Aberdeen Lynx head coach Jordan Leyden has hailed his history-making side after they won the Scottish National League title with a dramatic victory against Edinburgh Capitals.
The Aberdeen side went into the match on the back of two defeats but knew victory would be enough to claim a maiden title win.
Ben Edmonds’ late winner with only a second to go proved to be decisive as the Lynx ran out 3-2 winners to spark scenes of jubilation.
Leyden praised his players for a huge team effort.
He said: “With the way the past couple of weeks have gone it was always going to be a nervous one.
“We were unfortunate in those games so we still felt pretty confident as we had played well in the past few games.
“Coming down to the last game of the season and in the last dying moments it was a very nervy one.
“It is an unbelievable feeling.
“The club has been going for over 30 years and we have never won the league before.
“It is a huge achievement from the guys who have put in so much effort.
“It is great to see all the hard work pay off, including those who do so much behind the scenes.”
An audience far and wide
The game was a sell-out and there was also a large audience following the action live on YouTube.
Leyden said: “I was surprised by how many people were watching the game on the stream from all over the world.
“There were people from Finland and Sweden watching the game.
“You can see how much ice hockey is growing here and the support we have had this season has been unbelievable.
“The games have pretty much all been sold out this season.
“More than 1,000 people were watching live online as well as 1,000 people in attendance at the rink.”
While it is a first title win for the Lynx, Leyden always felt they were capable of challenging for the top spot.
He said: “We finished second last year and only missed out by a point.
“Our ambition was to win the league but we knew it would take a huge effort.
“It wasn’t going to be easy because they doubled the amount of games this year.
“Our end goal was to win and we are delighted we have managed to do it.”
𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐋𝐓:
Lynx 3️⃣➖2️⃣ Capitals
Smith🚨
Gautschi 🚨Very tough one to take, the guys gave everything out there it just wasn’t to be.
Congratulations to Aberdeen Lynx on winning the SNL Championship 🦁
MOM🏅- Craig Chalmers pic.twitter.com/fNSWWYRjs5
— Edinburgh Capitals (@edcapitals) March 18, 2023
And the Lynx head coach hopes there is more success to come in the near future.
He added: “We still have the play-offs and a Scottish Cup semi-final coming up as well so there is still the chance we could win the treble.
“It is unbelievable to even be saying that.
“The celebrations after the game were great. We all enjoyed ourselves and it was great to see all the families and friends enjoying the moment afterwards.”
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