Canada high as Steff breaks the ice
Clan chief Finn gets his man after chase for Mountie Rovere
STEFAN Della Rovere is Braehead Clan’s red hot new recruit.
And head coach Ryan Finnerty is hoping he will help ignite some of his misfiring forwards into action when he pulls on the Glasgow club’s purple jersey.
The former Washington Capitals ace jetted in to Scotland yesterday after completing a move to the EIHL club following a spell with Fassa in the new Alps Hockey League.
Della Rovere comes to a Clan side that, despite a recent upturn in consistency, could still be doing with a helping hand according to Finnerty.
The head coach singled out captain Matt Keith, Craig Peacock and Alex Leavitt for not having the strike rate he is looking for, with the trio scoring 10, seven and 18 respectively on Elite League business. Braehead’s current high scorer is Scott Pitt with 25.
“We are happy to get a player of his quality. We were looking for a specific role and one that we’ve needed for a while,” said the Canadian.
“The deadline was fast approaching and we knew we had to go after the best player we could, and that was Stefan. To fill a spot in our team looked near impossible.
“He is a player I’ve spoken to a fair bit over the years. I like the way he plays and is gritty, he’s e’s got good skill.
“We are going to give him a chanceance to show off his offensivesive side and I’m hoping he’se’s going to kickstart a few guys who aren’t producing roducing right now.
“It’s no secret or secondary scoring has been a problem. roblem. Five on five we have ve the one line going and we have to find a way to get Keither, Peacock, Levvy going. “It’s a good time to mix and match those other lines with the top one staying the same. Hopefully bringing in new energy and youth can tr trigger something. Hope Hopefully we can find somethingsome that works. “He’s probably been on everyone’s radar.r Stefan has a greatg career and has p played at the highest level, I think he’ll compliment us well.”
DELLA ROVERE may have just touched down in Glasgow but he is set to be pitched straight into action for Clan tomorrow night when Manchester Storm come to town.
Finnerty believes the 26-yearold Canadian will bring a physical edge that has been missing since the injury to former NHL hard man Jay Rosehill.
But he stressed: “We don’t want to bring anyone in for that role. He is what we call a bit of sandpaper.
“He is gritty, and plays a different game. Goalscoring ordinarily hasn’t been an issue here but we could do with extra goals. He’s a physical player, too.”
The Braehead head coach also refused to rule out the chance of further acquisitions for the end-of-season run-in.
Clan currently sit in sixth in the table going into the home straight ahead of the play-offs, and he believes they will pursue the right player out there if it will help boost the Glasgow club up the standings.
“If there was a player that made us incredibly better then I think the ownership would back that move,” he said.
“Just going out and grabbing another body is not on our radar, it’s not something we are going to do.”