Slicing through the cool water, Ryan Finnerty allows himself the briefest of breaks to drift away from the pressures weighing down on his mind; a moment of calming serenity that, quite literally, washes over him as he glides along the surface.

“I swim quite a bit actually,” said the man from Alberta, Canada. “I’ve been doing it for over a year now. It relaxes me, it’s good exercise and it’s something positive that I’ve brought into my life.

“I tell all the guys that once you get by that first month where you think you are going to drown it becomes pretty relaxing and it gives you time to think. You shut out the outside word, there is nothing but you and the water. It lets me vent and get away when I need to.”

It may be an unusual choice of hobby to spend so much time in water considering he spends his career either skating on top of or standing next to the stuff at its coldest. The Braehead Clan head coach is now in his third season in Scotland taking charge of one the UK’s top teams. Not only is he the man currently leading the way with the Elite League side based in Glasgow, but he also stands as their longest-serving gaffer after years up unsettling change. It is an important factor that was hammered home last season when, after a year of continuity, Braehead came up just short of winning the title by a point on the closing weekend following years of making up the numbers.

His third year in charge has been more testing for the 34-year-old than what went before, for varying reasons. Facing a dressing-room turnover of around 50 per cent during the summer, Finnerty had to assemble a squad from back in his homeland while communicating with Clan hockey director Gareth Chalmers in Scotland, and do it quickly enough to bring the whole vision together before their maiden season in the Champions Hockey League. On top of that, Braehead had to contend with their usual early-season upheaval thanks to Disney On Ice coming to town, meaning Clan were forced to hit the road for pretty much the full month of September.

After 10 league games the Scottish side find themselves in eighth place out of 10, with some onlookers playing down their credentials to mount another serious title challenge, despite the fact they have three games in hand. It is a dismissive attitude that irks the man in the purple trunks.

“We have played three home games, Nottingham have played nine and have yet to win on the road,” argued Finnerty citing Nottingham Panthers, who are a point off top, as a comparison. “When you break it down, if we win our games in hand you are within striking distance of first place.

“It’s not panic mode and it certainly isn’t jumping on the bandwagon of people thinking this is a sinking ship. It certainly isn’t the situation from within at Braehead.

“It’s too easy to be doom and gloom and it actually kind of pi***s me off a little bit to have to listen to it because this team isn’t last year’s team. We are not an eighth-placed team and it doesn’t represent where we think we are or where we are going.”

Tonight presents a chance to build on some promising form and kick up a level with the visit of Coventry Blaze, the Elite League’s bottom side. Over 3000 are expected to filter into the Braehead Arena a week after the venue saw the home side agonisingly edged out on a penalty shootout by Belfast Giants following an enthralling 3-3 Challenge Cup stalemate across regulation and overtime.

Not having a Sunday game immediately after that one-point haul meant the anticipation for a chance to make amends has been building slowly ahead of this evening’s 7pm face-off, and Finnerty insists his players will be ready.

“Going to a penalty shootout is a bit of a coin flip, and playing just once a week doesn’t give you the chance to get right back on the horse and challenge again, so we’ve had to deal with that all week,” he said.

“I think we are excited for the challenge again. It’s a big one back on league duty against Coventry, a team we’ve had success against before, and we are hoping to get a result and get off this mini-slide. It won’t be easy, though, because like I said the league isn’t a realistic picture of where everyone should be. Coventry are not a 10th-placed team.

“Having said that, we are a confident bunch at home, we play well at home, and we have to use that. This will only be our fourth league game at Braehead and we want to take advantage of it.”