Dundee Stars winger ‘delighted’ to be on ice

Dundee Stars forward Alexandre Ranger is already excited by his new surroundings – and is raring to go for this weekend’s derby doubleheader against Fife Flyers.

The Canadian winger landed in Scotland on Monday and hit the ice with his new team-mates yesterday as the team continued their five-day training camp.

After completing his first on-ice session with Stars, Ranger explained his delight to be back on the ice after a long lay-off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: “It was great to get out there!

“I had heavy legs from the long flight over but it was great to get here and meet the boys.

“We have a had a great time so far getting to know each other and we had a good practice today.”

He continued: “I am really happy to be here, it is good to be back on the ice, as I did not play last year, so I was really motivated to get the skates going again today.

“I have been treated really well since I arrived and everyone gave me a great welcome.”

Face-off on Friday is at 7.30pm.

Meanwhile, Dundee Comets’ preparations for the new season are continuing at pace with three more signings.

Cameron McGiffin, Scott Geddes and Martyn Simpson are the latest names to commit to the club for the season and the three defencemen will add further strength on the blue line.

McGiffin returns to the club after first joining in January 2018.

He played in the old English Premier League with Slough Jets and Peterborough Phantoms before joining Dundee Stars in 2016, where he played under Marc LeFebvre.

The second signing is a new addition to the team as Scott Geddes joins the Comets after leaving Murrayfield Racers.

The 28-year-old returns to Tayside after previously playing for Dundee Tigers, but more recently has won the SNL and the NIHL North Cup with the Racers.

Another former Murrayfield man will join Geddes at Comets as team-mate Martyn Simpson has also signed on for the new season.

The 23-year-old joins after the one full season with the Racers in 2019-20, after initially joining them from Kirkcaldy Kestrels.