Alex Graham backed to bounce back from Great Britain Under-20s ejection

The talented 19-year-old forward was sent home early from the GB camp ahead of their World Championship Division 2A campaign in Lithuania over a ‘breach of discipline’.

It’s not clear as to the exact nature of the incident which led to him being thrown out from the GB squad in Kaunas, but the Sheffield Steelers forward – who has played most of his hockey this season with the Steeldogs on a two-way deal – is expected to return to the ice this weekend.

That is likely to be with the Steeldogs, who host Basingstoke Bison at Ice Sheffield on Sunday (face-off 4pm), unless Steelers’ head coach Aaron Fox calls him back into the fold for the Elite League club’s weekend in Scotland which sees them take on Glasgow Clan and Fife Flyers.

Veteran Steeldogs’ team-mate Jason Hewitt has spoken to Graham since the incident, and said the youngster accepted the decision taken by the GB management and was now solely set on putting the matter firmly behind him.

Graham has made just eight appearances for the Steelers this season but it is for the Steeldogs where he has excelled, currently the team’s leading goal-scorer with 13 in just 15 appearances. He is also second in the overall team-scoring having also registered 13 assists and is only two behind the team’s overall leading points-scorer – Matt Bissonnette – who has played 22 games.

Hewitt – who came out on social media in defence of Graham – has been able to admire the youngster from close-up, having spent most of the season so far behind the bench assisting head coach Greg Wood.

That is due to an upper-body injury sustained early in the season following a freak collision with a team-mate. He hopes to return to the ice for the Steeldogs by the end of January but admits he has enjoyed watching Graham continue to blossom from the sidelines.

“He’s a great kid and that’s why I backed him like I did,” said Hewitt. “He will bounce back after what’s happened. I know he will. It’s important that he knows he’s got the backing of his team-mates and others around him because it could be easy for a kid like Alex to lose his head a bit.

“He’s made a mistake, he regrets what’s happened and that he made a poor decision. But he shouldn’t be crucified for it. He just has to learn from it and I know he will do. He’s a 19-year-old kid at the end of the day.”

On Graham’s form for the Steeldogs, Hewitt added: “He has been absolutely unbelievable for us at times.

“I wouldn’t say he’s winning games single-handedly for us, but he’s doing plenty of things that have made us successful over the last few weeks.

“Alex’s play has gone to another level and that is what he needs to focus on. He’s such a skilful player.”