Hull Seahawks: Matty Davies on how preparations are going ahead of opening Yorkshire Cup weekend against Leeds Knights and Sheffield Steeldogs

Getting to see the Hull Seahawks - the city’s latest incarnation of semi-pro hockey - in action for the first time this Saturday at Leeds Knights will clearly rank pretty highly.

But the following night will probably edge that in terms of significance, when the Seahawks make their home ice debut against Sheffield Steeldogs.

Both games are part of the pre-season Yorkshire Cup between the three NIHL National rivals, offering a small preview into the abilities of all teams ahead of the regular season proper, which starts in a little over two weeks’ time.

Earlier this summer, player-coach Matty Davies and his fellow owners Ian Mowforth and Joe Lamplough took the bold decision to bring second-tier hockey back to the city, ending an absence of more than two years.

Seeing the result of their tireless efforts over the last three months come to fruition - more so at Hull Ice Arena on Sunday - will be a special moment.

“This is obviously why we’re all here,” said Davies, who missed the 2020-21 season entirely because of the pandemic before returning to action with Leeds last season.

“We’re getting to the business end of the summer now and we’re ready to see what all the hard work has been about.

“It’s been a difficult summer in terms of getting everything ready and Joe, Ian and me have put in a considerable amount of work. Everyone told me it would be a lot of work and I was like ‘it’ll be alright, it’ll be alright’ - it is a lot of work.

“But it is all for the right reasons in terms of bringing hockey back to Hull. This weekend will be a great occasion for the fans and for me, Joe and Ian to see all this come together.”

Over the summer, former GB international Davies - who will oversee all hockey operations for the team - has meticulously put together his first-ever roster as a coach.

But not all the pieces will be in place this weekend. The 32-year-old centre is himself forced to stay on the bench because of a niggling injury, while both imports - Emil Svec and Andrej Themár - are yet to arrive in the country.

It’s not ideal, but Davies is confident that, once everyone and everything is in place, he has a team that will possess the work ethic he believes is required to have them challenging for honours in its debut campaign.

There will be no shortage of rivals for silverware, however, with both this weekend’s opponents expected and expecting to be in the mix come the end of March.

“The non-negotiables for me in this team - and I’ve said this to the lads from day one - is hard work and graft,” said Davies. “That is the minimum I expect from every single player, regardless of how skilled they are, whatever type of game they play.”