The "nutter" goalie who can shine for Sheffield Steelers

One of his former team-mates at iceSheffield certainly thinks he'll give it his best shot, now the promising netminder has signed for Sheffield Steelers.

Childhood pal Charlie Thompson has some illuminating memories of playing on the same team as the pair grew up, on and off the ice.

They are close friends, but Thompson, 24, says it is not that loyalty that influences his view about Churchfield's prospects.

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He says the netminder has benefited from a similar upbringing and shares the same will-to-win as Swinton-born Bowns, who played with aplomb for Cardiff Devils and Great Britain before moving abroad to Graz99ers in Austria.

Thompson said of Churchfield: "We go back a long way, we used to sleep over at each other's houses and I'd hoped he'd be over for Christmas this year and we could catch up and have a few beers. I was gutted when it didn't turn out that way."

The coronavirus lockdown put an end to reunion plans and Churchfield has yet to be properly re-introduced to the Sheffield ice hockey scene.

Steeldog Thompson, like everyone else, will have to wait a while to see how much he has blossomed as a goaltender, after years developing in North America, the last three at the University of New England.

"As a goalie, he was always pretty active, he likes to come and play the puck. He is like a butterfly goalie but is pretty solid all around, really. He likes to come out to the corner and play the puck," said Thompson.

"I think he'll do a pretty good job for the Steelers.

"He always seemed pretty confident and has every right to be, he has played at a decent standard, and has been doing pretty well, looking at his numbers.

"He is a big unit so I think he'll compete (with any import Steeler) for the spot."

Could Churchfield go on to mirror Bowns, five years his senior, who once played for Sheffield Rapiers, Spartans, Steelhawks and Scimitars?

"Bownsy is unreal...but you never know," said Thompson.

Thompson affectionately regards the 24-year-old Churchfield as "chilled off the ice, but he can be a nutter on it."

He recalled: "I remember one time, I think we were playing Guildford, and their guy was on a breakaway, head down speeding over the blue line, and Churchy just flew out the net aiming to poke check. We were like: 'No, no...' but he got there!”

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Thompson also delved back in his memory for a comical scene, one you would not witness again from Churchfield, now he is a fully-fledged professional.

"We had got through to a final of a Sheffield tourment on a Sunday and all the boys decided to go out for a few beers. As young lads - we were about 18 - we thought: 'We'll be fine.'

"But Saturday night saw us have too many.

"On the Sunday morning I was up early for the tournament, and remember walking into the changing room and Churchy is laid out in the middle of the room with his sunglasses on...fast asleep!

"I said: 'Get up you're on in 10 minutes' - he was out cold. He's unreal though - he got up and played well. Thankfully we had a pretty stacked D, too!"

Churchfield and Bowns are examples of iceSheffield products who developed well and have flourished both domestically and abroad.

Thompson says: "If the opportunity comes up to play abroad for today's crop of kids, it is worth considering it, a lot come back better."

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