Jorgenson looks to put his ‘education’ to good use in Sheffield

Jorgenson was signed last summer by previous Clan player-coach Bruce Richardson, only for the former Nottingham Panthers forward to jump ship days later and head back to North America.

Former Hull Stingrays’ player-coach Drew Bannister was appointed as Richardson’s replacement by the Clan hierachy and Jorgenson – unveiled on Friday as the Steelers’ first new import for the 2012-13 campaign - believes it was the best thing that could have happened for him as a player.

Forming part of a defence boasting just three imports, the 26-year-old American worked tirelessly alongside Bannister and fellow import Tim Wedderburn to steer Braehead to a sixth-place finish, only being edged out of a top five place by Coventry Blaze by virtue of winning one less game.

It was a remarkable achievement for a club in only its second top-flight year and running an import light for a large chunk of the season. They nearly capped their regular season achievements before narrowly missing out on ousting Nottingham Panthers in the first round of the play-offs, eventually losing out in overtime in the second leg.

“I loved it at Braehead,” said Jorgenson, who finished the season with 52 points in 60 games, including 16 goals. “The bigger ice over here seems to suit my game and playing with a guy like Drew was just perfect for me.

“The guy has a wealth of experience from the NHL down and in Europe and I learned so much from him.

“I was impressed with the way Drew was able to adjust to the demands of being a player-coach, which must be the toughest job in hockey, and I developed a lot and saw a lot of ice time.”

Jorgenson won the 2010-11 play-off championship with Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in North America’s Central Hockey League, just months before his Clan debut, and said it was a desire to get his hands on more silverware which largely prompted his decision to move to South Yorkshire.

“I’m coming to the Steelers because they are an organisation that is expected to win,” added Jorgenson, who will also study at Sheffield University as part of his deal.

“There is always going to be pressure at a club like Sheffield because of the expectation levels surrounding it, but you can’t let stuff like that affect you too much.”

After the capture of British forward Colin Shields, Jorgenson is the next piece in the jigsaw for the Steelers as head coach Finnerty prepares for his first season working solely from the bench since ending his playing career in disappointing fashion with play-off defeat to Hull Stingrays.

The surprising exit of goaltender John DeCaro - someone who Finnerty always staunchly backed despite heavy criticism from some sections of the club’s support - has been followed by forward Mike Ramsay also moving on, opting to join the American netminder at Norwegian outfit Sparta Sarpsborg.

Further ins and outs are expected in terms of the Steelers’ imports. And while Jorgenson will add a further attacking ingredient to the Yorkshire club - in a similar way to the long-serving Rod Sarich - Finnerty is desperate to bring in at least one tough, stay-at-home defenceman.

“What we’re getting with Jim is a good, solid all-round defenceman,” said Finnerty. “Having both him and Roddy Sarich gives us that offensive punch from the back that we need.

“He also plays well in his own zone, but we’re also still looking to bring in a guy who can clear the back end. It’s one of the toughest positions to fill and there aren’t too many quality guys about for that role.

“But we’ve got a few things going on so we’ll just see what happens.”

Finnerty said he was prompted to move quickly for Jorgenson after finding out he was attracting interest elsewhere.

“Although I think he slipped under the radar of a lot of people here, he had caught the eye of a number of clubs abroad - I think a couple of clubs in Kazakhstan were talking to him, so we wanted to sort things quickly,” added Finnerty.

“We talked to him, he was keen on coming to Sheffield and I’m glad we’ve got this one done.”

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Twitter: @philarra