skater, he moves the puck well and has a hard shot on him. He can also stand up for himself and bring some toughness which is only a good thing as it makes us harder to play against. He’s excited to get going in Swindon and I think the Swindon fans will love him. He’s very similar to Sam Zajac, whilst he may not be as tough; he’s taller and probably skates a little bit faster.”

With many of the teams improving over the off-season it’s not just Bracknell that have strengthened in Luc’s eyes.

“I think the league has taken a step forward again. MK have picked up Jordan Lawday which is going to be massive for them and you only have to look at the 8 teams to realise that they all have good players on their teams. There were some games last year where as a player it was hard to play in, this year we want as many close games as we can and hopefully end up on the right side of some narrow wins. We want to be playing in close games, but we want to be winning them.”

Ultimately, the goals are simple, to continue the success of last season and look to win the trophies that escaped us in 17-18.

We want to win everything we can get our hands on, we need to make sure we have the same feeling as last year firstly and then look to match what we did last year. If we can do that then great, but we also know last year wasn’t perfect and there is room to improve, if we can better what we did last year then that would ideal.”

Stay tuned for swindonwildcats.com for two more interviews next week as well get ever closer to the 2018 Launch Day on Sunday 26th August.