ICE HOCKEY: COVENTRY Blaze have beaten off strong opposition to land the signature of 33-year-old Canadian forward Adam Courchaine.
The Winnipeg native joins the club with a CV boasting hundreds of games in some of Europe’s top leagues.
Most notably, the left-shooter has appeared in more than 430 German DEL regular season and playoff games – registering almost a point-per-game over nine seasons.
Courchaine’s experience in Germany started with Füchse Duisburg in 2007/08 following a stand-out year in Austria’s second division where he hit 91 points in just 32 games.
In his debut DEL season, the experienced shooter hit 50 points in 56 games and earned himself an appearance in the All-Star game – which led to a contract with EG Metro Stars based in Düsseldorf.
He stayed in Düsseldorf for four seasons before moving to Austria to play with the Graz 99ers.
The infamous NHL lockout meant Courchaine moved back to Germany to skate for Duisburg in the third division.
But 24 points in nine games caught the attention of the DEL’s Krefeld Pinguine – where the forward spent three seasons.
A short stop in Switzerland’s NLB with EHC Olten was then followed in 2015/16 by another successful European season, this time in the Czech Extraliga as part of HK Hradec Kralove.
The past campaign for Courchaine was split between Hungary’s Fehérvár AV1 who compete in the Austrian EBEL, and Düsseldorfer EG where he had spent much time previously in his early DEL career.
Head coach Danny Stewart said: “Adam’s resume speaks for itself.
“We have landed a top end guy here and expect big things out of him.
“He’s a proven scorer at every level, and that’s what he is being brought in to do.
“We were patient all summer to land a guy like this and it’s good to see that paid off.
“I think any team that has success needs a couple of elite guys, and he gives us that.”
