Yet another new face to the Sheffield Steelers line up

The ailing club has signed 26-year-old centre, Ryan Martindale.

It follows the capture of Brendan Brooks. Both men fill the shoes of Matt and Ryan Rupert, who were the first to leave the new-look squad.

The 6'3 Canadian will fly in to the UK this weekend although it is unknown whether he will be in the line-up for Saturday's home game against Nottingham Panthers.

He is new to the British scene.

Martindale spent five years and played 207 games in the American Hockey League with Oklahoma City Barons, San Antonia Rampage and Syracuse Crunch before heading to Europe in 2016 whilst staring for Esbjeg in the Danish Elite League. His 45 points in as many games earned him a contract in Slovakia with MsHK Zillna last year but his season was cut short through injury.

Steelers say he is now fully recovered.

'I've tried to sign Ryan for the last couple of seasons' said head coach Paul Thompson.

'We have kept a track on him as we believe he is an excellent impact player

'After the great year in Esbjeg came the disappointment of injury in Slovakia. He is now fully recovered and has gone through extensive re-hab. Ryan has been skating 4 or 5 times a week and is now ready to come over and make his mark as a Steeler.

'Ryan is a big body at 6'3. Whilst he can play centre or wing we are signing him to play in the middle.

'We will do everything possible to bring Ryan to Sheffield as quickly as possible, it would be great to see him in the line-up for the weekend but it's too early to say if that is possible'