Gritty forward and fan favourite, Jason Kostadine, has left the Excel Hull Stingrays and will next season ice for the Port Huron Ice Hawks in the International Hockey League (IHL), effectively North America's fifth tier of ice hockey, after a year in East Yorkshire.The 27 year old came to the Stingrays with a label as a tough agitator and in his year long spell in Europe surpassed all expectations which had originally suggested that his role on the team would be restricted to the physical side of the game.
Whilst Kostadine became one of the most entertaining players to don the Rays colours, as well as also being one of most effective wind up merchants in the British game, he also produced unexpected career best figures of 13 goals, 16 assists for 29 points in 60 games, more than doubling his professional career points totals.
Away from his offensive production he was noticeably active in the defensive end and his continuous forecheck made a nice change to a Stingrays forward line that, under Rick Strachan, was notoriously conservative in its lack of gung ho style. When messrs Kozak and Bernier were at the team, providing some physical back up, he was put to good use, however once those two departed there was nowhere for him to hide.
Nevertheless some of his sparring matches, particularly against Nottingham, and their large fanbase, provided good entertainment and usually whipped the Hull Arena into a frenzy.
He came to Europe in search of a chance to prove himself as a player who could agitate after years of bouncing around the ECHL as an out and out agitator, limited to a couple of minutes a game.
Rick Strachan gave him that chance in Hull and he grabbed it with two hands, with a surprising offensive production and very few sub-par performances, Kostadine did the hard work game in and game out and in the end was a valuable asset for a team that once again failed to make the playoffs.
The end of Rick Strachan's reign as coach saw to the end of Kostadine as a Stingray, but the endearing memory of him will be his ability to rile other teams, often resulting in a penalty for the opposing side and always resulting in an entertaining encounter.Playing in Europe last season was a great experience, but I wanted to be closer to home and Port Huron was a great fit.He will now return to North America with Port Huron, but he departs Hull safe in the knowledge that he has proved his worth as a hockey player.
Photos Courtesy: Arthur Foster
