Don’t laugh, it might be closer than you think thanks to a young man from Hull named Dave Phillips.
Now, technically there have been British players in the NHL. In the fairly recent past Steve Thomas and Byron Dafoe (both born in England) spent significant time in the league and Belfast born Owen Nolan still plays in the NHL. The difference is that all three were brought up and trained in Canada.
The closest any British trained players have come are a pair of Scots. Tony Hand was drafted by the dynastic Edmonton Oilers in 1986 and impressed then coach Glen Sather enough to be offered a contract with the Victoria Cougars in Canadian Junior. Despite scoring 8 points in 3 games Hand became homesick and returned to the UK before getting his shot at the big league. Colin Shields is the only other British trained player to be drafted (by Philadelphia) but he never got higher than the ECHL.
So, on to Phillips and how he may make it. Phillips was invited to training camp with the Chicago Blackhawks in the Autumn after he was recommended by Ice Hogs GM Mark Bernard (who had spent a few years playing and coaching in England with Basingstoke). Despite not being drafted he was given a professional try out with no guarantees following his performance in the World Championships with Team GB. GB Coach Paul Thomson was so impressed with the way the 22 year old played he suggested Bernard give him a shot and away he went.
After a few weeks of training with and against the likes of NHL stars (and current Olympians) Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith, Phillips was deemed to have done enough to earn a longer stay in the US and was offered a one year deal with the Hawks AHL affiliate the Rockford Ice Hogs. As soon as he strapped on his skates for game 1 of the season Phillips became the first British trained player ever to play at such a level.
Despite this early success many, including Phillips himself, were unsure whether he would be able to handle not only the increased level of play but also the grind of so many games. In 08/09 Phillips set his career high in games played for the Belfast Giants in the UK Elite League with 71 contests, most of which were played on weekends. The AHL play 80 games in their regular season before moving into the playoffs with 3 games in 3 nights a regular occurence. This wasn’t the only adjustment to make either. He’s now in a league where teams will roll 4 lines of players all with dreams of getting the call from the big club so the shifts are shorter but the intenstity is far higher. He has gone from having maybe 3,000 people at a game for a big match to regularly skating out in buildings that hold 10,000 and upwards and in his first game against division rival Chicago Wolves he lined up opposite future Hockey Hall of Fame defenceman Chris Chelios.
With all of this seemingly working against him and living on a different continent to everyone he knows (apart from fellow Brit Matt Myers who also made the move to the States, earning a job with the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors) no-one would have been surprised if Phillips had a few games in the A’ before being sent down to the ECHL. Instead Phillips has not only earned his spot as a regular in the line up (37 games so far) he has become one of the Ice Hogs most reliable defenceman earning a +13 rating, good for 4th best on the team to go along with 4 assists (0 goals so far).
The only blemish on Phillips record so far was a short demotion to the teams ECHL affiliate the Toledo Walleye for a 6 game stint, although even this was a conditioning assignment as the team wanted to keep him active after the Christmas break. By putting up 2 points (1 goal) in the 6 contests and displaying the same solid defensive play he was called back up straight away as promised.
Now, realistically it’s too early to start pencilling Phillips name alongside Keith, Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell on the Hawks NHL blue-line but he’s certainly putting himself in the window to ensure he will receive offers this summer to continue his North American adventure. Rockford is one of the better teams in the AHL, currently sitting 5th overall and 3rd in the Western Conference so there’s every chance he’ll be able to show his skills on the biggest stage below the NHL when the Calder Cup playoffs begin. Playing on a team that includes high level prospects such as Corey Crawford, Jack Skille, Akim Aliu and Bryan Bickell certainly doesn’t do any harm and with the Blackhawks salary issues this summer they will surely be keen to make sure they have plenty of options in Rockford to give themselves the flexibility to call up minimum contract players if necessary next year.
So, the $64,000 question is will Dave Phillips be the first British trained player in the NHL? Only Hawks management know for sure but I’d say there’s every chance of him earning a two way contract for next year somewhere else if not Chicago and then he’s just an injury or two away. Either way, I’m sure all British hockey fans will be rooting for him.
