POPULAR Swedish forward Jonas Hoog has completed a return to Swindon Wildcats after being confirmed as the club’s latest recruit on Christmas Day.

Hoog, 32, first linked up at the Link Centre in the 2010-11 season where he recorded 53 points from only 29 games.

His standout form led to a further six seasons with the Wildcats before he departed to ice for Polish outfit Orlik Opole last year, where he registered 26 points from 30 games.

After being left without a club for this season, Wildcats player-coach Aaron Nell swooped quickly to secure the Stockholm-born player’s signature following the departure of Adam Harding before Christmas.

And Nell insists that Hoog’s return to Wiltshire will boost the club’s chances of achieving NIHL South One success, as they look to hunt down runaway league leaders Peterborough Phantoms in the second half of the season.

Nell said: “I think he’s going to add a lot, I think he’s going to add a spark and take a bit of pressure off of ourselves offensively.

“He’s going to be a very good player in this league and one that keeps the fans on the edge of their seat.

“He will bring excitement onto the ice, and offensively we have been missing something in the last month to six weeks.”

The decision to release Harding meanwhile came as a difficult one to coach Nell, who rubbished online rumours regarding a fall-out in the dressing room between players.

Nell added: “It was a very difficult decision to release Adam (Harding). He’s a good person and it wasn’t easy.

“It’s not a decision that we made lightly. I know there have been rumours circulating online about a rift in the dressing room and that’s the furthest thing from what the situation was.

“We felt it was a decision we had to make to try and improve our team. It’s very difficult and a decision that we didn’t enjoy making."

See our website for details of how Wildcats faired against Basingstoke in NIHL One South last night.