Thompson completes defensive line up with capture of Domish
Coventry Blaze Head Coach, Paul Thompson has today confirmed that he has completed the signing of American defenceman, Jerramie Domish from Elite League rivals, Sheffield Steelers.
Thompson has made no secret of his admiration for the explosive blue liner since he made his debut for the Newcastle Vipers in the 09/10 season. His thirty point return combined with his tremendous skating ability and talent for reading the game caught Thompson's eye and despite failing to land the Philadelphia native at the start of last season, he was determined to get his man this time around.
After leaving the Vipers, Domish instead joined the Sheffield Steelers at the start of last season and helped the team to the Elite League title, contributing a career high 32 points during the campaign.
"Jerramie is exactly the type of player that this club has been crying out for since Neal Martin moved to Denmark a few seasons ago," said Thompson. "He has explosive speed and he's one of the most exciting players to watch from a fans point of view. You don't find many players more competitive than Jerramie and I'm sure his all action style will be a big hit with supporters and team mates alike."
Prior to coming to the UK, thirty-one year old Domish played a season for Esbjerg in Denmark after playing over 100 games in each of the American Hockey League and East Coast Hockey League as part of the Chicago Blackhawks organisation. He joins defensive returnees Jonathan Weaver and Russell Cowley plus new signings John Gordon, David Phillips and James Griffin as Coventry's new look defensive corps.
"One thing that has always stood out for me is his ability to read the game - and to do that at the high speed at which he plays the game. Because of his skating ability, he closes gaps and pressures the puck and I think his excellent defensive abilities are maybe overlooked sometimes because of the way he can skate the puck out of certain situations. His speed and vision allow him to turn defence into offence really quickly and that is an area I wanted to focus on for this season. One of the areas I was looking to vastly improve was our transition and mobility through our defensive corps and with Jerramie and the other defencemen I've signed, I really think I've done that.
"He's a real character both on and off the ice and again, that will be great for this club. I'm delighted to have finally landed him and I can't wait to start working with him when we get together in August."