Dowd in good shape as he prepares for playoffs
WHILE PLAYING for Sheffield Steelers in the Elite League would have clearly been the preferred option this season for Robert Dowd, he can’t pretend his time in Italy hasn’t been good for him – both mentally and physically.
With the Steelers and the rest of the EIHL seeing their 202021 season cancelled due to the knock-on effects of the coronavirus pandemic – with no fans allowed into watch games, clubs simply couldn’t survive – Dowd was able to secure himself a roster spot with Italian second-tier outfit Eppan/Appiano.
Given his injury-ravaged 201920 campaign, Dowd simply had to find himself some ice time.
And while initially being away from his family was a far from ideal situation for the 32-year-old winger, his time in Northern Italy – alongside Steelers’ team-mate Marc-Olivier Vallerand – has proved to be productive, putting him in good shape ahead of May’s World Championships in Latvia.
Before that, of course, Dowd is set to pull on a Steelers’ jersey again for next month’s behind-closed-doors Elite Series, although his immediate priority will be to help his current employers enjoy a successful playoff campaign, which gets underway tonight against Varese.
“It’s something I had to do,” said Dowd, who has contributed seven goals and 17 assists in 13 games in Italy. “It was a must-play for me this year.
“With my shoulder injury last season, there’s no way I could have sat at home and not play any hockey because it wasn’t just a case of missing this season, I also missed half of last season so it would just have been too long for me personally to take off.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here, they are good people and the organisation has been top-notch to me, they’ve really looked after me.
“And I’m feeling good, partly because the schedule here isn’t as hard as the UK, you are not playing 2-3 games a week, you’re only playing once. So I’ve had time to work out and look after myself.
“I’ve hit some personal bests in the gym and stuff like that because I’ve got time to work out a lot more than I do in the UK – so physically and mentally, it’s been great for me.”