New Signing: Sheffield Steelers bring in Finn to ease injury woes

Aaron Fox at Rhino office pic by Bob Westerdale

Finnish defenceman, Mikko Kuukka, who turns 34 next month, has signed an eight-week contract following a stack of injuries to blue line personnel.

“Mikko is a big steady stay at home d-man,” said head coach Aaron Fox.

“He skates very well for a big guy and plays a heavy game.

“He has been a guy known for playing against other teams top players in a shutdown role and keeps the game simple and is a real team guy.

“He will bring a defense first mentality to our group and is excellent in PK/box play.

“With the amount of games coming up over the next five weeks and long term injuries to Aaron Johnson and Jonas Liwing, we felt it was important to be proactive and make sure we are in a position to have success, especially if we lost anyone else.”

The 6ft 3ins skater had two years in Canada in the WHL with Red Deer Rebels and represented Finland at U20 level.

There are doubts whether Kuukka will be available for this weekend's matches in Scotland.