Veteran enforcer Brian McGrattan, who spent last season with Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in San Diego, has decided to try his hand overseas.
On Friday, EIHL club Nottingham announced they’ve signed McGrattan for the upcoming campaign.
“I think the fans will love this guy,” head coach Corey Neilson said, per the club’s website. “We wanted to sign a player with this kind of reputation for the fans.
“We’ve got our man.”
McGrattan, 35, appeared in 317 career contests with the Flames, Senators, Predators and Coyotes, racking up over 600 penalty minutes. As evident by that PIM total, McGrattan’s been an incredibly active fighter over his career, which includes a staggering 39 scraps during the 2004-05 AHL campaign (per HockeyFights).
His pugilistic endeavors haven’t slowed down with age, either.
McGrattan fought seven times last season, which included being on the wrong end of a vicious knockout in January:
McGrattan shrugged off the incident, saying he was “fine” and “not dead.”
As mentioned above, the EIHL has brought over several tough guys recently. The McGrattan signing was preceded by Patrick Bordeleau signing with Welsh club Cardiff, and Jay Rosehill catching on with Scottish club Braehead.