SWINDON Wildcats player-coach Aaron Nell believes that Tomasz Malasinski will be impossible to replace following his departure from the club.

The club have announced this morning that the Pole, who had one year left on his deal, has left the Link Centre, with him being linked to a return to the Polish League with GKS Katowice.

Malasinski joined the Wildcats back in 2014 and made 144 appearances, scoring 111 goals in his three seasons with the club and racking up 112 assists.

With Swindon making the move to National Ice Hockey League Division One South, Nell always knew that keeping hold of n Turn to page 31 From back page Malasinski would be tough and admitted they couldn’t stand in his way once a better offer came along.

“He was outstanding,” said Nell, who has not ruled out a return for the 30-year-old.

“Last season, he took his hockey to another level.

“From Christmas onwards, he was out of this world and he is a great player and person and we’ve left it on really good terms.

“As a coach, hopefully one day he will be back.

“We’re obviously gutted he has gone but we understand his decision and we wish him all the best.”

With only two imports permitted on the roster in the National League and skipper Jan Kostal committing for another year yesterday, Nell will now set about finding a replacement for Malasinski, a task he admits will be easier said than done.

“We’re still looking,” he added.

“We have obviously signed Janny (Jan Kostal) so we have got one more import to get and there are plenty of options out there right now.

“We’re just looking to see what will fit best for our team.

“You are never going to replace Tomasz, he shouldn’t have even been in our league last season.

“We’re not going to replace Tomasz like-for-like, we’re just going to have to replace him with a few different players and go from there.

“There is always pressure on us forwards to get goals, regardless of whether Tomasz was here or not.

“In my eyes, he was one of the only players in the league that every single team in our league would have taken and we were lucky to have him in Swindon.”