Post by JP on Mar 23, 2005 18:36:41 GMT 1
Nottingham Panthers have drafted in Hull Stingrays' stand-out goaltender Ladislav Kudrna for tomorrow"s crucial play-off clash with London Racers at the National Ice Centre.
The 28-year-old Czech, whose season with the British National League side is over, will play until Curtis Cruickshank is 100% recovered from his cruciate ligament injury sustained last weekend at Coventry.
The league has stipulated that once Cruickshank returns to play, Kudrna will have to be de-registered and cannot return even if the big Canadian suffers a recurrence. Geoff Woolhouse will continue as back-up.
Coach Paul Adey said: "We have a tough run, playing tomorrow, again on Saturday and then have games on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
"The doctors couldn"t confirm that Curtis's knee would stand-up to all that action so, with the league ruling in mind, he"ll rest until he is 100% and he accepts that is the right decision."
Kudrna, previously at Edinburgh, comes with a solid reputation and, according to reports, won games for Hull almost single-handedly in the BNL, most recently back-stopping them to a shock win in Cardiff.
Adey said: "I"ve spoken to a few BNL coaches about Ladislav and they have nothing but praise for him.
"In the meantime, Geoff will stay as back-up.
"The play-offs are perhaps too much, too soon, for him at this stage of his career but he"ll learn to deal with setbacks."
The 28-year-old Czech, whose season with the British National League side is over, will play until Curtis Cruickshank is 100% recovered from his cruciate ligament injury sustained last weekend at Coventry.
The league has stipulated that once Cruickshank returns to play, Kudrna will have to be de-registered and cannot return even if the big Canadian suffers a recurrence. Geoff Woolhouse will continue as back-up.
Coach Paul Adey said: "We have a tough run, playing tomorrow, again on Saturday and then have games on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
"The doctors couldn"t confirm that Curtis's knee would stand-up to all that action so, with the league ruling in mind, he"ll rest until he is 100% and he accepts that is the right decision."
Kudrna, previously at Edinburgh, comes with a solid reputation and, according to reports, won games for Hull almost single-handedly in the BNL, most recently back-stopping them to a shock win in Cardiff.
Adey said: "I"ve spoken to a few BNL coaches about Ladislav and they have nothing but praise for him.
"In the meantime, Geoff will stay as back-up.
"The play-offs are perhaps too much, too soon, for him at this stage of his career but he"ll learn to deal with setbacks."
We'll soon see how much of an impact this new guy makes.
