Former Braehead Clan defenceman Cameron Burt admits he loved the passion ex-coach John Tripp had in doing his job, even if he was the coach that once consigned his team to relegation the season before.

Burt joined the Clan from German second tier side Starbulls Rosenheim in the summer of 2017, weeks after Tripp’s Eispiraten Crimmitschau had won a relegation play-off over them to send the Bavarian outfit to the league below.

It didn’t stop the American from appreciating what his coach brought to the team in the ill-fated 2017-18 season that ended in disappointment as the Clan tumbled out of the play-offs in the final weekend - the only time it has happened in the club’s decade long history.

“It’s crazy to think that John Tripp coached against the team I played for that got us relegated the season before I came to Glasgow,” Burt said. “I try not to remember it too much.  It had been a tough year for us and it was strange how it worked out in that year in Germany.

“He had some insight on my game, which I assume he would have got from me playing against his team so I guess that worked to my advantage.  I must I have made an impression on him for him to sign me, which was a compliment.

“John’s a guy who was passionate about what he did and I loved that.  The way he would tell you straight about how he felt.  Some people handled that better than others.  We didn’t have the best relationship at times through that season, but we had the same intentions.  We all wanted to win and maybe that’s where the friction happened.

“It goes without saying the season didn’t go as we all would have wanted and tensions rose.  He was someone who pushed me, expected and demanded the very best from me and the rest of the players. He was always someone you could talk to away from the rink too and I always appreciated that side of him.”

Although, statistically, it was Clan’s worst ever Elite League season, finishing ninth out of ten and missing the end of season play-offs, it was one that Burt chooses to look back on with a degree of fondness, rather than any lingering bitterness.

Nowadays an estate agent in Michigan, the 34-year-old insists despite their eventual lowly position, it wasn’t for the lack of effort and highlighted the transitional phase the team were in after seeing previous coach Ryan Finnerty leave as well as his entire team of imported players.

“From my standpoint, there wasn’t anyone who didn’t go out there and give their all,” he added. "It was hard to convey that to the fans.  A lot of times, you go to a team who have changed some people around, but I hadn’t seen it as much as I had at the Clan.  You usually find a couple or a handful are retained, but it was more or less the full team when I came over.

“It was tough to get everyone to gel in a short period of time.  The teams who did well were the teams who kept it consistent, such as Cardiff and you could see they had been together for a sustained period of time.  We had some great moments and I wouldn’t say the whole season was negative.

“The bottom line is we’re professional athletes and we tried to make it work, but we didn’t.  Some of us ending up losing jobs and moving on.  That’s the nature of the beast.”