Excel Hull Stingrays player-coach Sylvain Cloutier has today completed his ten strong import quota for 11/12 Elite League campaign, signing all-around blueliner Martin Ondrej at the third time of asking.
The 27 year old joins the Stingrays from Italian Serie B club Milano Rossoblu - where he registered 11 points in 21 games last season - less than a year after rejecting Cloutier in favour of joining the Italian side.
Having initially attempted to sign the 6'1 defenceman while coaching the CHL's Corpus Christi Ice Rayz, the Hull boss went back in for Ondrej last season after form which saw his side win just twice in 15 fixtures in the opening two months of the season, however, he was disappointingly rejected for a second time.
Nevertheless, Ondrej has now agreed the join the Elite League club at the second time of asking, and Cloutier at the third time of asking, signing as part of a three strong import defence which also contains 33 year old American Joshua Mizerek and 36 year old Estonian Dmitri Suur.
It is hoped the experienced pair, together with Ondrej - who has played in Slovakia, North America and Italy - will help blood young British blueliners Daniel Scott (18) and Sam McCluskey (20), who will be entering their first and second full seasons in the British top flight respectively.
The Slovak defenceman began his career in 03/04 with hometown side HC Presov, recording 14 points and 143 penalty minutes in 38 games during his debut year before moving on to the Slovakian top flight the following season, icing in 29 games with Zilina.
He returned home to Presov in 06/07 upping his points total to 15 in 29 games but moved to North America the next year, signing for Flint Generals, then of the United Hockey League, alongside former Stingray Ryan Jorde. He spent the best part of three years in Flint, Michigan, attending the NHL's Detriot Red Wings training camp in 2008 - as a result of their affiliation with the Generals.
He went on to record ten goals, 67 points and 380 penalty minutes with Flint before being traded to Kalamazoo Wings - where he eventually hit ten points in 28 game - in February 2009 in exchange for former Coventry defenceman Jason Robinson and another player.
Ondrej has since spent the majority of the past two years in Presov, Slovakia - hitting the 110 appearance mark with his hometown side - making a bit part appearance with top flight side Zilina in 09/10 before chosing Milan over Hull at the last minute last November.
Having tried to sign him on two other occasions, Cloutier is clearly a fan of Ondrej and likens him to former hard-hitting, hard-working Stingray defenceman Stephen Burns - who also plied his trade in Italy last season:
"He's just one of those players you want to try and sign. He plays physical and he battles - a bit like a Steve Burns type but with a more offensive side and he sees the ice better. He's a competitor every night. He's not a fighter or a tough guy, but he plays hard and physical and makes it a pain in the butt for the opposition."Meanwhile Kalamazoo head coach Nick Bootland - who traded former EIHLer Robinson for Ondrej in 2009 - said:
"I know he has the ability to play against top lines. He's a tough player to play against. He's a guy, when you play against him, you hate him. When he's on your team, you love him. He has that mentality. He's chippy, he plays on the edge, but he also moves the puck well. He shoots the puck when it's the right time to shoot the puck."Noted for his tough, physical style of defensive play, the Rays newest recruit and final import appears to be the most complete of the club's three foreign defencemen, capable of both an offensive punch as well as defensive solidity. The most obvious question mark over the Slovakian - whose signature officially confirms that Trevor Read, Kurtis Dulle, Drew Bannister, Aivars Gaisins and Jozef Sladok will not be returning to Hull next season - appears to be his high penalty count, which currently stands at over 800 in minutes in eight seasons of play, although this may partially be down to his "on the edge" mentality.
As well as Suur and Mizerek, Ondrej joins netminder Christian Boucher, and forwards Dominic Osman, Frantisek Bakrlik, Derek Campbell, Jason Silverthorn, Jereme Tendler and player-coach Cloutier on the ten strong import roster - down from 11 last season. He also becomes the third non-Brit European on the roster after Czech forward Bakrlik and Estonian Suur.
The Rays boss appears to have opted for the tried and tested method of signing former team mates and former opponents, with which he knows what he is getting. While many EIHL clubs will opt for foreign contingent made up largely of Central Hockey League talent, 'Clouts' has stuck with what he knows with the only other doubt cast over the three European signings given the relative levels they have joined the club from in Italy and Poland.
"I've tried to stay familiar with the group. You can listen to five people and they'll tell you how great someone is," he said. "You can get them over here and think 'oh, what have we got here?' and you think 'I guess those guys were just being five nice people'."The roster for the 11/12 EIHL season now sits at 19 players, including four netminders - two on two-way contracts - five defencemen and ten forwards, with a British player and a further couple, two-way contracted British players expected to be the final pieces in the puzzle for Cloutier. Pre-season kicks off in little more than a months time with a home-away double header with ownership rivals Coventry.
