The Deer Lake Red Wings will have a healthy roster bolstered by two new additions when they host the Clarenville Caribous this weekend.

The Red Wings sit in the cellar in the West Coast Senior Hockey League with an 0-5 record. The team was hit hard by a flu virus in the last two weeks and ended up playing with no less than eight regulars missing from the line-up because of the wave of illness that spread through the locker-room.

“Everybody is healthy and good to go,” Red Wings GM Andy Brake told The Western Star Wednesday. “As I said in my interview with you last week, basically our season is going to start this weekend because we’ve just had so many troubles the first two weekends it’s pretty much a write off.

“So I guess where it stands right now we’re looking to put some wins on the board and show people that the Deer Lake Red Wings are a hockey team to be reckoned with again this year.”

Brake is looking forward to seeing how new signees — forward Mark Allen and defenceman Kyle Wharton — fit into the mix when they make their Newfoundland senior hockey league debuts against the Caribous.

Allen played hockey in the Avalon Minor Hockey Association system until he moved to Sarnia, Ont. at the age of 15. According to Brake, a number of former Red Wings  promoted the team as a good organization and Allen decided to join the Red Wings instead of accepting an offer to play in Germany after Christmas. He is taking up permanent residence in Deer Lake for the balance of the season.

“Mark would be described I guess as somewhat of a power forward,” Brake said. “He’s played a number of years of professional hockey and he’s averaged pretty much a point a game. So I am certainly looking forward to see what kind of abilities he has this upcoming weekend.”

Wharton, who attends Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, will be flying back and forth every weekend to play with the Red Wings.

The 23-year-old Ottawa native was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second round (59th overall) in the 2004 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft. A six-foot 200-pound defenceman, Wharton played 18 games with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League last year.

“He is an offensive defenceman who likes to rush the puck and things, so we’re certainly expecting good things from him,” he said.

With the signing of Wharton, the Red Wings now have four import cards filled. The league has a limit of three imports per team in place.

“As long as we only use three in a game then that’s legal according to our constitution,” he said. “So we will be hanging onto the four, and when we have to make a decision to bring it down to three when we get close to the playoffs at that time we will make a decision.”

The Red Wings tangle with the Caribous 8 p.m. Friday and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Hodder Memorial Recreation Complex.