Ice hockey to retun to Sheffield next month - as part of unique pilot scheme

Steeldogs, Milton Keynes Lightning and Swindon Wildcats will play each other in empty rinks, with fans encouraged to watch on £12 streaming services.

The NIHL league says it will gather information to feed into planning for a competitive season launch in early 2021.

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The iceSheffield team plays Swindon first, the return game away on November 22 before hosting MKL a week later.

Ex Steelers' favourite O'Connor said: "This is a trial and error scheme which hopefully will lead to some sort of tournament in January.

"Fans will be streaming the games and of course it will have to be viable for it to continue - but this is an exciting step forward."

O'Connor decided against pursuing hockey opportunities abroad to play for the Dogs.

"I cannot leave a 31-week pregnant wife and a three year old child, so my commitment has been made to the Steeldogs. We thought there would be some games - in these times things can change quickly but we are hopeful for good things to happen," he says.

The GB defenceman, who started practising with Dogs this week, says he does not believe the EIHL will be able to have any sort of season in the new year.

Mark Johnson, Chair of the NIHL National owners group, said: “We have all been missing hockey, and have been overwhelmed by the level of support and interest fans of all teams across our league have shown.

"Add to this that the players have been longing to get back on the ice, we wanted to do everything we could do to see if we could stage some fixtures.

"Although this is a small pilot series, we will use it as a test bed to see if it is viable to scale into a cup competition and then a league campaign."

The games will go ahead under the English Ice Hockey Association's 'return to play' structure which allows them to take place in all current Covid risk level classifications.

The NIHL says the behind-closed-doors pilot scheme is not the start of a league in itself.

They reinforced this notion with a statement: "This is a series of games to explore the feasibility of running games COVID safely and to understand the viability of running games on a streaming-only basis."

But why only three teams?

"The owners group worked together to agree a series which would provide valuable information, and at a level of fixtures which teams were comfortable and able to run," said the league.

If the series is successful, they will "see if there is an option to run further games, including a cup competition and league fixtures."

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Clubs will keep an eye on local lockdowns, saying they have "worked with the EIHA to ensure that fixtures are cleared to go ahead if an arena is in an area with Tier 3 (Very High Risk) Covid restrictions. Should a local lockdown occur then we will evaluate options to reschedule or relocate the fixture and will share further information should this be required.

"There has been weeks of rigorous planning to ensure the safety of players and staff in these games. The owners group and EIHA have put in place Covid safe protocols for arenas, players, staff and travel."

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