NOTTINGHAM, U.K. – The idea of a British citizen moving to Europe to make a living playing ice hockey is something that would have been scoffed at a decade ago. Indeed, the dawn of the import-dominated Superleague made it hard enough for British players to develop on their own shores, never mind abroad.
Yet a new crop of UK stars are finally beginning to put Britain on the continental ice hockey map. One of those players is David Clarke who had played for several UK teams before trying his luck at Italian Serie A side HC Alleghe last season. Now he’s back in Britain, though, and on the hunt for yet more silverware with the Nottingham Panthers.
Clarke, who turned 27 in August, began his career in 1996 with hometown team, the Peterborough Pirates, and became the British National League’s Young Player of the Season in his third year. After notching 19 goals and 22 assists for 41 points in 35 games in 1999-2000, Clarke moved to the Newcastle Jesters where he became one of only a few British players to make the grade in the now defunct Superleague.
When the Jesters ran into financial difficulties at the end of the 2000-01 season Clarke moved back to Peterborough before icing for several clubs including the Guildford Flames where he picked up 27 goals and 17 assists for 44 points in 33 games. Paul Adey soon spotted Clarke’s potential and signed him for the Panthers in 2003-04. Clarke stayed in Nottingham for four years, grabbing 87 goals and 78 assists for 165 points in 192 league games. He also famously captained the team to the Play Off Championship in his final season, under coach Mike Ellis.
Having tasted UK Play Off success, Clarke’s desire for a challenge led him to Italy in 2007 and, despite only spending a year in Alleghe, Clarke admits he owes a lot to a team who stuck by him during an injury ravaged season.
“If a player is injured for as long as I was last season, then about 95% of the time the team will just buy him out and bring someone else in,”
“Thankfully, I had made a good account of myself early on so when I got injured the coach said he would stick by me and play short for a while, then hopefully make a big push for the Play Offs when I was back fit,” Clarke said “For me that meant a lot, I do feel slightly indebted to them for doing what they did and perhaps further down the line I will give them back that year I lost for being so loyal to me.”
Clarke made 18 appearances for the Serie A side, picking up seven points and six assists for 13 points. This might be considered a modest total in the high-scoring Elite League but, as Clarke pointed out not every European league plays the same way.
“The Italian League is more defensive and more tactical than the Elite League (UK), they play far fewer games and it’s more about playing a system rather than scoring goals which I guess you could say is the same with Italian football,” explained Clarke “The physical side is slightly neglected too, and it never felt as intense which I missed because I like to feel as if I’m in a game, gunning for each other and doing whatever I
David Clarke in action for HC Alleghe (Photo courtesy of www.alleghehockey.com)
Clarke is one of a handful of British players to play over on the continent in recent times. Others have included British goalies Stevie Lyle and Stephen Murphy, both of whom have since settled back into the Elite League, as well as Greg Owen who joined French side HC Briançon in the summer.
So, having experienced the European adventure himself, would Clarke recommend it to any of his UK counterparts?
“Definitely, at the end of the day we are all European players and we have Swedish, Finish and Polish guys coming over here to try and make a living playing hockey so why should British players just stay in Britain?,” Clarke said
“Gone are the days when it was tough for players to get into Europe because they were British, the guys who have gone have proven that they are more than capable of playing at the required level, We’re in the top 10 scorers at the World Championships so it’s fairly obvious that there are some talented British players around who can adapt to different styles of hockey.”
Not withstanding Clarke’s enthusiasm for the opportunity to play in Europe, it was clear to him at the end of last season that he wanted to return to the Panthers for a shot at the one UK trophy that has so far evaded him.
“I missed being away, I wanted to be back in Nottingham and win that League Championship that trophy is my Stanley Cup, it’s the one I grew up wanting to win and it would mean way more to me than winning, say an Austrian Elite League because it’s what I know and it’s just a massive honour that I want to get,”
“Fortunately, Corey, Gary (Moran), Panthers’ General Manager and Neil (Black), Panthers Owner were able to get together and get me back on board so, here I am, ready for another year.” Clarke said.
