Chelmsford Chieftains have continued to build their roster for the forthcoming season and assistant coach Shaun McFadyen has been busy securing the services of players.

The club have added to the signatures of netminder Simon Smith, club captain Jake French and forward Kyle Dolman (formerly with the Slough Jets and Invicta Dynamos) with a further four signings.

Duane Ward has also returned to the club. Ward, 24, previously unknown to British hockey, was a revelation last season after joining the club in October.

The forward, formerly with German Elite club Revier Lions and CHL club Tulsa Oilers, finished the season as Chieftains' top scorer with 105 points from just 39 matches.

His five goal haul in the final helped Chieftains lift the Millennium Cup and he was voted 'Player of the Year' by the fans and also 'Club Player of the Season' by his fellow players.

Ward is currently playing in Australia for Sydney Bears in the Australian Superleague where he has helped his team to ten wins from 11 games to date.

Chieftains will also have a new name on their roster next season in Canadian Ryan Mair.

Hailing from Timmins, Ontario, Mair, 23, formerly with Amorillo Rattlers (WPHL), Mohawk-Valley Prowlers (UHL) and Tulsa Oilers (CHL) spent last season with Swindon Chill.

Mair is a free skating forward who was pressed into defence for Chill last season, but was still their second leading Premier League scorer with 51 points from 22 games.

He comes from a good hockey background, as his father spent three seasons with NHL's Philadelphia Flyers.

Chieftains spokesman John Blundell said: "We were always confident of getting Duane Ward back and apart from his playing ability, he fits in well with everyone here.

''We are also pleased to have secured Ryan Mair's signature this season. He is superb around the net and we are confident that he will score a lot of goals for Chieftains, and his 'bad boy' reputation from last season is not something which concerns us.

''Chieftains like to play the game with few penalties and we are confident that Ryan will be no exception''.

Returning to the Chieftains from last season is Great Britain under 20 international Billy Price.

Price, 21, moved from Manchester at the start of last season and has previously iced for Trafford Metros and Blackburn Hawks.

He ended last season with 34 points from 44 games (17+17) and with Jamie Randall and Richard Whiting formed what became known as the 'Ferret line', whose tenacious tackling and furious pace made life difficult for the opposition.

The three players were presented with a special Pepsico award for their contribution to the club's success last season.

Richard Whiting will also return to a club he has played for throughout his career, moving up through the junior ranks to rightfully earn a Chieftains' spot.

Whiting, who married wife Joanne in May, has racked up 241 games for Chieftains, and scoring 112 points along the way (42 + 70).

Crowd favourite, Canadian Andy Hannah has also re-signed and will resume his high scoring partnership with Duane Ward.

Hannah is now settled in Chelmsford and will play his ninth campaign since coming to the country in 1992/93 season.

He has played most of that time with Chieftains with brief spells at Billingham, Invicta and Guildford in between.

Hannah has played 216 games for Chieftains and lies sixth in the club's all time scoring list with 435 points.

Another season similar to last, where he scored 98 points, will see him catch fourth and fifth placed Mark Stokes (510 points) and Mark Mackie (453 points) in the list.

John Blundell said: "Andy is a class player and has had superb seasons of late. It seems that the older he gets, the better he gets.

''When Andy is firing on all cylinders, Chelmsford are more than a match for anyone at this level. He is a good playmaker, influential and gifted and will undoubtedly score a lot of points again this season.''

Crowd favourite: The 2000/20001 ice hockey season will be Andy Hannah's ninth with the Chelmsford Chieftains.

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