Belfast Giants: David Rutherford joins club for rest of season

David Rutherford moves from Edinburgh Capitals to the Belfast Giants

Belfast Giants have attempted to arrest their current slide by signing Edinburgh Capitals forward David Rutherford for the rest of this season.

Canadian Rutherford, 28, was set to move to a ECHL club in North America before being coaxed to remain in the Elite League by Giants bosses.

Rutherford played with Giants player Michael Forney for the Arizona Sundogs in 2014.

The Canadian is set to make his debut against Manchester on Wednesday.

The Giants will be facing Manchester in the Challenge Cup quarter-final first leg and Rutherford should make his home debut against Coventry Blaze on Friday.

Giants hockey operations manager Steve Thornton is convinced that Rutherford will become a popular player with the club's fans.

"When the opportunity came up to bring David Rutherford to Belfast, the decision was pretty simple," added Thornton.

"He has put up good numbers already with Edinburgh. David has won championships before and he will play a huge part down the stretch this season as we challenge for silverware."

Friday's 4-2 defeat by Nottingham was Belfast's third straight reverse as they dropped to fifth place in the league standings.

The Giants are back in action on Saturday night with a meeting against leaders Cardiff Devils in Wales.