Whilst fans await the Excel Hull Stingrays final signing, an import defenceman. Big Ukrainian defenceman Nikolai Ladygin has been confirmed as signing in Russia with HK Dmitrov, and therefore will not return for his third consecutive season with the Stingrays.
Dmitrov, which sits 40 miles North of Moscow, currently sit in the Russian 2nd tier, the Vysshaya Liga, one below the newly formed, and highly controversial, Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
Ladygin, who posted 45 points in two seasons and 115 games for the Rays, including an outstanding first season where he scored 10 goals and ended up with 27 points , had previously played in Ukraine and both the Russian 2nd and 3rd tiers.
Ladygin wasnt a fan favourite of Evgeny Alipov proportions, however he very very rarely put a foot wrong and was a solid defenceman, which many fans appreciated. It was all but confirmed that he would not be returning when coach Rick Strachan said there would be limited returnees from last season, and before that when he was played as forward in the final part of last season when Brad Patterson left the team. His strength and confidence to take anyone on at the back (physically and defensively) was what endeared him to the fans the most.
My final Ladygin memory? In one of his first games (could well have been the first pre-season game of 06/07) for the team, against the Sheffield Steelers, he wound up for a slapshot from the blueline. The shot trickled along the ice and somehow found its way into the net, a truely memorable effort for its lack of technique and power. He went on to score 10 league goals, most of which were slapshots from the blueline thankfully a little more pleasing on the eye than his first effort some 2 years ago.
