Sheffield Steelers captain Jonathan Phillips trying to stay optimistic after 'surreal' few months

The spectre of coronavirus continues to cast its shadow over whether or not the Elite League will surface again in December or the new year.

The Sheffield Steelers' captain describes the past few months as "surreal."

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After the ecstasy of winning the Challenge Cup on March 8, in the final game of a prematurely-ended 2019-20 season, the champagne has definitely gone flat.

"Who would have thought then that this would have happened? It is mental.

"I thought there would be a three week lockdown and everything would be back to normal!

"Now, it is the waiting that gets you the most," the forward says.

"I would much rather know the season is on or off now then the uncertainty just dragging on.

"At the moment we just don't have anything to work towards.

"I have stages where I am all-out motivated for a new season and other days when I think: 'What am I doing this for?'"

The veteran is trying his best to stay optimistic though.

"It's down to the Government and what they are going to say, capacity-wise," said the skipper.

"They are looking to pilot events through September and October, they are saying. Maybe December will be too early but I've got to keep positive it will happen."

Phillips has kept fit through the summer, but says his break from the ice is the longest he's endured since he was 10.

"I have no doubt how harsh the virus has been but I still think we have got to open things up and get on with all our lives.

"We can't hide forever - things need to open up.

"I spoke to Aaron (Fox; coach) recently and he's confident that something would happen."

The EIHL are having internal talks this week, but the key date is September 15.

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That is when the League "will likely have to make a decision on the 2020-21 season” according to Todd Kelman, the Cardiff Devils managing director.

He said recently: "We cannot play with 200 or 500 spectators unless we had massive financial support from the government. Even at 50% capacity, unless there was a realistic timeline to quickly get to 100% capacity, teams would struggle to make it work.

“If the December start date does not work, we will try our best to have some sort of hockey at some point even if it starts as late as February and runs to late June. I don’t think all teams would be up for that, but some would want to try.”

The Star speculated recently that half of the EIHL teams might favour a different type of season running from January or February to June or July - should the initial target date of December 5 not prove to be realistic.

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