Red Devils bring in foreign backup

The Canterbury Red Devils hope the last minute addition to their roster Alex Polozv will have an immediate impact when he takes to the ice against Dunedin Thunder in Christchurch this weekend.

Polozv had been playing for the Botany Swarm, but the Devils made a last minute jump for the player just before the transfer deadline to fill a vacant spot in the squad.

‘‘He brings a wealth of experience obviously,’’ said coach Anatoly Khorozov.

‘‘He’s a good player, he was playing professionally for a number of years and he’s been with the Swarm for the last five years. He won the title with them as well, so he’s an experienced player.’’

Originally from Estonia, Polozv will be put straight to work this weekend so he’s ready for the finals which begin on August 16.

Khorozov hoped to round out the regular season with two wins going into the finals against Southern Stampede in a week’s time.

‘‘We’re not going to play games to lose them. We try to win every single game because they’re all important to us.

‘‘So obviously we’ll try to capitalise [on our chances] and also we want to keep our momentum going as well.’’

When the the Devils went to Dunedin they won the first match and lost the second in overtime.

‘‘There’s nothing special that we’re doing for the Thunder but hopefully the boys will be committed and I’m sure we should get six points.’’

An important part of the game plan was retaining focus throughout and converting more goalscoring opportunities which they’ve been working on in practice.

Khorozov said the most important thing for him was making sure they played high quality hockey.

‘‘The focus is a big part of it. I mean obviously I keep telling the boys you need to stay focused and concentrate from the first to the last minute of the game.

‘‘But also it’s the skill, the practice and sticking with the system so everybody’s actually doing the same thing as everyone else, so it’s very complex

The first match against Dunedin Thunder is at 4.30pm today. The second fixture begins at the same time tomorrow.