Early promise of NIHL National Streaming Series encouraging, says Sheffield Steeldogs’ Jason Hewitt

The 37-year-old Hull Pirates player-coach crossed the White Rose divide earlier this month when answering the call from bitter rivals Sheffield Steeldogs, who added him to their roster for the three-way, behind-closed-doors tournament against Milton Keynes Lightning and Swindon Wildcats.

He made his Steeldogs’ debut in last Sunday’s 5-1 win over Swindon at Ice Sheffield, the second game in the series which followed the Wildcats’ 8-6 win on home ice against Milton Keynes 24 hours earlier.

With fans still not allowed to attend sporting events because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the series is hoping to prove a viable alternative is possible through charging fans to watch the games online.

Combined internet viewing figures of around 2,800 for both games will have given encouragement to those taking part, while also offering hope to other NIHL National teams interested in taking part in any further competitive action which may follow.

Telford Tigers were recently granted the same ‘elite status’ which enabled the three teams to take part in the ongoing series and are likely to be added to the proposed Cup competition which organisers hope can follow in December.

And Hewitt believes the tournament, which continues this weekend with two more games, has provided the ideal tonic for hockey fans, starved of live action since mid-March when the pandemic saw the 2019-20 season terminated at all levels..

“The overall goal is to get hockey back on a permanent basis and I hope this can kick-start something more substantial,” said Hewitt.

“I do think people across the sport seem to have perked up now that the first weekend has happened.”

As for being back on the ice in a competitive sense for the first time since February - Hewitt’s season ended earlier than most because of injury - the former Sheffield Steelers’ favourite said he felt fully refreshed and is looking forward to repeating the experience when the Steeldogs visit Swindon on Sunday evening.

“The body felt surprisingly good, considering,” added Hewitt, who was quick to acknowledge the influence of his linemates, Belfast Giants’ GB international Ben Lake and Latvian winger Ralfs Circenis. “Obviously I’m an old guy now, but I actually felt really refreshed - a little bit of that will just have been the adrenaline, but I was just so happy to be back playing.

“I think the longer the game went on, the better the quality got. I had two very good linemates and once we clicked - we saw a bit of it in the first period and later in the third - it worked well. Obviously, the longer we get together the better it will be.

“The early signs were good, considering we’d only skated together twice as a line before the actual game.”

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