Panthers raring to go - Neilson

Neilson's side finished third in the Elite League last season

Nottingham Panthers coach Corey Neilson says his side are itching to get on the ice ahead of the new season.

Panthers get their preparations underway with a match in Hull against Dutch side Tilburg on Sunday.

Neilson told BBC Radio Nottingham: "The trouble is I need more pucks on the ice as these guys are so good. They are so committed early doors and that's nice.

"The guys we have are so excited and they already have good confidence in each other."

Panthers are taking part in a three-team tournament, and face Hull on Monday evening.

They return to Nottingham to take on Sheffield in the Charity Shield on Wednesday, before opening their Elite League campaign against Belfast three days later.

Neilson added: "We've had a great week and the intensity in training has been been 100mph.

"We keep bombarding them with speed and just continue to get the conditioning so they can go 100mph all the time in our league.

"I think it's important to have that kind of conditioning and with our skill, I can't see a whole lot of teams being able to contain that firepower."