The Swindon Wildcats have announced that head coach Ryan Aldridge will be returning to the club for a sixth successive campaign in 2013-14, and will be available to play as in previous seasons. Despite the disappointment of missing the play-off semi-finals for a third season running the club have moved quickly to start making the preperations for next season as early as possible.
![Guildford Flames v Swindon Wildcats (26.09.10)](https://i0.wp.com/farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6786166959_3b20fb8e47_z.jpg)
Aldridge returns for a sixth season in charge of the Wildcats.
Aldridge returned to his home town club in 2008 after less than two months in charge of the Basingstoke Bison in the Elite League (EIHL); following on and off ice issues with the Hampshire side. He joined Head Coach Pete Russell as a player/coach for the remainder of the season leading the club to 8th place in the league standings.
The 2009-10 season saw Aldridge return to the club as player/coach with the club finishing in 8th place in the league standings for a second successive season. The Wildcats faced the league champions, the Milton Keynes Lightning, in the play-off quarter finals and an 10-8 aggregate score saw them proceed to the semi-finals in Coventry where they faced Guildford, but their path to the final was halted by a 5-2 loss.
The following season, Aldridge was once again back to lead the Wildcats charge in the EPL and a 7th place league finished marked a slight improvement over the previous two seasons, however was no where near where the club wanted to be. For 2011-12 Aldridge showed his clout in the recruiting department as he signed the entire top line of the Bracknell Bees; consisting of Jaroslav Cesky, Nicky Watt and Michal Pinc to the Link Centre. Jonas Höög made a return for a second season, whilst local boy Aaron Nell split his time between the Coventry Blaze and Wildcats. At the back Tom Murdy signed full time from the Blaze and he was joined mid season by Dean Skinns who had been released by the Bison. Despite a strong team on paper the Wildcats could only manage a 7th place finish for a second year running, whilst losing out to the Manchester Phoenix in the play-off quarter finals.
For this past season, it was all change again in the Wildcats squad. Aldridge announced before the season started that he’d prefer to coach from the bench, but would play if required. He eventually iced in 37 games due to injuries within the team and scored 26 points. Returning for a third season was Höög, joined on the top-line by Nell who retired full-time to the EPL squad.
Skinns and Murdy also returned for a second season, however a serious injury to Murdy would see Skinns take the number 1 mantle during the season.
The Wildcats started the season with Matias Perkkiö, Michal Kapicka, Jan Melichar alongside Höög in the import set-up. However a mid-season move for giant defenceman, Tomas Fojtik from the Telford Tigers, saw the departure of Kapicka after only 19 starts.
The Wildcats, had a less successful year than the last, in terms of overall victories however finished in a third successive 7th place in the league standings. In the play-offs they faced the Bison and after an initial 3-3 in the first leg of the play-off quarter finals; were eventually edged out in overtime in the return leg in Basingstoke, losing 2-1 to once again miss out on the finals weekend.
Despite the limited success Aldridge has enjoyed with Swindon it is a smart move by the Berkshire side. Consistency in terms of coaching and players is sometimes key to success on the ice. Having finished in the bottom 5 of the league standings for the past 5 years they will surely be looking to overturn their fortunes next season and despite the debate about what Aldridge has won with the Wildcats, there is not dispute that he is a decent coach in the EPL. Having had a strong squad on paper for the past two seasons and only reaching 7th in the league standings will be a bitter pill to swallow; however lessons will hopefully have been learnt at the Link Centre and next season they will be able to compete consistently on the ice week in and week out.
It will now just be interesting to see who will return and who Aldridge can capture to lead the Wildcats to a better finished than 7th in 2013-14.