Milton Keynes Lightning announce today that they have released Slovakian forward Juraj Gracik from his contract with the club, and that the Finn Tuomas Tikkanen will join the Lightning for the remainder of the season. Affectionately known by supporters and his team-mates as "George", Juraj signed for the Lightning last summer.

The aim of the mid-season change is to maximise the Lightning’s chances of trophies, said head coach Nick Poole. “Whilst we’re very pleased with our current league position, we need to give ourselves and our supporters the very best chance of winning the three trophies we’re competing for. At times our offense has struggled - in the first half of the season our powerplay spluttered, and sometimes we now struggle to score goals whilst 5 on 5. At times we’ve lacked a cutting edge late in games to equalise or go ahead. I know all the players are determined to win some silverware, and we hope this change improves our chances.”

“This decision was extremely difficult, as ‘George’ has been a true professional from start to finish. He’s given us everything he had and fitted in very well with the team ethos - it’s always sad to see a player go who has worked tirelessly for the team. Everyone here at the Lightning wishes Juraj the very best for the future and we thank him for all of his efforts whilst in MK.”

Lightning’s vacant import slot will be taken by the Finnish forward, Tuomas Tikkanen. A left winger, Tuomas has played the vast majority of his hockey in his home country with spells in France and Sweden, and is looking forward to making his EPL debut. Nick Poole said, “He’s very keen to come to the UK and extremely excited about the months ahead. We believe Tuomas will provide a big boost to the team both on and off the ice.

“I’m familiar with the Finnish 2nd division, having played a year there myself - and Tuomas’s stats in that league speak for themselves. He is a very skillful player who will contribute with goals and creating opportunities for his line-mates. He’ll take some pressure off of Blaz Emersic and Leigh Jamieson who have been carrying the bulk of our offensive production, and will also boost our power play. We know our supporters will make him feel at home right away and we’re looking forward to having him on the ice wearing the Lightning colours, helping with our push for silverware”.

Vito Rausa, the Lightning’s General Manager, said: “We’d like to place on record our gratitude to the Supporters’ Club for helping make it possible for us to sign Tuomas – it’s credit to all their hard work that this signing has been possible”.

Tuomas will make his debut for MK Lightning in the next home game on Saturday 28 January against Basingstoke Bison.  If any supporters would like to sponsor any of Tuomas’s shirts, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .