Sheffield Steeldogs have signed Great Britain U18 ‘D’ man Tom Relf.

A product of the Bracknell youth system, Relf made his EPL debut for the Bees during the 2014/15 season before becoming a regular part of the line-up last year.

Player/Coach Greg Wood said: “Tom has good size, he’s young, he skates very well and holds the puck up well.

“It’s always good to get a look at a player and he was more than willing to come up and get involved in the prospects sessions we had.

“I was pleased with what I saw and I’m really happy that we’ve picked him up.

“I think he’ll be a 5th or 6th ‘D’ Man – he’ll definitely be in my top three pairings.

“I’ll be bringing in an import defenseman to play alongside the four Brits we’ve already signed, but Tom will well and truly be playing.”

Relf, who will combine playing with studying at Sheffield Hallam University, added: “I wanted to come to the Steeldogs as they’ve always been a hard team to play against.

“I’ve heard about Greg and how he is as a coach. There’s a lot of experience on the team and I can learn a lot from guys like Ben Morgan.

“Talking to Woody just encouraged me to come to Sheffield rather than any other team.

“I’ve been up to Sheffield twice in the last few weeks and we’ve discussed how I’ll fit into the way he wants to play this year.

“I’m hoping to win some silverware for the fans this year.”

(Image permission: Chris Callaghan)