Why GB armband passed from Steelers' Phillips to... Steelers' Phillips

To lose another would be pretty mindblowing for the Orange Army of fans.

There has been speculation recently that, like captain Jonathan Phillips, Davey Phillips would leave the club, possibly for his home city team Hull Seahawks.

The defenceman has yet to re-sign a contract with Sheffield Steelers, for whom he has played 395 times.

But Wednesday night’s Great Britain accolade to the 35-year-old Yorkshireman reminded all Steeler fans what they would miss.

Phillips was made captain for the night in the 7-0 trouncing of Romania in the World Championships 1A group, the ‘C’ handed over by his namesake.

The gesture was to mark him becoming the sixth GB player to reach the 100-cap milestone.

“It was a huge honour to get to 100, a nice touch from Jonathan and others to hand down the captaincy,” he said.

“It was a very classy thing to do from Jonathan but that just sums him up as a person.

“It makes me very proud.”

Phillips said it took a while for Britain to get into groove but will take confidence into the last game against Italy on Friday night, where promotion can be achieved.

“We are 60 minutes from going back to the group where we want to be, we just have to leave it all out there and be the best team we can be and bring the best game everybody has got.”

A point on Friday would guarantee Pete Russell’s side a place at the 2024 top-level World Championship in Czechia and two points will clinch gold.

After that, Phillips can go into summer and see what options are available for him, domestically, in season 2023-24.

If, as has been rumoured, the EIHL roster size is increased for imports from 14 to 15 that would put a squeeze on the number of homegrown players in the 20-man roster.

From a personal perspective, I would be amazed if Steelers did not sign Dronfield’s Alex Graham on a full-time deal.

If they don’t, another EIHL team surely will, and Sheffield cannot afford to lose such a local talent.

If Graham is wrapped up by coach Aaron Fox, that could mean the five-man Brits’ contingent would feature Graham, Sam Jones, Robert Dowd, Brandon Whistle...and hopefully Davey Phillips.

*Jonathan Phillips, Evan Mosey, Liam Kirk, Brett Perlini, Sam Ruopp, Johnny Curran and Josh Waller all scored against Romania, in Nottingham, with Swinton’s Ben Bowns’ staking his third shut out of the tournament by blocking 13 shots.