THE change of pace is abrupt.

The last hour or so has been spent running practice drills on the ice and the transfer onto the rubber matting leading to the dressing rooms inside the Braehead Arena requires an immediate drop down the gears. A few careful strides are necessary given that Joe Cullen has got his skates on but he is no longer in a hurry, not since he arrived at the Clan earlier this month.

The American had agreed a contract in October and was delayed as he awaited a visa; the final leg of his move was arranged hastily and so is perhaps best described as a little up and down. "It was just the four flights . . . a long day," recalls the forward.

It would go into overtime, too, Cullen stepping off the plane and almost immediately on to the ice to make his debut in a home match with Hull Stingrays. It was an appearance he punctuated with the opening goal but his momentum was later brought to a full stop as the English side won the match 3-2. The circumstances of his arrival had meant that the 32-year-old had little time to get to know his Clan team-mates but he discovered a squad which is also unacquainted with defeat - the result against Hull now lost in a league record which comprises seven wins in eight matches.

That has taken Clan into second place in the Rapid Solicitors Elite League ahead of the visit of Edinburgh Capitals on Saturday. The two clubs are only separated by some 50 miles but they have been worlds apart this season, with Clan the leading Scottish side in the division. Edinburgh and Fife Flyers occupy the bottom two places, while Dundee Stars are in third.

The Braehead side have stood up to the challenges of the British league but are buttressed by foreign talent, Cullen joining a roster comprising 11 Canadians and only two Scots. The swell of local interest has served to redress the balance and the enthusiasm of supporters has yet to slip when Clan take to the ice - "The fans came all the way to Cardiff [two weeks ago] . . . there was a bunch of 'em there," says Cullen - while the American is able to feel quite at home following previous spells playing in Europe.

"I've played in Germany, Italy and the States too," says the forward, who scored twice in a win over the Flyers last weekend. "The first couple of games were a little tough, but after a good couple of weeks practice I should be fine. Being an older guy, hopefully I can be a leader. Hopefully the things that I do, and the things that I've done and seen before, will help the other guys a little bit. Every team in this league is really hard-working; it's not easy. Everyone is going to play hard and we're here to play hard too. That's the way it has to be. It's the same way anywhere else I've played. When you play teams, you don't like them and they don't like you. It's a tough battle because you play the same teams over and over. You just have to outwork them and battle through."

Cullen is dressed appropriately then, an intimidating ensemble of pads, heavy gloves, a helmet and a stick seeming more appropriate for a declaration of war than a quiet little chat. Even a casual greeting to a passing team-mate is delivered by force - a thudding fist-bump is backed up by the firm acknowledgement that he is "dominating" his interview - and yet Cullen is no brute, a flicker of vulnerability helping to illuminate his early career. The forward was picked at No.211 in the 2000 NHL Draft and joined the Edmonton Oilers, a team which went on to reach the play-offs for the fifth successive season and finish with their highest points total in 13 years.

Cullen would collate his success at much sharper intervals, though, his time in the NHL often feeling like he was skating on thin ice. "It's a different game in the States - there is a lot more business and you get a lot more nervous every day," he says. "You never know if you are going to be there tomorrow or if they are going to get rid of you, just send you home. It's a little scary and if you have a couple of bad games you don't know what's going to happen.

"So it's a different game and it's a different style of hockey. It's not as fast, it's not as smooth as over here; you can't just go on skating in offence. It is a little more about defence. Over here it's more fun to play for a forward as you get more opportunities and a bit more time to play."