Romford Junior Raiders IHC general manager Ben Pitchley has got his man to replace coach Mark Saunders - and Jason Buckman will be a familiar face to the gold and blue faithful.
Buckman returns to the club as the new head coach of the National League Division One South squad and brings a vast knowledge of the game, through a stellar playing career and his early coaching experiences.
He worked alongside current Peterborough Phantoms National League head coach Slava Koulikov until the 2020/21 season, before taking over the reins of the Phantoms second team and guiding them to a joint runners-up spot behind Guildford.
"I needed to bring a coach into this team, that knew how the club has developed and nurtured young talent previously," said Pitchley.
"It had to be someone who knew what Romford hockey was about, and had been there and done it as a player, and someone who understood what putting on that jersey should be about.
"Jason ticks all of these boxes, so I reached out to him, and here we are!
"We did great last year, making the final four weekend, but the league position (seventh) could have been better. This season, we need to develop our consistency, amongst other things, and hit the ground running once the season starts.
"We're still aiming to be one of the younger sides in the league, with player development still the number one goal."
Buckman spent four and a half seasons in a gold and blue jersey, from 2009-14, scoring 20 goals and 101 assists in 226 games.
And he admitted it is great to be back in Romford, saying: "I took a bit of time to decide, but coming back is a no-brainer, I'm really excited.
"The experience under Slava at National League level was invaluable, seeing him work his magic put me in good stead to go it alone.
"It's an exciting opportunity, a level up, and I can't wait to get started. It's that little bit extra in terms of quality and I want to give this league a go."
Despite not knowing much about the roster he will inherit next season, Buckman is relishing the challenge to help develop more young players at the club.
And he is clear about how he expects the team to play, adding: "I don't know many names on the roster but I've got a list from Ben and I've got to do some homework to see what the guys did and learn a whole new team.
"It will be interesting to see the personalities on the team. If you've got young, committed guys who work their socks off, that can take you far.
"We will play the right way. I subscribe to the 'Romford Way' of being a hard-working group. I'll bring that identity."
Buckman is well aware of the landscape of the division, though, and determined to do well for the club, having helped Raiders win league titles and cups as a player.
"Romford has always got a place in my heart and always will, I've missed the place since I left. The rink is unreal! It's no Rom Valley Way, but it's a nice rink.
"The league is very competitive, anyone can beat anyone, but you've got the bigger budget teams like Streatham, Chelmsford and Invicta, you're always going to face that.
"It's a league Romford can compete in and they showed that. We need to have high aspirations to push on from that, be competitive all year and pushing for the play-offs again."
*Under-18 captain Tjay Anderson and forward of the year Harvey Briggs were announced as the first two players to return for the 2022-23 season at the club's awards night at the Liberty Bell on Sunday.
Marco Pascale took the defenceman of the year prize, while Elliot Dervish was named players' player and goalie Dan Milton took the coaches player award.
Donald Campbell was presented with the Heart of the Team prize.
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