The Bespoke Guardians Swindon Wildcats can confirm that #18 Loris Taylor, #77 Ben Nethersell, and #4 Ollie Stone will not be returning for the upcoming 23-24 Planet Ice NIHL National Division season.
Head Coach Aaron Nell and all of us here at the Wildcats HQ would like to extend our thanks and best wishes to Loris Taylor, Ben and Ollie for their service to the club during the 22-23 season as well as throughout their respective careers. Ollie will be taking a year out of hockey we hope to see him playing again in the 2024/25 season.
Loris is a product of the amazing junior system in Swindon, where he started his career an impressive 25 years ago, before he made the jump to the Swindon Wildcats in the 2009-10 season! Loris remained with the Wildcats up to and including the 2014-15 season, before being named the captain of the Swindon Wildcats NIHL team. In the 2018 season, Loris once again made his way back into the line-up where he would be a big part of the team for another 3 seasons, with a short stint in Bristol during the 2021-22 season. Loris was a big part of our Autumn Cup victory in the 2021-22 season, and his departure comes after putting on the Wildcats jersey an impressive 364 times, the 9th most in Wildcats history, an incredible feat that we are glad to have shared with Loris over the last 14 years.
Ben first wore a Wildcats jersey in the 2013-14 season in the EPIHL, and has continued his career in the red and white of the Wildcats ever since, icing for us on more than 250 occasions. During his time with us, Ben has been a massive part of our success, having been crowned a double champion in the 2017-18 season when we became NIHL Autumn Cup Champion and NIHL National Cup Champions, as well as a part of our NIHL Autumn Cup victory once again in 2021. We wish nothing but the best for Ben in the future and we thank him for all of his effort in a Wildcats jersey.
Ollie joined us for the 22-23 season for his second stint as a Wildcat, following 3 years with the Basingstoke Bison. During his time as a Wildcat, Oliver has also helped us to win silverware, as he was a part of the team that won 2 trophies in the 17/18 season, as he was crowned an Autumn Cup and National Cup Champion. Ollie has played 113 games as a Wildcat, and we thank him for all of his effort night in and night out as a Swindon Wildcat.
We would once again like to put our best wishes on record to tLoris, Ben and Ollie, three players that we are proud to have had wear the Wildcats jersey during their time with us.
