LINK Centre legend Daryl Lipsey is backing his former charge Stevie Lyle to be a success at the helm of the Swindon Wildcats.

Veteran netminder Lyle is heading in to his first season in charge of the Wildcats after succeeding Ryan Aldridge as head coach and is currently assembling his squad for the upcoming campaign, this week announcing the capture of Slovakian ace Mirsolav Zalesak.

Canadian Lipsey had a glittering nine-year spell as player-coach in Swindon before moving on to the Manchester Storm.

In 2001 – his penultimate year as the North West mega-franchise’s head coach – Lipsey brought in Great Britain international Lyle as his stopper.

And as an interested onlooker, who is still a regular spectator at the Link Centre, the Wildcats hero is keen to see how the logistics of a netminding head coach work out.

“I think he’ll do well. It’s tough because I’ve never experienced a goalie being a head coach before, so it’s kind of different, but I’m sure he’ll have somebody on his bench running the lines whilst he’s in the pipes stopping pucks,” said Lipsey, who is the Wildcats’ all-time leading points-scorer and now coaches the club’s U14 A side alongside former team-mate Bryan Larkin.

“Stevie’s a very competitive guy and he’s always done well. He played in Manchester for me.

“He’s been in the league for years, he’s always been fairly consistent and goalies can win you hockey games.

“Something that I always started with, when I coached top teams, was signing a good goalie – start at the back and work your way up.

“You can always find goalscorers – they’re dropping off trees – but good goalies and defencemen are tough to find.

“I go to most Wildcats games at home on a Saturday. I’ll go there if we’re not playing hockey away or anything else.

“I like the Wildcats. I still know a lot of the guys that are involved.

“Steve Nell runs the team and I played with him and we also used to coach Ryan Aldridge.”