Edinburgh Capitals are excited to announce the signing of Australian forward Xander Wardlaw for the 2023-24 SNL campaign.
The 23-year-old, Sydney-born centre, will arrive at the club having played through the summer months in the Australian Ice Hockey League with Central Coast Rhinos. In 14 games so far he has scored 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points.
Last season Xander was icing in the NIHL 1 with Oxford City Stars where he scored 17 goals, and 33 assists for 50 points in 33 games. Although still relatively young, he already has a wealth of experience having played in the AIHL for the last 5 years. He has also represented Australia at U20 level on three separate occasions.
Xander has four other brothers who all played hockey. They grew up playing their junior years in their homeland of Australia. Xander would then spend two seasons in Canada playing with the Ontario Hockey Academy, from 2016-2018. The following season he then headed to the USA to sign with Boston Jr Rangers in the EHLP. Each of those summers he would return home to ice in the AIHL with Sydney Bears whilst also splitting his time with Penrith Raptors in the ECSL.
For the next three campaigns, Xander decided to stay at home and played his hockey with the Raptors, Bears, Northern Wolfpack of the AJIHL and Adelaide Xtreme in the NSHL. This would see him through the pandemic before making the journey to England last summer to join Oxford.
Notably, he has won two senior championships, one AIHL title with Sydney Bears in 2018-19 and also the NSHL trophy with Adelaide Xtreme in 2021-22. This is something Xander will be hoping to add to whilst here in Edinburgh.
Xander is no stranger to Scotland. His grandparents live in Glenrothes and he has been over to visit on numerous occasions. His love for the country has played a huge part in him joining the club for the coming season. He was also a onetime brief teammate of our very own Chad Smith. Chad headed to Oz back in 2017-18 to sign with Sydney Bears, where both of them would first meet.
On every team he has played for he has scored goals and this is something Head Coach Steven Lynch will be hoping he continues come September. “I’m delighted to have secured Xander for the season ahead. We first spoke right at the end of last season and I’m glad that we’ve now got everything finalised.
We’ve spent a lot of time doing our due diligence on him by speaking to various contacts we have in Australia and England, including his coach from last season. As an Irish citizen, Xander has all the paperwork required to be able to play in the UK. Everyone only says good things about him, both as a player and a person.
I think that he’s going to fit in well with the style of hockey we play. He’s fast, skilful, gritty, and has a good work ethic. He also has a personality that will make him a good fit in the dressing room too.
We welcome Xander to Edinburgh and I’m sure the fans will like what they see from him come September.”
Xander could not hide his delight at the thought of playing hockey here in Edinburgh. “I decided to sign for Edinburgh this season as I felt it was a great opportunity to play with an old teammate in Chad Smith and get to play in front of my family in Scotland.
After speaking with Coach Steven Lynch and seeing the goals that the Caps have for the upcoming season, I thought it is an exciting opportunity to compete for the championship and play in an amazing city.
I am really excited to play in Edinburgh and a chance to play in front of my family was an offer I couldn’t turn down. I can’t wait to meet the rest of the lads and all the Caps fans.”
Stay tuned to our social media pages as we look to announce more names to the roster very soon.
LET’S GO CAPITALS!
