Former Excel Hull Stingrays defenceman Ryan Jorde, released by the club for disciplinary reasons, has returned to the country after being signed by the Newcastle Vipers.
The 27 year old, without a club since leaving the Stingrays in October, has been signed by Vipers head coach Rob Wilson alongside former Elite League forward Brent Hughes after they beat the Belfast Giants on Sunday evening with just ten skaters, following a number of injuries, the unexpected departure of import forward Matus Petriko and the release of Canadian defenceman Tyler Kindle.
Jorde joined the Stingrays in the summer with a reputation as a tough, uncompromising defenceman with three full seasons experience in the American Hockey League, the second level of hockey in North America.
However, after making a fairly promosing start under Sylvain Cloutier, he broke a bone in his arm while blocking a shot from pointblank range in late September and was ruled out for at least four weeks.
An off-ice incident then occured during his time on the sideline which forced Cloutier to release the defenceman after just four games, no points and six penalty minutes with the club.
It is expected that both he and former Basingstoke forward Hughes will be in the Vipers lineup this weekend against Coventry and Cardiff, before he faces the Stingrays for the first time a week on Sunday at Whitley Bay.
