Following another weekend to forget for the Belfast Giants, the club has moved quickly to secure the services of 27 year old centreman David Goodwin from recent Swedish visitors to Belfast, Mora IK.
Goodwin has tasted Championship success both at junior level with the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL, and in College where he clinched a Big 10 title with NCAA D1 side Penn State, captaining the side in his final year before turning pro.
He left behind a career scoring leader record of 128 points in 147 games played.
From there it was a move to Finland’s Saimaan Pallo, where the native of St Louis Missouri notched 61 points in 130 appearances across two seasons in the highly competitive Liiga.
A short but turbulent spell in Sweden followed. Released from SHL newcomers IK Oscarshamn in preseason, Goodwin moved to freshly relegated side Mora IK who were defeated twice in Belfast during a pre-season exhibition and CHL warmup at the SSE.
After notching 4 points in 11 games with Mora, under-pressure Head Coach Jeff Jakobs decided to part ways with the American forward, opening the door for a fresh start and the chance to contribute some spark to a stuttering Belfast Giants offence.
Adam Keefe spoke with cautious optimism about the swift business undertaken by the club over the past week:
“We are still within striking distance of first place though we cannot continue in our current run of form. We are lacking offence right now and it is important for us to address it.”“Once we knew David was available, we wanted to bring him to Belfast. He will add quality and speed to our offence. We have to move forward and get back to work right away with important games ahead.”
-Adam Keefe
The good news for Giants fans is that Goodwin is expected to feature in the lineup this weekend, as Belfast face the daunting task of turning things around with an away double header in Cardiff.
Whilst questions persist amongst a frustrated fan base about the imminent prospect of more movements in the Giants roster- both in and out- for now it’s a welcome relief to see the club act quickly to bring in reinforcements.
And as a quick glance at the EIHL Standings will tell you, the sky isn’t falling yet.
Catch David Goodwin’s exclusive first interview as a Belfast Giant in this week’s AVFTB, the Official Podcast of the Belfast Giants. Out Wednesday!
Words: Joel Neill
Images: Courtesy Belfast Giants
