Sheffield Steeldogs: Walker Sommer's 'easy decision' to stick around for second NIHL National season
HAVING seen the impact made during his first season in UK ice hockey, it is no surprise Sheffield Steeldogs were so keen to bring back forward Walker Sommer for a second season.
The feeling to hook up again was clearly mutual, though, the American keen for another season of NIHL National hockey having posted 111 points - 63 of them goals - in just 60 games.
It saw him finish fifth overall in scoring for league, Cup and play-offs, an impressive return from his first year in South Yorkshire.
Walker, from Cleveland, Ohio, returns for a second season at Ice Sheffield intent on helping the team lift some silverware, having ended 2024-25 in disappointing fashion when they followed up a sixth-place regular season finish with a winless play-off campaign.
“Something just clicked this year,” said the 28-year-old left-hander. “It seems like everything I shot went in. But from the start of the season the team just seemed to click, so it was sad that we ended up the way we did.
"I think next year will definitely be a jump in the right direction and I’m excited about that.
"After about 10 games, we were ranked third I think, so that showed what we could do with the group we had last season. With some improvements and additions, we should get higher than that and maybe win some hardware.”
Sommer arrived in Sheffield last summer having spent two years playing in the third tier of German hockey, after fours in NCAA back home in the US.
"I honestly had no idea what I was coming into,” added Sommer. “I was coming in kind of blind but the experience was amazing from the start.
"Everyone been nothing short of amazing to me, which is why it made it such an easy decision for me to re-sign.
"It helped that Sheffield is a lot like home in Cleveland, Ohio – it’s industrial, there’s a lot of blue collar people and everybody has just been very respectful and very nice to me – it reminded me a lot of home.”
Earlier this week, the Steeldogs posted an advert for new players as they look to build for the future, having established a ‘player pathway’ from the Sheffield Academy all the way through to the Sheffield Steelers in the Elite League.
Steeldogs GM Jamie McIlroy said getting Sommer back for a second year was key to the team’s ambition to improve on last season.
“The re-signing of Walker was one of the most important pieces to get over the line for next season,” said McIlroy.
“He has been a revelation since he arrived in Sheffield, leading the league in scoring for most of the campaign and finishing on 56 Goals and 100 points in the league alone.
“But it’s not just about his goal-scoring capability as far as we’re concerned - he’s a leader and a consummate professional, who typifies everything that we need throughout our roster.
“He’s fully bought into what we’re building here.”