Sylvain Cloutier has today followed up on his promise to change things around if his side's fortunes failed to improve, with the signing of forward Jason Silverthorn and release of import Matt Reynolds and Russian-born-Brit Slava Koulikov.Silverthorn, 30, had been signed to a contract in the ECHL with the Johnstown Chiefs, however, they released him last Friday after just a couple of appearances, conveniently allowing Cloutier to sign up the former Edinburgh and Cardiff forward after the Stingrays shocking start to the season, which has seen them win just two games and claim just five points in 11 matches.
After such an unexpectedly bad start to the season, something had to give, and Slava Koulikov and Matt Reynolds combined contribution of two goals and eight points in the club's opening 11 fixtures was deemed unacceptable by Sylvain Cloutier.
Koulikov, who was the only remaining original Stingray from the team's inaugural 03/04 season, was constantly linked with a departure, mainly due to his work ethic, or lack of, but after recording just three points so far this season, Cloutier has seen enough of the forward
The 31 year old did actually leave the club briefly in 07/08 for a fresh start under Steve Thornton, only to return 20 games later after Basingstoke's financial issues. Unfortunately for the Rays, he returned the same player, with an apparent lack of work ethic masking his potential to be a premium British forward, preferring instead to settle for mediocrity with his hometown Stingrays.
It will come as no surprise that his best figures goalscoring wise came in the inaugural season in 03/04, where he netted 18 times, and looked to have some fire under his belly, and in the same way his exit from the Hull Arena is also not surprising.Following his departure, he sits behind just Jeff Glowa in the Stingrays all-time appearances chart, with 230 games under his belt, and, despite his drawbacks, he managed put up a creditable 67 goals and 119 assists in seven years with the club.
Meanwhile, Canadian forward Reynolds was also released by the determined Cloutier, after opening the season with just one goal, whilst showing none of the hard nosed grit that Cloutier expected of him in the summer.
After joining from a championship winning IHL side in Fort Wayne, Reynolds was a surprisingly big part of the team last season under Rick Strachan, recording career highs in goals (22), assists (33) and points (55) last year.This season he has been devoid of any of the spark of last season and, although he opened the season with three points in four games, he followed that up with just one point in the next six games. For a team that is struggling to find any consistency, coach Cloutier released Reynolds and quickly replaced him with a proven forward.
Replacing him is Owen Sound, Ontario native Jason Silverthorn, who last season played forward for EIHL rivals the Cardiff Devils, scoring just under a point a game with 21 goals and 33 assists in 55 games.
Prior to last season, Silverthorn had previous EIHL campaign's with the Devils, where he scored 57 points in 54 games, and the Edinburgh Capitals, in 06/07, when he scoring 39 points in 35 games.
As a prolific point scorer in the Elite League, he should be a more than adequate replacement for Reynolds, who was failing to replicate his form of last season, and, although the move shows Cloutier's desire for the team to improve, if we're to be critical, the decision to bring in a forward that also looks out of form, after his release from the ECHL, looks doubtful.Nevertheless, a club statement outlined the delight at the signing and the, hopeful, improvement of the side following recent moves:
“We are delighted to be bringing in a player of Jason’s calibre. He knows the league very well, he scores goals, he can play on defence if called upon and he is very good on the special teams. We believe the signing of Jason Silverthorn and that of James Sanford last week has made us a better and stronger team and hopefully we can look forward to more success on the ice.”
Silverthorn is scheduled to immediately step into the side, making his debut on Saturday against Coventry before returning for his home debut on Sunday against the Belfast Giants.
The release of Koulikov leaves the Stingrays with little flexibility should the team lose a player to injury. However, once Pavel Gomenyuk and Lee Mitchell return to full fitness, Matty Davies has already proven that he can easily hold down a regular shift in the Elite League and, although he may not have the size, he has the speed and skill to continue on the Rays third line.
*Cardiff photos courtesy Official Cardiff Devils website
