Växjö Lakers captain Liam Reddox says he’s not surprised Cardiff coach Andrew Lord has been a success at the club.
The two men played together at Oklahoma City Barons in the AHL during the 2010/11 season when Reddox was part of the Edmonton Oilers organisation.
But the 31-year-old, who won’t be icing for the Swedish side in Tuesday’s Champions Hockey League meeting due to injury, knew back then Lord would go become a success.
“I got to play with ‘Lordo’ in Oklahoma City in 2011 while I was up and down in the Edmonton Oilers. I can’t recollect how long I played with him for,” he said.
“But he left a lasting impression and while he was one of the newer guys on the team, he showed a lot of leadership and you knew he would go to battle for you.
“He worked extremely hard and I’m not surprised to see him coaching in Cardiff and having the success he’s had in winning the league.”
Reddox led the Swedish side to the semi-finals last year and have already qualified for the knockout stages in this year’s competition.
He’s disappointed to be missing the journey to Wales, but can’t wait to be involved in the return game at the Vida Arena next week.
And he hopes the travelling Devils fan will create as much noise as the Braehead supporters did when they visited Växjö two years ago.
He added: “Unfortunately, I have to sit this one out due to an injury I picked up in training camp and we just felt this week would be ideal to recover.
“I would definitely hope to be back for the second game when they come to our rink next week and I hope there’s going to be a good number of fans coming.
“The clips I saw of them in Davos, they look like a fun group with a lot of passion, much like Braehead Clan fans when they came to Växjö a couple of years ago.
“After seeing Cardiff’s first result against Davos, you get an idea of them, but the way they bounced back and beat them at home, it shows they have a lot of character and fight.
“They have a lot of pride too and we expect a difficult match from them, but one that will be a lot of fun to play in.”
