BLAZE director of hockey James Pease is hopeful the signing of Jim Jorgensen will help turn the club’s Elite League fortunes around.
American defenceman Jorgensen has moved to the Skydome after playing in the ECHL this season for Wichita Thunder and Cincinnati Cyclones and he returns to the Elite League after previously icing for Braehead Clan and Sheffield Steelers.
The 29-year-old he was named in the Elite League All-Star Second Team after registering 52 points (16 goals and 36 assists) in 60 regular-season and play-off matches for Clan and he was the leading point-scoring defenceman for Villard-de-Lans in France last term.
“Jim has been looking to get back to the UK and he jumped at the opportunity.” said Pease. “He knows the league well and he had a great year with Braehead, scoring 50-plus points for a defenceman which is immense.
Powerplay
“We wanted to find a guy who can play on the powerplay, makes good puck transition, is a good skater and who will give us some offence. We have missed some offence on the back-end and he is going to be a go-to guy for us. He will give our forwards the chance to be more productive as well.”
Blaze have won just two of their last nine matches in all competitions and sit ninth in the league table.
Pease added: “As we’ve said, turning this ship around will take a little time and is a process that will stretch into the summer and beyond.
“Part of that process is to make sure we give ourselves the best chance of making play-offs which is part of the reason why we made the investment to bring coach Weber here and why we are bringing Jim in this week.
“We’re in a tough spot at the moment and we need everyone to get behind the club and players as we look to build a brighter future here. We are sorry we are not where everyone wants to be but this is a good club with a lot of positives and collectively we can get there.”
Turn inside to see how Blaze got on after another busy weekend.
