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Phoenix say farewell to Ryan Watson

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Ryan Watson has left the Manchester Phoenix to return to North America and one of his former clubs, the Oklahoma City Blazers.

The 25-year old forward asked for his release from the Phoenix last week after failing to settle in the UK and Head Coach Tony Hand agreed saying, “Ryan came to see me last week and told me he had a chance to return to the Central Hockey League with one of his former clubs. He could have gone last week, but we asked him to stay for the weekend and he did, and played a vital part in our win over Nottingham. We wish him well with Oklahoma.”

 Watson commented before leaving to re-join the Blazers, “I really can’t say enough good things about the Phoenix, it’s just that I was finding it hard to adjust to life in the UK. The club have been brilliant to me since I arrived and so have all the boys in the room and the fans with their unbelievable support for a team awaiting a new home. I wish the club every success and nothing would please me more than if they can achieve their aims in this first season.”

 Phoenix GM Andy Costigan commented, “Naturally, it’s disappointing to have to go back to the recruiting part of the job, but we’re always looking for players in case of just this scenario. We’d like to thank Ryan for his efforts, especially in the penalty shootout on Sunday. It would have been very easy for him to have not bothered, but Tony put trust in him to take a shot and he came up trumps to score and give us the chance to win. As for a replacement, I know Tony is enquiring about a couple of players right now and whilst we want to move quickly to fill the spot on the roster, the key is to sign the right player not the first one that comes along.”

 Phoenix travel to Belfast on Friday for the second leg of the Challenge Cup tie against the Giants before heading south to Basingstoke on Saturday and then returning ‘home’ to Deeside on Sunday to take on the Cardiff Devils.