The defence is really the only doubt about this team. They have an excellent goalie, a superb crop of Brits, a pack of impressive import lamplighters and now they even have the right coaching combination with Neilson, the offensive co-ordinator, and Rick Strachan holding the reins on the bench. Both teams are rolling the dice, but this year the Blaze have more chips on the table to begin with.Įverything else about the Panthers is good enough. The pressure on Wilson is huge and it's becoming more intense every day that Meyers isn't completely healthy.Ĭoventry are going with only two-imports at the back, but the Blaze have a fit and healthy Dave Phillips and Jonathan Weaver to boot. Wilson will have to shovel pucks away from the crease like a snowplow to give the Big Cats any hope. The Panthers know what they have in Neilson and returning hard man Guy Lepine. Neilson is putting his mortgage on incoming defenceman Brock Wilson, who joins the Elite League as the absolute must-perform player in the country. But as is usual policy in his regime, the Panthers player-coach opted to swing with a three-import D, and that's counting the offensively-minded Neilson himself.

Neilson could have reinforced K-Wall with a blueline of four AHL studs and erased all doubt about who the favourites for the league title were. But he's out to convince the world that the Panthers can win the league title with a three-import blueline and Danny Meyers coming off shoulder reconstruction. In his goaltender and forward pack, Neilson has perhaps the number-one units in the country.

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