Former Sheffield Steelers and Belfast Giants defenceman Dave Phillips discusses his return to hometown team Hull Seahawks, along with Seahawks coach Matty Davies
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00:00 YorkshirePost.co.uk
00:07 Why Hall, why now?
00:09 I was in Belfast last year, away from my family.
00:16 It was just tough being away from them.
00:19 I wanted to be closer to home.
00:22 Obviously playing for your hometown team is something you're always proud to do.
00:29 Were you tempted? Was there an option to stay in the elite league for a bit longer?
00:35 Or was the pull of the family and coming home too much?
00:41 There were a couple of teams.
00:44 It took a while for me to wrap my head around exactly what I wanted to do.
00:50 Ultimately I chose my family first.
00:55 I could have kept playing another couple of years in the elite league.
01:01 I've played this game a long time and had a long career.
01:07 I think it's a high level endeavour to sacrifice a lot for me as a family to be able to do that.
01:16 At my age now, I've had a long career and I think it's time I put them first in some decisions.
01:26 I'll be honest enough to admit that they probably weren't always when you're younger.
01:32 You do a lot of decisions based on your career as well.
01:36 It's time for me to make a decision based on what's best for them.
01:42 Also, as a team, I started off growing up a whole lad.
01:50 I feel like I've still got a lot of play. I can still play at a good level.
01:56 I feel like I owe it to them as well to not come back and play when you're past it.
02:03 You're on your last legs. I feel like my legs are still there and I can still play well.
02:08 Hopefully I can help and make a difference.
02:12 Obviously, Matty's a coach now. He'll be your boss now. You've kept in touch.
02:18 Are you impressed with what he's done so far at Seahawks?
02:22 Yeah, really impressed. It's not an easy thing to do.
02:27 He took a lot on. Being up, starting the team, owning the team, getting it up and running again
02:35 and not being about for a couple of years. It's a lot on his plate.
02:40 You've also got to chuck in that coaching too. I think he's managed really well.
02:47 Matty's obviously very ambitious. That's why he started the whole thing.
02:50 They came close last year to winning a trophy.
02:52 For you, coming from Hull, how much would it mean to bring a piece of silverware back to Hull Ice Arena for the City?
03:00 Massive. No matter what team you're playing on, that's always the goal and what you want to do.
03:07 That's the be all and end all in the game, to win and win trophies.
03:12 But to do it for your hometown team is even more extra special.
03:18 It's definitely something we're going to be able to achieve.
03:22 I believe in the squad we've put together.
03:27 When you look at it on paper, it looks like it all fits.
03:32 But the thing is, Dave has had one of the best careers in British ice hockey.
03:40 He's played, I don't know, how many games in the Elite League.
03:44 He's also played in the American Hockey League, which not many British players have played that many games in that league.
03:51 I don't think people understand or know that as much.
03:54 He's won everything in the Elite League.
03:58 To get someone like Dave, even though I'm friends with him and he's from Hull, it's not as straightforward as you'd think.
04:06 But when I knew Brock weren't coming back and I wanted to make this team more solid in terms of the depth in the team,
04:18 I knew that with Finn leaving, we'd probably have to look at another import route.
04:24 With that, bringing Dave in, in my eyes, is just as good, if not better than import level.
04:32 A different player to Brock completely.
04:36 But look, I think what Dave is as a player and as a leader and how much experience he brings, it's invaluable really.
04:47 I think the time was right. Dave wants to be at home as well.
04:53 He's got a young son and good friends with my son.
04:57 It's very much for Dave, it's a life decision.
05:04 But also alongside of that, what is nice is that the club's at a point now where we can sign someone like Dave.
05:14 Even last year, but definitely the first year, we weren't in a position where we could do that.
05:20 Not just financially, but I think in general, attracting a player like Dave.
05:26 Dave, this is his hometown, but no-one wants to play for a team that's a good team and challenging for leagues and cups.
05:37 You're not just going to come home because you want to play for a good team and you want to win.
05:45 No matter how many years you've got left, at the end of the day you want to play for a team that's going to look to win stuff.
05:52 For Dave to obviously choose to sign for us, it's great for the club.
05:59 It's an absolute massive signing.
06:02 To bring someone home like Dave, that's just played for Great Britain in the World Championships top level.
06:09 It's a massive coup for us.
06:12 It just shows where we are now, our third year in, and what we're looking to do.
06:20 Do you think people will be surprised by him moving?
06:25 Yeah, for sure. I think there'll be many people that are going to raise their eyebrows on this.
06:30 Maybe ask Dave why he's doing that after playing well this year, he's had a good year in Belfast.
06:36 He's just played for GB, so I know there were elite league teams that still wanted Dave.
06:44 What do you think he'll bring to the team? Is this a sign that it'll lift the rest of the team as well?
06:50 When they see someone like Dave coming in through the locker room door?
06:54 Yeah, I think it should do. It should massively lift everyone.
07:00 For me, this signing is more not just about on the ice, it's about off the ice.
07:06 I don't mean necessarily in a coaching sense or what we're doing as a team.
07:13 I mean in the room itself. I think we really missed last year.
07:20 Just a couple of real leaders at times when we had those big moments in big games.
07:26 I felt like we maybe didn't have that calm head leader that's been there at levels above this.
07:37 To just say, "Look lads, we're fine. Let's get back into this."
07:41 It just takes that one... I think without even saying things at times, I think players like Dave and like Huie
07:51 that have again played levels a lot more than the lads that are in that room.
07:58 They just get that respect naturally just because they've played at their levels and they've had them careers.
08:05 I think it'll help with the room itself more than anything and bring that leadership on the ice as well.
08:13 By getting Davey Phillips in, what is he 34, 35? He's still got a lot of hockey left in him hasn't he?
08:18 Yeah, I mean, well, like I say, Elite League Club still wanted Dave.
08:25 I think more than anything, it shows that this league is getting there in terms of trying to bring
08:32 more of them Elite League players down to this level.
08:35 Because like we've said before, the Elite League is going one way with imports and British players.
08:41 I think this league is showing that this can be a great place for British players to come and play.
08:48 It's a massive signing for us as a team but also the league as well.
08:54 We've got a great Britain player that is now playing in our league and he'll be the only one looking at this season.
09:03 So yeah, it's a big, big moment, mate.
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