London Raiders announce goalies for upcoming season
PUBLISHED: 09:00 21 July 2017
Jacob Ranson
Euan King in action for the London Raiders (Pic: John W G Scott)
London Raiders have added two netminders to the roster with the re-signing of Euan King and the addition of Zachary Grandy-Smith for the 2017/18 season, writes Jacob Ranson.
Euan King coming out to play the puck last season (Pic: John W G Scott)
The Lee-Valley based outfit welcome back King, who joined the club from Streatham IHC last season and the shot-stopper, is 'happy' to be back.
The 28-year-old said: "I'm very happy to be back in the gold and blue for the new season and working alongside Sean and Alan again.
"I have a great deal of respect for both as coaches and I'm excited to see how they set us up to compete in the new league structure."
The former Peterborough Phantoms, Chelmsford Chieftains and Stretham IHC goalie, who is in his third spell at the club also spoke about the new league format and his excitement for the new challenge.
"The new league structure is a bit of an unknown for everyone involved, but is something I am very much looking forward to," he admitted. "We have put together a very good team with a mixture of youth, experience, speed and grit which should hopefully set us up nicely to be competitive."
Joining him between the pipes is youngster Grandy-Smith from Chelmsford under-18s and King is very 'excited' to work with the 18–year-old to build for the future.
"I'm excited to be working with Zach this season, when we spoke in the summer we discussed options and I was very keen to have a young goalie to help bleed through.
"We have a very good prospect who will not only push me week in week out to ensure I remain on my toes for game time, but also a talented goalie who I can help out and use my experience to hopefully be pushing to take my job in the next few seasons."
King is also keen to stay in the gold and blue until the move back to the new rink in Romford next season.
"With the move back to Romford just around the corner, the club is on a steep incline up and this is probably the most excited I have been for a season in a very long time," he said. "I said when I returned in November my aim was to get back to the new rink and nothing has changed. It's now down to me to make sure I perform to the level expected of me to make that goal become a reality."
Before adding: "I'm looking forward to playing in front of the gold and blue army again, they make a great atmosphere in every game."