The Hull Stingrays today made their second signing in three days adding Slovakian defenceman Tomas Valecko to their defensive corps after a season with Elite Ice Hockey League Northern Conference rivals the Edinburgh Capitals.
26 year old Valecko notched eight goals and 23 assists for 31 points in 55 games in the Scottish capital last season - good enough for 14th among EIHL defencemen in points, outscoring all Stingrays defencemen - as the Capitals disappointingly faded to finish ninth, one place outside of the playoffs.
Prior to his sole season in the UK last term, the 6'1, 194lb blueliner iced for eight years in his native Slovakia - spending 153 games (6 goals, 23 points) in the top flight and 103 games (12 goals, 41 points) in the second tier - and one and a half years in the Polish top tier.
After a short nine game stint with KH Sanok in 08/09 - his first outside of his native Slovakia - Valecko returned in 09/10 and exploded offensively - hitting 14 goals and 32 points in just 24 games. In the process he outscored former Stingray Dmitri Rodin while recording just four points fewer than the Estonian despite having played less than half Rodin's 55 games.
Indeed, it is Valecko who Stingrays player-coach Sylvain Cloutier envisions replacing Rodin - who departed for English Premier League side Sheffield Steeldogs earlier this summer - as one of the club's offensive options from defence next season:
"Tomas is a great skater and passer. He is a solid defenceman who can run the powerplay. I almost signed him the year before but we lost out to Edinburgh. To finally have him on board is going to be good for us. He skates well on the big ice and is going to be a big part of our powerplay."Estonian national team captain Rodin had an outstanding year for the Stingrays, much to the surprise of some - who believed his best days were behind him at the age of 36. In fact the complimentary comments paid to the former Edinburgh D man today could equally apply to Rodin when he joined the club this time last year, though Valecko arguably holds the edge in a head-to-head comparison on paper:
2009/2010 Polish League
Dmitri Rodin (34) 55GP 10G 26A 36PTS 48PIM
Tomas Valecko (23) 24GP 14G 18A 32PTS 32PIM
2011/2012 Elite Ice Hockey League
Dmitri Rodin (36) 51GP 9G 18A 27PTS 101PIM
Tomas Valecko (25) 55GP 8G 23A 31PTS 89PIM
The Rays latest addition compares very well with Rodin - last season's defenceman of the year and a big hit with players and fans - though it's a well used cliche that sport isn't played on paper or through statistics.
Nevertheless, the Slovakian - who joined the Caps last summer after a year split between HK Michalovce and HK Spissa Nova Ves - stood out for his abilities on a relatively non-existent Edinburgh defence which conceded a league high 265 goals in the regular season. It could well be that he is about the perfect like-for-like replace for Rodin - though only time will tell if he can and will have as big an effect.
He joins fellow new addition Shane Lovdahl on the blueline and, it is widely rumoured, they may soon be also be joined by re-signing Kurtis Dulle and former Coventry blueliner Jeff Smith as Cloutier once again, Lovdahl apart, sticks to known quantities in the EIHL.
