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BizNasty is back at Cardiff Devils.

Canadian NHL forward Paul Bissonnette is flying in to join the Devils as cover for injured defenceman Carl Hudson.

Other top Elite League clubs in Britain were chasing Bissonnette, but hje loved his time with the Devils during 2012-13 and rang the club, asking: “Could I come back to Wales?”

Former Phoenix Coyotes player Bissonnette is coming in ona temporary contract and his home debut could come against Nottingham Panthers on Sunday, November 2, while he is also lined up to play against Belfast Giants at the Big Blue Tent a week later.

Devils managing director Todd Kelman has confirmed that NHL player Bissonnette, nicknamed BizNaster, is coming in on a temporary basis while he still looks for opportunities in the NHL.

“We are excited to have him for whatever length of time that he will be in Cardiff,” says Kelman. “Paul got in touch with us and explained that he had already had offers from two other teams in the Elite League, but that if he was going to come back to the UK he wanted to talk to us.

“He loved his time in Cardiff and was excited about coming in even on a short term basis.

“It is important for our fans to understand that if Paul gets an offer to go back to the NHL, we will not stand in his way and he is coming here with all of us knowing full well that he could be here for a week, a month or all season.

“He could get an offer in the next few days before he even arrives for all we know, but we are taking a risk here because we want him back for however long we can have him.”

When Ontario-born Bissonnette played in Cardiff during the NHL lockout, he was a standout player for the Devils, scoring 21 points in 11 games while winning over the hearts of the Devils fans in his short stint in South Wales.

“It just wouldn’t be right to see him over in this league playing for another team and when I put the idea to the owners, it was a very quick conversation,” said Kelman. “They know this is what the fans want and they are all for it.”

Devils are in the process of finishing the paperwork in order and making travel arrangements for 29-year-old Bissonnette, who has played a total of 202 NHL games, spending the past five seasons with the Arizona Coyotes (formerly Phoenix).

His brief stint with the Devils during 2012-13 is his only period out of the NHL since 2008-09 when he split his time between the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and their American League affiliate the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.

“We are absolutely pumped to get Bissonnette over here again and no matter how long he is here for,” says head coach Andrew Lord. “We are excited that he wants to get back to Cardiff and play for the Devils,”

“We have ownership behind us on this decision to bring him in and it shows how committed they are to the Devils fans and to making this team and the game night product the best it can be.”

Bissonnette has become one of the most popular players on twitter in the NHL with almost 600,000 followers - @BizNasty2point0 - with his unique brand of humour and his willingness to engage with the fans, good or bad.

He was selected in the fourth round, 121st overall, on the 2003 NHL draft by Pittsburgh Penguins. When drafted he was playing with the Saginaw Spirit in the junior Ontario League.

Now he is on his way back to a Devils team already attracting near capacity attendances at their Big Blue Tent home. And in his first two home matches for the team he is set to face two of their key rivals on Nottingham and Belfast.