Huge Sheffield Steelers' character joins Grand Slam winning Belfast Giants

Davey Phillips, the Great Britain defenceman who has played 395 games for the South Yorkshire side, has now signed for Belfast Giants, one of his former employers.

His move comes after Jonathan Phillips retired from the Sheffield Arena ice.

While it is undoubtedly a feather in Davey's cap - at the age of 35 - to sign for the treble winners, it is a blow to the Sheffield locker room.

The D-man was a hugely positive influence on the team's mood and sense of camaraderie.

With EIHL match-night rosters apparently about to feature 15 imports and five Brits, the place for homegrown players is tight at every club.

Belfast appear to be on the cusp of losing Lewis Hook to Guildford Flames and Scott Conway to a European team.

Steelers have Robert Dowd, Sam Jones, Brandon Whistle, (all signed for 2023-4) Alex Graham (probably) and a back-up netminder to find places for.

So it seems that Phillips may have found himself a very good move just at the right time.

But it is worth pointing out that Sheffield are already losing two big characters in Jonathan Phillips and fellow-retiree Brendan Connolly - so there are big shoes to fill.

Davey said: "I am delighted to be returning to the Giants after eight seasons away. I have fond memories of my previous four seasons in Belfast, and I can’t wait to hit the ice at The SSE Arena, Belfast in front of thousands of members of the Teal Army."

Adam Keefe, head coach of the Giants, said: “We’re thrilled that Davey has agreed to rejoin the Giants for the 2023/24 season.

"Having someone of Davey’s quality and experience join the roster is invaluable, and I don’t doubt that his knowledge and expertise will play a pivotal role in helping us to defend our titles over the coming season.”

Meanwhile, the building blocks for Steelers' fixture format will come together this week.

Representatives of all 10 EIHL teams will meet and try and compile the schedule.

Sheffield management always try to achieve these four fundamentals, below, to assist their financial and administrative planning for the year:

*Nottingham Panthers match on Boxing Day - and then spread other encounters across the season;

*Manchester Storm over New Year;

*Back-to-back away games at Belfast Giants to bring travel costs down;

*Avoid long-distance double weekend away journeys, like matches one night in Scotland followed 24 hours later in Cardiff or Guildford.