Fresh from his release from the Hull Stingrays, and his subsequent signing by the Sheffield Steeldogs, we spoke to ex-Steeler, and friend of the blog, Tom Squires, about his experiences in the UK Hockey system.
If its ok we'll start at the beginning of your Steelers career. You had a very good pedigree in junior hockey, regularly putting up good points. You did the same in your full season with the Scimitars, before making the jump to the Elite League. How big was the jump in quality for you?
The jump was big but I owe a lot to Ben Simon in that first year. He brought me in at a time when we were struggling with a couple of injuries and I got ice time straight away. The main difference I feel and it still is today, is the speed and the depth. If you look at Belfast's third line this year they have Lloyd Keefe and Garside/Peacock. In comparison to the EPL I think those are the biggest differences.
In your two season with the Steelers you put up good numbers, and I for one was impressed with your performances. How do you feel you performed for the Steelers?
I was happy with my performances at the Steelers. Like you said my points were pretty good and I played with some great players!
What made you turn down the two-way offer with Telford?
To be completely honest with you I didn't feel that it was the right fit for me at the time. I agreed that I needed to play and sitting on the bench was going to do nothing for me in terms of my development. I just feel that it wasn't the right place for me to play. It's nothing to do with the club or the Coach, I know Tom Watkins personally we get on well and I have a lot of respect for him. But I had to take into account everything. I work in Sheffield at the time I had rent and bills to pay at my apartment so I had to base my decision everything and not just hockey.
Lets move onto your experience in Hull. How was it playing under Sylvain Cloutier?
Clouts is a fantastic coach. He is also a players coach, he deserves respect because of the career that he has had but he also knows how to manage each individual player. He gave me a chance at Hull when I wasn't doing to well with the Steeldogs and I will always be grateful to him for that!Did you experience any of the issues with the fans that Matt Suderman, and just recently Ben Bowns, have had?
To be honest no I didn't. I've obviously heard about what happened to Matt and Ben but from my time at the Stingrays the fans were always great with me. The Stingrays don't have a huge fan base but the fans they do have are very passionate. They get behind the guys and make a lot of noise which is great!
What was the reason behind you leaving the Stingrays?
All that I can tell you was that I got injured in early December with a puck to the eye (I'm sure most of you have seen the picture) and I was in hospital for 9 days following it. I started my rehab and was back training in mid January. I came to the games at the weekend and then found out I would be just taking part in warm ups and not playing the game (healthy scratch) after a couple of weeks the owner called a meeting and informed me that I was being released.
Was it an obvious choice to sign with the Steeldogs? Did you have offers from elsewhere?
I did have offers from other clubs. I won't say who as I don't feel it's for me to publicise it. I spoke with Andre and he understood my situation regarding my commitments outside hockey as well as wanting to play as well. We came to an agreement pretty quickly and after the first 2 weekends I'm delighted with the way things are going. The boys have been really welcoming and it's like I never left.
Any plans to come back to the Elite League next season?
I would never rule out playing in any league especially the top league in the country. At the minute I'm training to become a teacher. So I will start making decisions at the end of the season. Right now I'm focused on doing everything that I can to help the Steeldogs get to the playoffs and then on to Coventry.
You're one of a rare breed of players from Sheffield who have gone on to play for the Steelers in recent times. Is there something wrong in the Sheffield setup? What do you think can be done to bring more Sheffield players up to Elite level and of the quality required for the Elite League and beyond?
I think it's strange looking at how many players that played in the Sheffield junior set up and went on to turn pro who didn't get signed by the Steelers. In my junior days I played with players like Ben Bowns, Matt Haywood, Matt Towe and Ben O'Connor all of whom never got signed full time by the Steelers. I think more needs to be done to help players stay with there hometown clubs and have a clear progression route through to Pro.
One thing that I think could work is that if an Elite league team (e.g Sheffield) spot a talented junior player then they can sign them up to a multi year deal until the player turns 18. The team could by the players skates or sticks etc to replace wages. When the player turns 18 the Steelers would have a player who has been playing regular ice time maybe ENL and EPL too and can make the step up. If the player wants to go to another team then the team wanting the player must pay a compensation/finders fee to the Steelers. This could work with EPL teams too and this would really help financially for EPL teams.
Young British players need to be given time to develop. They aren't going to walk into a team at 18 the finished article. They have to put the work and effort in but they also need coaches in place who are looking to develop there game and have a good player when they hit there 20's. Teams should be looking to build a team that going to be competing for silverware in a few years time followed by every year. Not buying a team to win a league once every few years.
Any message for the Steelers fans, or anyone else who reads our blog for that matter?
First of all thank you for the support that they have shown me throughout my time there and afterwards too! You aren't always going to please everyone in this sport but that's life and I hope that when I played for the team I did the club proud.
This is a message for any fan that watches hockey:Fans come and pay there money and without which there would be no money in the sport at professional level. But I see it way to often on social media that because a fan has bought a ticket they feel that they can dissect a players performance. Trust me after a game if a player has had a bad game or has made a mistake on a play then there is no one that feels worse than the player himself. Rather than criticizing them even more support them and get behind the players to help them not make it again. At the end of the day hockey is a game based on moments of skill and mistakes.
I hope that it hasn't come across as me slagging fans off because that's not what intended to do and the people that know me will know that I am not like that. Keep supporting your team whoever it is through the good and bad times.
Hopefully see you all at a Steeldogs game before the end of the year!Big thanks to Tom for a frank and open interview. Keep your suggestions coming for who we can interview, and we shall try our best.
Get in touch at the usual points of call.
The Frozen Steel Forum
@FrozenSteelBlog
@IAmMcCausland
@TomWalkeden
@AwkwardGinge
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