Knights fired up by old devil Steve

Thornton said: "The opportunity to play in Europe was definitely an incentive to come to London.

"I think we've got the right type of team to do well in Europe. We've got some good skaters with great skill and I think we'll be able to compete at that level.

"We've got some tough guys, players with speed, some goalscorers, some solid size, great goaltending and I hope we're going to be tough to beat."

For the past two seasons, London's chances of clinching the league title have been hit by injuries to key players. Thornton knows that with the lowering of the Superleague salary cap and the subsequent lack of numbers on the bench, luck with injuries will again play a big part this season. "I think we're only going to go with 15 or 16 skaters so a couple of injuries could be devastating to our season," he said.

One of the injuries which hit the Knights hard last season was to the Superleague's No1 netminder Trevor Robins but they have signed a back-up.

Dave Trofimenkoff started the majority of games for a struggling Manchester Storm side last season and is expected to deputise for Robins frequently this campaign, especially when the Evening Standard-sponsored Knights play two games during a weekend. He said: "I'm really excited about this year. We're going to have a good team.

"I think Trevor is an excellent goaltender. He's not only number one on his team but he's probably number one in the country. But I'll do my best when I play and hope when I get the chance to go on the ice we'll win some games."

After five seasons in Cardiff it was a wrench for Thornton to leave but with the Devils having been forced to drop into the British National League he didn't have much choice. He said: "I think everyone was sad to leave Cardiff with the way it ended.

"But as sad as I was to leave, I'm happy to be in London. There's some great guys from Cardiff that have come here.

"We got along pretty well in Cardiff and it seems like we've got a great atmosphere in the dressing room here as well."

Thornton is looking forward to a game against Team Italy in November when he will come up against Knights team-mates Mo Mansi and Vezio Sacratini.

He said: "I warned them to keep their heads up right now but then I'm going to go after them. It'll be fun. They're a Pool A team and we're a Pool B team. We're a young team trying to compete with those guys.

"We've got to try to prove we can compete with them and hopefully in the future move up to Pool A."

Knights' fixtures for next month

1 Sept: Belfast Giants (A) 7pm
6 Sept: Belfast Giants (H) 7:30pm
9 Sept: Newcastle Jesters (H) 5pm
13 Sept: Nottingham Panthers (H) 7:30pm
16 Sept: Ayr Scottish Eagles (A) 6pm
18 Sept: Ayr Scottish Eagles (H) 7:30pm
20 Sept: Manchester Storm (A) 7.30pm
23 Sept: Bracknell Bees (A) 6pm
30 Sept: Manchester Storm (H) 5pm