Ones To Watch VS Bristol Pitbulls Sunday 23rd October

Swindon Wildcats One to Watch

Russ Cowley

The One to Watch for our Wildcats is new to the team this year and he joined midway through the season, Russ Cowley is finally back with his hometown club after many many years away.

He came up through the junior system in Swindon and Cowley made his debut at 16 years old with the Swindon Chill in 1999. Over the next 2 years Cowley played in Swindon under the many guises that the team was under during those years, Phoenix and Lynx. It was also during this time that Cowley first appeared in a GB jersey, he played for the U-18s in his debut season and then both the U-18s and U-20s the next season.

In the 2001-02 season Cowley moved up to the BNL with Coventry and it is with the Blaze that Cowley is most associated with, in total he played 15 seasons in Coventry between the BNL and the Elite League. There was only a single season where he wasn’t with the Blaze and that was in the 2006/07 season where he played with the Cardiff Devils. Over his time in the Elite League Cowley played in 641 games and he scored 323 points.

In addition to his long career in the top league in the country Cowley has also been a regular in the senior Great Britain side. In total he played for 12 years with the national team, this translates to 66 games and included 28 points with 10 goals.

In 2017 Cowley took the decision to retire but this only lasted one season and he made a comeback in NIHL1 with the Basingstoke Bison, it was a great comeback as he scored over a point per game. Cowley’s time with the Bison only lasted a single season and with the formation of the NIHL National he made the move to Milton Keynes and he spent 2 seasons with the Lightning, in these 2 seasons he scored 99 points in 78 games.

This now takes us to this season and Cowley signed up with the Wildcats a few weeks into the season, he has made a great start to his time as a Wildcat scoring 10 points in 7 games.

Bristol Pitbulls One to Watch

Owen Sobchak

The One to Watch this evening is a forward new to the league but he has taken it by storm so far, he has scored 16 points in 9 games including 10 goals, which on a Bristol side that has had a tough start to the season is very impressive.

Sobchak was born in Niagara Falls and began playing in the Ontario junior leagues and from an early age he was a scorer. He spent 4 years in the GOJHL and the majority of his time was spent with the Thorold Blackhawks, in total he played in 159 games and scored 176 points.

Following his junior career Sobchak moved into the university system, initially playing two years at Keyano College and then latterly 3 years at the University of Alberta-Augustana. While in the ACAC system he played in 107 games and scored 116 points which included 39 goals.

After his time in junior and college hockey in Canada Sobchak made the move over to Europe for the first time, he signed with Alfta GIF who play in the 4^th tier of Swedish ice hockey. Sobchak had a superb season with a scoring return of 58 points in only 29 games, 2 points per game. He stepped up to the 3^rd tier in Sweden during the pandemic hit season and while he didn’t replicate the scoring effort of the previous year, he still returned a respectable total given the standard he was now playing at.

One more year in Sweden beckoned for him, once more in the 4^th tier and his scoring touch returned as he scored over a point per game again. He then took a move that was out of left field, Sobchak spent the summer playing in Australia and now he’s in the UK with the Bristol Pitbulls as they embark upon their debut season in the UK’s second tier.