A LOT has happened since Jordan Buesa last pulled on the skates as a Clan player.

He had a role in a movie featuring an NHL legend and one of the Baldwin brothers, enjoyed a season playing hockey at “home” in Madrid, helped the family fishing business adapt to life post-Brexit and watched two old pals make the breakthrough at Kilmarnock FC and Glasgow Warriors respectively. Oh, and the club he’s rejoined has changed its name, too.

It was still the Braehead Clan when the 21 year-old last pulled on the purple shirt of the team he used to travel to watch from his home in Troon.

He returns to a club - rebranded in 2018 as Glasgow Clan – that hasn’t played a competitive game since March 2020.  As well as new head coach Malcolm Cameron, Buesa returns to an entirely revamped playing roster bolstered by 19 new signings. Despite leaving the club just three years ago, none of his former team-mates are still on the books.

The uncertainty over whether Clan would be allowed to remain at Braehead has meant a later start to the season but Buesa is already looking forward to returning to the ice to represent his boyhood heroes once more.

“I’m excited to be back,” he said. “They’ve obviously rebranded from Braehead to Glasgow since I left but the fans are the same and I’m looking forward to playing in front of them again as it was always a great atmosphere.

“This was the club I grew up supporting  - I went to their first-ever game up in Dundee [in 2010] and used to travel up from Troon to watch them all the time when I was younger.

“I started training with them after that and signed when I was 16. So it’s nice to be back and I’m looking forward to working under the new coach.

“His hockey resume speaks for itself – the fourth most wins in the East Coast League in North America which is a really decent standard. It’s a full new team so there’s nobody really around from my last spell but hopefully we can all click quickly and go on to have a good season.”

With no competitive action possible in Britain during the pandemic, Buesa headed to his dad’s hometown of Madrid to turn out for a season with SAD Majadahonda.

“A lot of my extended family live there so it was nice to be able to see them as I don’t often get the chance to go to Spain,” he added.

“I ended up playing there for five months and it was a good level of hockey. I felt lucky to find a team as a lot of the Scottish boys were stuck without any competitive action during lockdown.

“Thankfully my Spanish isn’t too bad! I learned from listening to my gran and grandad when I was younger and I’m pretty much fluent now.”

A trip to Toronto a few years ago also proved fruitful with Buesa landing a role in a hockey movie The Last Big Save, still available to watch on Amazon Prime.

The film starred Daniel Baldwin and Alexei Yashin, with Buesa setting up the Russian legend for a goal in one of the scenes.

“That was a surreal experience. I went over there for a pre-season hockey camp and the family I was staying with were involved in the movie and got me a role.

“I thought I would just be hanging about in the back but I ended up featuring quite a bit in the final cut which was a surprise. It was a good experience although Hollywood’s not been back on the phone!”

The Pier Fishmongers have been operating in Troon ever since Buesa’s grandparents brought their young family over from Spain in 1982. And Jordan has a key role in helping keep it ticking over.

“We’ve got a fish exporting company that my dad and grandad started almost 30 years ago,” he revealed. “My dad still operates it all and I’m pretty hands-on helping him as well whenever I can. The hockey off-season runs from April which is our busiest time so I spend a lot of time working there every summer.”

Buesa could have made it in football after getting a chance at Kilmarnock where old boys club team-mate Innes Cameron has pushed his way into first-team contention. A former school chum, Ollie Smith, is also now part of the Warriors rugby squad.

“I was a goalkeeper at my local boys club in Troon and then ended up training twice a week for Kilmarnock,” he explained. “Hockey was always my main sport so I never really pursued the football side of things too much.

“But I think all kids should try different sports when they’re younger rather than just focusing on one. I did rugby too when I was younger and you pick up lots of different things from trying different sports. That’s definitely helped with my hockey.”