Aberdeen Lynx head coach Jordan Leyden is targeting a treble after watching his side win the Scottish National League title for the second year in a row.
The Aberdeen side wrapped up their second successive national ice hockey title in stunning fashion with a game to spare on Saturday with a 10-0 win at Dundee Comets.
Leyden said: “Doing it last year was special as it was the first title in the club’s history but to do it back-to-back in a competitive league is pretty special.
“Having done it once there was a bit of pressure on us to do it again and there was the added pressure of being the team everyone wants to take the scalp of.
“There was a lot of pressure going into all these games as you are now expected to win. It’s good to have those expectations but it was tough being the team everyone wanted to beat.”
On the resounding victory Leyden added: “It wasn’t a scoreline I expected. Once we got 3-0 up the Comets maybe gave up a little bit but we didn’t stop as in our eyes it wasn’t over until it was over.
“It was very pleasing to see the guys come out and put on a performance like that in such a high pressure game.”
Pain of 2022 has been the making of the team
Retaining the trophy they won last year is especially pleasing for Leyden after his side missed out on the title in 2022.
With the benefit of hindsight the head coach believes the pain of not winning the title two years ago has been a valuable lesson for the club.
He said: “We missed out on the title by a point in 2022 and it has been a massive learning curve for us as a team and a club.
“There was one game specifically which we pinpointed in terms of our preparation and how we handled things.
“We’ve been very focused on how we prepare for every game in the last two seasons and since the 2022 season the number of games have doubled. Instead of a 14-game championship it’s now 28.
“It’s double the chance of winning but also double the threat of losing so to win back-to-back in those circumstances is very pleasing.
Lynx targeting more silverware this season
With the play-offs and the Scottish Cup final to come in April Leyden believes his side is capable of further success this season.
He said: “We’ve still got the Scottish Cup final and the possibility of the Play-offs as well so the chance of the treble is still on and that’s our main goal.
“We’ll play a quarter-final against the eighth-placed team home and away and the winners go into a play-off weekend on April 13 and 14. The semis are played on the Saturday with the final on the Sunday.
“The Scottish Cup final is a week later on April 20 so there’s still a lot of hockey to play.
“We’ve still got one league game to play next weekend and we’ll maybe rest some guys who have some niggles ahead of the play-offs and the guys are full of confidence heading into those.”
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