Experienced Ukrainian defenceman Pavel Gomenyuk has become the latest player to leave Sylvain Cloutier's Excel Hull Stingrays side, joining English Premier League side the Sheffield Scimitars after a combined five seasons with the club.
The 32 year old is the latest in what has begun to resemble a long line of players departing the Hull Arena after a second bottom placed finish in four Elite League years with Curtis Huppe, Adam Knight and James Hutchinson having already found new clubs with others more than likely to leave in the near future.
Kiev native Gomenyuk continued his inconsistent year-on-year performance in Hull during an indifferent fifth year in Hull and, while his general defensive play and occasional mistake cost the side goals against, his offensive output of five goals and 22 assists was yet again a rarity on the Rays blueline, even if he didn't quite match his incredible career year in 08/09 where he netted 13 goals and 29 helpers.
He joins a Scimitars set up who have struggled to keep hold of their best young British players in recent seasons including the likes of future GB stars Robert Dowd, Robert Farmer and Ben Morgan, mainly due to lack of financial backing.
After a concerning start to the summer, in which the Scimitars have lost yet more young players including the Haywood brothers, the signing of Gomenyuk will give Scimitars fans hope that all is not lost for their 10/11 campaign. The experienced blueliner will join the side in September for the beginning of the 10/11 season and should both produce offensively and become a rock solid number one defenceman for the South Yorkshire side.
