Owen Sobchak and the local connections that made Leeds Knights his dream move
FROM the moment he first set foot inside Elland Road Ice Arena as an opposing player, Owen Sobchak knew he wanted to be part of the fixtures and fittings there.
Last Friday, the 32-year-old Canadian forward got his wish, making the switch to Leeds Knights in spectacular fashion from NIHL National derby rivals, Hull Seahawks.
It was a move which surprised many onlookers, not least the fans of both teams but one which made perfect sense to Sobchak, who was first informed about the potential for a switch by Seahawks head coach Matty Davies in the middle of last week.
Last season, Sobchak could do no wrong, finishing the 2024-25 campaign as the league’s leading points-scorer, eclipsing even new Knights’ team-mate Kieran Brown, who had held that crown for the previous three years.
This season, as the Seahawks have toiled and found themselves stuck in mid-table - their league title ambitions long since disappeared - Sobchak has failed to match last season’s scoring exploits.
With Davies unable to keep five imports for the remainder of the year - a situation the Knights now find themselves in, although defenceman Sam Dunn is out injured for a month - something had to give.
The impact of adding Sobchak was felt almost immediately, scoring a goal and two assists on his debut, a 4-1 win at home to Basingstoke Bison.
Paired with Brown and Matt Bissonnette, there were plenty of encouraging signs for the Knights going forward and Sobchak was pleased to find himself the subject of cheers not jeers from the home fans at ‘The Castle’.
“It was a great first night in front of the fans,” said Sobchak. “But even if I’d had no points and we’d won the game, I’d have been just as happy.
“It was just a reminder that you’re on a team capable of winning any night, doesn’t matter who it is - we got the two points.
“We (Sobchak, Brown and Bissonnette) seemed to click right away, maybe not so much in the first period because that was the first time I’d ever skated with those guys on the same line.
“But when you’re playing with smart hockey players it makes the game easier and those two are probably among the smartest in this league.”
As well as the obvious reasons for coming to a team still in contention for all three NIHL National trophies, there was also a personal connection that helped make Sobchak make his decision.
His mother was born and raised in Sherburn-in-Elmet, just outside Leeds, meaning Sobchak - who was born in St Catherines, near Toronto long after his family had emigrated to Canada - had a connection, one that saw him become a Leeds United fan.
It was when he first played on the road against the Knights while with Bristol Pitbulls in the 2022-23 season, that he knew he had to make his stay permanent one day.
“Ever since I came into this league, I wanted to play here and now I’m here,” recalls Sobchak.
“I remember coming here with Bristol, my first away game when I came up, my first thing to do was run over to Elland Road football stadium as part of my warm-up, taking pictures and sending them back to my mum back home in Canada.
“And when my mum came over to visit when I was in Hull, the first thing we did was come over to Leeds to see where she was born and the house where she was born and all that. So it was a full-circle moment.”