By Kris Smith
With only four teams competing in the Elite Series, the Dundonian forward was selected by English club for the month-long mini-season and has so far enjoyed his experience in what is a massive platform for young British talent to showcase themselves.
The 22-year-old firstly spoke about his love of being back on the ice and competitive action.
“It has been amazing to have hockey back after having a year out, to be on the ice just about every day and to have that busy hockey schedule back has been great”, said Craig.
He continued: “I have had a great time down in Nottingham so far and to be part of the mini-series has been a really good experience.
“To have the opportunity to play for a team like Nottingham so far has been really fun and I’ve loved every minute of it.”
Whilst the Panthers have not had the best start and sit bottom of the four-team league, they are still withing touching distance of the top and also, every team will qualify for the playoffs – where anything can happen.
Discussing his side’s chances, the Scottish winger said: “We are all confident that we can win the series.
“We have had a couple close games where we have been unfortunate not to get any points.
“However, there is a lot of games still to be played so we cannot drop our heads and we need to stay positive.
“We got a big win against Manchester (Storm) on Wednesday night, so hopefully that will bring a lot more confidence in the team and we can go on to play better hockey leading up to the playoff semi-finals.”
With the new Elite League season just four months away by the time the mini-series ends and Team GB heading straight to the World Championships in May, this is a big opportunity for many players to put themselves in the spotlight.
Thus, Garrigan is lapping up the extra minutes of ice time and feels he is progressing well in the unique environment.
He said: “I feel like I am benefiting from getting the chance to get more ice time and it is great that all these young brits are getting more game time.
“It has been a real chance for us to showcase ourselves and prove that we are more than capable to play in the EIHL.”
“As for myself, I feel my confidence growing with every game I’m playing”, added Craig.
He continued: “Since I have been down here, it has been good learning different playing styles and systems that we do for Nottingham.
“Tim (Wallace, Nottingham Panthers Head Coach) has been working with us on certain aspects of our games that we need improvement on at the end of practices, which has been great for our improvement.
“So, I am really excited to keep on pushing and progressing with this team because we know we have what it takes to win the whole thing.”
