When Beau Orser was just starting out on blades, he got some encouragement - and skating lessons - from his famous uncle.

To get ice time with a former Olympic silver medallist was a lot of fun for the young skater.

While he traded in his figure skates for hockey ones at a young age, Orser says he enjoyed skating with Brian Orser, the one-time world figure skating champion.

"I kind of got put into figure skating and that's where I learned a lot," said the 20-year-old defence-man. "[Brian] is my uncle and he taught me a lot."

Now Orser's a defenceman with the Coquitlam Express, after the club signed him following his release by the Surrey Eagles on the weekend. Right now, the landing seems to be a perfect fit for the five-foot-eight blueliner.

In his two seasons in Surrey, Orser was used in a more defensive role and given a short leash when it came to getting into the attack.

That leash has now been removed as Coquitlam expects the defence-men to be more proactive when it comes to generating offence.

"My role with the Eagles was mostly defensive. They had a strong core of puck moving defencemen when I came in," said Orser.

"Being a smaller, more agile player, I'm more use to pitching in and helping create scoring chances."

Orser will make his Express debut tonight (Friday) against the Chilliwack Chiefs, 7 p.m. at the Poirier Sports Centre.

Over 51 games last year, the native of Penetanguishene, Ont. produced 10 assists and 51 penalty minutes. Express head coach Jon Calvano anticipates his newest addition will complement his crew.

"[Orser] brings a lot of veteran leadership that we felt we might be missing," noted Calvano. "He's got two years in this league while most of the defencemen are just starting.

"He gives us some additional depth as a skilled, able defenceman who is a tough kid who won't hesitate to stick up for his teammates."

Those same teammates were frustrating to play against last year.

"When we played them, Coquitlam was always an offensive team, they were hard to stop," noted Orser. "It's interesting that I ended up here after having played so many games against them."