Ice hockey years are somewhat similar to dog years - they pass a lot quicker than human years.
Which is why Scott Tanski may only be 29 but, as he approaches his 500th game as a professional hockey player, he feels much older than his years.

"I’m in my ninth year as a professional and your body takes a real beating," he said. 

"Nine years maybe doesn’t seem too long but when you get to 29, 30,31 years old, the way I specifically play the game, I really do have to do a lot more work before the game in order to get my body ready for the 54 game schedule, plus Challenge Cup. 

"As the years go on, the more you feel it. In hockey, 29-years-old is about 50-years old so we’ll see how many years I have left.

"I’ve played my whole career in a physical, high-energy style – I’m always getting into scrums and blocking a lot of shots and doing whatever it takes to win and after a while, that takes its toll.”

Glasgow Clan have been in electric form in the EIHL this season.

Their record-equalling run of eight wins on the bounce may have come to an end last weekend with defeat to Coventry Blaze but that has, in no way, dented the squad’s confidence, says Tanski, with himself and his teammates looking at the wider picture across the season rather than focusing on only a handful or so of games.

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“We’re feeling fantastic about things, even though we had that loss against Coventry," he said. 

"To have won eight out of nine games, especially when we were on the road for the whole of September and a bit of October, we couldn’t be happier about how it’s going. Streaks end and then you have the opportunity to begin another one. We’re looking forward to the process of trying to win a championship and that doesn’t take 8 games, that goes across your entire 54 game schedule so that’s what we’re focused on.”

The Clan face Dundee Stars in Dundee today, before hosting Manchester Storm tomorrow with Tanski and the rest of the Clan squad fully focused on reclaiming their spot at the top of the EIHL.

“Confidence is really high – I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t have a lot of confidence going into these games this weekend and I don’t see any reason why we can't compete with every one of these teams in this league," he said.

Tanski may be best known for his escapades on the ice but he has another passion for which he works equally hard.

The American has his own mental health charity which he uses to increase awareness and provide support.

It is an issue to which he devotes considerable energy to and admits that he considers his work in this area one of his greatest achievements.

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“Over the last four or five years, I’ve had my own non-profit charity – with mental health, it’s not always talked about and there can still be a stigma attached to it," he said.

"So it’s about opening up lines of communication for people who are struggling. One in three people in the UK and the US have some kind of mental health issue and it’s not like a broken bone that you can diagnose, it can be something that’s hidden but it can be totally debilitating and it can lead to the biggest sacrifice in the world. And that’s something I think there should be support for. 

"It’s something I feel very passionately about and it’s something I’m very proud of. On the ice is one thing but off the ice, this is what I consider the thing I’m proudest of.”