Bob Westerdale: A story to bring a smile to Steeler fans' faces

Players and backroom staff at Sheffield Steelers and other EIHL clubs have had Covid, games have been postponed and the fixture list thrown into uncertainty.

Thankfully, Steelers largely appear to be over the infection and will have enough players to take on Guildford Flames at home on Sunday (4pm.)

How future fixtures will be shoveled into the re-arranged schedule will be for the clubs to wrestle with.

None of us are out of the woods yet.

But there is always room for a good ice hockey story to brighten up the fans' lives.

Jonathan Phillips shared one this week when he revealed his first meeting with Tommaso Traversa, the forward who arrived in the Sheffield camp, as injury cover, in December.

Phillips recalled seeing him for the first time when Great Britain were making history in Budapest.

The year was 2018 and GB clinched promotion back to the sport's elite level for the first time since 1994 with an overtime win over Hungary, a game in which Sheffield team-mate Robert Dowd scored.

After the 3-2 shootout victory, Brit skaters mobbed each other.

But they were soon to be joined by a half-naked Italian national in Traversa!

Phillips explained: "Our win meant we had been promoted to Pool A - but it also meant Italy had too.

"Italy had needed us to win to get promoted, alongside us.

"Their players had been in the fan zone with all their fans watching the game - all desperate to see our result to go the way it did.

"They were absolutely pickled, it was as funny as hell.

"Tommaso was absolutely hammered and all of the sudden he was on the ice with no shirt on, hugging all the GB boys!"

Phillips only realised it was the same man, when he arrived at the Arena, last month, as Aaron Fox's latest signing.

"The second he walked into the room I was like; 'I remember you!' "

Traversa played six games for Sheffield before coronavirus intervened, with three games postponed.

It was a blow for the 31-year-old from Turin, who had been hoping to nail down a spot on the Elite League roster.

Phillips said: "Coming into a new team you want as much time as possible to prove you are good enough, so it's a shame for him.

"I think he's great, the boys like him, he has energy, he does all the right things, a great guy in the room, too."

In a recent interview with The Star, Traversa recalled playing against Sheffield in Minsk, Belarus, in the Continental Cup.

Andreas Jamtin and Jonas Westerling helping Steelers to a 2-0 shutout of Ritten.

He recalls thanking the British players after their win in Hungary.

But maybe his memory of exactly how has escaped him!