Brandon Alderson: Cardiff Devils sign forward from German side Scorpions
- Published
Brandon Alderson scored 44 goals and 51 assists in 59 games for Hannover Scorpions in the third tier of German ice hockey last season
Cardiff Devils have strengthened their roster with the addition of forward Brandon Alderson from Oberliga side Hannover Scorpions.
Canadian Alderson, 31, played four seasons in North America before spending the last six years in Europe.
"Brandon is a big powerful forward with good offensive capabilities," said Devils head coach Pete Russell.
Cardiff won both opening Elite League (EIHL) games last weekend beating Glasgow Clan and Sheffield Steelers.
They have also beaten Guildford Flames at home but lost at Coventry Blaze in the Challenge Cup.
Alderson originally turned pro with the Adirondack Phantoms in 2013 and played alongside current Devil Justin Crandall for the majority of the 2015-16 season with the Reading Royals.
He moved to Europe in 2017 to play for Heilbronner Falken of the DEL2, leading his team in scoring with 61 points (29 goals and 32 assists) in 59 games.
He spent seasons with teams in Austria, Slovakia and Czech Republic before returning to Germany two seasons ago.
"We are delighted to add experienced forward Brandon to our group, he moves well and plays hard," added Russell, who had been coaching on the continent prior to taking the reins at Cardiff in the summer.
"I coached against him two years ago in Germany DEL2 and he was a player we were always aware of when he was on the ice, either 5-on-5 or on the powerplay.
"He will add something different to our group, create further healthy competition and with the games piling up as we move forward, we want to create a roster that can support injuries that come up."
Cardiff have already encountered an injury problem this season with forward Evan Mosey not featuring against the Steelers on Sunday after picking up an upper body issue in the previous night's victory over the Clan.
Mosey will miss at least the next couple of weeks.
Alderson will not be in the line-up for this weekend's EIHL games at Nottingham Panthers (Saturday, 1900 BST) and home against Belfast Giants (Sunday, 1800 BST), but the club expect paperwork to be completed early next week before Challenge Cup returns against Coventry and Guildford.