Solway Sharks long serving Captain Struan Tonnar played his 400th game on Saturday night, and to make it extra special they have all been as a Solway Sharks player.
Tonnar was born and bred in Dumfries and learned to skate at Dumfries Ice Bowl when his Mum, Ailsa, was manager at the rink, and progressed right through the junior program to the senior team and truly is a product of ice hockey in Dumfries.
He broke into the senior Sharks as a young, skilled forward and learned his trade in the Northern league and Celtic League while starting to learn his leadership skills under team Captains Mark Gallagher and Alan Crane and served as an assistant captain in the 2014/15 campaign. He has since moved back to the blue-line and become such an important part of the current sharks D-core.
The step up to become the Sharks Captain came in the 2015/16 season and it was the following season he really made his mark, lifting a league and playoff double which would be the start of seeing him regularly lifting silverware and awards as the captain of the club.
The biggest of them all was still to come and last season the Captain led his team to a treble with the league, playoffs and the much coveted National Championship in Coventry, and he’s not done yet as he aims to lead his team to back to back titles.
Struan truly is Mr Solway Sharks and works tirelessly both on and off the ice to ensure that the highest standards are upheld by the players and club and his passion, commitment, dedication and love for the game, club and his team mates is to be celebrated tonight.
Coaches Martin Grubb and Jamie Thomson paid tribute to their captain commenting, “Playing 400 games on its own is a unique achievement, but to play 400 for one team and that team being your own team, then it makes it a special milestone. We are proud to have seen Struan develop as a player but more importantly as a person over the years and to play a part in his success. He loves this club and makes sure anyone who pulls on a Sharks jersey knows what the club means to him, the fans and the wider Dumfries community and he should be very proud of his achievements. We both know he has had a great support network with his family behind him through the highs and the lows and like them the Sharks family is very proud of him. Congratulations Patches and enjoy looking back on this with pride”.
Everyone associated with Solway Sharks and Dumfries Ice Bowl would like to congratulate Struan on an incredible achievement. He is the franchise leader in points, goals and appearances and 400 truly is a remarkable number of games to play for your team.
We are all proud of El Capitano. He is an inspiration to our younger generation who he is helping shape now and we thank him for all you have done so far.
#400 #51 #KingoftheNorth
