Petkoff rejoins the Wildcats

6:00am Tuesday 30th September 2008

The Swindon Wildcats have re-signed Joel Petkoff, their leading goal scorer from the past two seasons.

The shock move comes after a weekend of mixed results for the Wildcats.

Petkoff should return to the team just in time Saturday's home match against the Romford Raiders.

Wildcats head coach Pete Russell said: "We were very disappointed but at the same time supportive when Joel announced that he was moving to Germany last summer.

"Whilst we were sad to see him go, we appreciated that it was a positive move for him and so built our 2008/2009 starting roster without him. The team I built over the summer has goals in it, but the signs in the first couple of weeks of training and two disappointing away trips in a row have highlighted some issues that I feel we needed to move quickly to address.

"I was originally contacted last week to be informed that Joel's move to Germany hadn't worked out and that he was available again. This move is a huge gamble for us, of course, as it is a significant investment to bring him over once the season has already started as all things like flights, registration, etc., all cost money.

"However, chances like this don't come around often and I feel that getting Joel back will make a massive impact on our team. This means however that unfortunately someone else has to make way for Joel's return, and sadly that player this time is Ivan Racek.

"Ivan is a great guy with great Ice hockey skills. In an ideal world we would keep him on too and he would rack up a hatful of points on assists. However, this is not possible for us to do and so we thank him for his services and coming and giving it a go with us and we are sorry that it hasn't worked out."

Russell went on: "Hopefully we will have the paperwork complete for Joel to dress in his new-look number 23 shirt this coming weekend."

Fans and supporters will be able to get a first glimpse of their returning hero when the Wildcats face the Romford Raiders on Saturday October 4 in a 5.45pm face-off.