SM-liiga club Tappara has added some blueline talent by signing former Minnesota Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster to a lockout deal.
Foster, 30, is perhaps best known for his horrific leg break in 2008 after a check from San Jose’s Torrey Mitchell on an icing play.
The then-Wild blueliner suffered a broken femur that cost him over 100 games and almost a full year off skates -- but, to his credit, he was able to resume his NHL career and later named a finalist for the 2010 Masterton Memorial Trophy.
Since the injury, Foster has re-emerged as a good offensive defenseman and power play specialist, though his 2011-12 season was one to forget as he bounced from Anaheim to New Jersey to Minnesota (with a stop in AHL Syracuse), appearing in just 51 regular season contests all told.
Foster is currently an unrestricted free agent.