Hull Seahawks - Owen Bruton hoping to match personal development with team success

Having barely passed his 16th birthday towards the end of last August, he found himself thrust into his senior career with Hull Jets in NIHL North Two - effectively, the fourth tier of British hockey.

At around the same time, following a trial earlier in the summer, Bruton was also practising regularly with the Seahawks, busy preparing for their inaugural season in the UK game’s second tier, NIHL National.

Before too long, it became clear to Seahawks' head coach Matty Davies that Bruton would form a big part of his plans for the 2022-23 campaign.

In what proved a tough baptism of fire for the Seahawks - launched in the Spring of 2022 by Davies and business partners Joe Lamplough and Ian Mowforth - Bruton was one of the few positives.

In a regular season campaign which saw Hull finish bottom, Bruton made 48 appearances. He registered eight goals and three assists, a seriously impressive return from a 16-year-old taking his first steps at that level.

In eight games for the Jets - who won the North Two title and with it promotion to North One - Bruton played eight times, posting seven goals and six assists.

Oh and don't forget the fact he also found time to turn out for Kingston Sharks’ Under-18s, racking up 33 points - including 13 goals - in just nine games.

Bruton is still young enough to play another season of Under-18s hockey for the Sharks but, in all likelihood, he probably won’t have time.

Earlier this week, he was named in the Great Britain Under-20s squad that will contest the World Championships Division 2A tournament in Dumfries in December.

The second youngest member of Martin Grubb’s roster - Manchester Storm’s Connor Lee is just 16 - it is a serious achievement by Bruton, who will still be eligible to play for GB Under-18s next Spring.

“I was aware of his talent quite early on and it was obvious to me, with how he was producing with the Jets and the practice sessions that he was having with us, that he was already beyond NIHL Two,” said Davies, whose Seahawks team go into this weekend in a three-way tie at the top of the NIHL standings with Leeds Knights and Milton Keynes Lightning.

“Just with his hockey IQ and everything, I knew he had to be playing and training with us. And it just went from there, he was a big positive for us last year.

“I’ve said it for a while now, Owen is a young lad, but his brain is way more mature than his age in terms of the way he plays the game.

“When he texted me to say he’d made the 20s, I was buzzing for him. He deserves it. He works so hard and he’s really critical of himself, so I’m trying to work on that with him and just get him to be more confident and to play the game how I know he can play the game.”

As for Bruton, his early elevation to the GB 20s wasn’t something originally on his list of priorities - until he got invited to the initial trial.

“In the back of my mind, I was hopeful I might get a 20s trial but then we got the email and as soon as I knew I had the opportunity, it was on my mind 24/7,” said the youngster.

“It was something that was sprung on me but, when it came, I was determined to take my chance.”

On his transition to the senior game after an excellent junior career with Kingston, Bruton admitted there were initial challenges, chiefly centred around the step up in physicality and pace.

That will continue to be an issue given how young he still is but, having been thrown in at the deep end, he learned to swim fast in order to keep up with those around him.

“Last year, I think that was the best thing for me,” said Bruton.

“It was tough for the team because we were losing a lot and we were short on numbers a lot of the time. I kind of got thrown in at the deep end but, my development sky-rocketed because of that.

“When I started playing with the Jets, the physicality level was there, but I felt like I had a lot of time on the puck, much like I did in juniors.

“But the National league was definitely quicker, far more intense - just the speed of every individual. The speed of it was the main thing for me.

“Obviously, I’d played in some decent tournaments with GB 16s and that was good for my game at that level, but last season was just something else in terms of the physicality and speed.

“Adjusting to it was tough but getting all the ice time that I was lucky enough to have, that was definitely a big thing for me in terms of improving my game.”

This season - so far - is a total contrast for the Seahawks. The only team not to have lost in regulation. Bruton believes it could be a special year.

“As a group, there’s definitely a winning mentality in the team, which is what you want,” he added. “We’ve had a very good start, we haven’t lost in regulation and we’ve picked up points wherever we’ve played.

“It’s only early days, but if we can maintain that winning mentality and stay together as a group, I think we’ll achieve a lot of things this year.”