In fact it had looked likely that Clarke would return to Nottingham even sooner, in time for last season’s Play Off games. The team even issued a Panthers’ jersey with Clarke’s name on the back. Yet unfortunately for Clarke and the Panthers, who suffered a shock exit to the Cardiff Devils in their preliminary tie, it was not to be as the Elite League blocked the move.
“I know Mike and the management put a lot of effort in to trying to make it happen but when it came down to the deadline the League wouldn’t allow it so in the end we just left it, with hindsight, I’m even not sure how I would have felt about it anyway because the guys in Nottingham had been battling all year, they’d won the Challenge Cup, so I’m not sure whether it would have been right for me to come back and take responsibility away from them,” Clarke said
“Plus, for it to have gone ahead, Alleghe would have had to release me and let me sign for another club and given how good they were about my injury it would’ve been wrong for me to even think down that road and ask them to consider that option.”
As soon as the season had finished, however, there was only ever one team that Clarke was going to join. Yet his status as a high scoring British forward makes him a rare commodity as well as an obvious target for other teams. I asked him whether he had experienced much interest in the close season from other Elite League clubs who sensed the likelihood of his return to Britain.
“There was some contact, a bit of enquiry but it was never anything that I allowed to go to another level and, as I said, I wanted to be back in Nottingham, so when Corey got in touch we came to an agreement pretty easily and that was that,” Clarke said
So does that mean the Sheffield Steelers had been in touch? Clarke gave a knowing laugh.
“It was nothing formal to be honest, it’s the same everywhere, people will always ask about players and I’m sure that teams speak to my agent on a regular basis but I would never call it negotiating or anything like that, more like just enquiring.” Clarke said
With the new season now underway and with Panthers having made a great start what did Clarke make of Corey’s first time as Head Coach?
“Corey’s been in Nottingham for two years and he knows what it takes to win, I know it’s his first year as a head coach but he coached a bit last year, he’s in familiar surroundings and he’s won two trophies in two seasons here,” Clarke said. “The only one he hasn’t won is the one everybody wants, but he knows what was lacking in my last year and he knows what was lacking last year.”
And Clarke is optimistic about the team’s chances this season.
“I cannot see any reason why we cannot win the League, it’s just a case of being consistent and putting together performances week in week out like Coventry Blaze did last year,” explained Clarke. “I don’t think that their team has been way better than Nottingham during my time here or last year either because we knocked them out of the Challenge Cup.”
“You have to go out and get what points you can, sometimes you’ll have a tough road trip but if you grind out an overtime loss then it’s those points you pick up which sometimes you shouldn’t that make all the difference and that’s why Coventry have been successful, their team hasn’t been way better than anyone else, they’ve just been consistent but this year, I think that’s something we’ll have looking at the team that Corey has put together.” Clarke said
Clarke will get his chance to pit his wits against some of his former colleagues when Team GB face Italy in the World Championships next year. First of all though, they have the Olympic qualifiers in November. I asked Clarke about how the national team was progressing and what he felt were its chances in the two upcoming tournaments. “It’s progressing a lot under Paul Thompson and, as the years have gone on we’ve been able to discover more and get more out of the players we have,” Clarke said “We’re now getting to the stage where we have four solid lines, six great defenseman and two or three good goalies, rather than just one or two lines that can compete with other nations.”
“We are moving forward a lot but we can’t be content, we need to move to the next level and become a team that is a regular medal winner who is disappointed with a bronze medal, I know a lot of the Italian players and they don’t have any NHLers that make them much better than us, they just have players who play with confidence,” Clarke said “They dropped down in the Championship pools last year and now they are the team that we have to beat to win a gold medal but it’s not in any way out of our reach.”
“British hockey definitely needs a strong finish and, if we could get that gold medal then that would be amazing and open so many doors for the sport.” Contact the author at Matt.kane@prohockeynews.com
