After failing in their bid to retain the services of KO Cup-winning coach Phil David, the Bretton club have moved swiftly to secure a suitable replacement capable of building on last season's success.

And vastly experienced Colin Patterson certainly seems to fit the bill.

With almost 30 years in the professional game under his belt, the native of British Columbia has an impressive CV which includes a year spent on the coaching staff of Team Canada.

For the past nine years, however, Patterson has worked exclusively in the North American Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Kootenay Ice, winning the WHL Championship and the Memorial Cup during his time as assistant coach at the club.

But with plenty of experience coaching abroad in Japan and Holland also behind him, Patterson is clearly looking forward to taking on another foreign assignment.

He said: "I have not only heard a lot of good things about the Peterborough Phantoms and their team management, but also the fans and the city of Peterborough itself.

"I am greatly looking forward to working with all parties involved and to building on the team's success from last year.

"Getting involved with the Hockey Academy and helping to develop the skills of young players is also something I am looking forward to."

Now that the new man is in place, the club can begin identifying player targets but it is understood Patterson has little intention of making too many roster changes ahead of the new campaign.

Director Jon Kynaston said: "Colin is a very experienced hockey coach and when you read through his references, guys like Bill Nicholson (President of the CHA), Tom Renney and Dave King all speak very highly of him.

"He of course has a hard act to follow in Phil David but I do not think we could have been any luckier in finding a coach like Colin.

"We have spoken in depth and Colin has no great plans to come in and change a winning formula. He may want to do one or two things but we do not expect there to be any wholesale changes in personnel.

"But he will be full-time which will allow him to focus solely on driving the club forward and I am sure he will have plenty of fresh ideas on how best to get even more out of the team."

Phantoms are due to make their first player announcement on May 31 with the futures of the four imports - Nathan Rempel, Brent Gough, Maris Ziedins and Dwayne Newman - likely to be among the first issues decided.